John O’Grady writes;
One of the highlights of 2019 has unquestionably been the very successful Reunion for the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the Duke of York school, now called Lenana, in Nairobi, organised and hosted by Ken Doig and John Tucker in Taunton earlier this year. It was a pleasure to meet up once more with so many fellow pupils from way back then. Memories were jogged, faces recalled, friendships revived, relationships re-generated and more. The only problem was that there was insufficient time to meet up with all those, I in particular, wanted to meet and to talk with once more.
Alan May, a fellow OKT Trustee, wrote what follows for posting onto Andrew Hillier’s great website, www.oldyorkist.com. Andrew's newly reformatted website is always worth a visit and Alan’s resume of the Reunion is also worth a read.
Alan May writes;
DUKE OF YORK SCHOOL
70TH REUNION
TAUNTON 27TH JULY 2019
Thanks to another huge effort by John Tucker and Ken Doig, the 70th reunion of Old Yorkists was held at the Holiday Inn, Taunton on 27th July, followed by a golf competition the next day organised by Al May.
Some 190 Yorkists and their wives came from all over the world to attend what is likely to be the last event of its kind as age and infirmity erodes the numbers of that fraternity. Despite that, at least 5 of those present were 49ers, part of a unique cohort who had joined the school when it started in 1949.
Amongst those who arrived before formalities commenced was David Lichtenstein, resplendent in his kikoi, having travelled from his home in Sydney Australia, via Kenya on safari, before going on to Europe the following week.
As we were all ushered into the dining room, we were entertained by a video of the Moipei Quartet singing a beautiful rendition of Country Roads, produced by Mike Andrews. It was a perfect start to a memorable evening. They were followed on three large screens by a rolling succession of old school photographs, which featured many of those present, including the 1952 School Boxing Team!
Following an excellent meal, as coffee was served, Ken Doig, having gained the attention of an increasingly animated audience, kicked off the speeches with a very amusing presentation which was roundly applauded. He was followed by John O’Grady who spoke about the Optimum Kenya Trust, which raises funds to sponsor students and improve the infra structure of Lenana School. Al May then spoke briefly about the Golf Day and, finally, John Tucker eloquently thanked those who had helped organise the event and especially all those in attendance who had come from far and wide.
Before we closed, Anita Murphy, the daughter of teacher Bulldog Harris, spoke eloquently of her father and his love of the school and her memories of Kenya. Warwick Davis was also there, whose father, some may remember, taught woodwork at school.
It was a most enjoyable occasion which, inevitably, was rounded off by a rendition of Suave Rosam ably led by David de Bromhead and Simon Williamson, the only ones there who could remember all the words!
John O'Grady writes once more;
Here are a few photos taken by Paul Tanner-Tremaine at the Reunion. You can see many more photos of the Reunion on Paul’s excellent website www.tantrem.com/Duke-of-York-Kenya.
Dave Lichtenstein also herded his fellow pupils in IVL at the D.O.Y. in 1962 and who were all at the Reunion in Taunton for the photo below.
And now to a more serious matter which is ongoing. Last month a private school not very far away from Lenana, suffered a classroom collapse killing some of the students. The Chairman of the Laibon Society, Frank Matua, distributed the following notice to all Laibon members very recently which highlights a problem that this tragic incident has prompted and which also relates the status of various other matters.
Frank Matua writes;
Dear Laibon/Old Yorkist, 27/09/19
Greetings from Nairobi to wherever you are in the world. Tragedy befell our community at Precious Talent Academy on the 23rd of September leading to the death of 8 children and injuries to numerous others. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families.
This tragedy was followed by statements from various civic and national leaders indicating a desire to establish a primary school to serve the community within the perimeter of Lenana School. Since then, a lot of information has been circulating in social and traditional media space eliciting passionate debate among the community.
Allow me as Chairman of Laibon to share with you the current facts;
During the Board of Management (BOM) meeting held on the 26th of September 2019, the Board resolved unanimously in agreement with the Laibon Societies position that there should not be any annexation, excision or subdivision of Lenana School land.
The Ministry of Education representative at the Board meeting reiterated that the Government's position still is and shall remain that there are no plans to hive off any Lenana School land, which is also in line with the CS’s and PS’s earlier communication while visiting the school.
The Board appealed to the Ministry of Education to invest in the rehabilitation of the neighbouring Ngong Forest Primary School to immediately accommodate the affected students and serve the community of Ngandu. The Board confirmed its assistance to the ministry and community where necessary specific to this process.
