We don’t plan on taking a lot of “stuff” to Tanzania. Most of what we need there, we will buy there. We want to support the local economy, and we don’t want to pay a lot of shipping costs to take things from America.
However, there are some things that we just can’t get over there, or what we can get isn’t good quality. It makes good sense to take some good quality things that we will use all the time.
Below, you will find a list of things that we think we need. Some of these, we will buy over there; others we will try to buy here and ship over. We are posting this list for two reasons:
- We hope our friends will give us feedback. We know many people with a lot of experience in missions and in Africa. What have we missed? What could/should we do without?
- Many people have expressed an interest in helping with something specific. Think of it as a housewarming party, but you don’t have to come to Africa to participate. If you would commit to purchasing something on the list, let us know and we will mark those things off the list.
- If it’s in green, we will try to buy it in Tanzania. If it’s in red, we have already bought it, but would appreciate help paying for it.
| Bed Sheets (Queen size) | $45 |
|---|---|
| Thread for sewing Coates & Clark, Mettler, Gütterman (or similar brand) all-purpose thread | $50 |
| Microwave | $150 |
| Stove: 3 burner cooktop | $150 |
| Solar Panels (x10) | $150 |
| Clothes Wringer | $200 |
| High Wattage 110 volt Inverters (x2) | $250 |
| High Wattage 220 volt Inverters (x2) | $250 |
| Bed in a box-queen | $300 |
| Smart Phone (x2) | $500 |
| Stove with oven | $1400 |
| Refrigerator | $600 |
| Freezer | $400 |
| Yeti (or similar) Cooler | $600 |
| Registration expenses for US 501c3 corporation | $1000 |
| Water Heater | $1000 |
| Diesel Generator | $1200 |
| Rainwater Storage Tanks (4) | $2000 |
| Registration expenses for TZ Non- profit Corporation | $2000 |
| Language school (x2) | $3500 |
| 20 foot container | $3500 |
| Car | $3500 |
| House renovations for Rainwater Collection system | $10,000 |
ralphwwilliams 
The first time we moved to Europe, we were blind sided by the lack of availability of OTC drugs– Tylenol, NSAIDS, sudafed, antihistamines, hydrocortisone cream, chap stick,and in your case, Ralph, triple antibiotic ointment and band aids, etc. The shampoo did not clean our hair and the deodorant had no antiperspirant. So the next time we moved back, we took a year’s worth of that stuff with us and didn’t need so much and could have gotten along without most of it. Africa may be at the level that Vienna was in 1985– be sure and ask the Shorts about OTC accessibility.
Thank you very much! We have an advantage in Tanzania, because we will be working alongside of Tanzania Christian Clinic. When I injured myself, one of the clinical officers there patched me up and gave me antibiotics. But we will likely stock up on stuff like NSAIDS, because we’re old and I tend to hurt myself.
We bought a little Hoover washer spin dryer to wash the clothes when we were in Zambia. The best purchase we made. I preferred to do my own laundry. I have used both a wringer and the washer spin dryer and prefer the latter. It didn’t long for clothes to dry being spun out.
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That’s very helpful. Thank you!