Learning to Sew

The girls are enjoying some opportunities to start to learn how to sew. One of their recent projects was making dresses for their dolls. Of course, Krista gives them a lot of help, but they are beginning to learn how to use the sewing machine and make stitches. Here's Brynn working on her dress.

The finished product. Brynn's doll, named Evi, is wearing the new dress.


Kira gets her turn to make a dress.

Kira's doll, named Emilie, tries on the dress. Kira later took it off and said that it was going to be a special dress for Emilie to wear at Christmas.

Sweet Corn

For years the guys at SIMAIR have grown sweet corn behind the hangar. You can't get sweet corn here, so it's a really nice treat to have fresh sweet corn to eat. The last couple of years, we've continued on the tradition. We bring out Silver Queen Sweet Corn seeds from the States to plant. The first year we did it, we showed our guard at the hangar how far apart to make the rows and how to plant the seeds. Ever since then, he's actually done most of the work. We provide the seeds and he plants it for us and waters it each day. We divide the plot of land and give him a third of the land to plant his own crops. He then gets free water from the hangar to grow whatever he wants in return for helping us with the corn. Above is a picture of just some of the corn from one of the harvests. We plant it in three sections and space the plantings 2 weeks apart.

Kira shows off some of the corn.


Most of it turned out really well this year. We eat some fresh and then freeze the rest so we can enjoy it throughout the year.

SIMAIR Calendars & 2nd Diesel Plane for SIMAIR

Over the past year, we've shared about the need for a 2nd plane for SIMAIR that uses Jet-Fuel instead of the very expensive Avgas that our larger 6 seat plane still uses. After looking at lots of options for a replacement 6 seater plane, we've decided that the best choice at this point is to get another plane just like the 4 seater diesel Cessna 182 we purchased a few years ago. We're now hot on the trail trying to find just the right plane to have converted with the diesel engine. A project has been created for the 2nd Diesel Plane. The official SIM project designation is "SIMAIR JET Fuel Cessna 182; Project # NE 97720." We currently have enough money to buy the plane, but need roughly another $100,000 USD to do the Diesel Engine conversion and add other modifications to the plane before it is ready for service in Niger.

With this project in mind, one of our longtime SIMAIR pilots came up with the idea of creating a calendar with drawings of airplanes used in mission and humanitarian work. He's an incredible artist and spent much of the last year drawing the planes for the calendar.


The finished product was debuted during the annual HUGE airshow in Oshkosh in July (see the calendar cover below with one of the drawings and a sample page). This calendar is a beautiful 14 month calendar from December 2009 - January 2011. All the proceeds from the sale of the calendar go towards the purchase of the 2nd Diesel Plane for SIMAIR. It's a great deal for everyone! Please consider buying a calendar and maybe some as gifts for others. Your purchase will help SIMAIR buy a second diesel plane and you'll receive a beautiful calendar in return.


The calendars are available for sale at the SIM USA bookstore online. To purchase a calendar go here. You can also go to www.simusa.org and click “online bookstore” and scroll down until you see the calendar. The cost is $10 plus tax and shipping.

You can also make a donation directly to the 2nd Diesel Plane Project for SIMAIR. To do so you can click here or go to https://usanet.sim.org/SIMGift/detail.aspx and enter "SIMAIR Jet Fuel Cessna 182 Project#NE97720" for the project name. Then, follow the directions to complete the donation. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Stuck

A week ago, Ian headed off in the Cessna 182 to Galmi and Dave and I began working on a long list of things we wanted to get done at the hangar. After a while, we got a text message from Ian that he had landed. Then a little while later, we got a call from him that he was stuck. When he went to start the plane, the starter fried. We're thankful to have two planes at times like these. Rather than driving 6 hours to take the spare starter and fix the plane, Dave and I got everything together and flew to Galmi in the other plane. Every day here is full of unexpected events. There's rarely a day that goes just as planned. Here's a rare picture of both planes sitting at Galmi at the same time.


Instead of a six hour drive, Dave and I were in Galmi with a new starter in an hour and a half. Here's our SIMAIR team in Niger right now. We're missing Ed, who is in Canada for the year. In this picture you see me on the left, Ian in the center, and Dave on the right.


You can only get so many sets of hands in a small space to work on one starter, so I was forced to supervise.


Ian did some supervising as well. We wanted to make sure Dave felt like he was needed.


Here's the old starter with the burn marks on it.


An hour later, Ian was taking off with the passenger to head back to Niamey.


Dave and I waited around for another 20 minutes before we followed in the other plane.

Treats

One of the things we enjoy doing at SIMAIR is bringing treats for people. We tell everyone to let us know if they want us to buy things for them that aren't available where they are and we'll fit them in if there's space. I flew to Galmi recently with the plane empty, so it was the perfect chance for people to send us their orders.


Everyone was there to meet the plane to retrieve their "treats". Some people ordered cream.


Some wanted Diet Coke.


We also stocked up for a construction team coming from Ireland.


Cheese is always a hit. It's very expensive here, but well worth it when you don't get it much.


The kids always like it when the plane comes. For the missionaries kids, it means they get out of school for a little while to watch the plane land and then takeoff again.

Co-Pilot

When it works out that I have room on a flight, I like to take one of the kids along for the ride. Most of our flights are quite long (3-4 hours one way), so I wait until there is room on a flight to Galmi (which is 1.5 hours each way). During our last term, Kira and Brynn each had a turn. Ever since we returned to Niger, Elayna has been eagerly waiting for her turn to fly with daddy. I had a flight a few weeks ago to pick up a short term doctor in Galmi and bring him back to Niamey. So, Elayna got to go spend the day in my "office" helping me as my co-pilot.

I must say, I haven't seen a co-pilot much cuter than this one. It was a real treat for both of us. She was thrilled to go and the folks in Galmi enjoyed seeing her too. Now Silas is ready for his turn! We told him he has to wait until he's a little older for his turn to make sure he can control his wiggles for that long.

A favorite book comes to life!

I was driving Elayna home from swimming lessons when this peddler walked by on the street. A book title came to mind immediately. I'm sure my FIAR friends can guess what it is! I didn't have a camera, but was only a block from home. Racing home, I ran in, grabbed the camera, and went down where I guessed he would be. I stopped at a light, and there he was, crossing the street in front of me. Perfect opportunity for a shot...

There were no monkeys nearby, but I'm sure if he sat down there are plenty of goats around to munch on the straw.


So have you guessed the book yet?



How about now?



I'll give you a hint, those are hats on his head...



And he's peddling them...



For those of you who still don't know...



Go to the library and check out the book "Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina.