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PL819
22nd December 2019
'Tis the season to be jolly and jolly we have been! The students at our school, Maxton Strong School, have been working hard for the last 6 weeks and the crescendo of their work was our Annual School Christmas Program. More than 200 students participated to make this years program the best we have ever had. We are so proud of the awesome work that each one did and, to give the entire event the attention it deserves, we have put the photos into a short and fun video for your pleasure:
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Click here to see the school Christmas Program video.
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There were well over a thousand parents, students and visitors in attendance at the program. Just in case you somehow can't view the video above (which we really recommend you make an effort to do) here are a few photos of the night.
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Raymond, Dylan and Jared were our lovely sheep.
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So much effort was put into this years dances.
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It was a beautiful display of Indian culture and Christmas cheer.
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The costumes were amazing!
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It was a night not to be missed.
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So much colour and joy!
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Santa's little helpers.
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Our youngest students dressed up showing all manner of creation.
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A story on the parables of Jesus.
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The final show was staff of the Mission and school handing out sweets to the kids.
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Madness ensued as Santa tossed sweets into the crowd.
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Elsewhere on the Christmas front there has been a stream of presents being wrapped and placed under the tree as we prepare for the big day. Esther and Priscilla have had some extra little elves to help with what is normally quite a difficult task. Amos and Jack took on responsibility for all the boys presents and Annette (a friend from Australia) has been helping wrap the girls presents. April, Jess and Coreena also lent a hand.
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Esther and Annette wrapping gifts.
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Some gifts laid out on the floor ready to be wrapped up.
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Jack and Amos doing a final check of their presents.
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Yep, they are all there!
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Every year at Christmas our staff, kids, volunteers and friends from the local community come together at night to sing carols around a big bonfire. Jack and Filly led the program which went late into the night on Friday.
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Singing carols around the fire.
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Dhiraj was on guitar, this was the closest thing we had to a photo of him.
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Warmth of the fire and the soul.
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In some what unrelated -yet somehow related- news, we took a little trip to the jungle to celebrate Kamal's birthday. It was a lovely afternoon that was filled with snacks, family fun, adventure and tales from our story teller Jack Johnson.
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Crossing the cold river into the jungle.
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Camp set up, a cup of coffee on the boil for everyone.
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Jyotika and Gladys setting by the warm fire.
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Priscilla serving out the coffee.
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Trudy and April hiding in the jungle.
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A wild Reena in her natural habitat.
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Jack keeping everyone in fits of laughter with his hilarious stories.
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Everyone loved Jack's stories.
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Rosey and her brother Shane playing leap frog.
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Cynthia learning some acrobatics with Clifton.
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Sareena and Aaron heading home.
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Jyotika and Kamal using a fallen tree to cross the river.
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Anthea finding her balance on the log.
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Shane went back across the river to help his sister Rosey across.
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Clifton, Dylan and Aaron had a different method of crossing the river.
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Back at home Kamal, who is back from Dehradun for the holidays, continued to celebrated his birthday with the Hostel Boys, Jack, Clifton and Priscilla. He was taken by surprise when Dhiraj and Parwat bombarded him with 'snow foam' upon blowing out the candles on his cake. It was a lot of fun.
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Kamal didn't suspect a thing...
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...the attack underway.
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The aftermath.
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And so now we end this weeks newsletter. With just a few days left for Christmas and school holidays now underway for all our students the excitement levels are rocketing. Thank you for being with us, supporting us and making the lives of these incredible children so special.
Have a wonderful Christmas,
Rick, Clifton, Eugene & Priscilla
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Malik lost a tooth this week.
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Clifton had a friend bring a 2300cc Triumph Rocket 3 for him to ride.
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For Those Who Pray:
- Praise God for the awesome Christmas Program that we had in our school.
- Pray for our country as there is unrest and protests due to a controversial act that has been introduced by our Government. Pray for wisdom for our leaders and peace for India and all it's people.
- Pray for our Christmas program. Thank you so much to everyone who has helped out with our Christmas Fundraiser.
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