Olympic Champions

Last term we got the After School Program kids to enter an Olympic Games competition that was being run by the Chinese Embassy here. It was a quiz with general knowledge questions about the Olympic Games, as well as ones more specific to the Beijing Olympics later this year. I found all the information on the internet and printed it out, then the kids worked in groups to find the answers to the questions.

Only five girls persevered to the end and we submitted their entries. During the school holidays I got a call to say that all of them had won prizes! We could only contact Susanna, as the others were out of town.

Susanna receiving her prize from the Chinese Ambassador

So I went along to what I thought was just the prize-giving ceremony, and met Susanna there. In fact it was the official launch of the Beijing Olympics in Namibia, as that day marked exactly 100 days until the start of the Games! So all sorts of VIPs were present, including the former President of Namibia, Dr Sam Nujoma (who is the patron of the National Olympic Committee), the Chinese ambassador, some other government officials and athletes. It was quite a nice event with brief speeches, some cultural performances and more-than-life-size Beijing Olympics mascots, in addition to the prize-giving for the competition. We were all given badges and t-shirts, as well as something to eat and drink afterwards.

A cultural performance with the mascots in the background

The Embassy sent the prizes for the other girls to me and I collected them this week. So on Wednesday we had our own little ‘prize-giving ceremony’, handing out the prizes to Bernadette, Christhelda and Kaekuhu, as well as acknowledging Susanna. Unfortunately Otja, the fifth girl, has not yet started back at After School, so we’ll have to keep her prize for when she does come back.

The proud recipients: Susanna & Christhelda (standing), Bernadette & Kaekuhu (in front)

This week went well and it was a bit shorter as Monday was a public holiday. The number of kids coming jumped up to 67 for Tuesday and Wednesday, then we had 59 on Thursday. Steven (a regular helper in the past) turned up and is again able to help out from 3pm every day. He’s agreed to work with the older kids (Grade 5 and up) who need to pull up their marks in English, Maths and Afrikaans; as well as the high school kids who need help with Accounting and Business Management. We also had Kakazona and Martin offer to help, they should both be able to come at least a couple of days a week.

So we’re very thankful for the number of helpers we have at present, but please pray for us too, as handling almost-70 kids requires a lot of energy and wisdom!

Another start

Wow! What a great start to After School Program for the Term. Thanks to all of you who must have been praying!!

School and ASP were supposed to start last week, but the Government did something that’s becoming increasingly regular…changed the starting date at the last minute! So some schools started on Thursday last week, and some only on Monday this week. Yes, don’t worry – everyone was confused.

Monday we kicked off with 39 kids, then 45 on Tuesday, then 55 on both Wednesday and Thursday! To say that we were exhausted by the end of the week is putting it mildly, I think. Apart from the regular homework/study time, the kids played Frisbee on Monday and kickball on Thursday. On Tuesday the craft was making paper chains, to illustrate the Bible lesson on Wednesday about Paul and Silas in prison. Sutuu did a great job with the Bible lesson, emphasizing that God sets us free from the chains of sin and also protects us.

Another terrific thing is the dedicated team of volunteers we have for this term. Mercia and Hauta you already know from previous terms, and joining them are Sutuu and Lazarus. Sutuu used to help with ASP a couple of years ago before going to study in South Africa, while Lazarus is completely new. There are another couple of people from the church who also may be able to help on a less-regular basis.

LEFT: Mercia & Sutuu work with the Grade 1 - 4 kids

RIGHT: Peter & Lazarus with the Grade 5 - 10 kids

BELOW: Hauta

Peter and Caitie Gunning, two MKs (missionary kids), are still helping once a week as the community service requirement of the International Youth Award that they’re both doing through their school.

Then we also had some visitors. Daryl, Sabrina and Shelley, new AIM short-term missionaries, came to check out the Program on Wednesday; and Helen, Joseph (right, helping the Grade 1s & 2s learn their pronouns) and Zeca (left, helping the older kids with their homework), first year students at NETS (Namibia Evangelical Theological Seminary) came to help out on Thursday as part of their practical ministry assignment.

So keep praying. We’re having some space issues and so will have to move the work spaces around a bit next week, but other than that we’re going full steam ahead. There’s a public holiday on Monday, so we’ll have a bit of a breather over this long weekend. Then the following week Hauta and I will start a Life Skills Program for the older kids (Grade 6 and up). Pray for us as we prepare for that – it will give the kids Biblical teaching on relationships, sexuality and HIV/AIDS issues.

Kind of crowded in the Gr 5 - 10 work room...

Catch-up

I know that I've been really slack with my posts this year...please let me apologize and do a 'general' post to bring you up-to-date with what's been happening.



After School Program

This was a real struggle during Term 1 (which ended on 18 April). Kauna (who, as you'll remember, coordinated the Program for us last year) was accepted to study Science at the university, and so after helping kick off the Program for the year, had to withdraw due to a busy class schedule. There wasn't anyone available to take over, so I tried to oversee it as much as possible. Due to my other work I couldn't come every day and Mercia (another volunteer and also the church secretary) was a big help on the days I couldn't make it. We also had trouble finding enough volunteers for each day, and this meant that the kids were less enthusiastic about coming. School will start for Term 2 on May 12, so I'm starting to look for volunteers now - please pray! We'll have two Teams coming to help out during this term - one from a Scottish church (mid-June to the beginning of July) and one through AIM Canada (mid-July to the end of term in August), as well as (possibly) two other short-term AIM missionaries.



Family

All's well on the family front. Jimmy's travelling a bit less for work this year, about one & a half weeks out of every month. Samara had a great first term back at Pre-school and Caietta certainly keeps busy at home.



Sports

Rachel and I still diligently play squash weekly whenever possible and the last outcome was that she beat me 2 games to 1 last week, while I beat her by the same margin two weeks previous. Rachel and her family will move back to the U.S. in June (they are missionaries with AIM and will be doing home assignment and then looking at other possible ministries), so I have to convince our some-time squash opponent, Hilary, to become a bit more regular so we can play every week!

And as for rugby, Hauta (who's still volunteering at the After School Program when his studies allow) has just been selected in the training squad for the national team! He's very pleased about that and just wants to make it to play for the team. Meanwhile our friend, Wacca, has just arrived back from 6 months playing for an English club. He'll soon be back wearing his national jersey, as they wanted him at training the same day he arrived from England!

HBC

Last week we held another Home Based Care (HBC) & Counselling training, and 7 more church members (five women and two men) were successfully trained! Once again our friends at AIDS Care Trust did the training, assisted by Jogbeth (our HBC Coordinator), Naf (another EBCAIDS member) and myself.

This brings the total number of church members trained to 17. We don’t have a HBC Program operating yet, but Jogbeth has started attended support group meetings for people living with HIV/AIDS (these are run by AIDS Care Trust). AIDS Care Trust has also started a regular meeting between organizations interested in HBC, with the aim of networking (knowing what each organization is doing, discussing common problems, etc). Jogbeth attended the first of these last month and the next will be held in June.

Most of the new trainees expressed interest in attending the support group meetings, and one, Edler, wants to start providing care to some Bushmen people living near her husband’s farm. It was agreed that the group would help her to start visiting these people to give information about HIV/AIDS, as well as any necessary basic health care and counselling.

The course participants will receive their HBC kits (provided by AIDS Care Trust, with basic medical and health supplies) and their certificates on 16 May.