A good weekend!

I am pleased to say that Jona taught lessons last week at the school and all went well :-) He is enjoying it :-)
I am getting back into the swing of dorm life and am enjoying getting to know some of the girls better.

This weekend has been great! There was an inter schools table tennis and chess tournament hosted here yesterday. There were 2 other schools coming but unfortunately one school pulled out so it was turned into a friendly. It was good fun but also quite competitive (I never table tennis could be so serious!).

The table tennis was one of the first sporting events to take place in 'The Barn'; a big building which once completed (I think it has been in process for about 3 years or so) will double up to be a sports hall and a school canteen. The school can't currently take any more pupils because there isn't the facilities to cook/cater for them  so hopefully when this building is complete the amount of pupils might also enlarge. I think the work is slow progress because of man power and resources but once it is completed I think it will make a big difference to school life.

Yesterday evening we also had our first 'cross cultural training' session with Mr Pflaum; a missionary who has been working in Zambia for over 30 years. It was great to reflect upon the cultural differences and history of Zambia. Also helped us to learn how to try and be sensitive to Zambian culture. We really enjoyed the evening and it was made even better by Hotdogs and Cake :-)

Today Jona has attended a local Bemba church in Chingola and I was delighted to hear that he had had to go up to the front of the church with some of the German volunteers and sing to the congregation in German!! He wasn't expecting this surprise! hehe. But he said it was great to hear people singing in Bemba and dancing :-)
I attended our regular church (Bethel Chapel) and was glad I did as the sermon was brilliant and really spoke to me. Mr Grove spoke about trusting in God despite your circustatnces.
After church, I went to Marina and Roberta's house (there is a picture of these ladies in a previous blog). I was invited for lunch and really enjoyed the more traditional Zambian dining complete with Nshima (local Maize dish). We also enjoyed some dancing and was sooo lovely to relax in the sunshine and watch the amazing views.

So overall, it's been a great week here in Zambia!

Back into routine!

Wow- we have now been living in Zambia for a month! It has gone so quick!
We have had a LOVELY half term and we are both really thankful for the break and time to settle in more.
Most of the time was spent relaxing, playing card games with other members of staff, practising table tennis (as Jona got utterly thrashed by the 12th grade boys!!) and preparing for next term.

One of the days we were offered to go on a trip to 'Mindola Dam' which is about an hour away from the school. There were quite a lot of members of staff who also went. It was great! One of the teachers has a small boat and took people out on it (However, we declined after learning about the resident crocodile -eek!). There was a small swimming pool (with a resident frog!) and an african braai (bbq). Was a brilliant day of getting to know people and enjoying a day outside of the school walls!

To be honest, the journey on route to the dam was quite eye opening. Seeing the living conditions of the majority of local zambian people is pretty tough. Living conditions are basic and a world away from our English housing. In some ways we feel so helpless...but we have also felt really challenged by the joy and welcome many Zambians have shown us even though they seem to have very little materially they are so joyful, cheery and their contented outlook is something that money cant buy ...

Yesterday was Zambian Independence day so it was great to meet with others and pray for Zambia; for leaders, government, young people, education etc. Followed by food and board games (with Jona losing again! hehe).

Jona is now busy preparing for his classes which start tomorrow and I am awaiting the arrival of the rest of the borders this afternoon. The 12th graders returned yesterday as many of them are sitting their igcse's at the moment.

Thanks to everyone who has been in touch and for following our blog- it is a great encouragement to know that people are thinking of us :-)

Jona and Kerry xxx

Half Term!

It is now VERY quiet here in the dorm as it is half term and all of the borders have gone home. Jona has been busy marking lots of exam papers and is quite shocked at how good their grades are! Not quite the same as his school in the U.K!
We have been enjoying the weather (well from inside) because the temperature is about 34-36 degrees. It is really too hot to leave the house before 3pm and we are getting into the routine of having a siesta.

Last weekend we had a local family over for lunch which was great, Marina (The lady in the middle) works in the kitchen at Amano and has already named me her 'White Daughter' so it was lovely to meet the rest of her family.

I think they were curious about the 'Muzungu' (white persons) food that I had cooked (lasagne) and also the fact that I laid the table with knives and forks as they would normally use their hands, but it was an interesting experience for them....

We have decided that we are going to have Bemba lessons (Bemba being the local language) once a week. Although most people here speak English we feel it is respectful to learn the language and show that we have a real interest in the culture. This will also help our experiences in town and travelling about, if we can speak Bemba people will realise that we're not just tourists!

Today we are off into town to try and acquire some forms for driving licenses to get the process in motion. Apparently it can be a verrry slow process so we'll see... Apparently no one passes first time as it helps to generate government revenue! hmmm..

