Star and Supporting cast

Rachel-Elise was the star; with Dr Brian Simms directing the supporting cast. A word of encouragement before the main performance
Scene 1: Curtain up - the show beginsScene 2: Developing the pot all eyes fixed centre stage

Scene 4: Finishing touches make a polished performance

Final Bow - the star, supporting cast and director smile for the camera - a huge success.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

One of the really hard parts of ship life is having to say goodbye to good friends who leave. This week we said Goodbye to Ken and his dad Udo. Ken was recently diagnosed as being diabetic so needs to return to Germany with his family to get the treatment he needs. Ken and Udo went this week and the rest of the family will follow at the end of the school year.

Nathaniel and Ken have been good friends since 2006 when we joined the Anastasis in Ghana, so it has been particularly hard for Nathaniel to come to terms with. Please pray for Ken's healing and for the whole family as they re-settle in Germany after many years of service onboard the ships.
Nathaniel, Ken and their class mates (and Teacher)

Nathaniel and Ken with Miss Ginni (who was their pre-school teacher on the Anastasis but now works with the dental team)A smile.....

and a (sweaty) hug.

3 Breaks in a row

If you are superstitious you may think that things happen in threes. If you play baseball you would be used to having three strikes before you're out. Well last week our family had three breaks, but praise God we are not out - though we may be a little down!

First our lap top died. Thankfully the hard drive is OK but we need a new pc to load the data onto (and of course the funds to get one)
Secondly (and most serious) Rachel-Elise broke her wrist! We would post photos of her getting her cast fitted but.......
Thirdly our camera got wet and now doesn't work anymore. Yes it was the nice new camera we got whilst in Tenerife, not the old cranky one we've had for 5 years! Typical

So not a great week last week for the Clan.

Getting Ahead

Last week two of our teachers kept their commiment to have their heads, chins and legs shaved. They did it to help raise money for an educational trip for all our academy staff to Kenya. There they met with other teachers from International schools and learnt not only how we can improve the educational experience for our children onboard, but also that we were doing most of what we needed to be doing anyway.
How much did they raise? Over $1000 for the shaving and a grand total enough to cover all their expenses. Now that's commitment!

School Retreat

Last weekend Iona and the rest of year 6-12 went on a 2 day school retreat 'Up North'. They stayed at the local YWAM base, ate african food (yummy) and swam in a waterfall. These are the things that memories are made of.....

Nutella chocolate spread on bread - very african!!

Oh yes - and it's still rainy season here so they got wet as well!!

Skool Piks

Another year gone and another set of School Pictures for us to look at and wonder how did the kids get so big so quick? Notice the new academy Polo Shirts with Logo! They only have one shirt each so they stay in the drawer waiting for special occasions - so we haven't moved to an official uniform yet (unfortunately).
Here is the whole Academy with teachers (and a Land Rover)

And of course the three munchkins.........

Presidential visit

Last week the President of Togo came to the M/V Africa Mercy to see what we're doing for himself. It's always an honour to have a head of state visit and an amazing amount of preparation was done by many onboard to make the visit possible with very little notice.
Dr Gary shows Don Stephens and the President of Togo around the hospital, and introduces them to one of our patients who has a large facial tumour.

Don Stephens made a presentation to the President of a limited edition print of the Africa Mercy. You can see Rob in the white shirt (by the man with the green beret).

Easter Munchies

Easter onboard is always special, with the crew focussing on the risen Christ and the impact that He has on our lives. We had services on Good Friday and two on Easter Sunday (sunrise and morning). We also had a special Easter Brunch on Sunday which was amazing. Not only was there a great selection of fruit to enjoy, but also these rather vicious looking fish as well!

I stuck to the fruit!

Experiencing Work AFM style

The High and Junior High School pupils have just fiinished a few days of work experience onboard.
Rachel-Elise chose to work in our library which is quite fitting as she's probably read most of the books in there!
Iona chose to help teach the Kindergarten and Grade 1 children and had a great time cutting, sticking and colouring (I thought it was WORK experience?).
We hosted Kim Anna (a year TWELVE student) in our office. She learnt all about Fire Panels, security systems, embarking/disembarking crew members and also how to update the crew database whilst eating M&M's, yoghurt and chocolate bars. Multi-tasking is always a valuable skill:-) (Apologies to Kim Anna whom I demoted to year 9 in my original text - just goes to show how much extra help I really need!!)