Project News
The rest of the 1st term has gone well. We continue to have amazing games evenings led by Sian. What a gift she has in this area and the students love their evenings with her. She also did a brilliant lecture on Body Language and how this can play such a big role in interviews, etc. Thank you so much Sian! Liz Pierson also continues to teach music to a few students every Friday and they were able to take part in two concerts this term, which we so enjoyed watching! Thank you Liz!
And not forgetting Jill who has faithfully taught computer lessons every Thursday for over a year now!! You’re a star Jill!!!
I’ve loved my bible studies this last term but did not do as many as I had hoped to do with having a new born to juggle!! My last bible study of the 1st term was Easter based and we made wooden crosses. I love how they so enjoyed this exercise!!
Two of our students have been
accepted onto the USAP Programme – Ryan and Destiny. We are so incredibly proud of them. There were 700 applicants and 32 places given
and we got two of them. This programme does
not guarantee them a scholarship at a US university but it nearly does – in the
sense that they have been earmarked already and will be helped with
applications etc. Well done guys you
have made us so proud!!!!
14 of our 15 students will be
wiritng their SAT’s. We have had two
wonderful ladies volunteer their time to prepare our students for these exams –
Rebekah Bell and Charlotte Allum-Smith.
They write their exam on 2nd of June!!! So we will all be cheering them on!!!
Taringana – on of our 8 who goes
to school at St Georges, made the school chess team. He has blown all our minds as he has played
brilliantly – winning most games and being selected to represent Zimbabwe in a
tournament somewhere in Afirca. Well
done Taringana – what an opportunity.
A funny story!! We had some wood very generously donated to
us from Atlas Copco and needed a few bunk beds made for the host families
bedrooms that the 8 students are staying in.
I ordered our side of the road guy to make them and went to collect the
beds a few days later. I was met with a
very funny sight. A beautifully made bed
but made for midgets who were incredibly fat!!!! The bed was very short and very
wide!!!!! Sadly this bed was intended
for two big guys and would not have made for comfortable sleeping if we had
kept it!! Needless to say we have a
proper bunk bed now and the boys are happily sleeping in it!!! Wiseman who made the beds found it hysterical
that he had got the measurements so wrong!!!
He admitted later it was all due to guess work!
The 15 students initiated a fundraiser to help raise money towards the boys examination fees at the orphanage, St Josephs that they have been volunteering Maths tutition lessons. Also, Edwin, accompanied by one or two of the other students, has been visiting township schools giving motivational talks to the current O-level students (GCSE). We have been so proud of all our students as they want to give back!!! Well done guys keep it up!
We ended the 1st term by taking the 15 to Gweru for the weekend. Mark and Hope took them to a wonderful teacher training college a couple of hours outside Harare. It was a great weekend of bonding for the students but also a time for them to see if any of them were inspired to become teachers. We think a few of them might be interested! This weekend was a highlight for many of them this term. Here is a cool photo of the 15 at a game park which they stopped off at on their way back. A first for most of them - seeing african animals!!
A lovely lady called Brenda came out from New Zealand and spent a bit of time at the boarding house. She did a workshop on how to debate and also showed an incredible BBC series on the World!! The students were amazed by what they watched.
Two young guys, Marko (whose full name is Makomborero - how cool is that) and Josh, have volunteered their time to run courses over the next year to help integrate the new 8 and our current 15 students into their new lifestyles etc. What brilliant men they are - these two men will be able to speak to their hearts and minds and be relevant to our 23 students. They are such a blessing and we appreciate all their input.
Fundraising
We have had a few fundraising events so far this year. Ange Smith ran another Mother and Daughters morning at a local primary school and it was hugely successful. The proceeds came to Makomborero Zimbabwe. We so value her input and passion for what we are doing.
Hwei Tan, another former pupil of Mark's, has just climbed Kilimanjaro to raise money for Makomborero. We feel humbled and in awe of her. Thank you Hwei – we know we could never have survived a climb like that!!!!
Susan Leese ran the London Marathon for us this year! Thank you Susan – you did brilliantly!!!!
Makomborero UK has bought a debenture for the London 10km run – we have 6 wonderful runners running for us!!! Thank you guys!! Hope it goes well!
