Lots happening!

Had a verrry busy few weeks but lots of exciting things going on :-)
Last week at T4:12 we had a 'Difficult Questions' Evening. Over the past month we have encouraged the young people to anonymously write down their difficult questions about Christianity, things which maybe they have felt unable to ask in the past.
We invited 10 different members of staff to come and make up 3 panels who would attempt to help answer these questions and facilitate discussion with the young people who were in small groups.
Glad to say that Jarrett and I made up the 'Cake Panel', where young people could come for a break to eat cake :-)

Last Friday Jon went away with some pupils for sports and returned on Saturday. A 5 hour drive!! The girls had qualified for a netball tournament. They competed well and got to the semi finals :-)

On Sunday we had 'Rock Of Hope' Sunday School and was sad to say goodbye to Miss Rachel, a school teacher who will be returning to Ireland in April. The older primaries did well in preparing for a drama about 'encouraging others' for the evening service.

Finally managed to get a picture of the young people at Sunday School :-)

This Friday we are having a'Swim-a-thon' Fundraising event where the students will be swimming overall for 12 hours. They will be in teams and will each have to do a stint in the water (they don't have to stay in for 12 hours!) but at any one time there will be somebody from their team in the pool.
Jona and I will be going along for the day and will also be swimming to raise funds.
The funds raised will go towards a swimming pool for the school. At the moment the school are using a very tiny pool in the local village but it is not ideal.
Some of the local mining companies and other companies have pledged charitable donations towards helping the vision of a swimming pool but we still need to raise funds.
If anyone would like to sponsor Jona and I and the pupils for our swimming efforts then please let me know and I can forward you the giving details for the school.

Can't believe there's only 11 days until we return to the UK- woop!!

Lovely long weekend!

Last weekend we broke up from school on the Thursday and then returned on Tuesday. Was sooo nice to have a few days break and even better that we went for a little getaway with some friends to Nsobe game park. About 2 hours from where we live.
It was great to be in a different environment, have some time out, lots of fun and all with great company!

This is the tent that we stayed in which looked out over a beautiful lake.

 Over the weekend we did lots of canoeing :-) and JOna caught a tiny fish! 

and we had 2 brilliant drives around the game park trying to see what we could spot! The first day was nice and sunny and it was amazing to be able to climb up on top of Dave's car as we drove around. On the second day we saw a giraffe standing in the road. Was great to see it so close!  We also saw zebra's and lots of other wildlife! 

Was a brilliant weekend away!

Now we're back at school and busy busy! Although the grade 11&12's have gone to Lusaka for a week away so things are a little quieter. 

Can't believe it is only 3 and a bit weeks before we return to the UK! woop

Ready Steady Cook!

Last Sunday we had a 'Ready Steady Cook' competition with Grade 11 and 12 Boarders :-)
The boys went with Mr Jarrett and cooked in his caravan and the girls came to our house and used our kitchen. We gave them identical ingredients and they had to be creative/resourceful and cook food for everyone else. We all met together after 1.5hrs of cooking time and ate together in our flat (a bit of a squeeze with 16!) and we had asked two of the other teachers on site to come and be judges at the end.

After some very good food :-) The judges decided that the girls were the overall winners (we later found out that the boys were knocking peoples doors mid way through cooking time looking for recipe books!)

Jarrett and I were then given a bit of a surprise when the 2 judges had decided that we would also have a cooking challenge. We had to see who could make a three egg omelette in the quickest time.
Neither omelettes ended up to be edible; our competitiveness meant that egg shell ended up in each others omelettes and I think most of Jarrett's eggs were spread across the table and in my hair!

The boys team!

It was a great evening and nice to do something different together :-)

Today is the last day of school before our long weekend, looking forward to a nice break and also only 1 month now until we return to the UK for a short holiday! woop!

Good times :-)

Sorry we haven't updated for a while. Been a busy few weeks with lots going on.

Last Friday the school hosted a cross country event where 3 other schools came and competed. The secondary course was 5km and the primary was 3km. It was great to see such team spirit and we were so pleased when Amano won overall for both primary and secondary! Jona and I helped with various tasks.

Last Sunday we had 'Rock Of Hope' Sunday School which went well and we focussed on the topic of prayer :-)
On Sunday night Jarrett and I (although mainly Jarrett) planned and organised our first 'borders fellowship'; a more informal church service in the evening for our boarders and other young people from the local area. Was a fun night which focussed on the theme of 'friendship'.

Jarrett and I were also excited because we got a new rug for T4:12 youth group! It will make it a lot easier for us then having to carry tonnes of little pieces!
I also managed to drive into town for the first time in a mini bus!! woopwoop. was pretty scary but very pleased i managed it :-)

Jona has had a busy week with writing reports for his students for both biology and chemistry. But we're both thankful that it's not as many as in England! He also had a successful 'student forum' meeting where the young people suggested ways that the school could get involved with helping other charities or offering charitable services in the local area.

I've had a fun week with the girls in the dorm. Did some mask making on Tuesday with the primaries.

Today I ran the school cross country course with some of the secondaries. I don't think they'd ever seen someone go so red! lol.

Next week is only a half week because of 'international womens' days on Thursday so we will have a long weekend off. We plan to go on a short break to a game park etc with some friends which will be exciting!