Finally a June, July and a little of August update!!!

Can’t believe that another two and a half months have gone by! We have to start this blog entry with some exciting family news!!! We have another Albertyn on the way!! It is very exciting, unexpected and a true miracle!!! We feel incredibly blessed at God’s precious gift to us. I am 16 weeks pregnant!!! All going well so far, just been exhausted. I am under brilliant care here and even hoping to prevent the onset of preterm labour this time with a trial drug! God is good and we trust Him for His provision and protection for this little one!!! Matt is thrilled and keeps asking how big baby is – currently the size of his Postman Pat figure and he comes up with slightly off the wall names!!! Zoe keeps kissing my tummy and patting baby to sleep! We have another new addition to the family – a little kitten which we got when it was 4 weeks old! The kids love her and she is so tolerable of all the cuddles from them. She is slightly crazy at times – so fits in perfectly!!! Matt has named her Jessie after Postman Pat’s cat!!

Boarding House and School News
We have continued to have a very busy term with the students and the running of the boarding house. We have had a games evening and another baking session – which the students thoroughly enjoyed and a few career lectures – Micheal Rapson (former student of Mark) on Mechatronics,

Irene an Architect (together with a couple of visiting engineers)

and Anne Coniber (former student of Mark) who is doing a PhD in Chemistry in Australia.

We also had the chance to introduce the students to Tim and Julie Lewsey (both former students of Mark..and now married!). They are travelling from Cape Town to London (..and back again) in their home on wheels.

The students have enjoyed being exposed to different careers and have found these lectures quite thought provoking.

The students have just written their end of term examinations and they should be proud of their achievements thus far. They are on target for where Mark wants them, as it is such an adjustment going from O-levels to A-levels! We keep reminding them of this and that if they continue to work hard they will achieve fantastic results.

I have continued to love my times on Thursday night with the students. I really feel like I have had such a special opportunity to get to know them personally and see God working in their lives. We have had some wonderful evenings together, sharing some really deep stuff and then other evenings just having good fun together. Each one of these students hold such a special place in Mark and my hearts and we feel so proud of them. Four of them were baptised by Mark and I on Wednesday in a cold swimming pool (it’s the end of winter here and no such thing as heated pools). What a privilege and honour!!!!

They also played their first basketball matches against another school and I was so so proud of them all! Their conduct on the field was such an example and they held their own fantastically!! I felt like a proud Mum cheering on my 15 kids with Matt and Zoe copying every little shout I made!!!
The spectators!!

First game which we won 4-6!

Taking a walk at half time!

Second game which we lost 12-8.

Mark had noticed that two of the students were really struggling to see textbooks and board work. My Dad kindly arranged free eye tests for them and then managed to get free glasses for Mike and Tinashe R. They are soooooo thankful for the gift of sight!!!! They felt like they were swimming the first few days but are now used to them!!!

Two students from Benenden have been out to visit. They are with us for just over 6 weeks. Sophie and Fiona!! We have loved having them in our lives and they have been such a help to Mark with one-on-one tuition, helping with lessons, collating exam papers, invigilating, etc. They have thrown themselves into Boarding House and School life and the students have loved having them around.
Working in the garden at the boarding house.

They have also enjoyed 9 days of travel round Zimbabwe and I think I can say have fallen in love with Zimbabwe and it’s people. I was also able to take them out to Turf and they so loved experiencing rural life. We were able to do a morning with Grade 0 and see the amazing jungle gym that Rachel (who stayed with us in March) and her local village in Kent donated!! I so loved being back out there and serving them, I just wish it could happen more often!! We also took Peter (one of the students) with us to visit his family and they were so generous to us – we had a lovely meal with them and Sophie and Fi loved experiencing his world – life in mud huts!!! We also took Peter back to his junior school and painted a few black boards!!! Being pregnant I used that as my excuse not to be exposed to the fumes and enjoyed an hour or so socking up the winter sun!!!!! Sophie and Fi are with us for a few more days and we shall be sad to say goodby to them.

The kids love them to bits!!!!

We disappeared off to the mountains for 3 nights this last weekend, a much needed break for Mark and I, and time for Sophie and Fi to enjoy a different side of Zimbabwe. We loved our time away!! They will also help with two revision schools we will be running during the holidays at two town ship high schools. These two school are where we got a few of the scholarship students from and want to feed back into the communities. The 15 students will also be volunteering their time at these schools, to do one on one tuition with those about to write their examinations.

The term has felt incredibly long and we are so looking forward to a little break. We have three weeks of revision schools and one week off during the holidays. Close friends will be here the first two weeks – we quite literally can’t wait to see them and share our lives with them and they will be helping out with the revision schools too. A former colleague and her husband will be here during the last two weeks. We are looking forward to having them in our home too and Jane is a Biology Teacher so we will run a Biology revision school with her in the last week of holidays based at the boarding house!!!

I have to write briefly about two people who we could not function without and we wanted to share how this project has impacted their families in a positive way too!!! The first is our House Mother - Denise Banga - Mum as all the students call her.

She is quite literally a God send!!! Denise is a mother of 4 children, who have all grown up. She was a primary school teacher for 35 years until she retired but sadly in October last year her husband passed away and she had to go back to full time teaching - she was leaving the house at 4.30am and returning home at 8pm and earning $200 per month. She applied for the post and we fell in love with her straight away! As her children have grown up she has been able to pour her life and soul into these pupils lives and has made the boarding house her home. She is now more financially secure and can rent out her house which provides money to pay her youngest sons university fees. Thank you Denise for all that you do for Mark and I and the students!!! We love and appreicate you soooo much!

