Christmas!

We have now been back in England for just over a week! It has taken a little bit of getting used to with the cold weather, early dark evenings and crazy busyness of Southampton! But what an amazing blessing it is to be back with friends and family and have a break from school life.
We've found it a little bit weird culture wise and I think we have both suffered a bit of reverse culture shock this time being back, I think because of the consumeristicness of Christmas- the shopping and money side of things seems to have grown worse or maybe we are just not used to it. We're very glad that our families have decided to go for a 'secret santa' making it a little easier and less expensive :-)
I had a brilliant time with my friend Joey in Newcastle over the weekend. She got married in October and it was great to see all the wedding pics and her new house (and husband!). It was a real blessing to spend time with them :-)
Jon and his brother played 8 games of squash together (apparently they carried on playing until Jon won! lol. Brotherly competition!)
I had a lovely surprise when Jon picked me up from the airport on Sunday night and whisked me away for a little getaway in a posh hotel in Southampton :-) Was just what we needed as things have been rather busy and we haven't had much time just to relax. Also gave us some much needed time to reflect over the last year in Zambia and pray about the future...

On Monday we were able to catch up with our friends Ryan and Vicky and their beautiful son Tristan. They have recently moved from Southampton to Milton Keynes so it was great that they could come down and see us!

And then last night I met up with two of the most loveliest amazing girls EVER.. Vicky and Helen! It was quite a special meet up as it's the last time for two years that we will all be in the same place at the same time as Helen is going to Southern Sudan in January for two years as a community/dance worker with CMS. It was just what I needed and it really felt like taking in a big breath of fresh air as we spent time sharing our journey stories over the past year, our struggles, our joys...lots of laughter, tears and FOOD!!!

plus....Mr Bean made a guest appearance!

hehe.
It's great to be back and we really appreciate all of the support we have from friends and family here :-) xx

So long grade 12's!

As I reflect on the last few weeks since I last wrote the blog it is amazing to see how much we have squeezed into this time!
I won't write about everything otherwise it would be an extremely long blog but some of the things we've been up to is;
A meal with Jons tutor group, A white elephant party in the girls dorm, A safari dinner with the youth group, A sleepover with the primaries, lots of monopoly and the completion of the yearbook(phew!)! It's been a jam packed few weeks but a brilliant few weeks too! Lots of fun :-)
This week has been bitter sweet as we have said our farewells to Grade 12's and to 6th form. They have now finished their exams (well... some unfortunately have one more tomorro!)
Thursday we had the dorm farewell party which was amazingly organised and put together by the Grade 11's, they organised a brilliant night of entertainment :-)

(above)Chipe and Chigo who hosted the evening!

(below) Grade 12 girls with one of their teachers!

Yesterday the dorm became a beauty parlour as the grade 12's got ready (and completely transformed!) for their meal out with some of the school staff. As one of the dorm parents I had the privelege of being invited along to the meal and what a fantastic evening it was! The students had raised all of the money themselves for the evening and it was well worth it :-)
They all looked completely amazing as you can see!

(above) The whole grade 12 class

(below) some of the girls with 2 of their teachers

    (below) Myself with Miss Clara(fellow girls dorm parent) and Mrs Kmanga (boys dorm parent)

This morning we had the leavers service in the school hall and again it was a BRILLIANT service. It was lovely to hear the students speak and reflect on how much being at Amano has influenced them in a variety of ways. It really is a special place and a privilege to be a part of it all :-)

One thousand gifts...

I cannot believe that a month has nearly passed since I last blogged! Time seems to pass so fast. There are now only 4 weeks until we return back to England for Christmas. I have been reading  a book recently called ‘One thousand gifts’ by Ann Voskamp.

 It has really got me thinking about time and how time is such a gift; to be treasured and thankful for. It’s easy to look ahead to Christmas and wish time to pass by quickly for the moment of being reunited with loved ones; one of my famous quotes has always been “I cannot wait until...”and I cannot tell you how much I cannot wait to see my Mum, Dad, Des Brenda, Vicky, Helen, Joey, Tanz and all you other wonderfully special people back in the UK, but this book has really challenged me and reminded me of a quote I read long ago ‘Wherever you are, be all there’. So easy to say but so hard to do. Voskamp rightly quotes that ‘Time is a relentless river. It rages on, a respector of no one. And this, this is the only way to slow time: When I fully enter time’s swift current, enter into the current moment with the weight of all my attention. I slow the torrent with the weight of me all here’. Her challenge is to live slow, to take note of each moment and enter fully into it, giving thanks to God for each small blessing along the way.

