Closed.

After School Program is closed for another year – our sixth, in fact! This year we saw an average of 144 children register each term and an average daily attendance of 68. But the highest daily attendance was…99 children. WOW.

We were pleased to welcome Di Marshall, SIM’s HIV-AIDS Consultant, to the mayhem of the final day of ASP on 19 November. She’s in town to look at our programs and talk about the assistance SIM is able to give us. (And the credit for the photos goes to her!)

The afternoon started with some study/learning time, as some of the children still had their final exams the following day.

Mercia with the Grade 1s and 2s

Lazarus with the Grade 5s

Then it was time for some singing,

and games,

Ready for 'Lions & Leopards'

Tangee showing the children how to splatter their partner (ie, ME) with the water balloons

The children took the 'Water Balloon Toss' a bit more seriously!

before we finished with prayer and giving the children each a “goodie” bag with some treats to eat.

My favourite part? Tipping the rest of the water all over the children!

We look forward to seeing them back after the summer holidays!

Botswana

Back from our networking trip to Flying Mission Botswana, and what a great time we had! It’s a fairly straightforward drive from Windhoek to Gabarone, taking us about 14 hours to get there and 12 to return…but I don’t know that I’d ever recommend anyone to do it in one go unless they’re pressed for time. The term, “vast distance” has a completely new meaning for me now!

Sunrise close to the Namibia/Botswana border

We left on 28 October and returned on 1 November (okay, the small hours of the 2nd of November actually!). The group consisted of Pastor and Mrs Makai, Florence and I from the EBCAIDS Committee, and Tangee and Absalom representing the After School Program.

Tangee and Absalom look at a garden used to support the youth group at a township church

The aim was to look at the projects that Flying Mission is involved in and supports in Gabarone and surrounding towns, with a focus on youth and children’s work. Flying Mission is also heavily involved in home based care, and we hope for another occasion to have a look at those projects.

Behaviour change group at a primary school

And wow did we see a lot! Behaviour change programs in schools, the HIV-AIDS arm of the Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana, life skills programs (Face the Nation) run by the Open Baptist Church, sports programs (Kings Foundation), a feeding program, youth groups in churches, an after school program, Youth for Christ… Also looked at some good resources and curriculums being used.

As well as getting a meal, the children who come to the feeding program can relax and play games

Tangee with a volunteer and two of the children from a school feeding program

The hospitality and people were fantastic – especially Saralee, Pastor Emmanuel and Mercy. Thanks guys (especially Saralee for not thinking me a nerd for wanting to spot some locations from “Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency” books!!). Even through accommodation mix-ups and car break downs, we really enjoyed our time, learnt a lot and made new friends. We’ve got a lot of ideas to work on now and see what we can incorporate into our programs.

Relaxing - yes we also got a chance for that! - with our new Flying Mission friends

Please pray for Flying Mission and all the churches and organizations putting so much time and effort into preventing, treating and educating about HIV and AIDS.

Sunset at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve