At the end of last year, David Zuma, one of our support staff, retired after 46 years of work in our school. He started when he was 15 years of age and recalls how he used to get up at 2am to ensure that the old coal stove fires were lit in the school kitchens in time for breakfast, which would unfailingly and solely consist of porridge.

David Zuma retires after 46 years of service

I could not help reflect that David will have seen and experienced many changes during his time working in a boarding school for nearly half a century. I think for me though, the pace of change has accelerated particularly in the last 20 years or so. When I arrived in Africa in 1994 I had not sent an e-mail or made a call on a mobile phone.

It is hard to imagine life today without…