Christmas

Dear All

As we are in the lull between Christmas and New Year I thought I would take the opportunity to write again.

In the last month we have had a busy time preparing for Christmas but it has all gone smoothly. The boys all chose 3 people in their families to gift special presents too and we gave each family a food parcel (including a chicken, rice, biscuits and some crisps) and blanket. Christine, Sarah and I went to buy the food and piled 25 bags of sugar, 25 bags of salt, 25 chickens, 25 milks, 25 tea leaves, 25 peanut butter etc etc into the trolleys. We filled one and abandoned it near the till while we filled another two! It was shopping on a very large scale but for about £10 a family we were able to make a difference to their Christmas day. For the people who were getting specific presents we bought clothes, which was also a mammoth shopping trip but Sarah decided, quite wisely, to opt out of that one!

Sorting out some of the families presents!

Most of our boys got MP3 players again this year which is good as it means they plug their headsets in and we don't have to listen to their noise - which is not music! (I am aware I sound like my mother there!) 3 of the guys had asked for bikes to make getting to and from school faster and also to give them a little more independence. The boys were all given their gifts in a laundry bag in an attempt to help them keep their rooms a bit nicer. They have all got instructions that they are not allowed to have more dirty clothes than will fit in the bag...

The tree on Christmas morning

The 6 boys who sat grade 7 exams all got their results this week. They all managed to pass which is a great achievement. All of the boys had skipped Grade 6 and 2 of them had skipped grade 5 as well. Some of the scores were lower than in previous years but considering how much they have skipped they should all still be very proud of their achievements! The Grade 12 results should be out next then the Grade 9s in February so they still have a while to wait.

The boys seemed to enjoy Church camp although not a huge amount has been said about. The theme was the wrath of God, please continue to pray that the messages they heard will effect them deeply.

This week we have been having a games tournament in the evenings. The boys chose what they wanted to play so we have had a mix of Uno, Cards, Risk and Monopoly. At the moment most games are into their second round and the competition in fierce! Not only are their prizes at the end but their honour is at stake.

Friday night we are planning to have a bonfire and fireworks then on New Years day lots more food. After that the diet starts. Some of the boys are busy telling me I am growing have eaten too much and although that is usually meant as a compliment in Zambia I think they are really trying to tell me something!

I hope you are all well.

Abi

Dear All

Since I last wrote we have had a lot of exciting things happening and also a few disappointments. Firstly with regard to the school it is no longer being sold. Mrs Mbewe, who is the owner and former head, has decided to come back and run the school for herself. She came back for a visit and it appears saw the state the business and school were in and decided she wasn't ready to give it up like that. Obviously this was very disappointing for us as we had started dreaming of all the opportunities a school would bring but it obviously wasn't what God wanted just now so we have accepted that and hope Mrs Mbewe can make the drastic changes needed to bring it back to the good school it use to be.

In other school news the pre-school class I run continues to grow. I now have 12 children regularly come and have just started talking to other children who live on our road and may start coming in January. Some of these children have been to school before but stopped due to financial problems and others have never had the chance. If these children come in it will take the class up to 22 pupils with an age range of 2-12 years and a wide variety of abilities. (Some of the younger ones being a long way ahead of the older ones.)

Some of the pre-school children playing with chalk powder after the lesson.

Friday was the last day of term for many of the boys so I took the older ones to a nice cafe/lodge on the edge of Lusaka for milkshakes and chips. They had a lot of fun and it was nice to spend some time with the boys just chatting and having fun after teaching them all year. With the little ones we had a pool party. We have got a small pool which we filled and although it was a cooler day, had great fun splashing each other and generally making lots of noise.

Our grade 7s, 9s and 12 have all finished writing exams now so are all anxiously awaiting results. Some have gone to visit family and one has been to the village to find his father who abandoned the family when they were very young and he hasn't seen since. He was able to find the father and they spent some time together. One of our other boys has made contact with an 'auntie' that he stayed with some years ago but hasn't seen since. She thought Sam had gone back tot he streets and was dead so you can only imagine her surprise and happiness when he went with Mr Banda and found her a couple of weeks ago.

