Travel Within Reach

23/08/2018

Help support a worthy cause by doing what many of us do often. Simply follow this link to shop at Smile.Amazon.Com

When you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon will donate to Barbara Barnes Foundation. Support us every time you shop.

02/09/2017

Took a ride on the tram for some awesome views and waffles.

22/05/2017

Day 5 is when all the work turns back to fun. We started by stopping to give stickers to a couple children on the way into the village. Such wonderful smiles! After everyone was settled we made our way through each classroom to hand out cookies. The children quickly put their cookies into their pockets and backpacks. Later in the day we saw some of the smaller children on the playground eating their cookies. Several of them offered to share their treats with us. So selfless and innocent with beautiful smiles. Now it was time to go over to the clinic and stock the supplies that were donated. There was a years worth of items like bandages, sterile gloves, acetaminophen, etc.. This filled an entire set of shelves. As you can see the other shelves were still left to repair, but Randy got it done before we finished for the day. After we finished stocking the clinic it was time for the children to put on a show their appreciation with a show. Be sure to check out the video from the choir. After the show it was time for a luncheon put on by the teacher. We were able to try some traditional dishes. This has been such a wonderfully rewarding week for all of us. Now time to start planning for next year!

20/05/2017

Day 4 is another day of excitement for both the village of Songwe and us. First the day starts with an inspection of the painting for both the classroom and the clinic. While we were at the clinic we got to see the works from the Overland Mission. They were giving the children shots as part of a well baby check-up. We also observed them weighing the babies from a hanging scale and seemed to enjoy hanging in the swing. Then it is time to get ready to give bags of food to the grandparents of the village. This year is going to have a greater turnout than we had expected. Brenda and I felt that we should have enough for all of the grandparents, so we set off to the village shops to purchase enough of the items to prepare 15 additional bags of food for the grandparents. This not only provided enough for all the grandparents, but also help the village shop keepers. Now begins the fun! Each of the grandparents was so thrilled to not only be honored, but for the food as well. As each came up they showed their appreciation with words, song, and dance. The room was overflowing with joy! There are so many more pictures to share when we get back to the states.

18/05/2017

Day 3 begins with classroom pictures. After letting the classes get back to their lessons we got back to work preparing bags of sugar, flour, cooking oil, and various soaps for the grandparents. Then we took the 3 suitcases of socks and sneakers that were donated by many of you and made our way to the 9th grade class for bingo. Each winner was given their pick of the available shoes until every child had a new pair of shoes. We handed out a pair sock per student then the big fun started. The big round of bingo to win the 3 suitcase for the children to safely store their clothes. This has already been a busy day, but the clinic is due for painting. We had 10 volunteers come to paint. They quickly got to work and made wonderful progress. Today will be another busy day..

17/05/2017

Day 2 is when the fun turns to work. We met the kids and handed out items that were donated to such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, hats, etc.. the kids all loved the gifts. Thank you all for your help. The work began with prepping and painting one of the classrooms. As you can see there was a lot of prep work, but there was great progress made. Next is on to the clinic to get it painted inside and out.

16/05/2017

Day 1 at Songwe started with meeting the kids at the school and a tour of the immediate village area. Here are just a few of the pictures. We will keep posting pictures as we can. This is a small sampling of nearly 400 pictures from today alone.

13/05/2017

Enjoyed a short layover and of course had a pint at my favorite place The Wellington on the Strand. Now another overnight flight plus one short flight and we start volunteering in the village of Songwe. Stay tuned for more.

13/05/2017

We started our latest journey a few hours ago. After a 10 hour flight from Dallas to London Heathrow we are enjoying an afternoon then a quick walk around Covent Garden.