May has been the month of cost-saving at Tumaini. First we started saving with the cooking oil. In April, the cooks were using too much oil causing us to run short for the month. Ferdinand and I spoke about measuring out the oil each day or exploring some possibilities in keeping a lid (no pun intended, ha!) on the oil. He and Happy took a measuring bowl from Odilia in the dispensary and have been using it to measure out the needed oil supply each day. We usually buy four 20 liter jugs each month. This month we were able to cut down our use to a little over 2 jugs!
The second cost-saving measure has been the insulated cooking baskets. I finished the second basket on Monday and was able to deliver it to Tumaini yesterday. They will use the second basket for cooking the rice. Since using the first basket for cooking beans, Ferdinand estimates that they are saving an hour and a half of cooking fuel each day. We spend about $153 USD each month on cooking fuel. These baskets should really help us cut down on those costs.
The third cost-saving measure was a donation that a student made to Tumaini. I don't know his name, but this young man is going to University and is studying something in the field of child care. He approached someone who is acquainted with our orphanage ministry and asked this person if they knew of a worthy organization he could make a donation to. The acquaintance of Tumaini suggested us. The young man gave us a bag filled with bars of soap, exercise books for students, a box of pens, skin lotion, shoe polish, toothpaste and laundry soap. With his donation, we are able to cut back on some of the supplies we will need to purchase for June.
Mwanza, Tanzania, East Africa
That's wonderful news. So glad God gives us creative inspiration to be good stewards and blessings when we act on that inspiration!
Posted by: Nancy | June 02, 2009 at 04:41 PM