The diary game- Abacus mental math competition

Its really intriguing to know that there are easier and simplified ways of solving simple Maths problems that majority of us can't solve without calculators....

It's my pleasure to share my diary game for 5th July which was on Saturday to you all.
It was such a fulfilling day and as you browse on you'll find out what made it to be ideal and unique.

Waking up that morning, I felt a calm breeze wash over me, actually it's been raining here in my town these past few days and the cold is really disturbing, I said my morning prayers..

I already had a set plan in mind, I was going with my mom to the ministry, so I quickly ran around my chores, but was surprised to know that aside from my brother who was up, it seemed like my mom didn't show interest anymore so I went to her room...

She told me that, my brother pleaded for us to join him to his Abacus mental maths competition that was being held that day, at uniyo permanent site...
I was actually amazed because I knew about the competition but I thought that like others he would go alone.
Actually my brother @wizzyboy3 really wanted to place first in this competition.

Abacus mental maths competition is a competition meant to enhance the brain, it makes the child smarter and improves s child's thinking ability, basically the ability to solve such complex questions is almost surreal..

Already in school teachers were brought to teach the students faster ways to solve maths problem using the brain, but it all depends on the brain right😁, so this competition is to test, the smartest and the fastest brains in the house...

Well with the change of plans everyone started getting ready, I helped my brother with a few questions to ensure that he was really ready and told him not to be nervous at all...

We headed out without having breakfast so along the way we bought a little something to hold ourselves together.
We got there quite early and a lot of people were still coming, Wizzyboy quickly went and showed his registration slip and he was allowed inside, the program was supposed to start by 9 o'clock but it was delayed to almost 11, not to mention the incessantly power failures in between rounds.

We spectators had a special section to sit in, soon the program kicked off and they started with a lot of introductions and listing of their sponsors.
They finally moved on to the first round of the competition after so many delays, so this is how it goes. They were to answer a certain amount of questions under 10 minutes

There were six groups of grades, which were children of different ages:

Grade1	Kindergarten - 15 questions in 10 mins
Grade2	nursery and primary 1 - 20 questions in 10 minutes
Grade3	Primary two - 25 questions in 10 minutes
Grade4	Primary 3&4 - 30 questions in 10 minutes
Grade5	Primary 4 and junior secondary school 1 - 40 questions in 10 minutes
Grade 6-8	Jss2&3 - 45 questions in 10 minutes

My brother belonged to the highest grade which was Grade 6-8 which meant he was to answer 45 questions in 10 minutes...

When I heard that I truly doubted whether he would be able to do that, or whether any child at all, even a little child will be able to do it..
When you've completed your questions you raise your hand and say "Clear the Abacus" then the exact time you stopped is mentioned and you write it down.
The first person to finish was a little girl in Kindergarten who finished in 57secs I was appalled sincerely, I was very shocked...

I was more shocked when my brother finished 45 questions under 2mins 46secs, I asked myself whether he really answered all the questions..

But by the second round I figured out that he did, he got all questions correctly infact..
In the second round, if you passed the first round, you are invited up stage and asked two questions each, during which a first, second, third and fourth champion will be decided.

Winners were selected based on their grades, when it got to my brothers turn my heart was beating nervously, but he got his two questions without any qualms, even though he drew with a boy, he still won him and secured *FIRST PLACE I couldn't stop screaming in joy, he actually did it.

First place is given a gold medal and a 25 thousand cash voucher to shop in a popular shopping mart along with a trophy, we couldn't hold back the Joy when his name was called to collect the trophy, he was called "THE ABACUS SENIOR"

In that joy we invited some steemians to join us and celebrate this amazing achievement @bossj23, @kidi40 and @alli001. It was so much fun to have them around and join in our celebration frenzy...
By the time they left it was already 8pm...

What would I say?, it was a day filled with surprises, and knowing that in today's world says like this are scarce I treasure every single day of joy I experience in my life...

Here is a video to show the highlights of some of the events: