Below is a listing of all former teachers at Keren High School or Atzie Dawit during the 1960’s and 70’s. Some teachers were from India, Peace Corps teachers from the U. S. including local teachers. The first director of the high school was Mr. Mahmoud Adam and then Mr. Mahmoud Kanouni (1960’s & 1970’s). I have collected the information from the Outlook Magazine Newsletter published by students in the 1960’s. I have also redesigned and reprinted it for your enjoyment! I encourage all former students to send any informative memories to the website.

Enjoy!

Mahmoud Mohammad Aly (Kanone)- Director

Mr. R.G. Rajan                             Mr. S.S. Bedi
Mrs. Indira Rajan                          Mr. Gurmit Singh
Mr. B.D. Shinde                            Ato Negash Adem
Mr. K.G. Cyriac                            Mr. K.L. Monga
Mr. B.S. Verema                           Mr. A.S. Wadewa
Miss Joanne Feldman                     Ato Laine Desta
Mr. Ramakhandra Nair                  Ato Fessaha Taffari
Ato Tesfaldet Tekle                       Ato Osman Omer Omran
Ato Ibrahim Yasin                         Ato Getatchew Kibret
Mr. Vijay Singh                             Mr. Nandalal Dashora
Mr. C.L. Khanne                          Mr. Raj Rahadur Singh 

Kalaeb Negussie (11A)

Cooperation is an English word which is pleasant to hear.  As every one of us knows education is the means and way in this world to eliminate ignorance, the greatest enemy of mankind and to live happily.  But when we think about ourselves we give for education its worst meaning – writing and reading only are far from the truth.  To be educated means to add something to your natural gift – being human.  To know more, to be wise, to distinguish fact from fancy, good from bad is to be educated.  I don’t deny the importance of reading and writing for they make us think more.  But the problem is do we use in action what we read from the books?  If we don’t use the ideas then it means simply we read the words.  Let’s say everyone got the highest type of education, if possible.  Unless he participated with others, he is a failure in his real life, because his knowledge will rust as a piece of iron left in moist air.

Well, I am not far from fact if I say that a student is responsible for the future of his country.  Dear students do we have this spirit?  To answer this question we need to know which way we are following and it is better to leave it for all of us to answer for ourselves.  Many of us discuss things privately.  Why not openly?  I feel this is the greatest obstacle to our progress to today.  It is true that we feel and know that cooperation is necessary, but will someone from somewhere come to open this door for us?  No, so we students today, men and women of tomorrow, must be the responsible ones for, otherwise, we will suffer further.  To look more than you are is valueless.

Let us call this year our year as the historians called 1960 the year of Africa because many African countries got their independence.  There are many local feasts which we like to celebrate by quitting classes.  What are the results?  Disaster and failure only.  Therefore, why don’t we discuss and correct the mistakes.  Teachers are always glad to guide and help.  The great men say, “United we stand, divided we fall!”  If we want to be self-sufficient we must cooperate, if not we will depend on others for centuries.

All this can be summarized in a sentence – we have to be loyal and active students.

Abdinur Mohamed Saleh (11B)

I choose to write this topic because I feel that what our school demands from students is above all interesting and important.  Cooperation and understanding between teachers and students.

Interest is necessary and badly needed in students and in school life.  To teach and learn are both very difficult and a hard jobs without having attention towards each other.

My idea is particularly based on students’ attentiveness and cooperation in school.  There are many kinds of cooperation – mental and physical.  Parents help and support their children to be physically healthy and strong, give them food, clothes and everything they need.  Teachers help in building our minds and lead us towards good morality.  But if you are not interested, and attentive to what the teacher says or does, no one can change your outlook.  The teacher is simply like a radio.   If you attend and listen to him he will give everything he has but if you don’t you gain nothing.

Due to the help of the director and all the teachers, our school, though at present is not the best, is also far from the worst.  We have qualified teachers but as a soldier could not fight without weapons, teachers also, though they try very hard can not do much to overcome the difficulties to make students understand without experiments, libraries, etc…  We have a laboratory but it is not advanced and sufficient to make most points clear.  There is some difficulty in understanding Chemistry, Physics, and even Biology and due to this fact some students drop them when they are asked to chose their subjects.  We also need typewriters for students to learn how to type, because it is useful in nearly all types of professions.

