Recollections of ex-Dominican Convent pupil

Dear Editor I GREW up here, the child of expatriates stationed in Zambia from 1968 for 23 years. Although I was sent to school in England from the age of 16 years, I realise now at the age of almost 60, that Zambia was the country that most influenced my beliefs and my passions. I returned this year with a number of “girls” who attended the Dominican Convent and graduated from there in 1974. I was pleased to observe that some of my Zambian classmates had done so well - strong women standing “proud and free” but sad to also observe as I travelled through Mpika, Kapisha, Kasama, Mpulungu and then into South Luangwa that so little had changed for so many of Zambia’s people. You are a people who have been down trodden for so many years – I still remember the name of the first black girl allowed into the Dominican Convent as she was not that much older than me – but you have maintained a quiet humility, dignity and kindness that never fails to impress me. As I say goodbye, perhaps forever, I am filled with pride but also sadness that some have not been enabled to achieve what is their birthright. I wish you the courage to strive for everybody and not only the few. You must do this for this country to become great, whatever your race. I also thank you for what you have given me: friendships, a wealth of experiences and a lot of fun and the ability to understand that problems are easy to define but it is the solutions that are complex.