Committed to Tracing, Piecing, weaving and unraveling  THE SAKER STORY

Dear Don and Ruth, Eunice, Roger, and Egbe,

Thank you for piecing together some of the history of Saker Baptist College. During the late 1950s and the early 1960s leading up to national independence, Cameroonian nationals and missionaries both were intensely interested in girls education in Cameroon, at a time when girls education was devalued and neglected. The Cameroon government offered monetary grants to mission organizations for the opening of needed secondary schools from international funds given to Cameroon at the time around independence in 1960-1961. The Cameroon Baptist Mission/Cameroon Baptist Convention chose to open a girls secondary school in Victoria (now Limbe). The Catholics chose to open a boys secondary school in Small Soppo. And the Presbyterians chose to open a boys secondary school along with the Baptists in Bali.

Land for the Baptist girls school in Victoria was partially granted by the local native authority and partially paid for from the grants. Influential Cameroonian Baptists including Ernest K. Martin and others from the area helped to acquire the land at minimal cost to the project. Part of the land finally acquired held a neglected cemetery so body remains and marker stones had to be transferred to another area before that part of the land could be developed. Missionary Ben Lawrence was made the project builder, contractor, and manager with help from Earl Arhens and the best carpenters, masons, and laborers available to the Cameroon Baptist Mission and Cameroon Baptist Convention. Decisions regarding architecture, site plan, budget, admissions, and staff all were decided by the Cameroon Baptist Mission field committee with representatives from the Cameroon Baptist Convention. I was the Field Secretary/Field Treasurer for the Cameroon Baptist Mission from 1960-1964 when the college was planned, constructed, and opened.

Eunice Kern has given an excellent account of early staff for the college. She and others who were on the scene early in the school's history can give the clearest commentary. Berneice Westerman, the first principal, is now living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and should be contacted for her perspective.  Cordially yours, Fred ​** I did contact Miss Westerman. See her Preliminary & Full responses further down, on this page ** 1962 June: I left to go on leave until June of 1963 . When Don Witt came he trained the first group of specially talented students from Saker and our Boys schools to go to America to sing. 1963:  I was at Saker for a short time and then transferred to Ndu. 1965:  There were 282 students at Saker. 1972-1975:  I was back as House Mother and Vice Principal at Saker until June   1972:  I was in Limbe as House Mother at Saker . There were two Saker graduates teaching at Saker, Claudia Fokam and Dorothy Ikome, and there were 330 students. The school was double stream.

PAGE 4  1. Miss Grace MBAERI 1969 2. Janis MITCHELL 1969 3. Mrs. Katrena NDANG 1969 4. Mr. Curtis RADKE 1969 5. Mr. Christopher SAMA 1969 6. Mr. Carl TAMBE 1969

7. Sophie WOLOA 1968 8. Mr. Larry SCHEFFLER 1970 9. Susan KRIER 1970 10. Wilma BINDER,   Vice Principal  1970 11. Dale WILCKE 1970 12. Sharon WILCKE 1970 13. Rev. Flavius MARTIN 1970 14. Gerhard PAHL 1970 15. M. ROBERT 1970 16. Kathy KROLL 1970 17. Mme SAILLOT 1970 18. Anna SIMO 1970 19. Mrs. NJIE 1970 20. Miss Miranda BELL 1971 21. Miss Barbara DAMINABO 1971 22. Mr. Martin ANYANGWE 1971 23. Miss Daisy HADDISON 1971 24. Miss Claudia FOKAM 1971 25. Susan MILLER 1971 26. Julie COCOBASSEY 1971 27. Mr. Tunde AGBABIAKA 1972 28. Helen HORNE 1972 29. Tegwen WILLIAMS 1972 30. Mr. Valentine ITOE 1972 31. Mr. Simon NGAKFUBE 1972 32. Mr. Bernard EWANG 1972 33. Miss Dorothy IKOME 1972

