Sakeji Adventure

We arrived at Amano at 05:00 and loaded the bus with the bags. We had to wait for Mwaya but we left on time at 05:30.

    We reached Solwezi at around 10:00. We spent 30 minutes there, where we bought snacks and drinks. We were then back on the road. As the trip went on I saw lots of amazing interesting things I have never seen before the trees and the ant hills there are so different from the ones we have here [Copperbelt].  Inside the bus we played, said some jokes, shouted about shop names and some teaching Mr Grove gave us. The question I asked Mr. Grove was basically meaning "is being a part of the world alright?" And Mr. Grove answered, he prefers not to because you could become a slave of the world and it can influence your mind; putting rubbish in your head rather than putting something useful, the songs and movies make you do the acts of the world and behave like the world. And this made me realize that the course of some bad things I did was because of being a part of the world. When we almost reached Sakeji I wondered, "How can there be such a school in a deep bush area and when we went in I couldn’t stop seeing how fabulous the school was, although it wasn’t how I thought the school would be, but still, it was fantastic. The school was full of plants and trees everywhere that really attracted me.

It had been a long journey, with lots of police road blocks, but we managed to reach Sakeji at 16:00. When we had finally reached, and to my surprise, earlier than I had expected we all poured out of the bus; our clothes all looking kind of the same colour: orangish brown! We unloaded the bus and were shown to our rooms. We then had snack which was water and brownies. In ‘free time’ I watched what the G5-9 girls were doing. So some of us went to a ‘Rally’ thing which Mr. Grove introduced to us, to watch or help out the young children. Rally was like learning extra skills like carpentry. We went to the place where Rally took place and asked the teacher (Mr. Ronald) if we could help and he allowed us to help and from that I learned how to help out in a practical work and it was fun talking to the little kids and helping. That is how we finished our first afternoon and then we went for supper.

17:00 was supper. The supper bell rang and we had to stand outside and wait to go in, and when we went in we had to remain standing until  the prayer is said, which is different from our school rules.  We had pizza, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and other vegetables. Because we or I didn’t know many table manners I kept making mistakes when having a meal but I have learned my table manners now! We then had free time until 18:30. During my free time I wrote Monday’s report and I also played outside. At 19:00 we went into the hall and played games with the Sakeji students and got to know each other. The games were about learning each other’s names. It was very funny, especially when people called someone the wrong name. The first game we played was both Sakeji and Amano students getting to know each other and in that game I was with Nkisu Mahamba. Then we were told to ask the person 3 questions about them and we had to say what they tell us to everyone after that game we had another game we called human table football which I really enjoyed. When it was 21:00 we went back to our rooms and had a short evening devotion with Mr Grove and then slept.

Breaking the ice

Saturday 01/07/2017

We woke up at 06:00, got ready and went to breakfast at 07:00. For breakfast we had rice cakes, porridge and toast. Sunny tried to beat Mr Groves rice cake record but found out that 32 where to many. After breakfast we had free time.

    Sakeji students were having their sports day, so we went off to the rapids. We left Sakeji at 08:15. It took us about an hour to get there. When we got there we were expecting a tour of the hydro place, but unfortunately the guide wasn’t there, so we went ahead and played and explored the rapids. When we reached the place Mr. Grove reminded us about the difference of the road and villages and what kind of industries are in that area. After discussion we went to find falls but there wasn’t much water to slide although we did slide. And some of us slept on the rocks with the freezing water flowing over us. We all came back and had lunch, which was sandwiches, crisps and cookies. Eating lunch my feet dipped in water, listening to the sound of water flowing, crunching the apple and looking at the view that God made was just fantastic. 

