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ONE MORNING DURING THE FIRST WEEK of term the children enjoyed an exciting demonstration of a helicopter belonging to Nchila Wildlife Reserve. The pilot, Mr Steve Wolford, landed the helicopter on our football pitch and gave a detailed explanation about how it flies and how it is operated. Some of our staff took up the offer of a short flight, one by one. We are grateful to Mr Peter Fisher for making the helicopter available, to Mr Wolford for the demonstration and to the anonymous donor who covered the expenses. Few schools in the world would get such an opportunity.
The Independence Day holiday is always a welcome day of activity for the children, and this year was no exception. The flag raising ceremony in the morning is a good opportunity to be reminded of the historical significance of the day, and this year we had a short talk by Mr Danny Kabwita, who has been one of Sakeji's employees for many years. The children showed very good spirit in the swimming sports, and we were pleased to have a number of parents here for the event. As was the case last year, we had rain in the afternoon, but it stopped just in time for the fun of the evening bonfire and fireworks. Our staff members put in a lot of extra work for these occasions, but the enjoyment gained by the children is well worth the effort.
THIS TERM, WITH THE ARRIVAL of Miss Julianne Miller, a psychology student from Canada, and Miss Jessandra Jones, a student teacher from the USA, we are now almost as well staffed as we were last term. Miss Miller has taken a term off from her studies at Trinity Western College in British Columbia to join us, and we are grateful for the talent and skills which she is quietly and smoothly putting to good use with the children. Miss Jones has only just arrived, and has come by agreement between Sakeji and Eastern College in Pennsylvania in order to complete her teaching practice requirements for her third year of training. We are glad to be able to play a part in this and we are very confident that Jessandra, as Julianne has already, will bring blessing to us and to the children here.
We are also grateful to Miss Sharon Towse, who has been with us for two weeks helping in the catering department. We are now pleased to announce that Miss Towse will be joining our staff in January for a year to take over the catering responsibilities. She is a trained nanny with much varied experience with children, and we look forward very much to having her with us.
At the end of this term we will say farewell to Miss Delwyn Houghton. She has served at Sakeji with energy, flair and enthusiasm since January 1998 and we are all most grateful. Although Miss Houghton has not ruled out the possibility of a return to Zambia, or even Sakeji, she expects to go to New Zealand in December for a well-earned rest and holiday.
We will also be saying goodbye to Mr Bill Bierworth, who joined us in February. He expected to stay for four months, but has continued for longer, and we are grateful for this. We all appreciate the highly specialised mechanical work he has carried out for the school, and we wish him well in the plans he has for the future, whether here in Zambia or in Congo.
Miss Margie Young and Miss Janette Young expect to have time in the USA from December, when they will attend their father's wedding in California. We are all most appreciative of the fine contribution they have made to school life and are praying that both will be able to return to Sakeji after their time away. There will be the opportunity at the end of this term for parents to express their thanks to these people.
Mrs Raymond and I will be going on leave in January, and we are very pleased to announce that Brian and Anne Bentley have agreed to come from Lusaka and relieve in our absence. Mr Bentley has a wealth of experience in school administration, and will be Acting Principal here at Sakeji during this time. We are all confident that the school will run smoothly and effectively under his leadership. Miss Millard is away on leave this term and will return to Sakeji in January.
Matthew F. Raymond
PRINCIPAL
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