PAGE 2 1. Miss Berneice WESTERMAN 1962 2. Miss Esther SHULTZ,  Principal 3. Miss Jewell ECHELBARGER 1964 4. Miss Eirene MARTIN   5. Miss Barbara STROH,  Vice Principal  1964 6. Mrs. Jane SHODUNKE,  Housemother  1964 7. Miss Darnelle KNOWLTON 1964 8. Miss Eileen GILMORE 1964 9. Miss Martha BECKETT 1963 10. Miss Laura REDDIG,  Bursar  1965 11. Mlle Renée SAIVE 1963 12. Mme Regine SAILLOT 13. Mrs. Alma HENDERSON 14. Miss Jane SMALL 1964 15. Miss Judy RAGER 1963 16. Miss Ernestina SCHMIDT 1965 17. Miss Eunice KERN, 1965 18. Miss Wilma BINDER,  Vice Principal  1965 19. Miss Ruby SALZMAN,  Principal  1965 20. Mr. James 'Eddie' SPRINGS 1965 21. Mrs. Vivienne SPRINGS 1965 22. Miss Marilyn SILL 1965 23. Miss Peggy PENNINGTON 1965 24. Mlle NÈGRE 1965 25. Mrs. KIRWAN 1965 26. Miss Agnes TANYI 1965 27. Mr. Donald WITT,  Principal  1966 28. Miss Carol McGEE 1966 29. Mr. Roger HAND 1966 30. Mrs. Ruth WITT 1966 31. Mrs. Priscilla SONA 1966

PAGE 5  1. Frida NANA 1972 2. Mr. William TAYUI,  Principal  1972 3. Miss Berneice WESTERMAN,  Housemother  1972 4. M. Bernard REGIEN 1972 5. Helen PEYECHU 1971

Mr. William Nso Tayui will certainly always be remembered as the first Black Principal of Saker Baptist College, as well as the longest-serving. He took over as principal of SBC from Dr. Norman Haupt in 1972, and served in that capacity for 20 solid years, before retiring from active service. When he passed away, he left behind a wife, two sons, a (Class of ’81 Ex-Sakerette) daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren, no doubt, but also a throng of very grateful former colleagues, staff members and students, to mourn his demise. That is what the official records and documents would state – and rightly so. However, what we, “SAKER GIRLS”, remember about the man we all fondly called “BABA” goes well beyond that cut and dried nutshell.  JUST MENTION THE NAME “BABA” and - I hear his voice calling out in his far-from-perfect but endearing French: “BON APPÉTIT!” as he leaves the Dining Hall after morning Devotions, or “BONNE CHANCE” if Midterm or Final Exams are going on! - I hear him bravely scream “I don’t think I care what I see anymore”, as he decides he is finally going to engage in a face-to-face confrontation with the bevy of Form 5 girls who have developed the ludicrous habit of “bathing outside” on the lawn at day dawn! Poor man! He really did hope that the ladies would take to their heels upon hearing him voice that “threat” but, to his greatest chagrin, not even the “fear-fearest” of the girls made the slightest attempt to budge! Why? They all knew he would never have the nerve to peek, much less look at any of his teenage “daughters” in their birthday suits! - I chuckle as I see him nodding away, or dozing off on the stage while a sermon was being preached or an address delivered, only to wake up with a start and laugh or clap along with everyone else, like he had been paying rapt attention all along! What was the poor man to do? If I had spent most of the previous night chasing a bevy of mischievous Class of ’81 Form 5 girls clad in just a “wrapper and singlet”, and calling out to “Mr. MANFIE”, the night watch man to please assist me with his spear, I bet I would be snoozing too! - I remember him going on forever and a day, about “Shylock and the pound of flesh” when he doubled as our Form 4 English Literature teacher, back in 1980. Too bad if we didn’t quite get what there was to laugh about; he was very capable of laughing out loud on our behalves, and oftentimes, he did just that! - A shiver goes down Constance Ozimba’s spine as she hears him make an announcement in the Dining Hall, asking her to “SEE ME IN MY OFFICE BEFORE CLASSES”, an “utterance” which could very easily spell a suspension or outright dismissal, only for the poor scared-out-of-her-wits girl to be told upon arrival at said office: “I SAW YOUR FATHER YESTERDAY IN BUEA; HE SAID I SHOULD GREET YOU!” - We all reminisce about the countless times he would assign punishment to someone, and then walk by a few minutes later, and ask them what on earth they thought they were doing “wandering around”, missing classes! Very rarely was the culprit stupid enough to say “You punished me”; they would instead quickly drop their “lance and sprint off, bewildered but jubilant, as he swore to report them to their father!

