Travelling to Kafue
On 23 October 2008, I travelled to Kafue Secondary School in Kafue. Kafue is in Lusaka Province of Zambia. It has Kafue river (one of Zambia's four major river's). The town has been known for the now defunct Kafue Textiles and Nitrogen Chemicals. Other places of interest are Kafue River Cliff (a boating club), Kafue Gorge (where electricity is generated) and Kafue Secondary School. The town has not underone much change over the years. Most of the infrastructure is very old and in astate of disrepair. And yet the town is very close to the Capital city (45 km)!
Memories of Kafue Secondary School
The school is owned by the United Church of Zambia which works in partnership with the government. The school is 42 years old, though it existed as Kafue Trades Institute before Independence. My trip to Kafue Secondary School was in order to attend a funeral of Maureen, wife to my cousin Paulson. The first memento of my school (where I did my form 1 - 5 from 1981 to 85) was the old bus stop. We spent many a Saturday morning looking at cars. Playing games that the white ones were mine, the black his, the grey his etc. If you were good in Maths, white was the colour to choose! I walked to the school (about 20 minutes walk) as my nephew who was to pick me up was tied up in a family meeting. The first buildings to be seen upon entering the school gate were dormitories or hostels. I took a walk to Morley hostel where I was in forms 1 and 2. I can't see much as there is power blackout or load-shedding. I had a chat with the headboy.
School Chapel etc Other buildings that I saw were our dining hall, school hall, tuckshop, classrooms (my form 5 classroom: I'm standing in front of my form class in the third photo), admin block (see photo above), chapel. The chapel (see photo on left side) is a red brick building. In that chapel many a gospel sermon was preached with many a hymn sang. It was listening to a sermon on the New Birth in that chapel, that I first saw the light of the gospel in 1981. Daily services were held in the chapel were held before classes. The daily reading and sharing of God's word, I believe was useful in moulding the lives of youths into responsible citizens while some turned from darkness to light. It was in that chapel that I learnt a number of hymns in English and 
Chitonga. The chapel also hosted the National Scripture Union Conference in 1984 and Youth Conferences by UCZ and Lusaka Baptist Church.
Buildings and land I also saw some teacher's houses. Some efforts have been made to maintain some of them but more needs to be done. This is a challenge that we face. Maintenance of infrastructure. In some cases it is not really an issue of money but attitude. Good attitude and good planning can lead to better maintenance of infrastructure. Kafue Secondary School, is one of the few schools in Zambia with vast tracts of land. It was sad to note that most of the land lies idle when so much can be grown on the land. In my
school days, when the farm was managed by an American, lots of crops like maize and wheat grown on the land. The fields were so big that they were nicknamed "Siberia".
Conclusion
It was an emotional time to visit my former school. A time filled with joy and sadness. This is a school where I met and made friends such as Christian Kasumo, Johnson Malipenga, Barnabas Chiboboka, Billy Sichone, late Cyrus Phiri (died 2003), Oliver Singogo and my senior friends such as Steve Winter, Ron and Carol Eathorne, Derryck Orridge and Nimrod Siluyele (current Bursaries Secretary at Ministry of Education). It was good to meet my former teacher of English and Religious Education, from form 1 - 3 (1981 - 83), Mrs. Tembo (see lady in white top in above photo).
On 23 October 2008, I travelled to Kafue Secondary School in Kafue. Kafue is in Lusaka Province of Zambia. It has Kafue river (one of Zambia's four major river's). The town has been known for the now defunct Kafue Textiles and Nitrogen Chemicals. Other places of interest are Kafue River Cliff (a boating club), Kafue Gorge (where electricity is generated) and Kafue Secondary School. The town has not underone much change over the years. Most of the infrastructure is very old and in astate of disrepair. And yet the town is very close to the Capital city (45 km)!
Memories of Kafue Secondary School
The school is owned by the United Church of Zambia which works in partnership with the government. The school is 42 years old, though it existed as Kafue Trades Institute before Independence. My trip to Kafue Secondary School was in order to attend a funeral of Maureen, wife to my cousin Paulson. The first memento of my school (where I did my form 1 - 5 from 1981 to 85) was the old bus stop. We spent many a Saturday morning looking at cars. Playing games that the white ones were mine, the black his, the grey his etc. If you were good in Maths, white was the colour to choose! I walked to the school (about 20 minutes walk) as my nephew who was to pick me up was tied up in a family meeting. The first buildings to be seen upon entering the school gate were dormitories or hostels. I took a walk to Morley hostel where I was in forms 1 and 2. I can't see much as there is power blackout or load-shedding. I had a chat with the headboy.
School Chapel etc Other buildings that I saw were our dining hall, school hall, tuckshop, classrooms (my form 5 classroom: I'm standing in front of my form class in the third photo), admin block (see photo above), chapel. The chapel (see photo on left side) is a red brick building. In that chapel many a gospel sermon was preached with many a hymn sang. It was listening to a sermon on the New Birth in that chapel, that I first saw the light of the gospel in 1981. Daily services were held in the chapel were held before classes. The daily reading and sharing of God's word, I believe was useful in moulding the lives of youths into responsible citizens while some turned from darkness to light. It was in that chapel that I learnt a number of hymns in English and 
Chitonga. The chapel also hosted the National Scripture Union Conference in 1984 and Youth Conferences by UCZ and Lusaka Baptist Church.Buildings and land I also saw some teacher's houses. Some efforts have been made to maintain some of them but more needs to be done. This is a challenge that we face. Maintenance of infrastructure. In some cases it is not really an issue of money but attitude. Good attitude and good planning can lead to better maintenance of infrastructure. Kafue Secondary School, is one of the few schools in Zambia with vast tracts of land. It was sad to note that most of the land lies idle when so much can be grown on the land. In my
school days, when the farm was managed by an American, lots of crops like maize and wheat grown on the land. The fields were so big that they were nicknamed "Siberia". Conclusion
It was an emotional time to visit my former school. A time filled with joy and sadness. This is a school where I met and made friends such as Christian Kasumo, Johnson Malipenga, Barnabas Chiboboka, Billy Sichone, late Cyrus Phiri (died 2003), Oliver Singogo and my senior friends such as Steve Winter, Ron and Carol Eathorne, Derryck Orridge and Nimrod Siluyele (current Bursaries Secretary at Ministry of Education). It was good to meet my former teacher of English and Religious Education, from form 1 - 3 (1981 - 83), Mrs. Tembo (see lady in white top in above photo).
Comments
Speak to you soon,
Twalumba loko,
David (and Barbara)
Thank you