Samson at his graduation

Last weekend we were able to celebrate the marriage of one of the older boys. 'Uncle' Brian stayed with Don and Christine for about 6 months when they first moved to the farm. He had finished university and was looking for a job. While he was at University he had someone sponsoring him but when he finished he had no one to stay with as he is an orphan. He now has a good job in one of the insurance companies and has married the daughter of one of the elders at church. It was an exciting day as some of the boys were involved in the celebrations. We were making the cakes and with over 250 guests it took a lot of work! Everyone was pleased with the results though and lots of the boys enjoyed helping with the baking and decorating.

With some of the boys. Our boys in the bridal procession.

Brian and Esnart

Since the wedding we have realised that there is less than a month until Christmas and we haven't started preparing. Between now and then we have a lot to do. Next week we will start putting lists and plans together and then start all of the shopping and other preparations. Also during this school holiday is the Kabwata church camp. So far 17 of our boys have said they are coming back from visiting family to go.

Abi

Please pray for:

• Church camp, that many of the boys will be influenced by what they learn.
• School, as it continues to grow and wisdom dealing with the big age range and ability. Especially the older children who have never had school before.
• Brian and Esnart as the start their life together.
• All of the boys as they go away to visit family and especially the boys who are waiting for results.
• Don, Christine and myself as we begin to plan and organise things for christmas.
  

Dear all

September has gone very quickly in a blur of activity, visitors and changes.

We had a couple of sad weeks at the start of the month with the death of the father of one of our boys. The father is someone who had been an alcoholic for many years and although we don't know the actual cause of his death it was likely to have been linked to that. At the same time it was very sudden and obviously very sad for the family. All of our guys were affected with the suddenness of his death and it made a lot of them seriously think about their own lives and how quickly they could end. The week after this we heard that Loveness, the sister-in-law to Auntie Yvonne, had also passed away. Although she was very sick with heart failure the doctors at hospital had expected her to live for another couple of years. The relatives had decided to take her home and didn't take her back to the hospital when her health deteriorated. This was very very sad for Auntie Yvonne who had spent so much time and effort trying to help Loveness only to be undermined by the relatives then almost blamed for the death because she hadn't been there. As a result of this Auntie Yvonne has still got a large family and it looks like it will stay that way for the foreseeable future. The family of Loveness have said the father should look after the children as he is still alive but Auntie Yvonne knows her brother doesn't have a house or a job so wont manage and it will end up with the children suffering. I think they children are settling in well now but it does mean Auntie Yvonne has 13 people staying in her 4 bedroom house.

Here are some of the children staying at Auntie Yvonnes house. Missing from the picture are baby Anna, Auntie Yvonne and Uncle Charles.

There have also been a couple of big developments in other areas. Some of you will have received an email from Don telling of a local school that is up for sale. The owner approached Christine to see if they would be interested in buying it. Initially we got very excited with the prospect of continuing the school and using it as a premises for all manner of different things, including a church and community school, then we had news that maybe the weren't going to sell after all. However last week they have come back to us to ask us to go ahead with a valuation and they are selling so we wait an see what happens next. Also in that newsletter Don mentioned about three boys who have come to know Jesus as their saviour. Lucky, Ackim and Owen have all come to know Jesus for themselves and have been a great encouragement recently. Other boys are also showing a greater interest in spiritual things which is very exciting.

At the end of September I had a visit from my brothers and Agi. It was really good to see them and we managed a trip to Livingstone to see the Victoria falls (although there wasn't too much water) and go across to Botswana for a safari. At the falls we walked across the top and stood very very close to the edge which was quite exciting. Agi decided it was a bit high up for her liking!

The three of us at the top of Victoria Falls

Other than that things seem to be continuing well. The grade 7s are 2 weeks away from starting their exams so tension and pressure is mounting. The grade 9s start their mocks in 2 weeks and the real things next month and Samson (grade 12) has started already and finishes in November. School at home is continuing well with the extra pupils although we are all suffering as it has really got hotter in the last few weeks!

