Christmas Adventures!

We have made the lonnnng journey from Livingstone to Bulawayo. We left ZigZag last Monday morning and safely made it across the Zimbabwean border. It was amazing to walk across the adjoining bridge between Zambia and Zim and see a glimpse of the Falls!

When we got to the other side we had originally planned to take a nice comfortable coach to Bulawayo but we discovered that they only ran on Tuesdays.eek. So instead we had to travel African style in a ‘commuter minibus’ or as the locals say “a chova”. Quite an experience! Never seen so many people crammed in the back of a minibus for nearly 7 hours!! We were a bit nervous as our luggage was thrown in a trailer on the back with a flimsy covering on. Others had warned us to keep an eye on our luggage. When we arrived luggage was all intact but everything soaking wet from the rain!

 When we arrived we were met by Jona’s Uncle Des and Aunt Mercia- they’re such a lovely couple and so welcoming and hospitable! They had set up their spare room for us and we immediately felt at home J

Since being here we have visited Jona’s childhood home (which the family still own but rent out); it was great to hear all of Jona’s memories of growing up there. 

We also visited his secondary school (CBC) and heard more stories. He says that things are much the same but just a lot more run down than they used to be!

We have visited Jona’s school friend; Ben De Klerk who still lives in Bulawayo. He is married now with 2 kids and it was great to stay a night with them and also attend their childrens christenings.

Last night we visited friends that Jona used to go to church with. A lovely family who told us a lot about the struggles they had experienced here in the tough years.

Overall we're having a great time here in Zim. We are travelling back to Victoria Falls this Friday and plan to stay there for 2 nights and then straight back to Zambia for Christmas with friends at Amano.

We wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS :-)

Jona and Kerry xxx 

Christmas Travels

We finished the last day of term at school on Friday with a Christmas concert performed by pupils from all of the grades! It was a brilliant performance and both Jona and I felt really privileged to be a part of Amano School

Straight after the concert on fri morning we caught a lift with a family from the school who were catching a plane in Lusaka and we needed to get to Lusaka so we could then make our journeys towards Zimbabwe for the Christmas hols. It was a 7 hour drive to Lusaka but it was great to get a lift in an air conditioned, comfortable car with good company :-)
We had previously booked a guesthouse in Lusaka so we could stay the night before heading down to Lusaka but were quite gutted when they rang to say that they had given our booking to someone else! We weren't best pleased but the manager said he would book a guesthouse somewhere for us at the same price and would escort us there once we arrived! Long story short but basically even the second guest house had given our booking to someone else. It seems whoever shows the money first gets the room! It was getting pretty late and we were tired but thankfully the manager then phoned and made another reservation at another guesthouse round the corner. We arrived to find a verrry basic guesthouse. Our room didn't even have proper running water, no mosquito net, a towel with blood on it.lol. But it was fine for just one night and was conveniently right next to the bus station for us to catch the bus to Livingstone on Saturday morning.
We had another 7 hour bus journey to Livingstone. We were thankful for air conditioning and lots of wee breaks :-) Finally arrived in  Livingstone yesterday and we're staying at a B&B called 'ZigZag'- it's really lovely with a pool and great food

Today we went into town and visited the David Livingstone Museum which was fun :-) We plan to come back to Livingstone to visit the Falls but tomorrow we will make our way to Bulawayo to visit Jona's Step Uncle and other friends. He hasn't returned to his home town in 10 years so we're really excited!
.         

Last week of term!

I can't believe there is now only 4 working days for us before the Christmas hols. This half term has gone sooo quickly!
Sorry that it has taken us a while to update the blog but we have been having problems with our internet connection- very frustrating. But a kind friend has lent us his laptop for the day :-)
The last week was a great week despite the fact that I have come down with a cold/flu type thing :-(
Last weekend we had a bit of a sad weekend saying goodbye to the grade 12's but we had a great celebration with a dorm party/talent night. Some of the pupils sang/performed for them and even some of the teachers!The primaries and I decorated the hall :-)

On the Sunday we had a leavers service and awards etc and met some of their parents before the left to go home. Was a verrrry emotional evening in the dorm for the rest of the girls who were so sad to say goodbye.