Johannes -

he is the caretaker/gardener. He does anything from cleaning, gardening (we have a great veggie garden),carpentary,electrical work, fixing just about anything etc. He has an incredible servant heart and we feel so blessed to have him work for us. This job has now provided him with the opportunity to buy a piece of land to build a wooden hut for his family to live in and he can move his parents from the rural areas. He has quite literally cried with thankfulness at this opportunity as will save his family huge amounts of money on the rental of one room in a township! He has a young wife and little boy - 2 year old!

We continue to be blown away by peoples generosity towards the work we are doing. We have received some incredible donations to KST and Makomborero and we are very humbled and grateful. We feel we are on course to raise enough support to see the boarding house through to the end of the year and our personal support has been more stable the last two months. Thank you all for your love and support. It is so appreciated.

Stu Campbell – a very close friend of Mark and a former teaching colleague did a sponsored walk with the 6th Formers from his school. They called it ‘Peter’s commute’, after the student Peter and his walk to school each day last year – 30km each way!!! They raised an incredible amount of money and enjoyed an early start to school as they walked their Peter’s Commute! Here is a photo of the team on completion of the commute.

We were so proud of Stu and all that participated. Words can not thank Stu for the time and energy he poured into this event! They had special T-shirts and wrist bands made and hope to make this a yearly event. Stu and his wife and daughter our our special friends coming to stay - we can't wait!!

A former student from Mark’s Zimbabwe teaching days, Shaun Orpen, works for Acturis. Their 10km company charity run this year was run in aid of Makomborero and was dedicated to the memory of his sister. It sounded like it was a great day and again we are humbled by the money raised for Makomborero. Shaun is a passionate person who has shown support of us in this way but not only like this but through loads of emails with advice and fundraising ideas. Thank you Shaun – you are amazing!!!

Two weeks ago we have been back in Zimbabwe a year! This feels like quite a mile stone as we look back over this year - things have changed so much but also we are amazed at what we have actually managed to achieve! Thank you Lord for this year! It has been very hard at times and we have had moments of complete confusion and desperation but also it has been a time to see God’s faithfulness to us. We both continue to miss the UK terribly but we know that this is where God wants us and we are beginning to see his plan for our lives unfold!!  We still don't have the whole picture but it is much clearer!!  I also shed a few tears as it has been a year away from some very special friends who I miss so much and wish for just one afternoon I could be with!!! My heart in many ways is still in England but I’m ok as I know with time this will feel like home again but it doesn’t mean it’s not a little sore at times!!! 

We celebrated Mark’s birthday in June and Mark was so touched by the students at the boarding house. They bought him a red t-shirt (his favourite colour) and had a cake baked with a message – We love you Mr A! Mark was overwhelmed by this token and the financial sacrifice just buying that t-shirt was. It reminded him again of why we are here!! I am so proud of all that Mark has accomplished this year and he continues to work so hard and tirelessly!!!

Coconut Cake - my granny's recipe!!! Mark's favorite!!

Where we are at with KST?
We continue to come under the covering of KST and fundraise for the Scholarship Programme locally under KST. This Trust is still running, even though there is no funding. We are grateful to the Trustees to let us stay part of this trust, as it forms an umbrella covering for us. We continue to make plans for next year to bring the project into a more sustainable place and will hopefully have some concrete plans on this for next year by the time I write again!!

Family News
Zoe’s had a long haul fixing her broken front tooth but finally after numerous antibios and abscess' she was very brave and had the root canel done over 3 visits. So are trusting God that the abscess does not come back. She looks quite cute with half a front tooth!!! What a special dentist we had, felt like we knew him really well after seeing him once a week for just over two months!! Poor little girl also knocked herself out cold the other night – ran into a wall – very scary for Mark and I but she only suffered a mild concussion!!

Poor Matt got electrocuted by dodgy wiring in the house – was a very traumatic experience for all of us but praise God he is still alive to tell the tale and by some miracle I was able to think on my feet!!! Poor fella is still having nightmares. We did call an electrician to check all the wiring in the house when we first moved in and had a few little things that were very dangerous fixed but must have just missed the gate intercom plug which someone had bypassed the fuse with a wire that was sticking out the plug and made the whole plug live! It feels like we've had a few really tough incidents with the kids but are thankful that they are both ok!!!

They continue to delight us and are becoming better and better friends with each other!! They sing together, play pretend house together, jump on the trampoline, ride their bikes, read books snuggled up together – so so special!! Mark and I are doing an 18 week parenting course and are learning so much and just loving the impact it has had on our family!!! Felt like a huge commitment – yet another evening out – but it has been sooooooo worth it!!! Zoe is talking so much and we love figuring out what she is saying – Matt often gets it before we do!!!! Her favourite phrase at the moment is ‘You need a plaster?’ – if she thinks anyone has hurt themselves!! Matt is a real little man!! We love the conversations we have with him, the pretend stories he tells us etc. It has also been so special to see how close they have become to my parents – they love them sooooooo much and it is such a blessing having grandparents near by – the kids love it when they pop in or if we pop over there!!! Makes us wish Mark’s folks were a little closer!! Matt is in an incredible nursery school from January and I feel a real peace about it – been so stressful finding him a place somewhere that is not a long drive away! This place is 5 minutes in the car against traffic!!! Zoe will go two days a week to where Matt is now from January and we know she will be as happy as Matt has been there!

We also had a water tank fitted at our house with permission from our landlady!! This has made such a difference to us!! We have a supply of water for 3 days for the days we don't get water and the next door neighbour will top up the tank for free!! Amazing how much we can take water for granted!!!

Well I think that brings you up to date!!!

The hoodies!!!

Fun times with Granny!

Hello my name is Mrs Giraffe - the high heels are what all giraffe's wear!!!!

Matt eating his lunch on the top step of a swimming pool!!!

Bedtime stories!