The Sahelian

The actual event did not begin until 3:20, but all day long the entire school was talking about the teams and the competition that was to come. Red, Blue, Yellow and White shirts were prevalent in the classrooms and hallways. Every team had pride in their colors and their team members.

At 3 o?clock, the final bell rang and everyone got ready in nervous anticipation. Tents were being set up and rules read over by the team captains, score-keepers and referees. Each team was organizing their members so that they could score and defend well. Many parents arrived and found a spot to sit and watch the games. The heat was high, and the humidity added to the heat, did not help to ease the nervousness for the games to start.

But the heat did not matter. The games had started; the sweat began pouring. I can remember the excitement in the air. Scoring, passing, and defending for a whole afternoon; what could be better than that?

The first game was Blue-Red. Claire scored the first goal of the tournament. Every one was fresh and excited to play. As the afternoon progressed, each team played the three opposing teams once. By 6 o?clock, Blue team was in the lead and it was time for some fun. The teachers and parents decided that they wanted to play a game. Then, the students wanted to play against parents. It was a lot of fun to hear laughter and see parents, students and staff getting along so well.

The elementary children got to play kickball during the soccer tournament and the Red team came in first place. After all these games, everyone took a break for a wonderful potluck dinner. There was plenty of food to go around, and the socialization was great. The younger children ran around, very excited about the people and the amount of good food.

After the potluck, the games resumed. First, Red and Yellow played each other and Red won, passing onto the Final games. Immediately after, White and Blue played, with White winning and going onto the finals. There was a consolation game where the two last place teams played each other. Yellow won the game against blue, unfortunately, since I have great pride in my Blue team! I also must add that Blue only won through penalty kicks.

The final game was intense, Red and White both containing very competitive players. In the end, Red won the entire tournament, with the final goal scored by Rufus.

All in all, the day was very fun and everyone kept very good attitudes despite the heat and the competitiveness. Congratulations to the Red team! ~Suzanne and Trae

Remember the far corner of the Sahel campus by the river and the gardens - where the snakes lived and the brush was piled? Well, now a beautiful new house has filled that area, turning that side of the campus into what is now very much a staff residential area.

Ground was broken on the house in the late fall of ‘06 and the work progressed quickly under the supervision of Jonathan Moore. The goal was to have it finished by the end of June so that our family could start to move in during the summer while school was on break. They finished right on schedule; the first of July, my husband Brian and Chad Winsor started to do the inside finishing wood work. They built the closets and bathroom vanities, then our family started moving in. Once we had beds in place, we started to sleep there and used the Whites house in the duplex for cooking. The guys worked hard for two weeks straight and in that time were able to do all the woodwork, finishing up with the kitchen cupboards. Thankfully, my parents came to visit and help as there was much more work to do such as sanding, varnishing, raking rocks from the yard, leveling ground, gardening, moving, cleaning, etc. We worked all summer trying to get settled and once school started felt pretty much moved in. We still have more work in the yard and various finishing touches to take care of in the house, but the major things are finished.

We absolutely love our new house! It is great to be so close to school. We can all just walk over to school; no more 15 minute drives (on a good day) to school and back every day. It is a beautiful house and beautiful setting. There is a terrace facing the river with a refreshing river view. The terrace is already one of our favorite places. We love to just sit there soaking up the beauty around us and the river flowing by. It is a nice size house with a very open feel. One thing we really wanted was a living area big enough to entertain a crowd. The house had its first crowd test on Wednesday as we hosted a welcome party for Zoe, our youth pastor’s new baby girl. There were around 50 people there to celebrate and use the new terrace - it didn’t feel too crowded at all! We are very thankful for the privilege of getting to live in such a beautiful house. We are still working on making it look finished as we plant grass, flowers, hedges etc. So, how about a visit? You would be surprised how quickly a corner can change in a short amount of time! You are welcome, so come stop by for a cup of tea and a tour! ~Aunt Cathy

This Saturday was the first youth group activity of the year. We started off with some outdoor games. First we divided up into two teams and played “crows and cranes” and then everyone had a shot at the shoe toss. We finished off outdoor games with an exciting game of “steal the bacon.”

Inside, after having our fill of cookies and brownies, Pastor Dave effectively confused us all. After playing “confusion” and getting to know one another better, the worship team led us in several songs. Many people also gave testimonies about their summer and the exciting things God did in their lives. Pastor Dave talked about how our perspective changes the way we view our world and then we closed with a time of prayer at about nine o’clock. Overall I think the event was a great way to start off the year and was a lot of fun. ~Matt

School began this very rainy morning at Sahel Academy with an assembly to introduce this year’s theme: Daily Eternity. We want to work together on living each day as if it counts in eternity - because it does! Our theme is taken from Col. 3:1-2 which says, "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

At the close of the assembly, we celebrated the life of one who personified our theme in her daily life, but who went to live with the Father in heaven this summer - Helene Zoolkoski. We have planted a tree on the south side of the dining hall, along with a plaque which says: "In Memory of Helene Zoolkoski, Parent-Teacher-Friend".

Join in our prayers for Chris, Elisheva, Zebadiah, and Joel Zoolkowski as they return to the states tonight to continue rebuiding their lives without their parent (wife), teacher, and friend.

Contributed by our dear and missing principal, Jeanette James: 14th July, 50+ ex-Niger people enjoyed a barbecue together at Treetops campsite in the vicinity of Waxhaw in South Carolina.  How many ex-Sahel students can you identify??

Multi-Cultural Festival is a day where Sahel Academy celebrates different ethnicities of our students and teachers. We started with a parade of the nationalities. We had a fun time learning about other people’s countries & continents and eating foods from their homeland. We ended the day with a Concert of songs such as “This is the Day” in Hausa & Zarma. ~luke

Suddenly, everyone heard the rushing sound of the raging wind. We all ran outside and saw a very small, black cloud. We thought that it was going to miss us, but to our surprise, the cloud expanded. Soon it became a HUGE orange wave! "A DUST STORM!" Ray shouted. We all went rushing around, shutting windows and screaming our heads off. Soon I heard rain on the roof! I shouted Miss B., "it’s raining!" All of the kids raced outside to dance and scream in the rain. ~sara

The 5/6 class went out for an extremely fun camping trip at the plateau. We stayed up all night. At about 1:00 AM, we went to the Niger River and heard a big SPLASH - it was a hippo jumping into the river! When we heard the splash, we all went running back to the camp. Even though it was scary, it was fun. ~christine

This Friday, we had a ‘lock-in’ starting at 9 pm. We sang, prayed together, played games, ate, watched movies and, of course, socialized with our friends. A few of us even managed to sleep. No matter what we did, we all agreed the night was fun! ~susana