Abigail

Please Pray for:

• Auntie Yvonne and all of her children!
• Lucky, Ackim and Owen and all of the other boys.
• The sale/prospective purchase of the school and all of the plan surrounding that.
• All of the boys in exam classes and that the tension and pressure wont get too much.

New Baby and Sick Relations.

This is just a quick update as it is only a few days since the last one.

There is great excitement around the farm at the moment because one of the girls Auntie Yvonne (one of the workers that stays on site) looks after has had a baby girl. Although the situation is not idea, she is a girl of 16 and the father is not interested, we are all very happy because she did not have a straight forward delivery. Two days after her waters broke she still was not in established labour. She had been sent away from a local clinic and told not to come back making a fuss until the contractions were stronger so Christine took the decision to send her to one of the better hospitals that she knows and works with. She was monitored over night on the Friday night but nothing was happening still and the baby was becoming distressed so on Saturday she had to have a c-section. She ended up with a stay of 5 days in hospital , blood transfusions etc and it could have very easily ended up with the death of either the baby, Berna or both if we hadn't managed to get her into the Coptic hospital. The problem appears to have been a low lying placenta which (according to people that know!) would have ended with massive bleeds and because of the lack of blood available here it is very unlikely Berna would have pulled through. Every day a woman here dies in labour in the major hospital because there is not enough blood and we were reminded of this just this week with one of Mr Tuesdays (the farm manager) relations dying just 2 days after giving birth of what is most likely a 'simple' complication.



As Berna needed blood and they wont give any until you have replaced the stock I took a group of 5 boys to the blood donation clinic. They were all very scared but we all gave blood and they realised it wasn't as traumatic as they though and you got free coke or milk afterwards. They are very easily bought!! We are hoping to start taking a group of boys every couple of months as quite a few of them have realised the importance of such a simple thing.

All of that happened 2 weekends ago. Then on Sunday night a taxi arrived with another relative of Auntie Yvonnes in. She was in a serious condition and the family who had been looking after her didn't want the responsibility any more. Yesterday she went to the clinic for tests but this morning when Christine saw her she didn't look like she would last the day. Christine got her admitted into Coptic hospital this morning and she is on oxygen and undergoing more tests. They still don't know what is wrong with her.

Please pray for:

• Berna and baby Anna.



• Loveness, the lady who is in a serious condition, and the doctors caring for her.



• Auntie Yvonne as she is trying to look after Berna and the new baby, then has a very sick relative 'dumped' on her. She has not had a proper nights sleep for over 3 weeks looking after Berna before the birth, staying in hospital with Berna, Berna and the baby after the birth and now the relative. She also has a family of 4 children. (not including Berna)



• The children of Loveness. Auntie Yvonne already looks after one who is 6. There are 3 more smaller ones at home. We are going to visit them later to make sure someone is looking after them but they may end up coming to stay with Auntie Yvonne putting even more pressure on her.

August

Since the last time I wrote we have had a very busy month.

It started with the last week of Don and Christines holiday which went very well. The boys were all very well behaved for which I was very thankful! Just after they got home one of them asked me "did you tell them how good we were?" when I said I had he asked "were they very proud of us?" He had obviously been consciously trying to behave!

Two days after Don and Christine arrived back we had a team of 14 arrive from the UK. They came to run a 'camp'. The boys had a very full program with art, music and fitness in the mornings and team games and challenges in the afternoons. It worked really well and the boys got to experience things they have never had a chance to do before. The boys were split into groups with people they wouldn't always chose to work with and all really enjoyed themselves. It was so nice to walk around and see all of the boys with a smile on their face or concentrating very hard. We hardly had to chase any up for being late to the sessions.

This weekend Kabwata church are officially starting as a church plant here at the farm. They have been holding services here for 3 years now but yesterday came to visit people in the area and today is the official first service. It is very exciting that they are taking such an interest in the work here with the boys and want to build a church however it brings the issue of space. At the moment the service is held in the lounge which is fairly big but not really big enough so we are looking for a room at a school or a tent that can be put up to accommodate more people.