Fortunately the school population is large this very year.  We have about seven hundred students and this will help us to create from ourselves a cooperative unit to help the school create from ourselves a cooperative unit to help the school reach high standards and satisfy the needs of student’s lives in the school or outside the school.

Now after all this we know what is our duty to the school, for ourselves and what pattern we should set so that it can be followed by our successors and youngsters in the near future.  Since we are large in number there is no problem of collecting money and by the way it is not going to be too much if everyone contributes.  We have to be interested to do this.  I know and I feel too, how a person feels in giving money, but once it is given and for a fruitful thing then you feel happy and satisfied for what you have done.

In conclusion I hope (and I have much confidence in my fellow brothers) to attempt to reach this goal and I wish for all students teachers and all my country men good luck and success to be with them now and in generations to follow.

Is the Teacher or the Soldier Helpful for the Nation” By: 10th grade students-Kifle Weldesilasie (10C)

As we all know it is necessary for a student to express his ideas to an audience through debates or lectures. Having this in mind Ato Tesfaldet, the Amharic teacher held a very interesting debate. The debate was on. “Is the teacher or the soldier helpful for the country.”
The debate began at 4:30 on Saturday, Tekemt 24. It was opened by a short speech by the Director on debates in our school. Then Ato Tesfaldet also spoke for a while about the uses of debates. Then he began the debates. 
The speakers were:
The teachers are helpful:
1. Mensura Baho 10A
2. Mellake Tekle10B
3. Kifle Weldesilasie10C
The soldiers are helpful:
1. Zeremariam Keleta 10B
2. Dican Ogbledet10B
3. Tesfamicael Fessahaie10C

The debate began by the side saying teachers are helpful (Mensura), followed by the opposite side (Zeremariam). Mellake debated against Dican and finally Kifle against Tesfamicael. They all were given five minutes each. The judges for the debate were Ato Mahmud, Ato Laine and Ato Omer Omran. Ato Tesfaldet was the sponsor.
The debate was a very interesting one and it enchanted all the students. The debate ended with the success of the side saying that the soldiers were helpful with a score of 325 points, wheras the other side scored 309 points.
I admire Zeremarian for his ability to speak with correct grammar giving examples and proverbs. I am sure that it was because of his ability and courage that his side was able to win the debate.
I thank Ato Tesfaldet for preparing such a debate, and the speakers for the debate. I hope that other students in the other grades will follow the example of 10th grade and that our school will have bold and courageous debaters. 


The Language Question in Science
By Fatna Mussa Haj (11A)

Nowhere is the need for international language clearer or more serious than in the field of science. It is very important for the worker in science to be able to keep in touch not only with the great discoveries but with the little additions to the store of knowledge made by month. 
Having work printed in a number of other languages is a very slow, and incomplete way of making science international. So every country must have to do her best to write books in her own tongue so that her people might understand science much better. 
For most men of science, the learning of language takes too much time and trouble: for some, it is even especially hard and a large number of scientists are dependent for knowledge of what is going on outside their country on whatever is printed in different languages. 
The position has been made much more serious and complex in the last fifty or sixty years by the development of science in the East. At the start of this development the brains of China, Japan, and India had to be trained in the universities of Europe and America. But, by now, hundreds of these trained men have gone back to their different countries, to put their training into effect in the work of education or discovery and in time there will be thousands trained in turn by them, and more and more cut off from the west by the use of their local tongue.
What is needed is a simple second language for science in which ideas may be exchanges by workers of different countries, accounts of work printed in international papers and talks given at meetings of International Congresses.
Its main purpose is to put something on record, so that it may be used and tested by others working on the same questions. The one thing necessary is that the language be clear.

By: Karrar Mohamed Ali (11)

I am very serious about why people smoke? Is it to appear grown up? Is it “to follow the crowd” or because someone told him not to do so? Anyhow I would like to give you a small account on smoking. Smoking cigarettes is very dangerous and that is because in cigarettes there is a drug called nicotine. This drug is very dangerous and it contains highly poisonous chemicals. It acts on the cells of the nervous system so that they can not do their work properly. The nicotine which is found in one cigar can kills two adults and even in three cigarettes there is enough nicotine to kill a person. The amount of the above nicotine is about one fife hundredth of an ounce. We see that no one dies from smoking one cigar or more but that is because most of the nicotine goes off in the smoke at the burning end.