This weekend has also been great. Fridays our are days off and this week we decided to catch a lift with the school trip going to Ndola for a cricket match. We were offered a lift and we could then be dropped off at a shopping mall type thing and then picked up afterward! Ndola is about 2 hours away so it was a long trip there. When we got there we dropped off the cricketers at 'Simba international school' where the matches took place. The headteacher then gave the driver instructions to the shopping mall which was about 5 mins away. BUT...unfortuantely the driver had is own ideas on directions and even though we had actually seen and driven past the mall he still insisted it was in the opposite direction. So we had to sit patiently until he finally admitted after about 20 mins of dirt tracks etc that we were lost. lol.Thankfully Jona had remembered the route back and an hour later (also after a mini break down!!) we found the shopping mall and only had time for a quick trolley dash! Was frustrating at the time but a memory we shall remember with laughter!
And we managed to catch the end of the girls playing cricket which was good :-)

This weekend was the last one before we break up for Christmas so we were getting a bit christmasey in the dorm. I discovered that there was an old christmas tree stashed away in one of the cupboards which had been sent over a few years ago so the girls and I decided to put it up! Quite funny when its baking hot outside!!

So altogether its been a brilliant few weeks! Hope all is well at home!
Jona and Kerry x

Back to health!

I am pleased to say that Jona and I are now both feeling well and healthy :-) Yay!
Last week Jona only taught a few lessons as he was home most of the time trying to rest and recover.
However, we were pleased to both be OK for the weekend as we had been invited out to 'The Grill' in town for a meal. The first portion of chips in 2 months! We went with friends who are both from Zimbabwe so it was great for Jona to be able to share stories with them about Zim.

Saturday evening we had the Grade 9, 10 and 11 girls over for a meal in our flat with our friend Jarrett too! It was a great evening with lots of silly games too!

Sunday morning we held our first Primary Sunday School on the school site. Previously the children attend Bethel Chapel along with their parents and other children. However, this service is usually very long and not really aimed at younger children. So myself and Rachel (another volunteer from Ireland) decided that we would hold a Sunday School twice a month for Primary Children.
It went well :-) A bit of a trial and error but I think as it progresses it will really be of benifit to the Primaries!

We are now into a new week and I can't believe that there are now only 2 1/2 weeks until the Christmas holidays!!! The Grade 12's will be finishing their IGCSE's at the end of this week followed by a dorm party and then a leavers service and then they will be going home on Sunday. It will be a very sad day, especially in the dorm as some of these girls have been living in the dorm for years!

Some good news too is that I passed my Zambian Driving Theory Test yesterday! Quite funny as we were told to pick up our results at 3pm yesterday! But when we arrived they hadn't started marking the tests! So we had a long wait before we got out results. Because I passed I then had another long wait (amongst LOTS of others) to get the paper work sorted out. But I was sooo pleased not to have to do it all over again! Unfortunately Jona hadn't been well enough to take the test so he will have to reschedule!

A bit of a week!!! :-S

Unfortunately last week and this week so far have been a bit tough :-(
Last week I fell quite ill and in the end it was felt maybe I had an infection so I was given some antibiotics. It was quite a hard time of just staying in the flat mainly in bed. But thankfully I recovered well and am now feeling a lot better. However, today Jona seems to have come down with the same thing :-( And so he is now tucked up in bed! It is quite tough when you are missing people and the comforts of home. But I thank God that we have each other!
In the midst of all this I felt well enough to be on duty at the weekend in the dorm and thank God that it was another brilliant weekend! Saturday morning the primary children in the dorms played a friendly football match with a team which was put together by friends who work at a local home for street children.
Everyone seemed to enjoy it! The sun was shining and it was a great time to chat with people involved with a different type of project.
Saturday afternoon, Tanja (one of the German volunteers) and I prepared a craft for the secondary girls and we enjoyed decorating photoframes (which I had bought with me from UK) :-)

 Tanja! We are on duty together :-)

Sunday was another crazy storm! There was a Family Fellowship Service at the school in the new building. But the rain was so heavy on the tin roofing that the sermon had to stop because no one could hear the preacher! And later we discovered that the tin roofing on the carpentry workshop had been ripped off! I've never seen rain/thunder/lightning so intense! On Sunday afternoon Jona went to help repair the roof with some others.
Last night we had a lovely time with some other teachers and we really feel we are making some good friends here :-)
We hope everyone at home is well and we are always grateful to hear your news too :-)

Jona and Kerry x