A first trip to Lusaka. Waterfalls adventure. And, a camping trip. What fun!
Above you can see the fourteen children who got to take a trip to the nearby waterfalls. Six of the boys will be taking a camping trip (they'll be on it when you read this newsletter) and the remaining eleven children were too young for an outing. Maybe next year!
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After the kids all got a good look at the tallest waterfall at the base of the hill, then they walked around, crossed a bridge and found a smaller waterfall with a shallow swimming hole.
All the kids swam, though they got chilled very quickly and had to sun themselves on rocks to warm up before trying again.
Some of the oldest girls went on a hike up the hill to follow the river. The others went on a walk down at the base of the hill. They had a wonderful time.
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All this year we have had amazing volunteers.
Mary worked with us for 8 months before leaving in March to Brandon who had lots of fun with the kids and then the World Race team arrived in June. They did a special summer camp of arts, drama and dance which ended with a talent show.
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Next to arrive were our Belgian friends--though they've been here so many times they are actually family now. Laura stayed the longest of all helping to teach. She worked well helping to do one on one tutoring with some of our students.
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Our latest short-term volunteers are Eric (above) and Jean Louis (below right) who have come to install the electricity for our top buildings: the boys' and girls' cottages, the classrooms and the chicken house. It's a big job!
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School is going so well.
We now have 25 students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade.
Above you can see Moriah (8) and Theresa (10) holding their progress cards showing their test results for the first nine weeks of school.
Our school year is July through May. We take June and December off for special events and fun activities.
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Look at our beautiful new classroom!
It looks even better now! It's plastered and has lights too. (see above pictures!)
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Our second tomato harvest was amazing!
It's now all finished and we are planting beans. We'll start the new tomato season in a couple months.
Above are Peter and Elias on a farm field trip helping to harvest the last of the tomatoes.
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It's been nearly six months since Troy left Africa and headed back to the States. He is doing so well--has a job at a sandwich shop and is in his first semester at San Jacinto Community College. In the picture above he is celebrating his 18th birthday with four of our children. T.J (our third child/oldest son) is teaching English in Taiwan now. I wrote about the end of an era on the blog.
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This weekend the oldest six boys went on a camping trip.(look for pictures in a later newsletter)
They visited the falls for some swimming and then proceeded to some plains where they camped--complete with campfire, hotdogs and marshmallows. Memories are being made for sure!
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Tom had to take a trip down to Lusaka for supplies for a big construction project. He was also going to pick up a new volunteer from the airport. We decided it was time for Elias (who turns 12 this month) to accompany Tom. It was a huge trip full of 'firsts'. You can read more about it on the blog,
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Our current long-term volunteer is Brendon who has come to us from Odessa Bible Church in Odessa, Texas. Zack, who was here last year, attends the same church.
Brendon is helping in the classroom and doing activities with the kids in the afternoons.
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Mieke, Liesolotte, Seppe & Flore (last two not pictured) were a huge help in working around the orphanage, cuddling the kids and babies, organizing a birthday party, and working out at Terra Nova. Above you can see our tomato plants at the height of the harvest.
(below) Flore has volunteered over many summers and is a big part of our Kazembe Orphanage family.
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Thanks to a special gift of computers from Grace Christian Fellowship and the donation of a few tablets from various donors we can now have seven children at a time doing typing, math, English and educational games. They take turns after finishing their school work for the day.
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We got the roof on this month. The pole in the center supports the main roofing beam.
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The security building out at Terra Nova is complete. The stone fronting on it is beautiful!
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Also on the farm: 600 banana plants, two fields of sweet potatoes and peanuts, and of course, the orchard.
We're now getting ready for rainy season by clearing ground, planting new fields--papayas are on the list, and plotting where future buildings will go. We do this now while the grass is short and we can see the layout of the land better.
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