Flat Halle

Halle,
Hope this finds you doing well & thank you for asking us to be part of your project. It sounds really fun! We hope our story is helpful.

We are:
Dad-Scott, Mom-Becky, Tucker-14 yrs old, Lindy 12 yrs old, Deke 10 yrs old, Teagan 7 yrs old. We currently live in Tanzania right on the East African coast. We can see the Indian Ocean from our back porch & often go swimming in it. Our backyard is full of palm, mango, banana & lemon trees…and a few monkeys that like fruit as much as we do! We also have a herd of goats that the villagers stake in our yard for grazing every day & then collect at night. Teagan helps them herd the goats back to the pens at night where they will be safe. They often drag her along behind them as they race to the water trough. Between monkeys, children & goats, our yard is a busy place. We even have a red termite mound that’s as tall as Scott. The kids laugh & say we don’t need a dog for a pet, we need an ant-eater!

The houses here in the village are made of either mud or local brick & have grass thatched roofs. The people are mostly farmers. We work with them to teach them ways to improve their lives & be healthier & share the love of Jesus so they will truly have abundant lives. It’s an exciting job & all the kids help us. We are all learning & daily speaking Swahili. It’s a fun language & the kids are learning much faster than mom & dad.

Our days are hardly ever the same, except for doing our school work. We have been home schooling for 6 years now. We love it! We often have neighbors wanting us to teach their children also. We would have a very full school table if we said yes! The children here do not get a good education & we are looking for ways to help them. We are praying about setting up a library, we’ll see what God has in store!

The weather here is very hot & it is summer now-opposite of you all. We really only have wet or dry seasons, not four seasons. It will begin raining in March & won’t stop until May, that’s the long rainy time. Then it will be dry until late October when the short rains come. We live so close to the ocean that we do get a cool breeze most days. We don’t have electricity all the time so we need that breeze!

We get to see wildlife all the time & have had to wait for zebras, giraffes or elephants to cross the road many times. Our roads are not paved except the main one straight down the coast line from the capital city. We will soon be moving to a more remote village that is near a game reserve & will then see even more animals. The kids all want to see a leopard the most. We have already had a cobra at our house so that’s been crossed off the list!

We hope this helps you with your project! You may email us anytime to ask questions….we will answer soon as we can.

In Christ,
Karibu…
The Plackes