Netball crazy

Last term we had a whole host of netball playing guests come to visit us at school. Our first visitor was Emma who ran a training programme for our netball team during the Easter holidays. The students had a wonderful time improving their skills and getting to know their new coach. Emma’s netball team back at her home in Australia have raised considerable donations for us in the past so it was great to meet with her in person and benefit from some of her excellent netball skills.

Then later in the term another member of Emma's netball team and her family came all the way from Australia to see us! They ran netball sessions for students, villagers and teachers! Not only did they donate netballs, jerseys and other netball accessories carried all the way from the other side of the world but they left funds for a new netball court with adjustable goal posts (so we can start training the little ones!). The new posts have been made and erected at the sports ground and we are soon to be clearing and marking out the new court!

Thank you so much to Emma, Judy, Amanda and Sally for working so hard and coming such a long way to see us. We hope to see you again soon.

Art Exhibition

For the month of June our Art scholars were part of an exhibition showcasing talent from all over the Livingstone area. We are very grateful to Agnes who inspires and motivates our students to draw, paint and express themselves through art.

Casper G6
‘On June 2nd our school Art club took part in an exhibition. The exhibition was at the Livingstone museum and I was one of the pupils in Art club that had drawn things. I was so happy that day, I saw many people from different schools. The art teacher had invited lots of people and schools from around Livingstone and the exhibition ended on the 30th June. Our school had 4 pupils in the exhibition and lots of other pupils from other schools also had work.’
 

Chimuka leaves for New York!

Tujatane’s first intake of 15 pre-school kids in 1996 graduated from various secondary schools in December 08. We are extremely proud to report that one of these children – Chimuka Cheepa – was accepted with a full scholarship at Iona College, New Rochelle, New York, USA to study medicine. Chimuka started his journey on August 3rd with a farewell party of friends and family at Livingstone airport. Chimuka comes from a family of 8 – his parents, three brothers and two orphan cousins – in a house of four rooms – no electricity or running water. They shower outside in a reed enclosure where they take a bucket of water. Chimuka has always been a fantastic student and very dedicated to his studies. We are all so excited for him as he starts this life changing road ahead. Chimuka has proven that given the chance of a privileged education, children from underprivileged areas can achieve results that are impressive by any standard. It is great to see how a child, given the chance, the motivation and commitment can follow their dreams.

Taken from Chimuka’s first email home
‘I enjoyed the trip from Livingstone to Johannesburg because it was quick but not the one from Johannesburg to NY via Dakar. It was very tiring. It took 15 ½ hrs! ..... While on the plane I enjoyed take off and landing because it felt as if I was floating but I did not like being in the air. The plane seemed not to be moving at all. At first I thought the pilot had stopped the plane so that meals could be served but to my surprise (after 2 hours) I was told we had arrived in Johannesburg. I tell you it was funny.

Naples Community Volunteers

Doreen G4
‘On the 27th June the American children from Naples Community School came and visited our school at Tujatane. We were very happy to have them at our school and they made for us a place where our plates can be put nicely and that was very good for us and they fixed our playground and that was also very good.’
The students loved having the Naples volunteers at school and many friendships were made between dancing, singing and lots of playing! We are very grateful for all their hard work.

The day of the African child

Sonia G7
‘On the 16th June we went off to town, this was because we wanted to discus about this day. It first started in Soweto, South Africa, where pupils demanded their rights. They wanted to be taught in their own language and many boys and girls who marched on the streets were shot down. To honour the memory of those who died that day we celebrate the day as children.’
Malambo G7
‘The day of the African child was formed in 1991 and is commemorated every June 16th. We children of Tujatane Tongabezi trust school went to radio musi-o-tunya with teachers Mr. Kenneth and teacher Kiza. There we went to the studio and we met DJ King of love. There were also some other pupils from other schools. There were questions and answers in the studio. It was fun, we were all happy and free. Some of the other pupils went to the civic centre where they were entertained with traditional dances, poems and girl scouts. The day of the African child was exciting. I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen next year.’

Sports day

Mutinta G7
‘On Friday 26th we had sports day competitions and we were competing in 3 houses. They were Zambezi house, Kafue house and Luangwa house. It was a good day and we enjoyed it. We did the high jump, long jump and running.’

Caroline G7
‘Sports are important in our lives because they make our bodies fit and you can stay for a longer time on Earth if you are fit. There was singing and dancing which means there was plenty of food. Remember sports are very important.’

Yvonne G4
‘It was also the parent’s time to run and when the parents had finished we were given some oranges to eat. As we were eating we continued our sports. Now it was time to say out loud the winners and guess what!! KAFUE was the winner! Second, Zambezi and the last one but not the least was Luangwa, we lost.

Spelling Bee

Last month Tujatane participated in a spelling bee against a rival school in town, Acacia. The competition was very tough and all the students did brilliantly. We even ended up having a last minute maths bee as the children were keen to compete! Both schools won different age groups with Tujatane winning best upper group and maths! We were very proud of all our spellers as they were competing against first language English speaking students. We look forward to the next competition!

Performing Arts Competition

After the huge success of last terms ‘Round 1’ of the national Zambian performing arts competition, we were all ready for the second round! After a few false starts with dates and venues changing we set the troop off to Monze (5 hours North-near Lusaka) to fight for their place in the Southern Province. Our traditional dance group came No.1 in the province and in Drama we came in at a close 2nd! The students and teachers involved had only just unpacked their bags when it was announced that the final was to be just two weeks later! Our teams rehearsed nearly every day in anticipation for the battle against the winners of the Northern, Eastern and Western provinces. The Final was held in Chongwe, a 9 hour drive away, and we are so proud to report that we have the No.1 traditional dance group in Zambia! We also came 2nd in Drama with individual students winning best Actor, best supporting actor and best drummer.

A special performance

At the end of term our drama and music teachers, Sydney and Mike, put together a wonderful afternoon of drama, singing, dancing and poetry, showcasing all the work that the children have been working on so far this year. We invited along many guests and friends from all over Livingstone and we were very happy so see so many familiar and new faces. The local radio station, Zambezi FM joined us along with representatives from the ministry of education, many parents and friends of the school and our special guest of honour, the Mayor. The students were very happy to see such a brilliant turn out and we all enjoyed refreshments and snacks after the performance, compliments of Tongabezi Lodge. What a fantastic day!