welcome to sail saturday school's 10th birthday party! thank you
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SAIL Saturday School’s 10th birthday party! Thank you all for coming. As you may know, my name is Nik and I am the Overseeing Coordinator of SAIL. This is Salwa, and her daughter Asya, the overseeing interpreters of SAIL Saturday school. Today we have many performances from SAIL students to celebrate 10 years since the SAIL Program was born in name. But before I introduce the first performance, I want to say five important things about today. Firstly, toilets in our party hall today are located on your left. Secondly, we apologise that today’s celebration falls during Ramadan and that Muslim SAILors cannot share our food today. We hope you can a piece of cake and break fast with it this evening. If we could have changed the date, we would have. Thirdly, we wish to acknowledge the independence of South Sudan, which on July 9 became the world’s newest nation. We realise the importance of the birth of an independent South to many SAIL families, and thank you for your willingness to share it with us. At the same time, our thoughts are with SAIL students with family in South Kordofan and Abyei, regions still facing violent conflict. Fourthly, I would like to acknowledge the presence of two special SAILors at today’s celebration: Matthew and Anna-‐Grace. Matthew and Anna-‐Grace are the founders of SAIL Saturday school. As we mark ten years of SAIL, we would like to thank them for founding a Program that has helped, and continues to help, many thousands of people – volunteers and students – alike. Fifthly, thank you for being part of SAIL. I recall the words of our founders, Matthew and Anna-‐Grace. To my mind, it applies to all SAILors, both Sudanese and otherwise: We SAIL in the hope and expectation that if, through no fault of our own, we were made to leave our country, our family, our homes and our community that we too would be cared for and educated in the place that received us. I would not like to introduce Eltayeb and Cassia from SAIL Maidstone.