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.

Lots of Holiday Fun!!

Sorry that it has taken us so long to update our blog recently! Been very busy. We had a BRILLIANT half term. The first few days we spent getting work duties out the way. Jon has been busy writing reports and planning lessons. Kerry was busy tidying the dorm and getting ready for the next half of term. On the Tuesday of half term (26^th) we went to the church on Solwezi road to give out donations. I managed to safely drive the whole way, it was quite out in the bush. We were very surprised when the WHOLE church came to greet us with dancing and singing. There was a short church service and then we gave out the donations. It was a little difficult as some of the women and children were arguing over what they wanted!! Eek! Next time, we would like some of the students of Amano to come with us and perhaps build a link with this local community.

 Me driving to the church!

On the way!!

On the Wednesday we had the long old trip up to Lusaka, but thankfully we travelled smoothly and were delighted to arrive at ‘Stay Easy’ in Lusaka, a hotel much like a Holiday Inn in England. In a way it was nice to have some home comforts and we even got to eat a KFC at the mall opposite the hotel! Woop. We had a lovely few days of rest just reading books and watching some football.

                                                        On the BUs to Lusaka!!

                                                     Stay Easy Hotel- Verry posh!!

On Friday 29^th my Cousin Lauren arrived into Lusaka airport and she thankfully arrived safely. It is really lovely to have a family member visiting and she has really got stuck in with life in Zambia.

Me and Lauren enjoying a yummy treat in Lusaka!

We arrived back (after a verrrrry long and interesting journey!!) at Amano only to depart again on Saturday for Nsobe Game Park. We were keen to show Lauren some African wildlife. Unfortunately the game park had double booked our accommodation at the last minute, so they changed us to a bush camp in the middle of the game reserve. I had been a bit annoyed but it turned out to be an AMAZING blessing. It was a 5km drive from the main camp and was completely isolated and exclusive. But the 5 chalets were incredible.

 Sunset on the lake (with Jon's fishing boat in view-unfortunately no fish though! hehe)

Toilet with a view!!!

 The bathrooms were all outside with a view into the forest! In the evening we were able to sit outide around the camp fire and watch the Zebra’s and other animals feeding from the trough. It was truly an amazing experience. There was Jon, Lauren and I and 5 other friends. We really had great fun; game drive, massages, lieing in the sun, singing around the camp fire. The perfect holiday. If only it could have lasted longer!

We started back at school on Wednesday. It has been great seeing all the children once again J

On Thursday night we had a ‘Creative Prayer’ night. We set up 10 different creative prayer stations with creative ways of praying. It was nice to have something different and the young people seemed to really enjoy the time to be still and reflect (photo’s coming soon)!

Yesterday we had 4 other schools join us here at Amano for the Primary ’10 step’ athletics competition. It was a great day involving lots of skipping, hopping and throwing. Lots of staff got involved and although Amano didn’t win it was still a brilliant event!

Hope you are all well, we love hearing from home so let us know how things are with you!