DEAR “OLD” BABA!!! He was such a caring, compassionate, and kind person, who really did not relish seeing anyone suffer. Even when he did approve a student’s dismissal for whatever reason, it was clear that it pained him to do so. Watch him chat with his driver, Mr. Elias, talk to The Workshop “manager”, Mr. Baweh, or even the cooks, Mr. Ojong and Mr. Francis, and you would not notice the slightest trace of condescension, and would not guess from his stance or tone, that he was their boss. Having had the chance, post SBC, to observe other Principals at work, I do have to look back and say: Mr. William Nso Tayui was no Miss Binder, with a laser sharp memory; he was no Miss Kern with remarkable musical skills; he was no Mr. Ntonifor, Mr. Ekema, or Mr. Monono either! He would have failed woefully, had he tried to be anyone else but himself. He was simply what we needed him to be:  A father figure to each and every one of us in the absence of the Dad, Uncle, or Guardian we were away from, 9 months out of the year, for 5 years straight – 7 for some, actually! There was just something very endearing about this man who was genuinely sad to see a student sent home because their school fees had not been paid, who was sincerely happy to see us when we returned from the “long holidays”, and who beamed with pride when he “showed us off” to all and sundry, outside the school gates. His face would literally light up, like any proud father’s ought to! We did not feel unsafe, insecure or unduly anxious; never felt threatened, harassed or violated; that, alone, provided us with an environment that was conducive for positive personal growth during those delicate, formative teenage years when chaos, instability and a lack of discipline or structure could have produced catastrophic long-lasting and far-reaching negative results. Instead, we, Sakerettes, have turned out, largely, to be level headed, well adjusted, high achieving women, and that is due, in no small measure, to OUR BELOVED BABA!

 MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE! Fondly Remembered By Egbe Mbiwan Monjimbo (Class of '81) Miss Kern on her 80th Birthday,  May 13 2011  (Leduc, Canada) NOTE: Miss Eunice Marie Kern passed away on Friday, June 5th 2015. R.I.P

From: Egbe Monjimbo Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2012 3:39 AM To: 'ExSSA_USA' Subject: E NO GO SURELY GO EMPTY HAND OH!!! (TRIBUTE TO MISS KERN)

My Dear Sakerette Sisters! I am positive that I am NOT the only one who finds some hymns and choruses a little difficult to sing because of their guilt-generating lyrics: - “ALL to Jesus I Surrender”? For woosai?! Say if God cam ask me, like he asked Abraham, to sacrifice my son, ah go ‘gree? - “ Master, Speak Thy Servant Heareth”? For where?! For me, most of the time it is “LORD, LISTEN! THY SERVANT SPEAKETH” instead oh! – Gimme dis one, Gimme da one!! - “Follow, Follow, I Will Follow Jesus; ANYWHERE? WHEREVER? For real, Mammie?!! “Bu pè, Bu pè, Ah ma bu pè YESU” true-true? Before why mah mbondo stop for chair when people were standing up and volunteering to go to The Ukraine last “Szrondi” (Sunday) at my Church? For me, who has only learned in the last decade to progressively come out of my “Shell” or “Comfort Zone” (hence the tons of “Dis pikin wey e be quiet so for Saker?” I got used to hearing at the beginning), the most challenging of songs is Charles Luther’s “MUST I GO, AND EMPTY HANDED”! Here’s the history of the song:

Luther heard Rev. A. G. Up¬ham tell the story of a young man who was about to die. He’d only been a Christian for a month, and was sad because he’d had so little time to serve the Lord. He said, “I am not afraid to die; Jesus saves me now. But must I go empty handed?” This incident prompted the writing of the song; Stebbins wrote the music when Luther gave him the words.

Here are the first verse and refrain of the hymn: 

 “Must I go, and empty handed,” Thus my dear Redeemer meet? Not one day of service give Him, Lay no trophy at His feet?

Refrain “Must I go, and empty handed?” Must I meet my Savior so? Not one soul with which to greet Him, Must I empty handed go?

