The first school term is over and the second term is nearly upon us. Most of the staff are just returning from a much needed holiday. The first term was fast-paced and full of excitement as we continued with construction on our new facility, inducted 30 new grade-4 students, and increased our staff to handle our now 130 MYO students.

As with all construction projects, there have been some unforeseen challenges and surprises. We had a few curves come our way, and at least one unexpected pleasant surprise. In February of 2007, Swakopmund Rotarians Vera Leech and Jens-Dieter von der Fecht submitted an application for a Rotary International grant with the assistance of Erhard Krause from the Homburg Germany Rotary Club. In March the long awaited final approval came through with adequate funds to purchase student desks and chairs, staff office equipment, kitchen equipment, classroom supplies, and computers for students and staff at our new facility.

As of today, I learned that The Noble Foundation has once again made a significant contribution to MYO, making this the third year they have supported our efforts.

The construction and increased student load this year has put a lot of pressure on our Namibian board and staff, but they have performed admirably. As we grow our organization, it is becoming increasingly apparent that we need to recruit, hire and train talented young Namibians to build capacity for long term viability. The day will soon come when we are simply too big for me to effectively manage the organization from afar. Vera and Uschi have done an amazing job of providing operational support this year, but the long term solution lies in strong local management overseen by local board members.

We are very near the end of the first phase of construction now, and happily making plans for our grand opening ceremony on June 21. It has taken us 5 years to get to this point. At least 18 people from US and Europe will be traveling over to attend the ceremonies and show their commitment to MYO. We will take a day to sing and dance and congratulate ourselves, before getting down to the business of assessing, planning and refining our organization at our first Board of Directors meeting to be held in Namibia.

The following articles concern themselves with fundraising initiatives that are designed to allow us to develop more consistent and predictable revenue channels, and ultimately, to reduce our dependency on larger grants and donations. Fiona Kerr, Program Manager for the Youth Sponsorship Program, and Kelly Wathne, Fundraising Manager for MYO, are bringing new focus and enthusiasm to the challenge of finding new supporters to sustain our efforts. It is a ridiculously difficult thing, to ask people to donate money, and something that none of us takes lightly. Please read on and think about becoming a donor if you are not one, and if you are, reassessing your commitment to see if you can increase your support. Please think about who you know who might be interested in our work and forward this newsletter or put us in touch with people who might have interest.

There is always more to say of course. More people to thank, more stories to tell, more dreams about what we can accomplish one day if we all remain committed to our goal. But alas, time is limited in our busy lives, and so until next time then.