Please watch the tips of toes and fingers of a smoker. The temperature in these parts is 5.3F. Due to smoking the heart beat is increased and there is a slight increase in sugar in the blood. The mucous membrane in the mouth becomes paler. Smoking when hungry causes loss of appetite and this of course will affect the health. All authorities agree that smoking reduces the chance of a long life for the average person in any age group, especially for teenage boys and girls. At last, I would like to tell you that by smoking a person gets cancer- incurable disease in the entire world.

There is time for all. Time is always with you but you can’t see it. It is measured in seconds, hours, days, weeks, months and years. (Editor: Also you have time in milliseconds, microseconds, etc.)

It has come from the background and will continue far forward. Time is for war and peace. Time is for work, rest and debate. Time is for love and hate. There is no time passed without something being done.

Dear boys, girls and teachers: Why don’t we use time rather than to be used by time? Is there any one of you who thinks that his age is being diminished when a second passes? Of course, every one of you thinks that. Every day we are having a new day, similarly we should always know new things.

Hard things are put in our way, not to stop us but to call out our courage and strength, so let us overcome those obstacles. As a match performers its intended function only when exposed to friction similarly we should over come our obstacles by actions not words.

Our destiny should look forward. A will power is to a person what a horse power is to an engine, so let’s have this will power and where there is a will no doubt there is a way. We can buy our books, we can get back our lost pens, but we cannot get back our lost time. Since we all know this, why should we lose or waste our time.

So please, teachers and students must be punctual and help each other. When the bell rings let’s run to our respective classrooms and teacher should follow us right after a second rather than going to the office and staying there for a couple of seconds or more.

Therefore I would like to conclude by saying that we should use time in something good because Mr. Time and Tide wait for no man even for a king or director.

Editors Note: We thank all the teachers who have helped us by supplying answers to the following questions from our students. We are sorry that we are not able to thank them all individually. At the same time we also wish to say that we did not receive enough response to this section. We hope that next time more and more students will participate in asking us all their doubts.)

Q. Suppose there are two men with equal size of brains. One of them goes to school and college but the other doesn’t. Then, if we weigh their brains, whose do you think will weigh more? If they weigh the same as before does it mean that education has no effect on the brain? Or if the weights differ can we say that the brain increased in weight because of schooling?

A. “The largest human brain ever measured was that of an idiot. On the other hand, brains of geniuses are, on the average, slightly larger than those of ordinary people” (Quoted from BIOLOGY SERVING YOU, Page 347) The size of the brain is not always the true indication of one’s intellect. But generally there seems to be some correlation between the two. As we compare the brains of human beings with those of lower animals we find that the human brain is more complex; it has more folds (called convolutions) than other mammals. It is thought that these make man more intelligent than animals.

Education or any thinking process keeps the brain active. The more work you give to the brain the more healthy it becomes. But there may or may not be much increase in its weight. So if you compare the brains of the two persons in your question, they may or may not differ in weight. For example, take two persons whose bodies weigh the same; one of them does athletics and gymnastics but the other doesn’t. Even though both have the same body weight, the athlete’s body is stronger, he can work harder etc. This is the same with the brain.

Q. When does our mind take rest? Is it when we are sleeping?

A. Yes. The brain, the mind and most parts of our body relax and rest when we sleep.

Q. Where does our school fund (the 90 cents) go?

A. The 90 cents go to the School Committee. The School Committee helps all the school in Keren whenever they are in need of financial help. For example, they paid Eth. $10,000 last year to repair the old building in our school. They also bought all of the window curtains for the class rooms.

Q. Our school farm seems to give a good harvest. What will you do for our students with the money?

A. It seems doubtful if our farm will give a good yield. All the expenses like hiring tractors, price of seeds etc. were borne by the school committee. The proceeds from the harvest will go to the committee. There seems to be a plan to construct an auditorium – a real auditorium. If we are lucky we may get it before you finish your 12^{th grade here.}

Q. Can’t we buy a laboratory if every one of our students pay one dollar?

A. As a good secondary school laboratory may cost about Eth. $30, 000 to build and equip, it will not be possible to build even if the students contribute. Anyway thanks for the offer. We do appreciate it very much.

