Amazing ability!

You should check out the December newsletter for Kim’s account of all the astonishing activities at the school in that single month!

This is a great newsletter because Kim is able to give us a picture of the remarkable capacities of Gemma to organise and encourage her large and growing team of staff, volunteers, parents, students and supporters.

Lunch for 2,400? No worries!

She certainly has a talent for running major events. The final school assembly was astonishing! 2,400 people were transported, seated, presented with awards and then fed!

School Assembly December 2006

Kim says that lists and schedules had been drawn up well in advance to include teams of workers involving every single person on the school grounds (even a chap who’d just wandered in to visit a friend for lunch) and preparations had been going on since lunchtime the day before when a thousand chairs had been placed in lines beside the hall to supplement the benches inside, a bus load of bananas was peeled, mountains of cabbages chopped, 350 kgs of meat diced, hundreds of tomatoes, capsicums, onions and carrots sliced, vats of water boiled, serving tables arranged, food bowls stacked, napkins prepared and the school grounds mowed and raked.

Gemma fosters a cooperative spirit in all the school’s activities. This is one of the core values that are transmitted by the school. There is such a good vibe about this place that people just WANT to be part of it. Kim says –

The most rewarding part of the whole procedure was watching the incredible team work as EVERY member of the staff pitched in and did his or her bit – drivers worked with heads of academic departments to chop tomatoes; the brickies served coleslaw with the security guards. And while teachers joined the gardeners to ladle out the cooked bananas, students stood with visiting Rotarians to offer soap and water for hand washing. Every person was vital to the success of the day … and it truly was a huge success. Not only did everyone have a meal within 15 minutes but there was time and enough for seconds!

The rewards of your contribution are massive. These children and their parents know through and through the life-changing value of the education offered at the school. Here is a mother of one of the 200 children who were accepted into the school in December.

A joyful mother hugs her newly-equipped daughter

What a smile! This small child is at the beginning of a wonderful journey that carries future hopes for her whole family. A lot rests on her shoulders. But with the support of her family, the school and supporters world-wide, she will realise her potential and break the cycle of grinding poverty that passes from generation to generation.