The Rapids

The Rapids

After lunch, some of us and Mr. Grove went down a different part of the rapids. We had gone down about 100 meters when somebody started shouting to us that there was danger. He was a bit unhelpful when he wouldn’t tell us what the danger was. But during our time at the rapids we made many memories. While we were going back to Sakeji school I was checking the area as if I’m trying to find something. I noticed that the hats where people live were not cylinder shaped but a cuboids shaped and I found out the reason is just look modern; just a style. When we came back Sakeji was still doing their sports, so we watched. When it came to the tug-of-war we joined in. We did 4 rounds against them, we won 1 and they won 3. After lunch we went swimming in the pool and the water there was very cold as it was river water which I was new to. I didn’t stay in too long because it was freezing cold. At the pool I gained courage and jumped off their highest diving board [10ft] and went on their zip line which they call the ‘flying fox’. After swimming we got dressed and had supper. For supper we had vegetables and cornbread. When we had finished our supper we had time to shower and get ready for the movie. We watched Down and Derby, but we only watched part of it. We had a snack and talked to the Sakeji students, then went back to our rooms and slept. We went back to where we slept and had a bath and every one gathered for devotions. And the devotion was about the qualification for the inheritance. In order to inherit fully a father must die for the person to inherit. So God came in human form and died for us in order for us to inherit. God died for us so that we can be in the presence of Him in His holiness, for we are sinners.

Bible Time

Bush Walk

Sunday 02/07/2017

    We woke up at 06:00 and had breakfast at 07:00. We had free time until 10:00. At 10:00 we had church in the hall were Mr. Hanna was preaching to us about risks and it taught me to consider the consequences of taking the risk. The teacher who was preaching asked us a question, ‘Did you reject God and take [physical] life and world? Is it worth rejecting God and take the world?’ and in salvation we looked at the fact of sin, then the penalty of sin, the penalty must be paid, Jesus paid the penalty, salvation is a free gift, then to obtain salvation you must accept. I think God is trying to tell me to come out of the worldly form and go back to Him. We then had lunch which was beef, roast potatoes and vegetables. For dessert we had ice-cream and fudge. We had more free time until snack. During the same day talked to a lot of Sakeji students and made new friends.  After we had eaten our snack we then had Bible club which Mr Towse took for about an hour. And he taught us that every chapter and verse in the Bible were unique. Chapters and verses are the word of God and He made us not just by word to create us, but so we can be much more useful tool to others to return to God. After Bible study we had a tour around and it was my first time going through the bushes the bushes were like flames making waves.We then had more free time. We all, including the Sakeji students, went for a walk on the air strip. We got back and had supper which was pancakes. We then had time to shower and do other things. My friends and I were playing in the dark. When everyone was ready we went back into the hall where Mr. Grove preached to us.  We went back and slept.

Early morning swim

River area

Monday 03/07/2017

    We had an early start to the day. We had to wake up at 05:00 to get ready for the ‘early morning swim’. We went down to the river and had to jump in. I felt paralyzed but it didn’t hurt. When we got out we could sit by the warm fire and drink our hot chocolate. When we had finished our hot chocolate, we had to hurry back because breakfast was soon after that. The early morning swim is an experience I've never had. After breakfast Sakeji kindly gave us Amano students some sweets, but to see who got their sweets first we had to send someone to say the alphabet backwards. From Amano they sent Temwani, Eunteac and I. We then got our sweets and went back to the rooms and got changed into our P.E kit ready to play bench ball, and for the boys, football. We had a great time when we were playing bench ball. In our team we had some Sakeji kids because they wanted everyone to play.  At the end of it we had all had a good time and went down to the pool. We swam there, zip-lined and went on the water slide. We had lunch at the river and played in the river trying to catch crabs. We caught one crab and put it in a small pond. We also found some water scorpions.  Once we had finished our lunch we went to play Capture the Flag. The first round our flag was hidden in a bad place, but the second round we hide it better and had more people guarding the flag so we won that round. We played that for a really long time, and then went back to the river. We swam in the pool for a short while and then went back up to the school to have supper. We had our supper outside and enjoyed hotdogs and salads. We had free time next and could do whatever we wanted to do. Later in the evening we finished the movie and went back to bed.

River Time Dam Busters

Grades 8, 9 and 10

Tuesday 04/07/2017 

    We had to wake up early, at 05:00 because we were leaving early. We loaded the bags into the bus at 06:00 and went to breakfast at 06:30. We then had a picture and then set off back home to Chingola. The first 3 hours everything was fine and MR Grove and some of the bots including me tried to name all the capital cities in Africa but because we failed we moved to countries in Africa.

