Stephen reported that Sally Spencer was in a touch with an expatriate teacher - Nola Nixon - recruited by USPG to do a short-term placement at St James. Nola had been working with St James Primary School, and confirmed great jubilation when the Land Rover arrived at St James.
Paula had established contact with Fr Ncube by e-mail, and committee members had been copied on these interchanges. The FSJMS committee were hoping to receive minutes of a recent St James Management Committee (SJMC) meeting, which were on their way. Stephen suggested that a visit to St James by an FSJMS committee member would be very helpful. A focus for a visit could be boreholes and moving this project forward.
David, our assistant Treasurer, presented the Treasurer’s report. The FSJMS committee reflected that without the St James Management Committee meeting’ minutes it was difficult to make decisions on further disbursements. The committee reflected on the apparent inflation in costs of pre-school teachers’ salaries. It also debated whether to begin to run down capital reserves to fund bursaries or whether to fund only out of regular income (to ensure that year-on-year support could be provided). It was felt a decision could only be reached after guidance from the school. Stephen agreed to try to contact Ms Bafana (secondary school headmistress) by telephone to seek guidance.
David had received an account of the import duties for the Land Rover from the Diocese of Matabeleland, totalling £4,932. The committee had already made a contribution of £3,500 towards these costs and deferred any decision regarding a further donation pending discussion with LINK (who had jointly shipped a separate vehicle).
David reported that we might take out a 12-month bond paying 2.2% interest on a minimum of £10,000. Our CAF account is paying 0.2% (previously about 4.5% before the recession). The Barclays accounts also pay almost zero interest. The committee agreed to wait for minutes of St James Management Committee meeting before taking a decision on committing monies to a fixed-term bond, as these monies could not be touched for one year once in the bond.
David kindly agreed to produce a winter newsletter.
