And cooking as well!

Thinking back a bit, across recent posts here, I realized that we may be giving the impression that life here at Amano is all about sporting and outdoor adventures. So I thought perhaps I should give you a brief update about our studies. This past Friday, the 26th of March, saw our Grade 2 and 3 students hard at work with a practical lesson based upon their recent science lessons. As they are learning about the different forms that matter takes [solids, liquids, and gas], and about the transitions between those forms [condensation and vaporization], they put their new knowledge to good use in the kitchen. Miss Bosch opened her home to the students for a morning of cooking, each pitching in on the creation of some melted and mixed chocolate treats. And while some helped with the cooking, others has some volunteers help with their school assignments. As you might expect, the after-the-lesson consumption of these goodies was pretty high on the priority list of most in the group! Here are some shots of the class as they mix, melt, and more . . . hmm, now that we think about it, maybe this isn't such a great example of classroom studies after all?

Survival and more at Ndubaluba!

So we survived. Four nights out in the wilderness of Ndubaluba. thirty young Amano scholars--all our Grade 10, 11, and 12 students, plus three Amano teachers. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the adults survived???
Anyhow, we were so privileged to get to share this experience for the past week and I think we all can agree that it was truly a great time of adventure, teamwork, and bonding through the difficulties.
This camp is a Christian Center focused on teaching group cooperation skills plus practical life skills to teens. So we spent the days doing fun activities like a climbing wall, canoeing, challenge courses, and races. We also got to have a "survival day," learning how to build fires, cook out in the bush, eat "unusual" foods [live worms, anyone?], dig a working well for our water, and set up camp for a night out under the stars.
One thing I was particularly happy about was being able to help introduce these experiences to so many youth who had never known of, never mind been able to participate in, such experiences. At the closing campfire we asked each one to make something that represented the meaning of the week to them. They whittled branches, wove leaves, and tied vines to make their objects. One young man came to me once he was done, asking for help. He had made a stunning sculpture—a replica of the climbing wall, but he was stuck when if came to putting words to his work. I spoke with him for a few moments and he seemed happier. Later that night, as we went round to share, I think he did just fine. “This is what I made,” he said, holding it up for us all to see. “And I think it gives me confidence. When I know I can try something new and can do it, that helps me in my life . . .”
It was also a real privilege to get to see sides of the students that did not come out so much in daily school and dorm life. One came in the midst of a miserable afternoon. The rains had come as soon as we started to set up camp, so our belongings, and selves, were getting drenched as we tried to put up our shelters. I noticed one girl wearing a very large, dress of a raincoat, after initially being unprepared, as some of the students were. Then I saw a very tall young man who had been showing impressive selflessness [the word I wrote on his final completion certificate], and I realized what had happened. He was dripping, sopping wet, and was engrossed in his work of hammering a homemade stake into the ground to hold up a tarp. He had given away his raincoat when he saw that she did not have one of her own. That was just one of a great many examples of the ways our students displayed their growth and character building over the week.
Yes, we survived; I think, in fact, we thrived!

Amano v. Sophie's Academy!

It was definitely some Friday Fun here at Amano this past week: March 11 marked a Primary School friendly tournament against Sophie's Academy. Making good use of our fine campus facilities, we held both girls' and boys' football matches, plus girls' netball. Considering how new our girls are to the sport of Netball, we were thrilled with how skillfully they played, winning in both the Under 11 and Under 13 games, with 8:0 and 5:0 end scores, respectively. Special congratulations go to our scoring girls: Johanna, Arushi, Diana, and Janki . . . but of course, most importantly for the game was how well the team worked together!
In football we were proud of the girls' first competitive effort, for sure! And as usual, our boys showed their football prowess, winning with a 4:1 end score.
Hearty congratulations to all our young athletes!

An 'obstructathon' in the mud

It has been one more great success of an event, thanks to our dedicated PTA members: this past Friday, the 4th of March, was the day of the first-ever Amano Obstructathon. What is an “obstructathon,” you ask? Part race, part obstacle course, part mud-bath . . . all FUN! Yes, Amano students got to display their muddy prowess, diving into pools of murky waters, climbing steep cliffs, traversing the “fearful forest,” squeezing through tight spaces, balancing across slippery beams . . . well, you get the idea
Suffice it to say, a good time was had by all. And yes, young and old alike participated in the fun, with good fund-raising success. Our student participants accumulated sponsors for the event, some of them one-time and some for each round they completed. Considering we had completion numbers as high as one young man’s 28 rounds, we think it was definitely a successful venture. Afterwards, as each participant recovered, they were treated to cups of fine chicken soup and hot chocolate, prepared by hardworking parent hands.
Yes, we couldn’t have said it better than one proud parent, as we wound down, who noted that it had been “good, dirty fun—clean, dirty fun, that is!”