But after 3 hours the breaks started to smoke so we stopped and let them cool down. The brakes stopped giving us trouble but then the second problem started the engine was getting too hot and started to make noises. So we stopped again and let the engine cool down so that we could pour some water into the radiator. We continued going and the water somehow solved the problem.

We still played one game were you had to find all the letters in the alphabet on billboards  and signposts  it was so fun but I can’t focus on something for a very long time so I gave up after I reached G. On the way we stopped off at Solwezi. We arrived at Sunny’s house where the Chingola students were dropped off at 17:00.

In conclusion I would say that the trip was a very interesting adventure I learned a lot about Christ and made some friends and I had a lot of FUN!!!!!

I learnt how to care for others and how shameful it is to fun of others. When I thought about leaving Sakeji I felt sad but I made lots of memories and friends there.
It was fun in Sakeji school and thank you for caring, organizing and taking us to Sakeji school.

Going to Sakeji was worth it because I got to spend some time away from home, got to know my friends better and made new friends.
The people at Sakeji where very nice to us and treated us like family.  I really enjoyed the stay and would like to go back again. Just a big thanks to Mr Grove for taking us there and to Miss Jacki and Miss Kaumba for looking after us.

Even though I did go to Sakeji in 2015 I did have a lot of fun on this trip too and I'm glad that I went.

Camping under the stars

Once again the boarding students were invited to sleep out under the stars. All who were able, came to have a long night of fun, and in the end a little sleep. The first activity was to design and adapt a 3kg tin into a stove which is done in the afternoon before going off to find firewood. Some decided to 'steal' extra materials for their stove and so suffered disqualification at the contest. A pair of grade 12s no less!

Mwansa... I think

Having taken firewood to the site and run back for supper, a tasty pancake fajita type meal, the real business could start. The stove competition of "beauty and brains" was a close call between Asia and Naomi's bougainvillea adorned tin pot and Cholwe and Jackson's well banged out deep fat fryer. Philip and Taonga won a prize for innovation trying to incorporate a handle into the design with rubber coating to boot. However trials the following day showed rubber to be very combustible!

Getting ready for bed

First event on the cards was orienteering which even in daylight can be a challenge but at night can be very disorienting! The 'Expendables' did a 20 minute circle to find number 6, their first control point (supposedly an easy one) and ended back at the rock where they had started. The map reader having informed his team to cross a stream and then a river to reach 6 promptly did just that, but "Where O Cholwe, is the torrent?" However despite the poor start they managed to win in the end with 21 points. Hot on their heels were Take Off and Major Lazers who came very close to finding that elusive number 3. Thinking the disused road had ended they turned around not realising they were but 20 m from the big 6 pointer, which was just the other side of the encroaching heather. However to find 7 out of 8 points, in the dark, on your first orienteering exercise, is very good going and no team did poorly.

Rosemary busy stove building

Following those successes we ditched a 'Mission Impossible' game, due to time, and moved onto 'Capture the Flag'. As time was running out we did a small set up to encourage confrontation and attacking play. Sure enough, soon there were yelps and screams and cackles of laughter as raiding parties attacked and defenders ambushed one another. Small kids got picked off by three seniors without mercy, a 'Scarlet Pimpernel' emerged as Conglin walked his way into the opposition's camp unchecked, twice, and Mr Kapalaula's rhino charge was very amusing to follow as he bounced off saplings and bamboos in a bid to escape, blundering in the dark, till he was literally upended by a clothes lining vine! Great fun, even if no winner emerged, though the yellow team was later found to be cheating with a dummy flag! Probably Diana's idea.

I think the egg is supposed to be on the stove Mr K!

To finish off the night we sat round the fire with marshmallows and had a devotion on Luke's account of the sign of Jonah and the rejection of Christ. With the previous week packed with spiritual input the challenge to be 'hearers AND doers' was made again.