Settling in :-)

Really cannot believe that we have now been here for 2 weeks. However, in many ways it actually feels as though we have been here longer.
We are now really settling into our new routines and getting more used to Zambian life (although I'm not too sure I will ever get quite used to the early mornings!)
Although Jona doesn't start a full timetable until after half term he has been covering peoples lessons and invigilating exams. Most of the older secondaries have exams at the moment and the 12th graders are sitting their IGCSE's before leaving in November. I am so surprised to see how much studying is going on. One of the girls even asked to be woken at 4am to study!! eek!

Last weekend was my first weekend on duty (I'm on every other weekend) and it was really full on! Up at 6.30am and entertaining primary girls for most of the day. But it was lots of fun- we made pancakes, cookies, played volleyball and did crafts.The girls are allowed to watch a movie on Saturday evenings and took great delight giggling at 'Mrs Kerry' who was nodding off during the movie! haha.
Me and 2 of the primary girls :-)

Jona and I are realising that it can be quite isolated because we are pretty much always onsite unless someone offers to take us into town. We are praying about the possibilty of going halves on a vehicle with a guy called Jarrett- a youth worker from America. This would really help us to be more independant and get off site every now and again. However, on Monday we took a walk on site at Amano towards a farmhouse where some staff live (the site is 500 acres so plenty of space for walking)  and we were so happy to see some monkeys in the trees eating the fruits!! We tried to get some pictures but they didn't seem to happy about this and we didn't want to get attacked! lol. Apparently they will happily steal food out of your hands if you have any.

Yesterday I went to town again to do some food shopping and am still shocked at the price of food here. Most food is either the same price as England or higher and yet Zambian salaries are so much lower! Our local supermarket!

Next week is half term so we are both looking forward to not having to get up so early! We are also hoping to do a bit more exploring of the local area. Thank you to everyone who continues to support us and make this all possible and it's really been great hearing from friends and family at home
xx

First Week!

Cannot believe we have now been here a week. It actually feels like we have been here a lot longer.
We have been shocked that the rainy season has already begun, the locals say that it normally begins in November. On Monday night there was a big thunder and lightning storm. Jona sat on the veranda videoing some of the lightning. I have had to take a picture of the still pic which is why my reflection is in the pic but it gives an idea of how bad the lightning is. And we have been told that this storm was very mild! eek.

However the temperature is still very hot (around 30 degrees) so hot rain! lol.

The first week here has been great and we feeling we are now beginning to settle in very well and get to know people. However, it has also been a bit of a roller coaster ride. There is a lot to get used to; We are having to get used to all the many different cultures- there are many nationalities amongst the pupils and volunteers all with different ways of doing things. We are also having to get used to our timetables and what our roles entail which has at times been confusing. We are slowly getting to know the pupils but I sense it might take a while.There are obviously a lot of volunteers coming and going and I sense that the pupils have experienced getting close to volunteers who then leave 6-12 months later. I think they are weary of getting close to new people. But over time this will come...

We have now had the opportunity to visit Chingola, we have discovered we will only be able to go as and when people offer to take us because it is too far and dangerous to walk!
The good news is that we are millionaires in Kwacha! £1.00=7,500 Kwacha. It's quite funny when you draw out say £100 from the cashpoint because the wad of money is humungous and they have no coins at all here!

We now have Zambian mobile numbers if anyone would like to stay in touch via text

Jona- 0961175770
Kerry-0961060891

Thanks to everyone who has been in touch- it is great to hear news from home.

We are here!! woop

Hello All!
Sorry it has taken a while to get on to update the blog but the internet at the school is verrrrry slow and a lot of sites are blocked from the students so we have decided to invest in a USB stick for the internet and 1GB of use.

The journey here on Tues/Wed was nearly 24hrs in total and we are still recovering really. But it was a good journey and we arrived safely and miraculously with all of our luggage (we were a little worried as there were 2 stops). We arrived in Lusaka and were then flown to Chingola in a VERY tiny aircraft. It could only fit 4 people in and we had to leave some of our luggage behind in the guest house.

 These are the pilots sat directly in front of us!! argh

Thank you to those who were praying abut my fear of flying- despite some bumpy bits it was all ok.

We finally arrived at the school and it looks fantastic! The people who set it up have obviously really thought it through. There is 500 acres of land owned by the school (land is cheap here!) but obviously the school is only on one small part of that. They hope to use the land to bring in revenue at some point.
The flat that we have been given is at the end of the girls of the girls dormitory and is really lovely. We already feel at home here.

 Kitchen!

Lounge

 Veranda outside our flat

Jona has already started teaching at the school including covering English Literature! haha. I have found that my role will be doing more pastoral care in the girls dorm but to start with I will be on a rota of waking at 5.45am to wake the girls and taking care of them when they are not at school.

I will write more when I can. Please stay in touch as it is lovely to hear news from home.