|
Reunion weekend
The reunion weekend took place from 9th - 10th July 2011, with around 30 Bethany leavers returning home. It was lovely to see them all chatting and catching up with everyone, they all seemed really happy to be back. It was particularly nice to hear some of the success stories, such as Rehema, China and Peter who are all working hard and doing well.
The weekend started with an introduction to all the leavers and chance to take lots of group photos. This was followed by a giant game of BINGO, which included teams of all ages plus the leavers. Team games were the theme of the first day, with each person also taking part in a huge tug-of-war game, football, netball, rounders or children’s games. All the children got on very well together and worked well within their teams, with the older children helping the younger ones out. The second day began with a Sunday service in the dinning hall followed by a fantastic feast for everyone involved. There was plenty of food for everyone to try and each child was given a bottle of soda to drink, which they were delighted with. The whole weekend was a massive success and something which I hope will be repeated in future years.
Teaching at Bethany Primary School
A summer school was held for two weeks whilst the full time teaching staff took their annual summer holiday. Standard 1 was taken by Minza, Standard 2 by Fatuma, Standard 3 by Sophie, with Standards 4, 5, 6 and secondary pupils being taught by Laura, Jill, Johnny, Graham, Sheila, Jesca and Emma on a rotating timetable. English was the main focus of the teaching in the summer school, with maths, science, geography and general knowledge also being taught. The children were all very happy to be learning and participated well in class discussion. Some of children’s work from Standard 4 and 5 was displayed on the wall, this included lion masks, weather charts and Tanzanian flags along with flash cards for spellings.
Behaviour of children
Whilst the visitors were at Bethany, every child was well behaved. They all seemed very happy and were excited to see us all.
Food
The cooks were very hospitable, providing us with beans, rice, chips, potatoes, fish, meat and cabbage during the stay. As well as the feast they prepared for the reunion weekend.
Resources
All the visitors took lots of resources to use whilst staying at Bethany and to leave behind afterwards. Lots of class room equipment was taken out and left with Minza and Fatuma to use in their teaching.
Letters
Whilst the visitors were there, lots of letters arrived from various supporters around the world. Lots of children received letters and we held an afternoon where they could all write replies. The children were so happy that people were writing to them and to hear about some of the things which people were doing to support The Bethany Project. They loved writing back and updating people on their progress.
By Laura Barrowclough
|
