April is term break at MICS. The Zambian school system has a great schedule of three months on, one month off. Not being dependant on the summer months for warm weather they can take these breaks throughout the year. It’s a nice rhythm. It took me awhile to get used to the very quiet campus and the boys missed all of the kids around to play with but we are also enjoying the break. Our time has been filled with lots of Lego, a shopping trip to Lusaka, working around the house and school as well as more time together as a family. And a few days ago the Sanfilippo family was finally able to move into their permanent home on campus. Their patience has been amazing as they’ve been in transition for three months. It’s good to finally have them as neighbours. Tomorrow we leave for just over a week in Zimbabwe where we have a retreat with other families serving with the BIC in southern Africa. Then we are continuing on to introduce our boys to life at Mthshabezi where we used to live and to some dear friends we haven’t seen in over seven years.

The end of term is always a busy time and we enjoyed some fun activities to finish it off. The students have been learning about different virtues, the last one about being helpful. The star character was “Hat Matt” who wears various hats when he’s helping people in different roles. Each student got to make a hat and then were surprised with a hat parade around the school grounds. Some of the older students got to play instruments and they went around to pick up each class. They had a blast.

The Easter program is a big deal that the students work hard on every year. They perform it at the school and also at the local hospital. For a few weeks they rehearsed every day after chapel and each class had their own part in sharing the story of Easter. I was amazed at their ability to memorize and it was fun seeing the boys in their first official school performance.

On the last night of the term we had a bonfire with the boarding kids. Hot dogs were brought in from Lusaka and as an extra special treat we roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. The ingredients travelled all the way from the States so we savoured every bite. I love a good campfire and all the cuddles from the kids we are starting to bond with made it a very special way to end the term.