It has been a real eye opener as I have sought to find beauty and joy each day, even when things are busy and times are sometimes tough. Like last week Thursday when little Laura came to play ( I babysit her on Thursdays); it was such a pleasure to feed the fish with her in the rain and to share her joy as she proclaimed “Miss Kerry, look at the purple things in the water!”. Beautiful purple flowers growing from the ugly green lilies on the pond; something which I may not have usually taken any notice of!

And yesterday when I took the primaries swimming (and it rained again!); how wonderful to watch the girls laugh and play and sing at the top of their lungs!

 Moments which pass by so quick and the day is gone, I now realise these moments need ‘the weight of all my attention’ if they’re to be truly enjoyed and treasured.

Now I think of it, there are lots of great things to report from the last month. One of the most memorable being our visit in half term to see Jons brother (Rob) at Kaloko where he has been living and working for the past 3 months. It was another African adventure as we made our way there on public transport; a journey which should have taken 3 hours but unsurprisingly took 8 as we waited for buses to fill up and cars to be fixed; never a dull moment! It was sooo great to be able to picture where Rob has been living and meet the people who have been a part of his journey here in Zambia. His living and working conditions are certainly not what we are used to here at Amano; Kaloko is a much more rural/village setting with more basic living conditions. 

But we loved every minute of it. His friends were a joy to spend time with as we ate, sang and played games together. We also had the privilege of hearing Rob preach at church on the Sunday. It was quite sad to say goodbye to this special place and it was only last weekend that Rob finished his time at Kaloko and heads for Zim and then back to England.

This weekend, Jon and I took a few of the girls to see a local fireworks display. The fireworks were a lot lot better than we had been expecting and we had front row seats; with health and safety standards at a minimum we found ourselves VERY close to the display. It was a great night and lovely to do something different with the girls J

I want to finish this update with one last quote from Voskamp; ‘The brave [are those] who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light... When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices, life grows’. What an oasis in thought when so often we’re surrounded with negativity. 

Exams!

Not much to report this week. The Grade 12's and 6th form are currently sitting their IGCSE's and A-Levels and they patiently count down the days til it's all over! The Grade 12's will leave at the end of November; it's a happy time to see them complete their years at Amano but also sad to know that we will lose some of them in November :-(
It was such a blessing to have a visit from Rob; Jon's brother a few weeks ago, he is currently living and working in Mpongwe (about 2 hours from us). It was a busy weekend for us as I was on dorm duty so I think he was probably shattered after swimming, squash, capture the flag, Sunday School, Boarders fellowship etc but fantastic to have him around!!

Jon has been very busy these last few weeks as he works with some students to complete the long-awaited Amano year book which will hopefully be ready in December. I had a preview of the book yesterday and it looks brilliant. He has even sought advertising for the book to bring down the cost to students. Will put some of the staff and student pics up as soon as they are available.

Last weekend was quite a tough one for us as our friend Joey was getting married in the UK(she was a bridesmaid at our wedding). I had thought long and hard about flying back to be there but with us coming back in Dec and the cost involved I decided not to. But praise the Lord for facebook(!) and being able to see the pictures the next day. It looks as though it was a beautiful day :-)

Next week is our last week at school before the October half term, we hope to take a trip to Mpongwe to go and see where Rob is working!

One year here!

Wow, this time one year ago we were on our way to Zambia!! Jon and I were laughing as we reflected on the past year; we literally had no idea what we were stepping into when we got on that plane a year ago! But praise the Lord that we stepped out in faith! It's been a roller coaster ride but we thank God for his direction in our lives. Coming here has been a life-changing experience and to be a part of the Amano community is such a blessing.
On Sunday we had the incredible privelege of seeing three of the young people from school being baptised! It was such a moving service as we heard these young people tell their raw and genuine testimonies about giving their lives to Jesus. For us, this is the core of why we are here; to see the young people making a choice to follow Christ and to live out their lives passionately in pursuit of Him.

It is a strange time here at school at the moment as the Grade 12's prepare to start the IGCSE's in October. It starts to become a reality that these students will soon be leaving Amano with the exception of those staying for 6th Form. Living on campus and seeing these students day in and day out (especially those in the dorm) means that we are very much a family here; it will certainly be sad to say goodbye!

But we had a brilliant evening last Friday as we attended the Grade 12 fundraiser; they are trying to raise money for a final outing together as a year group. So they hosted a dinner and quiz night in the school hall. They did a brilliant job in decorating the dusty bare hall. It was incredible that 90 people bought tickets (in comparison to 30 last year) ad the whole evening was a great success (apart from my quiz knowledge!).

I had also wanted to post a picture of the new volunteer, Melanie who is now helping out in the Girls Dorm. Mel has come from an organisation in Germany called 'Liebenzell'. She has been here for 4 weeks now and is a HUGE blessing to us. I managed to get a picture of her and the primaries :-)

Football, squash and jousting!!

