Lower Zambezi!

Woopwoop! So we are still enjoying our school holidays which are rapidly coming to a close as the boarders return tomorrow. But we have certainly been making the most of our time off with each other and friends at a quiet Amano. 
On Monday we returned from an amazing holiday with friends at Lower Zambezi; we stayed just outside the national park but went in nearly everyday on the boat. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking, words can't even describe watching the red African sun setting in the middle of a vast river sitting on a boat whilst hippos pop up their heads to say hello (or get lost!).

 We had lots of fun fishing (well...trying to fish!)...Our friends Hilton and Liselle both caught tiger fish and it was great to watch and learn from their fishing experience. I enjoyed the fishing part of the trip a whole lot more than I was expecting. Jon was hooked (hehe) on the fishing but despite his best efforts unfortunately only caught a few small fish, although I think he was quite pleased with his spotted squeaker and really enjoyed the tranquillity of sitting on the boat in the sun remembering days gone by of fishing with his Dad in Zimbabwe!

 I would love to boast that I caught this fish by myself and with the rod in my hand I almost look like a professional but actually (with much hilarity) I just helped Liselle to reel it in! Anyway, makes for a good pic I guess!

We saw lots of wildlife and being in the boat meant we could get up quite close to the elephants and the crocs with the knowledge that we could whizz away when we needed to! It was the hippo's I was a little less sure about (especially when we accidentally flew right over the top of one..eek! Poor hippo must've had a terrible headache!).

Playing on the sandbanks!

  It was an amazingly refreshing time and helped us to relax as we start the last leg of this Zambian journey, we have hit a few hippos in our time here but God is faithful and has continually provided and guided us on this epic journey.

Where did July go?

Wow, I can't believe that it has been a month since we last blogged! The last few weeks of term were chocca block with events and activities as we came zooming into the summer holidays...
It's hard to remember all that we have done over the past month but some highlights were;

Grade 12 Quiz Night- 19th July

The grade 12's did a fantastic job at hosting their own 'Culture Quiz night' to raise money for their leavers do in November. As you can see they were all dressed in amazing cultural attire. The students did a great job at embarrassing staff as they invited us on to the dance floor for ballroom dancing. Most couples wisely declined but before I knew it Mr Rass had whisked us up on to the dance floor for a solo performance. Eek. 

Some of the Grade 12 students

Mr and Mrs Rass!

Grade 8 students

The winning table!

Margeret and Lukundo

We had a great meal, lots of random questions and some great performances by the students! And to top it all off, our table won the quiz! Some good guessing I think!

Sports Day- 27th July

This year sports day became even more competitive as the scoring was based on our new 'house' system. The whole school has been split up into a certain 'house'; either Luano, Musenga or Kasompe each with a house colour! It was also the first time we had had the primaries and secondary sports days all together so it was a very packed schedule with children running, skipping, javelin-throwing all over the place! But it was an excellent day and it was good to see all the students participating and giving things a go!

We also had some talent 'scouts' there looking for national level talent! I think they ended up approaching 3 of our students which was a great boost for them! 

Mr Rass sporting Kasompe colours and some interesting socks!

presentation of awards

Volunteers Leaving Party- 30th July

It was also that time of year again when we sadly had to sadly say goodbye to the German Liebenzell volunteers who have been volunteering at Amano in the dorms, worksite and school over the past year. Unfortunately our photos were all too dark but I hope to post some soon. The students and dorm staff prepared an excellent evening of entertainment, food and games as a way of saying goodbye to the volunteers. 

Now we remain at a very quiet Amano as the students all left last week. So far we have just been relaxing and enjoying time together!