Dear Friends and Family,
Only three more weeks of term to go, and what a lot has to happen in those three weeks! It’s a little overwhelming when I think of rehearsals for the Christmas program, finishing up my planned lessons, finals week, report cards, and all the extra things that happen at the close of a school year. It’s a good thing I serve the Lord, the giver of strength to the weary!
The rainy season is now officially started, and we are looking forward to the weather cooling off a bit more. After just a few weeks the grass and leaves are springing to life and once again Sakeji is becoming a very green spot. With all the rain there are also changes in the amount of insect life out and about as well as snakes. Flying ants, or ‘tuswa’ have been out in full force, we are once again keeping an eye out for army ant columns as we walk, and all kinds of other interesting bug have made their appearance as the rains flush them out. There have been more snake sightings this term as well—praise the Lord for His protection of the staff and children! I had a near encounter with a big snake down at the dam a few weeks ago and had a small, bright green snake on my porch a few days later. Fortunately for us the 60 students make so much noise and commotion that generally snakes don’t venture into the main part of the station, which is a very good thing as there are so many small children who don’t pay much attention to their surroundings.
The grade 7 exams were successfully written the last week of October, so now the students can relax a bit and focus on finishing out the term well. Of course they are also anxiously awaiting their exam results! Not only do we have the national exam to administer, but this is also a busy time of year for us because we are interviewing new students and their families. We are also going to be making decisions about students who might need to be held back a year. Your prayers for wisdom for us are greatly appreciated. We have recently been remembering as a staff the promise in James, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously...” This term break we will also be looking at our curriculum, considering resources to purchase, and planning for the future. There are a lot of exciting dreams and plans for Sakeji in the next few years, and we want to make sure that we proceed to the glory of the Lord and in His will.
Since term ends on December 1, we are having to fit in all the Christmas things this month, so Jill and I will be making Christmas cookies with the senior girls tomorrow to serve to the parents at the end of term show, and rehearsals are in full swing for the end of term program featuring songs about bells and angels. We are going to be starting our school advent calendar next week, and I have been reading an advent story to the children in prayers. I’m excited about my first Sakeji Christmas and all the little ways we’ll celebrate with the kids before they go home. We would appreciate your prayers for all of us, students and staff, to finish this term out strong, and that the program will be a blessing to the parents.
Thanks again for all your prayers and support—I am so thankful for the wonderful circle of family and friends the Lord has blessed me with. How wonderful to know that I am loved and prayed for. May we be found faithful in what He has called us to,
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Still alive!
Well, my mother thinks I should update my blog, so here goes!
I’ve been very, very busy these last few weeks—keeping up with my 17 students, planning and rehearsing for the end of term program, trying to keep my house clean enough that I can work at the table, and all the million and one other things that go into working at a boarding school are keeping me pretty occupied!
There are only three more weeks of term, and Monday and Tuesday of this week is our second half term, so we will all be getting a welcome change of pace/break. Independence Day, October 24th was a lot of fun—the bonfire was a hit even though it was raining pretty hard. The kids enthusiastically ran around it in the mud anyway, and then enjoyed hot chocolate and donuts in the main sitting room before going to bed.
I’ll try and write more later—I need to get a few more things done before heading back to my house. Sorry it’s been so long—I’ll try to be more faithful in updating.
I’ve been very, very busy these last few weeks—keeping up with my 17 students, planning and rehearsing for the end of term program, trying to keep my house clean enough that I can work at the table, and all the million and one other things that go into working at a boarding school are keeping me pretty occupied!
There are only three more weeks of term, and Monday and Tuesday of this week is our second half term, so we will all be getting a welcome change of pace/break. Independence Day, October 24th was a lot of fun—the bonfire was a hit even though it was raining pretty hard. The kids enthusiastically ran around it in the mud anyway, and then enjoyed hot chocolate and donuts in the main sitting room before going to bed.
I’ll try and write more later—I need to get a few more things done before heading back to my house. Sorry it’s been so long—I’ll try to be more faithful in updating.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
BRRRR
I'm waiting for my body termperatures to sort themselves out after joinging the "Polar Bear Club" for the second morning in a row. Let's just say that even though this is Africa, the water approaches glacial temperatures, and jumping into what you know is cold water when you can see your breath floating gently in the chill morning air is not only hard, but once you get in a go mostly numb, exhilerating. Oh, the joys of half term!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Pictures
Well, Photobucked cooperated today, so here are some pictures of my house and the 'stuff bomb' that hit it.
First of all, this is what my house looks like from the outside.
