The Sahelian

Bullying! What is bullying all about? What does it mean to bully someone? Does bullying just involve hitting somebody till he or she bleeds? Is it just something physical? No! Absolutely not!

Yesterday in assembly, Uncle Brian (the director of Sahel Academy) shared some memories of his growing up years in Liberia - his memories of bullying. He told us a story about him and his friends when he was young.

His friend Billy was weak and was always sick. Jimmy was a bully and he always picked on Billy. Billy was always hurting. Uncle Brian and a couple of his friends felt that what was going on was plain injustice, but none of them had the guts to stop Jimmy.

One day, however, Jimmy took Billy’s bike and was riding about on it with Billy trying to follow on his heels. Uncle Brian got so mad that he told Jimmy to stop it. Jimmy did not listen to him, so he lunged at Jimmy on the bike. Unfortunately, his arm got stuck in the wheel. He was hurt, but he had stopped Jimmy from bullying Billy.

To cut a long story short, Uncle Brian, assured each and every one of us that the staff of Sahel Academy wants to make Sahel a safe place for every student. He advised us to talk to a staff member or our parents if we ever get bullied in any way. He also charged us to take a stand against bullies and to stop bullying before it gets started. The story struck a chord in the hearts of all who heard its powerful message. ~Susana, Antony, Adam

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

The Sahel Suns soccer team finally got the victory they had so much longed for. This was a very crucial match against Ecole Yasmina because they had drawn a game and lost the other three. But in this last game, the Suns put forth their every effort and surprised Yasmina with a comeback win. Yasmina opened the scoring early with a goal which could have been prevented. Nevertheless, the suns were not downhearted and made some great changes with the help of Emman and DK controlling the midfield. They scared the opposition defense with some wild shots. Then Yasmina struck again and, well, it looked like that was it for the suns. They seemed to be heading for another defeat when DK passed the ball to Emman who then passed it to David immediately. David ran forward and kicked a leading pass to Emman who slammed the ball into the back of the net.  After that, there were great plays from the Sun defenders who stunned the opposition by intercepting many of their passes. Emman equalized with a very lucky header in the dying minutes of the game. The game had to be decided through penalty. The opposition missed three of their penalty shots, but the suns cruised to victory by scoring all five penalty shots. Alas, the suns have finally achieved glory with the help of Mr. Field?s and Uncle Brian?s tactics.