One person, My Dear Sisters, who can honestly and whole heartedly sing this song with absolutely NO guilt, is a woman who gave up starting and building a family of her own, left the comfort of her North American home in the mid sixties, headed to Victoria, and proceeded to MINISTER – Year, after Painstaking Year, to her adopted daughters, THROUGH MUSIC & THEATRE!!! None of these “daughters”, not even those who never had the privilege of meeting her, can deny the POSITIVE IMPACT those “Dining Hall Songs" she taught us have had on their lives. Here’s an excerpt from an email one of my class of ’81 Sisters posted on our Class e-group just last week:

You know the song I have been singing since my brother died?  “I know who holds the future, and I know He holds my hand, with God things don't just happen, everything by Him is Planned...”

What song did my sisters and I sing at my Dad’s funeral all deh way in Besongabang last August? “Day by Day and with each passing moment”. 

Where did we all learn these songs? IN THE DINING HALL! Under whose tutelage? MISS KERN’S!!!

I got “re-connected” with this AMAZING, now 80 year old Servant of God just before the Golden Jubilee, because of the Picture Tribute to S.B.C.’s Staff that I put together, which someone forwarded to her. I feel compelled, in fact, I think it is my DUTY and OBLIGATION, to share the correspondence I have copied and pasted below with you all, because I consider Miss Kern’s response, (further below), a VITAL and INTEGRAL part of S.B.C’s MUSICAL & THEATRE HISTORY that deserves to be DOCUMENTED, ARCHIVED and PRESERVED for Posterity! 

From: Egbe Monjimbo  Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2012 1:49 AM Subject: THANK YOU, MISS KERN!

Dear Miss Kern, It is 2 a.m. out here in Charlotte, North Carolina, so I know you must be fast asleep, and will only see this when you wake up but I just felt like I needed to say this right now before I go back to bed.  My bedside Radio is permanently tuned to a station called BBN (Bible Broadcasting Network). They broadcast the most BEAUTIFUL TRADITIONAL hymns and songs which I know only too well from my Saker Dining Hall, Morning Devotions Days, because YOU, MISS KERN, taught them to us! Then, what I enjoyed most , was the melody; Now, what means so much more to me are those WONDERFUL lyrics. Throughout the year, my ears and soul are blessed with: - Someday when this earth has run the course that God intended … Jesus is Coming, though we know not when … - Troublesome Times are here; Filling men’s hearts with fear … - Once my way was dark and dreary … I can never tell how much I love Him … AND I CAN SING ALL 3, 4, 5 verses of these hymns and songs BY HEART! WHY? BECAUSE YOU TRAINED US THAT WAY!!!!  AMAZINGLY though, in my mind’s eye, as I sing along, I still see the LONG BLUE SONG BOOK and the SHORT PINK SONG BOOK that YOU typed and compiled yourself, complete with the solfa notes, and the FALLING-TO-PIECES Hymn Book that had piano scores in it!!!  As I was drifting off to sleep, BBN began to play “THERE’S A WONDER OF SUNSET AT EVENING, THE WONDER AS SUNRISE I SEE … OH, THE WONDER OF IT ALL”!! I hadn’t heard this particular song in AGES!!!! I sat straight back up, sang the entire song along with the broadcast, and then headed straight to this computer to just THANK YOU for your ASTOUNDING MINISTRY THROUGH MUSIC!!! It has uplifted, consoled, admonished, reassured and just plain BLESSED me - and so many of your other SAKER DAUGHTERS, over the years! Having said ALL that, I can now creep back into bed and get a few more hours sleep before I head out for another day’s work, teaching French at Mallard Creek High School! GOD BLESS YOU MA’AM!!! Egbe

P.S. Attached is a page from the THANK YOU SAKER Magazine that should let you know that I am NOT the only one that’s grateful for the work you did. It certainly was NOT in vain!

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** From: Eunice Kern Sent: Friday, March 02, 2012 12:34 PM To: Egbe Monjimbo Subject: Re: THANK YOU, MISS KERN!

Egbe: It is 9:30 am. I've been up for about an hour. I like to sleep in in the morning. I am what some would call "A night Owl." During the day I do what has to be done, but in the evening and into late at night, I can find all kinds of things to do, and as a result I stay up late. I think you and I would get on quite well when I see the times you write your emails.