Stu Campbell will also be organising another Peter’s Commute this year. We are so grateful to him for all the hard work that goes into this event, especially with another little Campbell arriving in the next few weeks!!! http://www.justgiving.com/teams/peterscommute2012 (actually the little fella arrived today – woo hoo – welcome to the world Alfie).
Shaun Orpen’s company – Acturis will be running for us in the London 10k. Thanks guys!!!! You are gems!!! http://www.justgiving.com/acturis2012
We are always continually humbled by all your efforts at raising money for Makomborero – thank you, thank you!!! Thank you also to those of you who have so generously given personally to Makomborero. We know that without all of you – what we are doing would not be able to happen!!!
We are also thrilled to welcome 3 more local Zimbabwean companies on board – Stanbic Bank, Atlas Copco and Delloittes!! They have generously sponsored 6 students between them and we are so grateful for their support and belief in us!!
Makomborero Zimbabwe Staff
We have purchased a minibus for the project. This will relieve a couple of hours each day for the students who currently use public transport and will also save us money in the long run. It was a little bit of a stressful process buying the minibus but we have it now, fitted with seats and running like a dream!!! We are excited to be able to provide another job for someone and we welcome Stephan onto our team – our driver.
We are so grateful for the 4
amazing house parents who host the 8 students in their homes – thank you!!! Also as always this term could not have been
the success it was without Dinnis (our incredible house mum) and Johannes (our
handyman/caretaker) – you guys continue to serve tirelessly and we so
appreciate you!! Thank you also to our incredible team of teachers – Charles
Muchoko, Katy Lanas, Hayden Eastwood and Alison Stancombe. What an amazing team
we have been blessed with!
Hopefully we have updated you on this last term. The pressure if on for the 15 as they begin to prepare for their final exams .
Family news!
We were blessed with another special visitor from England. A special friend Elizabeth came out for two weeks and we so enjoyed sharing life with her. The kids so loved time with her and our house felt empty when she left.
We also loved having Riems and Jen and their little girl Emily come and stay with us for a few nights before they headed off on their new adventures in Mozambique. http://casatevelde.com
With the latest three lots of friends who have come out so far this year we love it how friendships pick up from where they left off – thank you guys for blessing us with your presence!!!
We have had 4 burglaries in 6
months and have found it very unsettling – especially this last burglary as it
was stuff taken from inside rather than outside. Thankfullly our back door was locked and they
never got in – just fished stuff through a small open window in the Cottage. It was also at 7pm when we were putting the
kids to bed – so feels so unsettling. It
looks like we will be getting a dog!!! (we now have a puppy – will blog again
soon with details)
Little Ella is 4 months (actually nearly 5 months) and is changing all the time. She is a precious gift to us and has slotted into our lives so well. She has a gorgeous smile and chats to anyone who is prepared take time to give her their full attention. It is going way too fast and I still pinch myself at the miracles God has given us – 3 precious children!! Thank you Lord. A journey we thought we might never take but now have 3!!!!!
Matt took a while to settle into his
new school, it quite literally broke my heart as a mum to see him struggle so
much to settle. I found myself on my
knees many an evening, shedding a few tears for him and praying. But he found a special friend towards the end
of the term and it has made such a huge difference. I realise that this is only the beginning of
wanting my kids to fit in, be loved and accepted for who they are and enjoy
life!!! So I know I will spend many more
hours on my knees over the coming years with all 3 of them. Matt also learnt how to swim this term. From not being able to and then in 10 weeks
swimming on his own – so proud of him.
He is such a deep thinker and comes out with stuff I’m sure a lot of
little boys his age don’t even think about!!!
Matt is totally obsessed with cars at the moment and lego!!! Matt loves people and well often be found
chatty away to a complete stranger.
Zoe is our little ball of fire – who is a boundary tester, cuddle bunny, loves her bling jewellery, her babies etc. She is a great little mummy who breast feeds her dolls regularly, gives them cuddles, sings to them etc. I love watching her. She is also an aspiring cook who loves to cook up little treats in her pretend kitchen!!! She keeps us on our toes. She loves her little school which is 2 mornings a week since January and she is thriving in this little environment!! She is our social butterfly who loves people and can be incredibly nosey!!!
