New class for Amos

Amos was recently asked by some of the women he reads with, if he could also teach their children.  Some of the children are not in school, others just come along for some extra help.
Here they are having a lesson outside the house. 
The reading of all of them has improved markedly in the weeks that they have been coming.

Rain, or the lack of it..

This is Choma Dam, one of two reservoirs serving Choma.  The water should be almost up to the tree line at this time of year, this picture looks as if we are just coming to the end of the dry season, not the end of the wet season. 
It is so dry that there are people in what should be the middle of the lake collecting sand for building!
This means that there will be a distinct lack of water here this year - for washing and cooking and drinking.  Already gardens have been abandoned for lack of water.

This week we have had a few days of useful rain.  However, for the harvest this is too little too late.  It will however, help to fill some of the wells used for washing and veg watering.

Drought

As many of you have heard, we have not been having good rainfall this rainy season. Southern Province has been particularly bad, there has been better rainfall in other parts of Zambia.
Here are a couple of pictures to show the result.  These were taken at the beginning of March and there has been no significant rainfall since then.  With the end of the season approaching, and harvest coming soon, you can see that the situation is not good, particularly for those families who just have a small plot of land where they grow the maize that usually keeps them for at least part of the year.

This is a patch of very sad looking ground nuts, with some wilting pumpkins amongst them.

A field of maize. This should be tall and dark green, with some good cobs forming by now.

Spelling

This is a little taste of Zambian spelling:

Tiling?  You'll need some Bull Nose Grount!  A very common mistake, adding an 'n' after the final vowell

Space-Age Solutions?

Combination of Zambian and American spelling

Tairoring done here.  Another common error - changing 'l' for 'r' and the other way round

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

Happy New Year Everyone
This is my favourite picture from 2018



Brown-hooded kingfisher leaving its nest hole

School

Firstly, sorry this has taken so long, we've been having some internet issues.

We thought that you might like to see that it's not all birds and bugs, so here are some pictures from school:

Grade 6

Amos in the library, reading with a small group

These were from Careers Day, when the children come to school dressed for their intended profession:

Soldiers

Doctors and Nurses

Grade 7 saying 'Good Bye' to the rest of the school after their exams.

After school chillin'

We're back!!

It's been a long time, sorry.
Since the lunar eclipse we have been back in the UK for a brief visit.  We are now back in Choma.  These are some of the creatures that welcomed us home:  [Pictures especially for Evan]

Hoopoe

Glossy starling

Black-collared barbet

Lilac-breasted roller

Mrs Praying Mantis despatching Mr Praying Mantis

Teeny weeny frog



Roman solifuge.  Apparently NOT a spider (!) but not equally unwelcome!  Uuugh.