Q. Since mules have male and female sex why don’t the female mule reproduce?

A. The mule is an offspring of a male ass and a female horse or mare. Unfortunately mules do not have offspring of their own, except in extremely rare cases. Animals which cannot have offspring of their own are called sterile. But a few female mules have reproduced young mules when bred to male asses or male horses. These rare offspring are either ¾ ass or ¾ horse. (World Book Volume 12, Page 757)

Q. Which cam first – the hen or the chicken?

A. Both came first. If the egg came first it was carrying the chick inside of it; if the hen came first it had the egg inside of it. After all, a hen is only an egg’s way of making another egg.

Q. Why are some men black, some white, some yellow etc?

A. Please refer to the article Vitamin D and the color of Man on page 15 in this magazine.

Q. Shakespeare said that “The world is a stage and we are the actors” But I do not know in which act I am acting. Will you please tell me?

A. This question is from the play “As You like It”. This is a nice question but you are too young to understand its philosophy. You can understand it somewhat if you read “As You Like It”, “Macbeth” and Act 1 Scene 1 of Merchant of Venice. Your part cannot be assigned and determined by anyone. No doubt, all of the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and entrances; but one man in his lifetime plays many parts. And all these parts, sad, happy, or tragic-comic are assigned to an actor by the stage-director –Fate or chance or Providence. To be a successful actor one should play his part with interest and courage. And not like a whining school-boy, without books, dull face, creeping like a snail, unwilling to go to school.

Q. What do we mean by the European Common Market? When was it established and what is its use? Is it possible for all European countries to participate in it? How many European countries are members? Is England one of them; if not why?

A. The European Common Market (E.C.M.) was founded on January 1, 1958, with its Head office at Brussels, Belgium. It is formed by a group of European countries to promote trade, economic development, increased stability and to create a balanced expansion etc. The members of the E.C.M. are Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Holland. Eighteen African nations as well as Greece and Turkey are associated with it though they are not members. England is not a member as France has repeatedly vetoed its entry into the E.C.M.

Q. What is the use and harm of smoking?

A. Please read the article on smoking on page 9.

Q. If smoking is harmful why do editors smoke?

A. People smoke for various reasons and this is true of editors too. Some people claim that they enjoy smoking but with most of the smokers it is because smoking has become a habit with them. Some say that when you are alone and are bored, a cigarette gives you company.

Q. Why is the period 500-1000 A.D. known as the Dark Ages in Europe?

A. Because the values and virtues of the two classical Ages were discarded. They were replaced by the elements of soaring institutions like feudalism and wars. Man’s knowledge about the world was too little and he was like a frog in a pond at that time. He was totally ignorant of true history or science. The Renaissance swept them away and spread the rays of the New Era.

Q. How many Roman Empires were there and at what periods?

A. There were three Roman Empires

The Early Roman Empire 500 B.C. to 500 A.D.

The Eastern Roman Empire 4th Century A.D. to 15th Century A.D.

The Holy Roman Empire 8th and 9th Century A.D.

Q. How do we prove that plants follow the process of respiration? Do seeds need oxygen to accomplish breathing?

A. For the first question please see page 13 and 14 of An Introduction To Biology by W.B. Barker. Seeds need oxygen for germination. Without it seeds cannot sprout.

Q. It is known that Amoeba is the first living thing to exist on earth and it is said that no living thing can be produced from non-living things. Then how did the amoeba originate?

A. It is wrong to say that the amoeba was the first living thing. There are other animals or plants which could have existed before it; for example euglena, bacteria virus etc. It is true that living things came from other living things in the sense of reproduction. A living thing must have come from a parent living thing but protoplasm, the basic living material of all cells, comes from the foods we eat. We take protoplasm from water, amino acids, fats, glucose, minerals etc. These things are not all living, yet in the process called assimilation our body collects these food particles and organizes them into protoplasm – a living material. Assimilation often results in the growth of the cell and, as additional cells are formed, in the growth of the organism. How assimilation actually occurs is a mystery in science. If man knew that he can make a living thing from a non-living thing by processes similar to assimilation.

Q. A country borrows millions of dollars to speed up its economy. But I think that instead the country could produce new money so that she can build many factories. Then there would be no inflation or deflation for the goods produced would match the paper money produced. Couldn’t countries follow such policies instead of borrowing money from other countries?