That is the kichen door, and to the right is the bathroom window. Further right (and just out of the picture) is my bedroom window. That little door in between the bathroom and my room is a tinny little storage area. I love my porch--that's where Ceili spends the days and where I go to breath and peer through the trees at the valley in the evenings.
When I came back to my house last Tuesday, I found this in the kitchen:
12 boxes from some assemblies in Canada, and this was outside the house:
My two crates!
I emptied the crates that evening in case of rain, and after piling that stuff all over the house I attacked the boxes as well so I would have boxes to sort stuff in. This is what my house looked like later that night:
It seemed like there was stuff everywhere! I've got it mostly put away now--finding places for things takes almost as much energy as putting things in that place after getting them out!
Two days later, G. Hanna came up from Chit with this for me:
7 of my 10 boxes of stuff. It was so nice to get my own things--things that I had been saving for when I had my own house and now were delightfully falling into place and making Valley View even more my home.
Today is the first day of half term, and I'm enjoying the chance to get caught up on some stuff! I think a nap is in order this afternoon...
First of all, this is what my house looks like from the outside.
That is the kichen door, and to the right is the bathroom window. Further right (and just out of the picture) is my bedroom window. That little door in between the bathroom and my room is a tinny little storage area. I love my porch--that's where Ceili spends the days and where I go to breath and peer through the trees at the valley in the evenings.
When I came back to my house last Tuesday, I found this in the kitchen:
12 boxes from some assemblies in Canada, and this was outside the house:
My two crates!
I emptied the crates that evening in case of rain, and after piling that stuff all over the house I attacked the boxes as well so I would have boxes to sort stuff in. This is what my house looked like later that night:
It seemed like there was stuff everywhere! I've got it mostly put away now--finding places for things takes almost as much energy as putting things in that place after getting them out!
Two days later, G. Hanna came up from Chit with this for me:
7 of my 10 boxes of stuff. It was so nice to get my own things--things that I had been saving for when I had my own house and now were delightfully falling into place and making Valley View even more my home.
Today is the first day of half term, and I'm enjoying the chance to get caught up on some stuff! I think a nap is in order this afternoon...
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Rain!
We had our first rain on Tuesday night--it was so wonderful! Things have been so hot, so dry, and so brown that we have all been longing for the relief a storm would bring. When the first thunderclap came overhead during supper, all the kids cheered! Ah, nothing like the sound of rain on a tin roof, or the smell of it falling on African soil. Praise the Lord for His goodness!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Lusaka Trip
Whew—am I glad to be home! The trip to Lusaka and back had its moments, but was also very busy as there was so much school and personal business to attend to. Some of the highlights of the trip include:
• Being proposed to twice—once by a kid in Lusaka and once by a street vendor in Kitwe
• Getting to meet the Towse clan at the Flight House—what an amazing family!
• Getting to meet all the other missionaries who came through the Flight House—now the entries in the Missionary Prayer Handbook are more than just a face.
• Getting to shop at the two malls—Manda Hill and Arcades. The two main grocery stores are Shoprite (think a mostly food Wal-Mart) and Spar (think Kroger/Brookshires). I also got to browse two book stores, visit an internet cafe, and found an ironing board and toaster at Game (think Target).
• Visiting Munda Wanga, a small Zoo/Botanical Garden on the outskirts of Lusaka. Though it looks a little shaggy and run down, it was fun to see the animals and to reflect on how you could never get that close to a cheetah in an American zoo!
• Surviving Lusaka traffic and street vendors—it’s a jungle out there! All major intersections and round-a-bouts have 1-5 people dashing in and out of the lines of cars shoving their merchandise at your windows. Most of the vendors are selling talk time for cell phones, but depending on the part of the city you can buy lamps and shades, steering wheel covers, car cell phone chargers, belts, pants, nasty fake fur dashboard covers, pirated movies, umbrellas, sunglasses, produce, car mats and maps. I got a k50,000 talk time card (mostly you can only get k5,000’s up here as that is all most people can afford to buy at one time) and a car charger for my cell phone as those sorts of things don’t normally make it up to this neck of the bush!
• Attempting to get my Zambian drivers license, and after not having time to take the road test in Lusaka, attempting to pass the drivers test in Kitwe. There was a T shaped area marked off with cones, and you had to drive up and to the left and then back out, and then drive up and to the right. One of the driving instructors did it in my truck, but when I did it I managed to knock over a cone and run over another one before I was stopped. I tried to get the Road Traffic people to let me take it again that day, but when it became clear that I wasn’t going to be given than chance, I tried to back out of the test area, had to pull through again to go around the building, and ran over another cone (not on purpose!) on my way out. So, I have 6 months before my paperwork (which cost about $24) expires and I have to start all over again, so I guess there is the possibility of a trip to the Copper Belt in December. Ick. Oh well, at least I have a good story about how I failed!
