AUGUST 2005
Dear Friends and supporters of The Queens and Kings School
All of you who have given money to support this worthy cause
please be aware that your money does not only help to build
the school but, because the money is used to pay the men who
labour
to do such a good job in building the school, their families
are blessed. Also the people who sell us the blocks, the sand,
the chippings, the iron rods, the cement, their families too
are blessed.
Trevor was in Port Harcourt for the whole of July, mainly working
for the school. Checking the teachers’ work in setting
the exams and then he typed some 50 papers. When the children
had taken the exams and the teachers had marked their papers
Trevor checked these too to further help the teachers with
their marking. He also gave around 50 children an individual
reading
test and was pleasantly pleased with the results, the children
had made good progress since his last visit. On the last day
of term he introduced them to Sudoku and they loved doing these
number puzzles.
Trevor is pleased with the team of teachers [right] we have now
and they are all working well together and for the good of The
Queens
and Kings School.
Trevor arrived on the Island last Friday the 5th August and
he brought with him Stella’s second daughter – Favour.
Favour works very hard for her family at home doing the bulk
of the cooking, cleaning, shopping and carrying, fortunately
before she came away the other members of the family took part
in a rota system where they took turns to do the jobs, this practice
will now be paying off when they have to manage without Favour
altogether for 5 weeks! She (so far) does not like much of our
food and fruit is her main diet at the moment also chicken and
rice, although one evening she did cook us all a meal of liver,
kidneys and sweet potato which was excellent. This will be a
real educational growing time for this fourteen year old, she
is actually going to spend four days at an Isle of Man school
before her return home to her own school. No one in her immediate
family has travelled outside Nigeria before.
Our great need now is to get the school ready for the 19th
September when the new term starts at the new school. Before
then we need
money to pay for windows and doors and for a minibus to transport
the children from their homes to the school. Anything you can
give us will be so much appreciated.
Some people are sponsoring a child at the school at a cost
of £72
per year (the fees for the 3 terms). This is very helpful to
the parents, some of whom have up to 4 children at the school
to pay for. It is also most helpful
to the school as when we have all the fees paid then we are
able to pay the teachers on time each month.
With love and gratitude
Ros
Dear Mustard Seed Supporters 14AUG05
When I woke up this morning I found the following reference
in my emails
The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy,
O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own
hands.
Psalm 138:7
Yes The Queens and Kings School is indeed the work of God’s
hands. We have been so struck recently by all the good that
has been achieved and we are now in our last push to see
the new
school building open by the 19SEP05. I have just returned
from Nigeria and there is lots of good news to share with
you.
GOOD NEWS
We are moving to the new site on the 19SEP05, The Queens & Kings
School has been approved by the Government and is properly
registered, we have finished building a big soak away [left]
(24ft x 16ft X 12ft)
so that we can put in five proper flush toilets, we have
nearly finished building a wall all around the school site.
We have a good team of committed experienced Nigerian teachers,
we had a very happy children’s day party on 27MAY05.
We also now have our own E.F.L Mathematics textbook and book
of
tests, I have put this together and I am now working on expanding
it . Our old school building is now a workshop and we are
manufacturing, out of aluminium, all our windows and some
of the doors, Stella
is overseeing this project, which is very exciting. Buying
our own materials, using our own labour and supervising the
work
ourselves has resulted in not only better workmanship but
very substantial cost savings
Part of the new site had been used by the previous owners
for growing cassava, Stella has now uprooted all these plants,
harvested the cassava crop, and the ground is now being used
to put up
teachers’ accommodation so we can have someone living
on the site (for security), and can invite to Nigeria teachers
from
the UK and USA to help with running the school.
CHALLENGES
We have had numerous trials too. Our security guards who had
been so faithful for over 12 months, absconded with some
money they were supposed to use to buy sand, and our supply
of headpans,
shovels and wheelbarrows disappeared at the same time. Although
we have spent money to improve the road to the site this
work was not been done well and we are now organising some
men to
dig a drain for 450 metres so that we can divert the rain
into a nearby burrow pit, this will make the road viable. We
also
are in receipt of demands by many parents who live some distance
from the school who would like to send their children to
The Queens & Kings School provided we will have a school
bus to collect their children (they are willing to pay fares
to offset
all running costs). This is something we have had in mind
for a long time but this facility has not yet been manifested!
So
you see we still have a hill to climb before 19SEP05 which
is only one month away.
OUR PRAYERS
We also want to ask you to join us in praying for the immediate
further progress of The Queens & Kings School. These
are some of the spiritual ideas we have been working with:
SPIRITUAL IDEAS
- Such
love is being manifested by our teachers and supporters,
our precious children dwell in
the everlasting arms of divine
Love, and this love must meet all the educational needs
of our children.
- Our
new leaflets, announcing the opening of the new school,
have been beautifully designed and printed in the
Isle of Man and
all those reading the leaflets must perceive the
Love, perfection and Truth involved, the rock on which The
Queens
and Kings
School is built.
- The
Queens and Kings School affords a major opportunity to change
the thought of Nigerians away
from fear
and lack, to
an expectation
of progress, growth, development and success. May
our desire be fulfilled and encourage others to
strive for perfection
and outstanding performance. May our school be
a big blessing to
our community and be seen to be such a blessing.
- May
many see this way forward and desire to walk in it, focussing
on honesty, diligence, truthfulness,
love, charity and goodwill
to all mankind.
- Let
perfect Love cast out all fear, that we may acknowledge there
is indeed no impediment
to
harmonious development.
God is lovingly
governing all progress and Mind is revealing
all we need to know that we may all be a current
blessing
to our world.
May
our character education enable our children to prove that
they are stable and upright citizens
in
their communities
With much love and many thanks for all your valuable support,
God bless you all
Trevor
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