Updates from our March 2023 visit

Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd

We started the day early with a trip to a local city, Kitwe. It was very busy with a lot of people selling fruit, clothes etc. 

Our main aim of the day was to buy chitenge fabric to bring home and make bags, wreaths etc. We spent a long time trying to decide which fabric we wanted to buy - there was too much choice 🙈😆

We had a restful afternoon, before going to the Coppercobana restaurant for our dinner. They even had the premier league on the TV (we watched Aston Villa Mr Tucker!!)

On Sunday we joined in with the palm Sunday celebrations, where all the churches paraded around the town to their local church for further celebrations. Mrs Davis joined the service, whilst Miss Mullins and Mrs Newbury popped to the shops to buy supplies for the BBQ (braii) in the afternoon.

In the afternoon, we hosted a gathering of anyone who has been involved with the link between Mufulira and Somerset. Some people joined us who had been part of the exchange programmes back in the 90s. We particularly enjoyed playing with the children  including Top Trumps, badminton, volley ball, battle ships and some drawing. 

Friday 31st March 

Today was our last day at school and we were treated to a traditional day. This morning we were taken to teacher Catherines house and given a fabulous chitenge outfit to wear before returning to school ready for the celebrations to begin. We went in the hall and the children performed an amazing dance and poem. We then had a huge meal fit for a wedding where we tried all sorts of Zambian dishes including caterpillars! After the meal we said our thank yous and gave out the gifts and resources we had travelled over with, including Brian! It was an amazing day and a week we will never forget. Thank you Mufulira Mine Primary. 

Thursday 30th March

Today we headed into school ready for another busy day. We started the day by visiting the children in the SEN class and then we handed out some of the remaining pen pal letters. We had a link committee meeting before setting up the video call, where we got to see all your lovely faces and have a brilliant chat between the two schools. The children from Mine Primary were very interested to see pictures of some of the things we talked about during the call such as Stone Henge and a roast dinner! 

In the afternoon we were picked up by a group from St Lawrence Church and we were taken out to visit a home for the elderly (known as grannies). The journey took us along a very bumpy "road' towards the Congo border. At one point we had to get off the bus because the track became un passable. We finished the journey by walking! 

At the home we were introduced to the residents and we were given a tour. Mrs Davis helped make cakes and we then shared a meal with everybody. At around 7pm we had a very hairy journey home again! A very busy and rewarding day, if not a little eventful! 

Wednesday 29th March 

Today we spent the day back at Mufulira Mine Primary. We had the morning working with the children in pre-school. During the first lesson we created some art work based on the work we brought over from Dove class. The children coloured sunsets with wax crayons and then stuck Zambian wildlife on top. We were then treated to a delicious breakfast before going to watch an older class having gymnastic lesson in which the children were learning how to do forwards and backward rolls.

After that, we headed back to pre - school. We read the book Tidy and sang some nursery rhymes. Before lunch Mrs Newbury delivered a lesson on gender equality and the children were drawing and naming people in different professions.

After lunch we handed out some more penpal letters which were well received! Another busy but very rewarding day 😊. 

Tuesday 28th March

Today was an informative day where we all learnt a lot. We started off with a tour of Manopi Copper Mine; we worked through each stage of the process from mining through to the final sheets of copper. Unfortunately, we could not go underground today, however we saw a lot of interesting aspects of the process of mining copper. 

We then moved on to their training facility, where students, who want to work at the mine, will learn their job in a hands on way, without the hazards of a working mine. We thought it was a really impressive site.

After a brief late lunch, we visited Malcom Watson hospital, where people who work for Mopani Mine are treated. 

On the bus ride home, we saw a large group of boys playing football. 

We are looking forward to going out for dinner tonight, to a local restaurant, with some Zambian friends 😋 

Monday 27th March

Today was our first visit to Mufulira Mine Primary. As we arrived we were treated to a wonderful welcome with traditional singing and dancing. We met with the head teacher Joseph Chishimba before having a tour of the school.

Following our tour we went into the newly built school hall for a welcome celebration and many staff and pupils from the school were in attendance. A student delivered a welcome speech and we were presented with a delicious cake. 

After the celebration we went to watch a phonics lesson which Miss Mullins found very interesting! The children were learning the phoneme /ch/.

Finally we visited some of the older children to deliver the pen pal letters from Hawl and Ibis class. The rest will be handed out tomorrow. The children are very keen to write replies and we will bring them back with us to share with you! 

We are looking forward to a good rest this evening 😴.

Sunday 26th March 

We were collected at 8:30 this morning, by Godfridah, to take us to church. We joined the children's service and were blown away by their youth choir, who have won competitions. The children took an active part in the service with readings and assisting the priest. 

After the service, the choir gave us a short performance in their rehearsal space and were asking us many questions.

This afternoon we wandered over to the shop at the end of our road to pick up some bread for lunch. 

We had some visitors to the house and we enjoyed playing dobble and cards with an 8 year old called Ezra.

This evening we had a wonderful traditional Zambian meal prepared by Ethel (a local friend).

Unfortunately we had another power cut, just as they were about to arrive. We cooked the nshima outside, and fortunately, Ethel and her daughter Beatrice, had already prepared the other food at home. It was delicious!! 

Saturday 25th March 

2:30pm   After a bumpy bus journey we arrived at 7 Julius Nyerera (our home in Mufulira) at 12:30 yesterday. Once we had settled in we took a taxi to the local supermarket. Yes they do have tomato sauce!! We collected a few extra supplies, although Ethel (a Zambian friend) had already stocked us up with all we needed.

We had a relaxing evening and a lovely dinner, but all went to bed quite early. 

We have spent the morning baking and preparing for a Tea Party this afternoon, where we will be meeting our colleagues from Mufulira Mine Primary.

6pm We have met with our Zambian colleagues this afternoon; sharing all of your fantastic work and talking about the lessons we will ne teaching next week. 

10pm It was our first experience of a power cut this evening. We had nearly finished cooking our dinner when all the electricity went out. This was at 7:30pm and it didn't turn on until 9:30pm. So it was cooked sausage and some of the vegetables without rice; eaten by candle light.  

Friday 24th March

2:50 (UK time) 5:50 (Kenyan time) we have arrived safely at Nairobi in Kenya after a very warm 8 hour flight. We are now waiting for our next flight to take us to Ndola in Zambia.

Thursday 23rd March

3:30 pm- we have arrived at Heathrow and are sat waiting for our gate to open. We are enjoying watching all the planes taking off and coming in to land. 

Wednesday 22nd March

​​​​​We are all packed up and ready to go. Our first flight is tomorrow evening; arriving at Nairobi in the early hours of Friday morning before continuing our journey to Lusaka. Please keep a look out for updates.

Mrs Newbury, Mrs Davisand Miss Mullins will be travelling out to Zambia on the 23rd March. Please keep looking here for updates whilst they are out there.