We had a typhoid scare just after
Debs left. There has been typhoid in
Harare over the last few months and I was tested and one of my markers came
back positive – so needless to say the whole family had to take samples into
the lab and be tested etc and it was all a little stressful as I tried to think
of all the people we had come into contact with. Thankfully the further tests came back
negative and it just shows I had been in contact but not contracted it!!!! There have been lots of tummy bugs going
round that we have had but thankfully managed to avoid typhoid!!
Our Easter Gardens we made - Matt and Zoe did one each!!
Our Easter Gardens we made - Matt and Zoe did one each!!
This 1st term at times felt like a marathon – one that really took its toll on us physically, emotionally and on our family!! Mark working two full time jobs and not seeing much of his family, having a new born, doing project work etc etc we felt like we were drowning at times. It made starting this next term very hard as we knew what we were in for. We keep reminding ourselves that the end of the year things will ease up and our family can return to some normality – please pray for strength for us to make it to the end of the year!!
We went away for the last two weeks of the holidays. What an incredible break it was. We were in Clarens and Lesotho.
We literally fell off the face of the earth. It was hard work getting everything in place with the project before we left but all the very late nights were so worth it. Just loved being a family, catching up with Mark’s folks and my brothers. Matt and Zoe loved seeing their granparents and getting to know them better. Granparents are such special people in their little lives!!!
I also loved special time with my brothers, meeting our latest nephew (who is a very cute precious little boy – loved seeing Rich and Anni as parents – they are brilliant at it and make my heart all warm when I see them with Simon) and just being together – the 3 siblings – very special – lots of fun and wonderful cousin time.
The cousins just love time together. The scenery was amazingly breath taking and God felt very near!!! We were so proud of Pee and Jo and the work that they are doing in Lesotho – they are incredible. What joy to watch my brother preach in one of the two churches he leads in rural Lesotho. To see him speak and interact with people in his village was such a joy. Jo his wife, is a true legend. She has embraced a very different life and is a fabulous mummy, home schooler, cook etc!!! I could go on about how proud I am of them but will leave it there!!!! Guys I know some days are tough but you are doing a fantastic job and building His Kingdom!! If you would like to see a few more photos of the three siblings together - here are my brothers photos - https://picasaweb.google.com/peteandjowest/April2012
All the cousins!
Funny story!! This is a roundabout that has been put in the village my brother lives in in Rural Lesotho – when the kids play on it – it pumps water into a tank that then enables villages to use a tap to fill their water containers and carry water back to their houses. The funny part is that it is in a part of the village where there are not many children – so in theory it is a great idea but practically not brilliant! Especially when you see old ladies pushing the roundabout round 200 hundred times to fill a bucket!!!
We also had the chance to visit and stay with my wonderful cousin Kelly in J'burg with her and her husband!!! They are amazing hosts!!!
Matt and Zoe so enjoyed time with their Daddy too – so wonderful to see Mark connect with them again – I get a little tearful writing that as back into this term, it is so hard for Mark and the kids not seeing each other. We were so blessed in many ways during our holiday and it made for such a wonderful break – free accommodation, gifts from people, time with Mark’s folks, time with my brothers and their families, a night away just me, Mark and Ella etc. Feel quite speechless at how blessed we were!!! We haven’t had a break this long since before having kids and it was incredible!!! So we brace ourselves for this term, trusting him to sustain us through this tough, busy season!! Learning to carve in precious family time here and there!!!!
A few photos:
Matt at his end of term concert! Lovely for my folks to be there too! Proud mummy and daddy - and granparents!!!
Zoe and Daddy!!!
Enjoying a moring at a little game park in Harare!
There were 4 in the bed!!!
Matthew on the computer!
Hello Ella!!!
We have a kindness jar that the kids put a coloured stone in when they do something kind - it also counts for us Mark and I. When the jar is full the kids get to choose a day away as a family. They choose to go to Paradise Pools for the day - about 1 1/2 hrs out of Harare. What a lovely day!!!
The kids trying out Ella's Bumbo!!!
The kids love our Administrator Hope!
All squeezed into Zoe's bed!
A special weekend for our family in March!!
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