Thank you for your words and comments in your last e-mail. You have no idea how much I enjoyed teaching the songs you girls learned. When I first arrived at Saker, I knew nothing about Solfas. I had always known only Staff notation. It was Mrs. George Henderson (her picture appears in the Staff Tributes section) who showed and taught me how to transpose notes to solfas. It was a lot of work - the most was the typing and to make sure that I hit the correct type writer key. But - I ENJOYED IT ALL, and today when I hear Saker girls sing I get goose bumps and it brings tears to my eyes - all the time and work it took is forgotten. I too remember both the blue and pink books. The Pink one came first. When everything had been typed which I did myself and the typing was done on what was called Mimeograph sheets. Then I took these sheets to the office and either Bate or Monono would run them off on the machine. I think sometimes the Principal and Miss Binder thought it was using too much paper - I did have the Principals permission to do this. Then when all the mimeographing was done, the pages had to be assembled. The pages were spread out in stacks beginning with the cover to the last page - now you remember how thick the books were - that was the thickness of each pile and if each would in the end have 50 pages that is how many piles there were. So the girls would go round and round and round the table making sure the pages were in correct order - until every page was picked up; front cover and back cover included. Now the piles were too thick to be stapled with an ordinary stapler - so they were taken to a printing press in downtown (Victoria) Limbe, and they stapled them and also put a binding on them. Quite a process. Today it would be done quite differently. Although the typing would be done on a computer keyboard - I don't think there would be a solfa (spell checker) -probably would have to be done by reading each page. Yes, it was a lot of work, but so rewarding!!!!!!!! I wonder if any of those books are still around, or have they gotten new owners? By any chance did you help to assemble the blue book? Or was the book already there when you arrived at Saker?

When I read your email and you were thinking back I was also reminded of the number of trips I made to Christian Bookstores looking for suitable music that I could use. I also remembered how I searched for plays that someone else had written but that would be suitable for use at Saker. Now the Easter Play - the one done outside - I wrote that myself. Before I went to Cameroon - when I was in Bible College, I had the opportunity to assist in directing something like that but on a much smaller scale. I also had opportunity to attend a presentation of a miniature Passion Play. ( Have you heard of the one that is presented in Lead, South Dakota? That is near where you find the rock monuments of the presidents. Also the Passion Play is presented in oberammergau, Switzerland. In any case, I had read and was somewhat familiar with this idea, BUT, one Christmas after a Missionary Conference that always took place in Bamenda, I had the opportunity to go and visit some of my fellow missionaries who were working in Mbem, if you know where that is. It's like the end of the world in Cameroon - right on the border between Cameroon and Nigeria in northeastern Cameroon (I think). In any case, while I was visiting there, the idea for doing this kind of a presentation was born. When I came back to Saker, I spoke to the Principal about it - he agreed and I went to my house - in between all my other responsibilities, and began to write. Now, if you remember, all of the spoken parts were direct Scripture passages. I used passages from all the gospels - the idea being to make the story complete.  But the beginning started with the prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah. (You know I haven't thought about this for a long time, and reminiscing like this is good for me too). The writing did not take that long - it was the selecting of the characters - choosing people whose personalities fit the part. Somewhere in all that has been written for the Jubilee Celebrations, someone tried to remember who characterized some of the parts, and one of those, is the part of Jesus - I will never forget who that was - it was Anna Bonde. I don't know if you were at school when she was there. But she fit it very well.

All of this thinking back is great and good. I am grateful to God to have been given the ability and talent to have had the opportunity. Yes it was work - the many hours of practice - frustrating sometimes, the sewing of all the costumes, working with Mr. Bawe - who did the preparing of the different stages and putting up the lights, etc., but I know he enjoyed it immensely. There is one thing I will never forget and that is - The girls in the play had a difficult time understanding why they were not talking, and everything was being read by a narrator. And it wasn't really until Dress Rehearsal night when they were in full costume and the choir did their part and we even had a few people making up a small audience, that it all came together for them. There is one student who did a lot of work and did a great job, and I referred to her as the stage director. She made sure that everyone was in the right place at the right time, because I was busy directing the choir - BUT I can't remember who she was.

