Brother Lawrence Humphrey FSC President
Christian Bothers College High School

14th April 2003

Dear Students and Faculty,

I realize that I am late with this note, but I would like to start it off by wishing your all A Happy and Blessed Easter. My prayer is that the peace and joy of Christ's Resurrection will be a source of peace and joy in your own lives.

 We have just finished the first school term and are now on term holiday. The term ended on Friday 4^th April and the boys will be on vacation until the 5^th of May when they begin the second term of a three-term school year. We were a little late in getting the school year started, as I was home on emergency leave, but once we were off and running we were able to go right up to the end of term without any distractions. It was a good school term and the students continue to show a willingness to make the best of their opportunity to better their lives by obtaining the best education that they can receive here at St. Paul's.

The results of last year's National Examinations were released at the end of February and once again the students of the Class of 2002 did well. I was hoping for better results and had set my goals a bit higher, but we did end up with the same mean grade which was obtained by the Class of 2001, a mean grade of C-. Two students obtained a mean grade of A-, a total of twelve with a grade of B plain or better and more than half of the class with a mean grade of C+. Twelve out of forty-five in the Class will qualify for the state universities with a grade of B or better. Those with C+ or better will qualify for courses leading to a diploma, something similar to your system of associate degree. It is interesting to note, that it is only at St. Paul's that any of the students from Marsabit and Moyale Districts, who qualified for the state universities.

 Perhaps you are aware that at the end of the year, December 2002 there were general elections held in Kenya. Narc, the opposition party won a resounding victory and turned out the political party which had been in power since independence, 1961. Narc stands for National Alliance Rainbow Coalition, which is a coming together of a dozen or so political parties to stand together in opposition. After the first 100 Days of the new government, it received a resounding vote of confidence from the people who elected them. The ordinary people are happy with the way the new government is trying to stamp out corruption and inefficiency in the government. The are also happy that the new government has been able to fulfill its promise of free primary education. Free primary education had been the previous government's policy too, but all sorts of charges, fees, etc. had crept in and prevented children from obtaining a primary education. In January of this year over one million new children enrolled for primary education.

 Last week I was able to take a trip to Sololo, a town located on the Ethiopian border with Kenya It is located slightly over 200 Km from Marsabit, almost directly north. Once we were off Marsabit Mountain, a very broad-based mountain, we set across desert and scrubland all the way until we neared Sololo. The landscape is really desolate, strewn with black lava rocks with little or no vegetation. Even though it is so desolate, there are people living in the area and we even saw some of them with all their belongings on the back of camels moving to another place in search of pasture for their animals. There were settlements along the road, settlements where water had been found and people congregated and set up their `manyatta' It was to these centres that people could be seen occasionally heading with their animals and with containers looking for water.

 As we approached one of these settlements, Bubisa, which is fifty or so Km from Marsabit Town we ran into a sandstorm. From the distance we could see the sun being blocked by the swirling sun and then went right through the storm for twenty to thirty minutes. I thought immediately of what the US Armed Forces might be facing on the desert floor in Iraq. It is along this road and in Sololo itself that some of our students call home. I was fortunate to meet one of our students at a roadside stop at Torbi Hills. Torbi Hills is about seventy to eighty Km from Sololo. After this trip `up north' I have had the opportunity to visit just about all the out-stations from where our students come and have a better idea of the harsh conditions under which they eke out a living.

 It is tough, really tough and I admire them all the more. For them to make the transition from the life of a pastoral and then go to school and for 25% or better of them from St. Paul's to qualify for the state universities is something of a miracle. They do have their primary schools, a good number of them makeshift primary boarding in the centres or `built-up' areas, but still very harsh and limited. It is a great credit to them and just shows what they can do if given an opportunity for a good education, which they receive at St. Paul's. It is important that you all at Christian Brothers College H.S. realize that you are opening up a whole new life to these young men. The Bishop is to start a girl's school for the area soon and hopefully it will be a quality centre of education just as St. Paul's has been for Marsabit and Moyale Districts.

From March to May/June is supposed to be the rainy season for this area of the country. It has rained a bit down country, but so far we haven't received our share at all. We had promises of rain, all the signs of cloudy skies, drops in temperature, etc., but ended up with only a few showers. It has turned hot and dry once again and it seems that the rains have passed us by. The pastorals have already taken their animals far from their settlements in search of pasture. When the young men go out with the animals and they stay with them bringing them from place to place for pasture, they depend upon the milk of the animals only. Our boys do some of this work during the holiday time, although they are not as good at it as their peers because they have been to school, primary and now secondary. It is interesting to talk with them, as they explain their culture and traditions as pastorals, which is so different from the down country students.

All is quiet at the school now, but we do have a group of students around during the holiday time. These are young men who volunteer, ask to stay behind during the holiday time, so as to get a little tuition help but also to have the opportunity to study. They look after the school animals, cows for milk for the school and the school gardens where we try to grow some of our vegetables for the school kitchen. There is also other little jobs that they are given, but they also take advantage of the lights at night to study and write notes that they might have missed during the school term.

Again, a short note of thanks to you at Christian Brothers College H.S. for your continued help and assistance. There is no way that St. Paul's would be able to do the things that it tries to do without your continued assistance. I want you to know that you do make a difference in the lives of the students at St. Paul's and it is because of your generosity that you open up for them a life beyond that of a Shepherd of the Desert. We sincerely thank you and perhaps will try to continue to show our appreciation to you at CBCHS by continuing to do the best that we can here on the slopes of Mt. Marsabit on the edge of the northern deserts of Kenya.