Time for breakfast! A very short 'sleep' later and it was time to get the stoves going. Fried eggs, bacon and toast was on the menu with some pancake mix for afters and some Coca-cola to wash it all down. Breakfast this way is very slow and a lot of maintenance is required to keep fires going but strangely satisfying when you are done. With heavy dew the challenge of starting a fire with one match can be tricky. Preparation is the key coupled with a lot of care and attention. Everyone did very well with many older timers showing refined skills.

Still smiling, can't be all that bad eh, Denise?

Sadly everything good ends very quickly and the next challenge was to be back a school ready for the Sunday service. Conglin's greatest challenge was to begin... could he stay awake?

My thanks to Mrs Haynes and Mrs Kaumba (girls dorm parents) for coming along so willingly and it was great to have some visitors with us who joined in.

Report by Mr Grove

U14 girls hockey

On Saturday the 15^th July, 2017 Chengelo hosted the ISAZ hockey tournament for the under 14 girls. There were 4 schools which were Chengelo, Amano, Trident and Simba.

 

So our first game was against Simba, most of the players were afraid because it was their first experience so the first half was easy for Simba and in the first half we allowed an easy goal, but as the game went on we slowly began to gain confidence and we did not allow any other goal in the first half. In the second half we pushed and put effort, we also shot more on target but could not score a goal and at the end they managed to score an easy goal due to tiredness and so we lost that game 2-0.

Our second game was against Trident, and surprisingly the team was also scared of them and this gave Trident a very big advantage and they were very confident because of that and so we allowed two easy goals in the first half of the game and we again began to gain confidence slowly as the game went by, we did not allow them to score another goal in the first half of game. In the second half we actually began to enjoy the game and we managed to equalize the game 2-2 but just before the whistle they scored and so we lost that game 3-2.

Amano vs Chengelo

Our last and final game was against Chengelo and we were not so scared of them so we had a lot of motivation but we were tired too so in a blink of an eye they scored 5 goals in the first half and we scored nothing. The team began to get tired and so we slacked a little in the last half and so they scored another 3 goals and we lost that game 8-0 overall we came out 4^th out of all the four schools and I don’t really blame the team for our loss neither our coach Mr. Grove and lastly I would like to thank the team, Mr. Grove and Chengelo for hosting and for providing good facilities to play and enjoy hockey. 

Report: Bwalya Mubanga     

U19 Girls Hockey

A hockey tournament was held at Chengelo on the 15th of July 2017. The under 19 team played three games in total; Trident, Chengelo A, and Chengelo B.

Our first game was the third match of the event, against Trident. Because we had lost to this team the previous year, I would say that we were mentally prepared to put up a good fight. In this game, the fact that we were passing out wide was excellent. However, we were slow on to the ball and tended to wait for it to come to us, producing quite a few opportunities for Trident to get the ball. They were able to score in the first half. I think that some of the defenders and the goal keeper were a little frightened of the fast balls that came their way. Diana was able to score at the corner of the goal in the second half. In the end, we tied this game 1 -1.

Tenjiwe passing out of defence

We then played a back to back game against Chengelo A. For this game, there was a complete change up of who played where. I think that this sort of messed things up but we did still play well. Unfortunately, we lost our wide passes and for the majority of the game, the ball was down the centre. This was one of the factors that contributed to us not scoring any goals in this game. They were able to score one goal so the result at the end of the game was 1 -0.

We took a short break before playing Chengelo B. We had been told that this team was an easier team so we let down our guard. In reality, it was an easier game but we were not willing to put up a good fight. Diana quickly put a shot into the net which further put down our guard. We were very soon knocked back into the game when they, almost immediately, scored. Another of our shots went past the goal keeper into the goal, this time directed by Grace. Sadly, they put two more away for themselves and so we lost another game 3 - 2.

Overall in the competition, we came third out of the four teams. It was a good effort put in by the team. Thank you to our defenders – Natasha Chiombe, Tenjiwe Mwanza, and Faith Chansa, and also to the people who played midfield – Diana Shakwelele, Josiah Muteb, Grace Kampeni, and Naomi Ronald. I hope that the grade twelves enjoyed their last game playing for Amano Christian School.

Thank you very much, Mr. and Mrs. Grove, for putting in the time to teach us this sport.

Report by S. Ronald