Well enough reminiscing. I must get going. I have to go to the store. Hope you don't mind my rambling, but I think that is good sometimes and these last few weeks have caused that to happen.

Talk again soon. Love you – Eunice *********************************************************************************************************************************************** Just as the Scriptures promise, God's Word does not return void. Lives were changed by this THEATRE Presentations; Souls were and still are being saved through the MUSIC. My Dear Sisters, as we continue to sing those songs of faith, we share the Gospel with others, and grow in our own faith, and that is something we will always cherish, and be grateful for! Would like to end by dedicating this touching song to Miss KERN, and to ALL the others who, through their sacrificial service, invested in us! IT CERTAINLY WAS NOT IN VAIN!!! http://youtu.be/UFrdJ2V3r7Y  (THANK YOU FOR GIVING TO THE LORD by Ray Boltz) Egbe Mbiwan Monjimbo (Class of ’81)

Late Pauline Haushona Shilongo (Class of 1981)

Lord knows I am still wiping away tears of MIRTH and trying hard to keep my poor "banja" from splitting with "laff" as I try to recount this Mr. Gerhart Pahl's story on this Sunday October 6th 2013 "ivining", just a couple of weeks after I "found" him with the oh-so-miraculous help of the internet! It all started one Saturday morning with an email from Big Sis Didi Ndando "notifying" me that she had just seen the following 2 year old post on a rather obscure Saker Page on Face Book:   "I was a math teacher at Saker for the 1970-72 school years. Would love to contact any of my former students." Share • August 14, 2011 at 1:34pm The poor guy  got a one word response -  "WOW" , from a certain Bih 2 months afterwards (in October), and then this other hilarious but definitely NOT helpful comment-answer, another 2 months down the road (on Christmas day), from dear "little" Sabrina, who simply went: " WOAH i wasnt yet born" !!! Realizing that chances were strong he would not be frantically searching for any updates on his query from Face Book, and believing I could do better than chime in with " ... and I  was only 6 years old ", I embarked upon an aggressive internet hunt for his contact information, and before long, I found an email address I felt pretty sure was his. I then proceeded to send him an email to which I got this PROMPT response:

From: Gerhart Pahl  Sent: Mon 9/16/13 12:06 AM To: Egbe Monjimbo  Hi Egbe, I can't fully express how delighted I was to get your email. I must say that I am so very impressed with your website. I have written several very simple websites and so I think I have some idea of the work, time, and dedication you have put into this work of love. The information you are collecting is invaluable as far as I am concerned. Do you need any information from me that would be useful to you? I would be very pleased if you could put me in touch with some of my students for the 1970-72 school year period. The email address you can use for this is gerhart_pahl_xxxxxxx  I would like to get reconnected with Saker and if there is anything I can do for you and your website and any alumni society please let me know.  I'll forward your email to another teacher that was there with me, Larry Scheffler. He will enjoy looking over your website and he may even write to you to reconnect with Saker as well. Again, thank you for writing me. My time at Saker was a highlight of my life and I have many many fond memories of my time there. Fond memories of Saker, the students, and even Cameroon. It was all great and formative to me as a person. God bless you too, Gerhart Pahl

This class of '81er wasted no time in emailing about 20 of his former 70s students, many of whom have since emailed him back, to his greatest delight!!  He gave us the following update on himself:

Hello ladies, Just want to confirm Egbe's message that I would love to reconnect with any of my former students. Any greeting or longer reply from any of you would be so warmly received. 