Tomorrow all of the boys go back to school. The last few days have been busy getting uniforms, school shoes and books. Hopefully they are all ready to go and get back into routine.

Please pray for...

• School opening and exam classes. We have 10 boys in exam classes
• The church plant. That we would find somewhere more suitable and people would come along.

Dear All

This is just a quick update to say I arrived back safely on Thursday morning last week. It was very good to be back with everyone again and I soon settled back into things.

Since Monday I have been back at school and have enjoyed seeing how some of the boys have moved on. I have also started an extra class for some of the little ones. I needed to start Christina (who is 2 ½) in the nursery class but also have two 6 year olds in that class. Although there are only 5 children it is hard to move the older ones on when Christina needs totally different kind of attention and 'work'. To overcome these problems Ezra and Eliza now

come earlier and have their own little lesson before joining the others for some more creative/play activities. (Ezra and Eliza at their new table doing 'proper' work!) This will continue until they are ready to join the bigger boys for 2 hours. To achieve that they will need to be able to read and write fairly fluently.

Don and Christine have gone to Cape town on a family holiday for 2 weeks. They have managed to fit it in while both the girls are on school holidays and Nico has gone with them. On top of them all being away Mr Banda is having the week off. If he didn't have this week he wouldn't have managed to fit it in until October. This brings with it all the extra jobs, sorting things in town, shopping and various other bits but so far it is going OK.

This weekend is a public holiday and the boys have got some football matches organised. The picture is of some of them this afternoon having a 'team talk' before it started. Unfortunately the game ended in a 2-2 draw. Half of the boys are on holiday from school as of Friday. Some are going out to visit family, the rest will be working on the farm or studying. The rest of the boys finish next week on Friday. Most of them will have extra tuitions through the holidays (they are older and in higher grades) so will be staying at home and things will carry on in much the same way as if they were on term time. I will stop my class at home in the school holidays so the boys have a chance to visit family but will continue with the little ones on a more flexible basis - different times of day depending on what else is happening.

Please pray for...
Don and Christine, Nico, Sarah and Rachel that they can have a relaxing holiday.
Wisdom for me dealing with the boys at home and for them to behave.
The boys who have exams coming up. 10 are sitting big exams next term.

June

So, I came home at the beginning of June for a bit of a break and review of what I am doing in Zambia. It has been a good break so far - especially now the weather has warmed up and I am not so cold!

Before I left Mum and Dad came to visit. BA strikes meant they moved their whole trip to a week earlier - first to ensure they made it as the outbound flight was cancelled then to ensure they got home as the inbound flight was also cancelled. While they were visiting we went to Livingstone to see the Victoria Falls and on Mfuwe on safari. Their visit also gave them an opportunity to see what kind of things I get up to which they agreed you cant really imagine it until you have seen it! It was nice to be able to show them around a bit and for them to meet all of the guys.

At the end of May, it was my birthday. I had a really fun day. We took all of the boys to adventure city, which is a swimming pool. In the morning we loaded up the truck and my car with food and boys and set off. The boys spent hours going up and down the slides, playing football and generally having fun. I was thrown in the pool a few times which was very cold!

Due to BA strikes I was delayed a few days coming home but that just gave me more time to organise school while I am away. There is a visitor over at the moment who is in charge of the classes while I am away. I was able to spend some time making sure the boys would all have enough work. Hopefully this will make Emily's life a bit easier and when they start complaining about the work she can blame it on me. - It is bound to happen as the boys, like any children, will test new people to try and get away with as much as they can.

Anyway, I am still at home now for a couple of weeks, then hopefully heading back. One of the things I have to sort out while I am home is finances for the next year. Some of you have been very promt in replying to either Joe (finance guy at CEC who sorts it all out!) or myself as to whether or not you are able to continue supporting me for another year, thank you. If you havent responded please let me or Joe know asap. If you dont have Joe's details or want gift aid/financial giving forms just drop me a message. Thanks.