• Getting to play with the 51 broiler day-old chicks that we bought in Kitwe and brought up with us on Wednesday. When they are really young like that they are so cute! The chicks were in a small box on Mrs. Ronald’s lap in my truck the whole way up from Chingola to Sakeji, and the whole way up they were protesting their treatment and life in general. When I finally got to bed Wednesday night after 10, I could STILL hear chicks in my head. Hard to believe that those cute balls of yellow fluff will be on the table in a little over a month...
• Running into some good friends unexpectedly in Lusaka and getting to catch up a little.
• Enjoying the heavenly curry that Auntie Anita made for me when I visited her one afternoon.
• The gas station food while we were traveling—no Twinkies and dried out hot dogs here in Zambia! You can get amazing somosas and meat pies to munch as you travel.
All in all it was an amazing trip, and while it’s a lot of fun to get to go shopping and find things like Vanilla, nuts and icing sugar, I am very glad to be back home in the bush. Give me sandy roads, cicadas singing, and my little houses any day!
• Being proposed to twice—once by a kid in Lusaka and once by a street vendor in Kitwe
• Getting to meet the Towse clan at the Flight House—what an amazing family!
• Getting to meet all the other missionaries who came through the Flight House—now the entries in the Missionary Prayer Handbook are more than just a face.
• Getting to shop at the two malls—Manda Hill and Arcades. The two main grocery stores are Shoprite (think a mostly food Wal-Mart) and Spar (think Kroger/Brookshires). I also got to browse two book stores, visit an internet cafe, and found an ironing board and toaster at Game (think Target).
• Visiting Munda Wanga, a small Zoo/Botanical Garden on the outskirts of Lusaka. Though it looks a little shaggy and run down, it was fun to see the animals and to reflect on how you could never get that close to a cheetah in an American zoo!
• Surviving Lusaka traffic and street vendors—it’s a jungle out there! All major intersections and round-a-bouts have 1-5 people dashing in and out of the lines of cars shoving their merchandise at your windows. Most of the vendors are selling talk time for cell phones, but depending on the part of the city you can buy lamps and shades, steering wheel covers, car cell phone chargers, belts, pants, nasty fake fur dashboard covers, pirated movies, umbrellas, sunglasses, produce, car mats and maps. I got a k50,000 talk time card (mostly you can only get k5,000’s up here as that is all most people can afford to buy at one time) and a car charger for my cell phone as those sorts of things don’t normally make it up to this neck of the bush!
• Attempting to get my Zambian drivers license, and after not having time to take the road test in Lusaka, attempting to pass the drivers test in Kitwe. There was a T shaped area marked off with cones, and you had to drive up and to the left and then back out, and then drive up and to the right. One of the driving instructors did it in my truck, but when I did it I managed to knock over a cone and run over another one before I was stopped. I tried to get the Road Traffic people to let me take it again that day, but when it became clear that I wasn’t going to be given than chance, I tried to back out of the test area, had to pull through again to go around the building, and ran over another cone (not on purpose!) on my way out. So, I have 6 months before my paperwork (which cost about $24) expires and I have to start all over again, so I guess there is the possibility of a trip to the Copper Belt in December. Ick. Oh well, at least I have a good story about how I failed!
• Getting to play with the 51 broiler day-old chicks that we bought in Kitwe and brought up with us on Wednesday. When they are really young like that they are so cute! The chicks were in a small box on Mrs. Ronald’s lap in my truck the whole way up from Chingola to Sakeji, and the whole way up they were protesting their treatment and life in general. When I finally got to bed Wednesday night after 10, I could STILL hear chicks in my head. Hard to believe that those cute balls of yellow fluff will be on the table in a little over a month...
• Running into some good friends unexpectedly in Lusaka and getting to catch up a little.
• Enjoying the heavenly curry that Auntie Anita made for me when I visited her one afternoon.
• The gas station food while we were traveling—no Twinkies and dried out hot dogs here in Zambia! You can get amazing somosas and meat pies to munch as you travel.
All in all it was an amazing trip, and while it’s a lot of fun to get to go shopping and find things like Vanilla, nuts and icing sugar, I am very glad to be back home in the bush. Give me sandy roads, cicadas singing, and my little houses any day!
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