The Science Fair

Amano Christian school had the privilege of participating in the annual ISAZ Copperbelt Science Fair. This event was held at Lechwe School, in Kitwe, on the 5th of Febuary 2011. The Science Fair participants came from various ISAZ schools int the Copperbelt. The participating schools were Lechwe School, Amano Christian School, Nsansa School and Mpelembe Secondary School.
The Amano School science club prepared a project for this event. The science project constituted of a research on the aerodynamics of wings and the experimentation of various wing shapes to see which one produced the most lift. After extensive research, the science club made four designs of various wing shapes. The wings were made out of Styrofoam. A known fact about styrofoam is that it flakes off when it is cut. The Science club came up with a very ingenuitive way of cutting stryofoam. They used a konstantin wire with an electric current flowing through it to cut it. The theory behind it is that the wire would get hot enough to simply melt the styrofoam. This proved to be quite handy as it enabled the club members to cut the styrofoam with no problems and it created a nice smooth surface on the wings. The science club performed different experiments to see which wing produced the most lift and which wing was best for high speeds. The science club put their findings together and went to Lechwe to showcase their findings.
The Science Fair housed many fascinating and very informative science projects that were made by the other participants. The judges finally came round to inspect the different projects that were displayed before them. The judges were fair and just in their decisions on whose project were the best. Amano Christian School did quite well with their project and they were commended for their project by the judges. Also taking place at the science fair was the annual ISAZ Copperbelt Science Quiz. Three Amano students took part. They did quite well with Daniel Vedder attaining second place in the senior category quiz. The science fair went very well and the Amano Science Club and Amano Christian School were very pleased with the attained performance.

Chigomezyo Kawonga

Friday Afternoon Sports

Just a brief update today, as we enjoyed another athletic event this past weekend.
For this Friday afternoon outing, both the women’s and men’s secondary teams were involved, but attending different tournaments. As I got to join the women on this outing, I will begin with them:
We were scheduled to play Volleyball and Football at Ndola Trust school, around one and ½ hours away from us. School schedules and “real time” being what they are, we were actually 1 hour late. No matter, though: the other team simply waited for us and enjoyed the games once we arrived; in good sportsmanship, I suppose, we even split the winnings equally, with us winning the football match 2:1 and them winning the Volleyball 2:1. Amano’s women played extremely well, and we were quite proud. Another highlight from the day was a surprise reunion with a former classmate—one of last term’s Grade 12 graduates. Coming to see her sister—a student there at Ndola Trust, she discovered her former schoolmates out on the field at the time. This led to an amusing round of mid-game smiles, shouts, and waves . . . and then a flurry of hugs once the game was done [thankfully the ladies were able to refrain until then for the hugs].
While the ladies played in Ndola, the gentleman were at Mpelembe school in Kitwe, in the midst of their first ever Rugby tournament. Many of the Amano men had never played the game before this term, so we were thrilled with their eagerness to play, and their fine sportsmanship displays. They played a solid three games, lasting a good hour longer than expected, so we were happy [and tired!] voyagers back to the school that night.

An Exciting Weekend!

Sport

We have just had a rather exciting weekend here at Amano, combining two crucial aspects of extra-curricular life: sport and science. Friday was the annual ISAZ Copperbelt Cross Country tournament, held here at the school. Last year we also hosted the event, but this was the first time for it to be open to both Primary and Secondary runners. With teams here from Ndola Trust, Lechwe [in Kitwe], and Simba [in Ndola], we had plenty of talented young athletes running around campus [pun intended!]. And when all was said and done, we couldn’t have been more pleased with our Amano team: not only did all our runners finish well, but we actually swept the competition, with our Secondary men and women, and our Primary girls, all getting first place! And they deserved that placement for sure, braving the woods of our property, traversing rivers, and arriving at the finish line mud-splattered and sweat-soaked. I can attest to this, as the number-remover for the runners, being the proud recipient of many sweaty, muddy hugs.

Science

As for the science: On Saturday morning Mr. Andresen took a group of our Science Club students to the annual Secondary Science Fair at Lechwe school. This event allows the students to showcase their trivia skills in a science quiz, as well as to explore scientific possibilities with other schools. Our students are this year focusing on the intricacies of aircraft wing shape, insofar as what shapes allow for the best aerodynamics. No doubt some of our students will carry on to become fine and accomplished scientists and engineers!