Hi All

So I have started at the Orphanage now and I absolutely love it! The children are so sweet, I teach the 4-11 year olds, the rest are in school fulltime. My favourites are the little ones; Abigail, Jennipher and Debbora. They loved the bubbles I brought so much that they had used all three bottles in one lunch hour. They all seem really happy here but they don't have a lot, they wear the same clothes everyday and most of them are covered in holes and ripped. When I get back to England I want to send them a parcel of clothes and basic toys like balls, bubbles and skipping ropes (so if you have any spare children's clothes keep hold of them!). They appreciate little things so much, every day I give them my empty water bottles and they act like I'm giving them a bike they are so grateful! At lunchtime the girls like to teach me songs and clapping games and do my hair, they also draw a lot for me. I am going to find it hard to keep my promise of not taking any children home with me!

I teach them either Maths, English or Science in the morning from 8-11am, then I help cook lunch (they eat nshima everyday) and then I have my break from 12-2pm, then teach again 2-4pm. At first it was harder than I thought, they only speak basic English so trying to teach Maths and Science is hard, I had a particularly tough first day trying to explain about infectious and non-infectious diseases. But most days I feel like I'm making progress, this morning they did really well subtracting mixed fractions. This afternoon I taught the little ones spelling using flash cards.

The weather is still extremely hot here, it's suppose to be rainy season but I have only seen it rain three times in 8 days! Yesterday I was a bit silly and I didn't have any water all morning because the shops are far away and I can't drink out of taps, so I fainted at lunchtime in the bar I was eating in. I'm ok apart from the Tom and Jerry style lump on the back of my head, I can now add 'a Zambian bar toilet' to the list of strange places I have fainted in! I didn't go back to the Orphanage that afternoon but took some painkillers, went to sleep and I was all better by the evening - lesson learnt, I will always carry water with me, I have practically flooded my body with it today.

I eat out most mornings and lunchtimes, everything is so cheap here. I have only spent about 100 pound (there's no pound sign on this keyboard) on food, taxis and activities. This weekend I am helping at the Church programme again and going on a Safari, I'm very excited for that!!! Can't believe I've only been here a week, it feels like ages.

I'll write again soon, lots of love xxx