The board approved undertaking a feasibility study on the establishment of a Junior Academy as a Centre of Excellence in consultation with all stakeholders. This proposed Academy will be in line with the School's Strategic Plan for the period 2020-2030 which may potentially include a Centre for tertiary education within the current ICT roadmap. The engagement of an alumni team in the ICT sector has enabled partnerships with Safaricom foundation and Huawei the establishment of modern computer laboratories as part of the first phase of this roadmap.
Beyond the Board meeting, please allow me to share with you a snapshot of the school;
The Integrity of School Land
The title to the school land is in the custody of the Board of Management of the School. The Survey of Kenya Department has been invited by the School Management to undertake survey work to re-establish all the official boundary beacons. This will help identify any encroachment on the original boundaries and facilitate restorative action. The Laibon Society as an interested party is supporting this process and will update members of the outcome once complete. We believe having full visibility of Lenana School assets and official documentation will go a long way in securing the interest of the school now and in the future.
Board of Management Representation
There are five members on the School Board for the period 2019-2022 namely Martin Mogwanja, Dr Songa (co-opted), Gikonyo Gitonga (co-opted), Kimani Ruhanga and Frank Mutua. This is an improvement from four on the previous Board. In alignment with our mandate to support the school, we have representation in all Key-Board committees through co-option namely;
Executive committee - Martin Mogwanja
Audit- Frank Mutua
Finance - Kimani Ruhanga
Infrastructure - Eng. Anthony Mwaniki (co-opted)
Disciplinary and Student Welfare - Dr Songa (co-opted)
Strategic plan - Gikonyo Gitonga (co-opted), Marvin Sissey (co-opted) and Martin Mogwanja
Endowment fund - George Ooko (co-opted) and Cliff Mukulu (co-opted)
Sanatorium Quality Improvement - Dr Riro Mwita (co-opted)
School Enrolment
The student population stands at 1604 boarding students. There are 82 teaching staff members (69 TSC, 13 BOM). The non-teaching staff is 119. These comprise 69 permanent and 50 part-time/seasonal staff.
Infrastructure
The construction of six new classrooms is on track and will address the current pressure on class size. These classes are scheduled to be ready in the first term of 2020. The World Bank-funded school dam project under NAMSIP (Nairobi Metropolitan Service Improvement Project) will move the dam embankment downstream and increase the height of the dam by 2 metres so that the dam holds 163,000 cu.m of water for the school farm use.
The construction of the new 18 hole golf course is well advanced. The project team expects to complete the course and the clubhouse in the coming months. This will host the National Junior Golf Academy. The School has received a commitment for support in the construction of a boundary wall as part of the effort to secure the school. The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Interior are supporting this initiative under the supervision of the Board.
The School Sanatorium is now officially registered by the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council as a Level Two medical clinic. The process of accreditation by NHIF is ongoing and is expected to be completed by the end of October 2019. This has been possible through the efforts of the alumni team represented by Dr Riro Mwita. Whilst the Sanatorium remains steadfastly a student facility, it will now be a great community outreach facility too.
The work to replace the old and leaking asbestos roof at the Carey Francis house is scheduled to be completed over the December school recess.
I would like to conclude by saying that the state of Lenana's alumni, board and community is strong. In these times of tragedy and uncertainty, the focus and resolve of the Laibon Society is to make sure the voice of the alumni is represented. I want to thank the Laibons, in the board, alumni, government, teachers, students and the community for the strong support and engagement we have seen this week. I pray that this is the start of recommitment to a collective engagement in the other avenues we have for the Lenana School namely participation in the alumni association, Networking, the mentorship program, bursary programs, infrastructure projects, strategic planning and many other volunteer initiatives.
I welcome you to be a part of the movement.
Nihil Praetor Optimum,
Frank Mutua (CF 1994-1997)
You can share this email with others by sharing the following link
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/52bcc053e4b08cf86db71820/t/5da38d5a426f3c10ebf8da50/1570999643598/Lenana+School+Status+Update%2C+October+2019.pdf
John O’Grady writes;
The ever-essential Ronnie Andrews continues to be active and here is Ronnie’s resume of various aspects of recent events at the school.
Ronnie Andrews writes;
Earlier this month three trustees of Msaada Kenya Trust (MKT) and the part – time administrator, Lorraine Kirgia went up to the school to meet with the boys who have been receiving bursaries to date and also to address the whole group including the new form 2s who have now been included in the Bursary scheme. The project has now been successful enough to be endorsed by the Laibon Society and as such we are now receiving funding from Laibon who would wish to assist and are comfortable with the level of support and flow of information that MKT is able to provide. We therefore now have 21 boys under the scheme and 4 of those are Laibon sponsored, amounting to over KES 1million per annum in support. Some of those boys are exceptional and all of them are good so we have great hopes for their results this year although last year’s will be hard to beat – 4As and 1B is a tough ask!
