October’s highlight was celebrating 61 years of Zambia’s independence at Limapela Cedric’s School on Friday 24 October. Our school staff did a great job in preparing the boys and girls for the performances — songs, dances, poetry and speeches. Each year gets better!

Our Onesimus students are progressing well at their various colleges, and this is encouraging to see. Special praise must go to Hope Kunda, whose recent exam results from the Copperbelt University include four As and two Bs.

The Lower Primary Centre building at Limapela Cedric’s is almost ready to be used. The time taken to get the building to this stage has been much too long, but we remind ourselves that it is the biggest and most ambitious project we have embarked upon to date.

The floor slab is about to be poured for the new secondary block, also at Limapela Cedric’s. This will include three classrooms with store rooms, and we are grateful to the Beit Trust for their grant of GBP 40,000 (NZ$ 91,400) for this project. We have been delayed by the slow delivery of building materials. Many Zambian businesses are struggling because of ongoing power outages countrywide.

Zambia’s good economic performance in recent months has resulted in a very strong kwacha. Although this is good for the country, it puts stress on Limapela because transfers from hard currency result in much lower amounts in local currency. Please consider a small increase in your giving to help us cover the shortfall.

We appreciate your support and prayers.

— Matthew and Alison Raymond