Sorry it has been a while since we last blogged, term is now well under way and we are busily back into the swing of things! I can't believe that we have nearly been back 3 weeks already..time is flying!

The first weekend we were back Jon went to meet his brother Rob in Ndola and they went to watch Zambia vs Uganda at the new(ish) football stadium. Thankfully Zambia won!!

They had a great time together; it is such a blessing to have a family member close by. We plan to visit his project on October Half Term. Rob continues to work in Mpongwe (about 2 hours from us). You can see his blog at http://www.doingmybusinessinthebush.com/

Life in the dorm is going well so far this term. We have 26 girls and we are currently working hard as a staff team to help create more of a community and family atmosphere. We have made quite a few small changes to ensure that the girls are participating more in dorm duties, including organising activities for Friday evenings. We have introduced a reward system; 'Dorm Points' which is so far going very well!! and we have also tried to introduce a weekly prayer meeting with the girls.

                                                      Baking with the primaries!!

Last weekend Jon and I took the secondary girls into town to play squash! I so wish I had taken my camera as there were some brilliant moments. I'm glad to say that most of the girls are about the same squash playing level as me! enthusiastic but not so good at hitting the ball! We had a great laugh and it was brill to spend time together :-)
Jon has now started to get more involved with dorm life so that we get to see each other a bit more. He is now coming in every tuesday evening. So far it is working out well.

T4:12 (youth group) is still running regularly on Thurday evenings for secondary students. Our theme this term is based around 'God has a plan for your life'; Last week we talked about Courage and tonight I will be talking about having our Identity in Christ. We continue to have lots of loud and silly games; it's great to see the students relax and let their hair down after a busy week of studying, especially as it comes closer to the IGCSE's.

Last week, the young people dressed up one of their team members as knights and then we held a jousting competition! I've not laughed that much in a long time!

This weekend is also a busy one; the grade 12's will host a 'quiz and dinner' night tomorrow to raise funds for their graduation activities and then Sunday 3 students are getting baptised at the Amano Family Worship. Very exciting!!

Back to normality!

So, Yesterday was the first day of school of the third term! The borders came back on Monday and so the peace of the dorm is broken! It has really been great to see the girls, catch up with them and get back into routine :-)
We have certainly been blessed with an amazingly relaxing holiday and we're feeling refreshed and ready to go again now!
Jon has been verrry busy trying to get his driving license sorted. He reckons he has queued for over 20 hours last week trying to see the driving centre manager and get all the documents etc sorted. A good test of his patience! He managed to pass his theory test with 86%. He took his test yesterday- and YAY!! He passed!! So so pleased as we both now have our Zambian driving licenses!

In the holidays Jon's brother came to visit; he is currently working for 'Kaloko Trust' near Ndola (about 2 hours from us). He came to stay with us for the weekend! It was a massive boost for both of us to see a member of family and Jon and Rob enjoyed some beloved computer games together! Jon hopes to see him again this coming weekend :-)

We managed to squeeze in a whole day of movies as some of us gathered to watch the WHOLE lord of the rings trilogy! Numb Bum!!

As promised, here is a pic of my friends baby- he is called Mumba Lumpa!

Today, I got some amazing cushion covers made for the youth groups old battered sofa's. So chuffed with them that I thought I'd upload a few pics :-) They will look good in the banana house when it is ready!

Jon has settled back into school life and the kids are enjoying his 'mini-affro'!! No time for a haircut yet!

Can't believe we have now been here a year! Time is flying too fast.

happy days :-)

We're having a lovely holiday so far. Really enjoying our time at the farm- so peaceful and relaxing. Last week we spent most of the week catching up with friends, watching the American 'Office' (amazing!) and doing a bit of preperation for next term.

Tuesday was our 2nd wedding anniversary and we enjoyed a very chilled out day which mainly consisted of me getting thrashed at Monopoly again(!) by Jona. We had a mini braai in the evening where Jon cooked us a lovely steak and we ate in the garden :-) We both can't believe that 2years have slipped by so fast...but what a brilliant 2 years it has been :-)

On Wednesday we had an 'interesting' day in Lusaka when we went to try and collect our work permits. It was great that we were able to fly down in one of the little planes, only took 1.5hours as opposed to about 7 on the bus! We arrived at immigration, never been there before and it was a real experience!! lol. I think we spoke to most of the staff members in the building and were back and forth between desks and after approx 3-4 hours we unfortunately left empty handed :-( It seems that they have been misplaced somewhere in the endless stacks of blue files!  So after waiting a year for them, the search goes on!
But we did have a lovely lunch with some friends at a curry place. I had an AMAZING sweet and sour, almost like what you might get in England :-) We had a quick look around a few shops, it's very interesting to see how westernised the shops etc are in Lusaka, it was almost like looking around West Quay in Southampton!