During the past few months we have revamped the Trustees in MKT and are pleased to now include Arnie Mitchell, David Kabeberi and Charlie Fraser all of whom have been actively involved since their inclusion.
In the course of the months gone by we have had a few events. Dave Liechenstein came by and brought Darcy Rysenaars to a lunch at the Kenya Reg for one of Jock’s legendary curries. It was attended by a good social number and I am sure you have all seen the pics (see below). That was the precursor for the July reunion which I could not unfortunately attend but which by all accounts was extremely successful, jolly, well attended, uncontentious, etc. more of that will have come or be coming from the editor!
I also had a visit from Kevin and Lesley Northcote and their extended family including daughter Clare and her husband Dean and their children Evan and Alice. We didn’t have a grand get together because time was short in Nairobi but we managed to catch up with Charlier Fraser and Dave Mousley. Kevin and family when went on to Watamu where by their account they had a most wonderful time and caught some good out-of-season fish too including a Marlin and Sailfish among the Tuna.
The school is looking good under the guidance of the Principal William Kemei and there have been public performances by the school orchestra which garnered widespread support and great accolades from those who attended. The school rugby team did well enough to reach the latter stages of the Prescott Cup, the national schools competition but stumbled at the last hurdle. And the Sevens team is in action this coming weekend at the Impala Floodlit tournament. I have little to report about thte rest of the sports activities but know that the pool is being well used and the team is growing in strength again under a very capable and committed coach.
And in other News is: As I write we are expecting a new attack on the land. A primary school in the neighbouring area of Ngando (where I used a popular escape route to Van Someren’s dam to go fishing) has just collapsed to the ground killing 8 pupils. It is both tragic and indicative. The MP in a sudden burst of community solidarity has suggested that, rather than rebuilding the school on the allocated area now covered in rubble, they hive off some of our school land and give it to the community to build a new one. We have fought off such threats before but you never know…….
Have a good one
Ronnie Andrews
John O’Grady writes;
To expand a little on what Ronnie has written, I wish to emphasise the important contributor to the school that the Laibon Society has now become. They provided the lion’s share; more than 80%, of the more than £100,000 that was needed to replace and update the school pool. It was the alumni, and only the alumni: we, the Optimum Kenya Trust and our partners the Msaada Kenya Trust, and they, the Laibon Society, who funded the entire project and the majority of those funds, as well as the management of the project, came from post-1969 alumni; the Laibons.
As I said during my talk at the Taunton Reunion, this pool project has proven that those who came after us Old Yorkists, have now stepped up to the plate. The cynicism of old is no longer valid. We should all recognise that Old Yorkists and Laibon are part of the same community. We share the same school motto; “Nothing but the best”. We have all shared the same school uniform. We have all shared the same classrooms, the same dormitories, the same sports fields. We have had a shared experience. We are indeed one community, young and old.
Another topic which Ronnie also mentioned- the school orchestra- probably merits a little more attention too, and also proves how much more involved the Laibon alumni are becoming in helping the school and its pupils. Under the excellent guidance of Laibon Levi Wataka the orchestra has been completely revived. This year’s concert was planned to serve two purposes: to raise the necessary money to keep the Lenana School Music Program alive for another year and also to celebrate the first 70 years of the school’s existence. Levi was assisted during the year by several other alumni who helped in various ways, such as giving instrument tuition and supplying services, and it can now be stated that both objectives have been achieved. Expansion of the Program is foreseen in order to assist in providing an all-round quality education for Lenana schoolboys.
To return to my talk at the Taunton Reunion for a moment, let me say that it is now 56 years since Kenya’s Independence. That means almost three generations have grown up in an Independent Kenya. The youth in Kenya today know very well that the troubles of their country these days, are not the result of the colonialists of yesteryear. The school Headmasters who, in the past removed the Honour Boards and the sports team photos that hung on the walls outside the Assembly Hall are now long gone. The Headmasters of today and the pupils of today want to embrace once more their heritage. As an example, we have been asked to help source and restore those photos and the Honour Boards too. The staff and pupils of today have a new understanding and they want to embrace the whole community of which they, and we, are a part.
Finally, let me return to our Bursary Program. It is growing in numbers year on year and is proving, by the KCSE results achieved so far, to involve some top performers. Lenana school fees are lower than they were, but it still costs a little under £600 a year per pupil. We do need more new donors to assist us in growing the number of pupils we can fund and this is our current priority. Please can you help. Go to our website www.optimumkenyatrust.org to find out how you can donate either directly into our bank account or via another of our secure methods.
With our Salaams and Best Wishes to you all.
Nothing but the best.
John, Alan, Frank, Ronnie.