Chairman of the Board of Governors, Dr. Mohindra, Members of the Board of Governors, Chief Guest, Wakonyo Igeria, Invited guests, alumni, parents, teachers and students.

40 years ago, the gates of Imani School were opened. We had one building and the land was donated by the then Kenya Canners Ltd, which is now DeMonte (K) Ltd. There were 2 teachers and 11 students of which some of the present parents were members of the first class. The school fees were Kenyan pounds 55 per term. In 1973 the Senior school was built. The first boarding facilities were established at Mahoti Estate in 1974. In 1975 Imani students sat their first ‘O’ level examinations. No results have been found. The A Level classes began the following September. In 1983 Boarding facilities were opened within the school compound. And in 1984, Imani purchased their first two Apple computers.

The history of Imani School is long. Those of you who schooled here remember with fondness and sadness the many staff who have come and gone. J C Patel, Jim Taylor, Uma Schroeder, Joy Gent, Quentin Lees, Alfred Wedi, Mike Manyore, Laura Few, Jackie Gill, Chris Rutherford, Pat Kelly, Bill Kariuki, Brian Magilley, Ann Stevenson Turk, Michael Hawkins, Jerry Fenge, Hal Gee, Barbara Boy and of course Bala Punja.

As we celebrate our 40th Anniversary this is the time when we reminisce about how Imani has grown and the geographical area from which we obtained our students. Many international schools have been established since our inception and have lured students away with facilities not much unlike our own.

Imani School as we all know nurtures the student not only within the classroom with small classes and individualized attention but also on the sports fields and in intra school competitions be them Art, music, or poetry. Imani School is an ideal setting for students who are focused to do their best in order to achieve the best they can. There are few distractions from the many challenges that face the students in the urban areas. Yes, we have dik diks, Crested cranes, goats, tortoises and other unexpected animals that due to the drought roam freely within the compound.

Today we have taken time out of our schedules to appreciate and to reward the achievements of our students during the past academic year. Some of our students have excelled within the classroom and some outside the academic walls. We want to congratulate each and every one of them for the successes they have achieved.

Last year not only I, but also our guest speaker, spoke of the challenges that you as parents face with your children in today’s society. I hope that you

took our advice and that the time spent with your children has been quality time. Also that you helped your child to realize the importance of reading.

Our children today are trying to overcome even more hurdles than we did. Not only are the social aspects still there but the economic factor is entering more and more into their lives due to the world wide recession.

Norman Douglas said that ‘If you want to see what children can do, you must stop giving them things.”

We all want to give our children more than what we had. This is the reason why our students not only develop academically but also the talents that are within them; be it art, music, drama, or sport.

Mark Twain once said ‘ Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond, cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education’.

Let the students use their imagination and talents to develop as individuals. When we as a community decided to raise money for the less fortunate, we planted trees as you well know. Your children were not enthusiastic about doing the manual labour,i.e. digging holes. We heard them say many times ‘ I can’t do it’ Henry James said that ‘Until you try, you don’t know what you can do.’ For those of you who did come that Saturday morning, the enthusiasm was contagious.

We have not only planted trees but also gave up lunch to donate the equivalent to the Red Cross. Our High School students visited an Orphange in Ol Donyo Sabuk bringing with them not only food and clothing but more importantly themselves to play with the orphans. It was a day well spent in bringing together our school motto of ‘Character and Knowledge’. I want to thank all of you who donated towards this worthy project.

Over the past three months we have engaged in an intensive marketing campaign. As a result of that and our best form of advertisement – word of mouth - we have 26 new students who have joined us this academic year. We expect more in January who, due to completing the local system of Education , could not join us now. I would like to thank all who were involved in this on going exercise.

One of the most important factors of an institution is the achievement in the external examinations. We continue to excel in the SAT exams in Years 2, 6 and 9. We have also shown marked improvement in the

‘O’ Level examinations with a pass rate A – C of 73% up from 64% last year. The A Level examination classes also performed better than in 2008. There is still room for improvement in both areas and we aim to achieve an even better result in 2010.

I want to thank you, parents and staff, for helping the students obtain these results. I also want to thank the PTA for their contribution to the Speech Day in the donation of the Effort prizes.

Today I would like to welcome Mr. Joseph Gatonye who is teaching maths and physics in the high school and Joseph Ndungu who will assist Mr. Kipkoech in the PE department. I am hoping under the tutelage of

Mr. Ndungu that we will put Imani back on the map within the swimming community. We have lost our better swimmers to migration to other Schools and universities but I know that we still have a lot of untapped talent within the confines of this compound.

Last year at this time I said that I wanted to improve facilities, increase numbers and better our results. Well I am striking at about 75% of my goals.

One last point I would like to make; no institution is perfect. Perfection in anything is difficult to achieve. We need you parents to point out our weaknesses and help us to overcome them. We need to have your support 100% of the time. In good and bad times, in order that we may continue and grow. Imani is here for your children as it has been for the last 40 years. and for the unforeseeable future. Any concerns that need to be addressed you all know that my door is always open.

Thank you and now to introduce our guest speaker.