On Thursday Jon and Jarrett spent the morning painting the banana with a white undercoat. It's very exciting to slowly see the banana house taking shape as we prepare for it to become a youth building where we can meet for youth group/discipleship groups/socials etc. We plan to let the young people come up with ideas for what colour it will be and all the interior designs etc. Should be fun :-)

Yesterday Jon went to Ndola to meet his brother who has arrived in Zambia! woop. He will be working just past Ndola for a charity called Kaloko. He will be helping to set up a radio station and doing some business research for them. They came back on public transport and it's really great to have Rob here for the weekend. We went to a friends house last night and had a great evening playing board games and relaxing.

Whilst Jon went to Ndola, I went to Amanda and Sarah to Chingola to see Illona (a primary teacher from the school who has gone on maternity leave). Her baby is called Mumba and is now 4 weeks old. He is soooooo cute and it was great to see Illona looking so well!

Really enjoying our hols so far and happy that today has no schedule apart from reading books and playing squash (for the boys!).

TwaDusha (To Rest)

In the last couple of weeks it has been quite busy, stressful and felt like a cricket innings at times. And now we have reached a rest and recoup point. There have been some real gems from the last few weeks, firstly spiritual emphasis week came at just the right moment and was really refreshing for all who attended the talks. In that week one of the students decided to become a christian. The Girls dorm has become more of a community, last weekend they all had a meal together from the chicken the village gave us and they have also been helping with different dorm duties. We are very pleased with how there is a good sense of community developing and hope it continues into the new term.

Also Did  not mention this in the last blog but it was a historic moment for me as I managed to beat Dave at squash 2-1, which is a 1st so now need to keep running for the ball, Good thing the court is small in Squash.

We're excited that Jon's brother is currently travelling to Zambia, he is coming to work in Ndola (about an hour and a half from us) for 3 months with a charity called Kaloko Trust. It will be brilliant to see him and we're really excited for his arrival!

Today was a sad day as we said goodbye to Matt and Louise, a couple who have been helping at the school and in the dorms for the last 3 months. We have become very good friends with them both and it will be very sad to see them go. But we had a fantastic day together with them; they cooked us a lovely lunch and then we had a dip in the verrrry cold swimming pool.

We are currently staying at our friends house. They have gone to Germany for the holidays and offered for us to house and cat sit. It is a gorgeous location and we're absolutely loving it already :-) They have 5 cats which is pretty fun! One of them brought in a dead bird this morning- yuk! Feathers everywhere!

Zebra's, Sports, Music, Killing chickens and more Sport!!

Thought I would start this post with a few more pics of our amazing trip to Nsobe in the half term (beginning of July)

Since Half term we have had a very jam packed half of term! Can't believe my cousin has already been and gone, a month passed so incredibly quickly!!

Beginning of July we had the primary 10-step athletics where 4 others schools came to Amano to join in with skipping, throwing, high jump, running and lots more! All staff members got involved- it was a BRILLIANT atmosphere. Unfortunately Amano didn't come in first but it was great fun.

The students were all involved in a school production, organised by parents and students! They performed 'Around the World in 80 minutes'. The whole performance was outside with the audience in the centre watching the journey through different countries happening all around us.- lots of amazing dancing and acting! 

Don't have any photos at the moment but hope to get some asap.

We've had some lovely times recently in the girls dorm- lots of girly fun! We had another pamper day recently with the products donated by my Mum and her workmates (Thank you)!

And some limbo fun with the primaries!!

Last weekend we had another beautiful sunny day for secondary sports day. It was Amano Secondary students competing against each other. Again all the staff got involved and it was another great day!!

Last week was a sad week for us as we said goodbye to the German volunteers who have been helping in the girls dorm, boys dorm, school and building site! Miriam and Tanja (helping in the girls dorm) were here when we first arrived and really helped me to settle into the dorm. It was sooo sad to say goodbye and scary to think that we have nearly been here a year already!! wow!! It has also been a hard few weeks here in the dorm without the volunteers helping out.

Today, Jon went to give out some clothing donations at a local church, he decided to take some students along too. I will ask him to blog soon and write about it. But I was shocked when they returned with a live chicken in the minibus. It was given as a thank you present from the receiving church!! One of the local ladies killed it for us and the girls cut it up so we can eat it for our supper tomorrow! (Photo's to follow)! Not sure if I will now go back to being a vegetarian after seeing the head chopped off. eek!!

We have one week left now until August holidays-can't believe how time is flying so fast.