AGM Report – 9th March 2019

Our 2018 AGM, unavoidably delayed from last November, was finally held on Saturday 9 March at the Zambia High Commission, by kind permission of his Excellency the High Commissioner.

Around sixty members attended. After formal business and a buffet lunch, the afternoon began with a short report from Malcolm Alexander on the ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the end of WW1 in Mbala on 25 November 1918. We then celebrated the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Zambia Society Trust with a series of speakers sharing memories of the organisation over the years. Gloria Sleep read a note from Edward Nickerson on setting up the Zambia Society, Peter Foulkes shared some memories of his time with the Society, and Susan Walker spoke about her father, Dick Hobson. Mathias Mbewe read a moving letter from Brother Jacek on the current situation at the St Lawrence Home of Hope, Misisi, and Sister Elizabeth Dawson (on video) gave some examples of how the work in Misisi started. James Cairns gave an overview of the early days at St Francis, Katete. Gretta Hudson provided some background on Kwasha Mukwenu and St Mary’s in Matero, and Elisabeth Young gave a summary of recent progress at APTERS in Lusaka. Ken Hamilton gave an overview of the Education Grants scheme, and John Barnard (pictured above) described the new project “Pilgrim – Salt in Community” which the trust supports.

Finally, we watched a video of First Republican President Dr Kenneth Kaunda in which he congratulated the Trust on its 50th anniversary. We were very honoured to receive this tribute from His Excellency, which ends with a stirring rendition of Tiyende Pamodzi by KK and friends. The film was produced by Gabriel Banda and Kaweche Kaunda, and is now available on our website – just go to http://www.zambiasocietytrust.org.uk and scroll down to watch it.