Much has happened to all of us since those Saker years and I trust and pray that, when looking back, all the good things that have happened to each of us far outweigh the bad. My personal faith has led me and carried me over some difficult times and given my much comfort and strength over the years. After leaving Cameroon in 1972 I worked outside of my home country, Canada, in the Pacific Islands for another 13 years as a teacher, i.e., until 1985. Since returning I have lived in Vancouver, Canada, with my family. I have been married 38 years to a brown-skinned lady from the pacific Islands. I have four sons, one of which lives in Hong Kong. But no grandchildren yet! I am 64 years old and have officially retired from regular work. I did not always remain a teacher but did graduate work in investment finance (lots of math :-) ) where I made my work career. I now keep busy with some constructive charity responsibilities and I have now time to do things that interest me most. I have managed to travel quite a bit. I have always debated returning to Victoria/Limbe but have not done so.  I have attached a photo to give you an idea of what I now look like. As well there is a picture of my family taken a few years ago. Again, I'd be so very pleased to hear from any of you to just say "Hi" or to learn a bit of how your life has unfolded since those great times at Saker. Thank you so very much Egbe for your great site and personal effort that has helped facilitating this reconnection. Gerhart Pahl

I can only imagine how he must have felt when he received an email like the one below, (on which I was copied), with the highly impressive SIGNATURE that concludes it:

Woo, thanks Egbe. I remember Mr. Gerhart Pahl; he taught me Maths in Form 3/4. How nice! He will probably not remember me, as we were so many, and have all evolved a lot.

But I remember those bases he set for us in those days in Saker, later solidified by others.  I turned out to be a good Maths' student - had an A at O'Levels and even went on to do and obtain it at A'Levels. And I still love math-related issues till date. You know how some teachers have a way of putting off students from their subjects! At least that was not my story with Mr. Pahl. Let me say "thank you" here.

Good to read about how he has fared and would like to wish him well with his family too. Warm regards and God's blessings, Dora Shu now Mbanya

Dora Mbanya MD; PhD; FRCPath Faculty of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences University of Yaounde I & Haematology & Transfusion Service Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire (CHU) B.P.8046, Yaounde; Cameroon. Tel. +237 22xxxxxxxx Fax. +237 22xxxxxxxx Email: dmb anyaxxxxxxxxxx

Now, if that had been the end of de whole mattah, I would not be cracking up as I stated earlier! Let me continue the "tori"!  ​Earlier this evening, I got the following email from him which accompanied the 2 pictures from 1971, and na so de laff be start, once I saw the "Room & Parlor" (Rainbow/Pa Tambe J.U.) umbrella he was carrying in his hand: 

From: Gerhart Pahl. Sent: Sun 10/06/13 6:48 PM To: Egbe Monjimbo  ​Hi again, Talking about pictures, I found these pictures that my dad took in the summer of 1971 between school years. I never had a camera while in Cameroon and he came to visit. He loved Africa and we had some great adventures in Victoria and also traveling via local transportation as far north as Ndu and Mbingo and Mbem. (I have forgotten my detailed geography of West Cameroon and forget which one is furthest north.) I actually learned how to move and live around in the country and when I left Saker I traveled by myself using local transportation to Maroua, into Nigeria through Maiduguri, down through Jos and Enugu, through Lagos and along the coast into Ghana. I had some "interesting" experiences through all that. I came to no harm or illness even though I eat only local food. As you can see from one of the pictures, I lived alone in those apartments below the main campus (turn right as soon as you go through the gate instead of up to the main campus buildings) along a little stream (when it rained anyway). There were 3 or 4 apartments in that building and I had one. It was great because the tutors living around me were all African and not "white". I had a great time with them. I'll say it again, it was a great place to live. I believe the car in the picture belonged to the late Flavius Martin.

- Gerhart

Saker Staff in the early 70s: Seated from Left to Right: Mr. Martin ANYANGWE, Rev. Flavius MARTIN (R.I.P.), Madame SAILLOT, Miss KERN, Miss Daisy HADDISON, Mrs. KABA, Miss Claudia FOKAM, Mrs. MILLER(?) Standing from Left to Right: Mr. Dale WILKE & Mrs. WILKE, Miss KROLL, Mr. Willy EKEMA (The Bursar), Mr. BATE (The Secretary), Miss Wilma BINDER, Miss Miranda BELL, Miss Barbara DAMINABO (deceased), Ms Susan KRIER, Mr. SCHEFFLER, Mr. Gerhart PAHL , and Reverend Dr. Norman W. HAUPT, PRINCIPAL

SBC STAFF - 1968 Mrs. Marilyn Wolfe is seated second from right. Mr. Norm Wolfe is standing fourth from left at the back. (Ever Green Photos, 15 Church Street, Victoria, West Cameroon)