A. All the paper money produced by any country has to be “backed” by gold reserves. That is, a certain percent of the paper money’s value has to be maintained at all times in gold. A stable currency is one which is backed by enough gold reserves. If a country increases its paper money without increasing its gold reserves or by trade with other countries then its currency will not have much value in international markets. If that country wants to build factories she has to import the machinery, technicians etc. these can be paid for and imported only by an internationally recognized currency or one backed by gold. So by increased the paper money in circulation without backing it properly the country will not be able to buy things from abroad. If she cannot buy all the necessary things then her economy will collapse.

Abraham Lincoln was born on Feb 12, 1809 in the state of Kentucky. The house in which he was born was a log cabin and had just one room. When he was seven years old his family moved to another state called Indiana. Soon after moving there his mother died. She had made a deep impression on Lincoln and, years later, he was to say, “All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my mother”.

He didn’t attend school regularly but he learnt reading and writing. He became his own teacher and whenever he found time he used to read some books. He used to work for the neighboring farmers, ploughing, harvesting etc. When he was twenty one Lincoln moved to Illinois and started working as a clerk in a shop. This gave him more time to read and improve his learning. He became well-known for his honesty and people used to call him “honest Abe”. And he was also a great story-teller and had an endless number of stories with which he entertained all kinds of people.

At about this time, when he was twenty two, Lincoln became interested in politics and decided to enter the State Legislature but he was defeated in the election. After that he worked as the post-master of New Salem. Two years later, he tried again and was elected to the Legislature. Then he started studying law by himself and when his term at the Legislature was over, he moved to Springfield, a bigger town, and became a successful lawyer.

After eight years in the Illinois Legislature he ran for the Congress but was defeated. Again, two years later, he tried and was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives. After his term in the congress he returned to Springfield and spent his time working as a lawyer.

At about this time the question of slavery was dividing the nation into two groups. The southern states wanted slavery to continue but the northern states were opposed to it. The newly formed Republican Party which was opposed to slavery nominated Lincoln for a senator but Lincoln was once more defeated in the election. Any other person in his place would have lost hope by all the defeats but Lincoln didn’t. In 1860, the Republican Party nominated him for the President of the United States and he was elected President.

Soon after Lincoln became President, seven southern states who wanted slavery to continue, withdrew from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Lincoln wanted to abolish slaver and, at the same time, save the Union. The only solution for this was war.

The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861 when the Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter, a Federal fort. As the war began, eleven southern states in all had left the Union. In the second year of the war, Lincoln proclaimed on January 1, 1863 that all slaves in the south will become free that day. During the course of the War, Lincoln was elected president for a second term. A little more than a month after his re-election, the War ended when General Lee of the south surrendered on April 9, 1865.

Then followed the tragedy. On April 14, 1865 Lincoln went to see a show at the theatre in Washington and there he was shot by an actor called John Wilkes Booth. Lincoln died the next day.

Thus came to an end the life of a simple, but great man who had lived all his life “with malice towards none, with charity for all”.

The Author: “He was not of an age but for all time” Ben Johnson

“I don’t remember that any book or any great person or any event in my life ever made so great an impression on me as the plays of William Shakespeare” Johann Goethe

William Shakespeare, born in England in 1564 was the most celebrated dramatist and the finest poet in English literature. He not only shaped the English literature but also influenced the language and the stage to a great extent. He made a good contribution to the vocabulary of English. His descriptions of the scenes and delineation of the characters are so real and natural that they all look living. When he writes any drama or sonnet, he appears to be a king, queen, prince, sailor, lover or anyone. Such a great artist and psychologist this playwright is. He has an unequalled genus and mastery of writing. His phrases and sentences have become the proverbs and often-quoted sayings and thus he has made a deep impression on any person who speaks the English language.

As regards his works, they can be divided under the four headings: 1. Histories 2. Tragedies 3. Comedies and 4. Tragi-comedies – the Romances. Besides these he wrote many sonnets on various themes. None can claim that he knows all about Shakespeare or about all of his works. That is something very vast, deep and difficult. One single library in England has 15,000 Volumes written about Shakespeare and his works but he still remains unconquered.

The Play: TEMPEST: Out of the four final plays of Shakespeare three are dramatic romances wherein the tragic themes are so treated that they produce comic and musical endings. Tempest is the last of his romances. This wonderful play represents the art of the mature philosopher and genius. The theme of this play is freedom and forgiveness. The story begins with a sea scene. Unfavoured by fortune, poor Prospero is left in the sea with his three year old daughter Miranda. His brother Antonio dethroned him from Milan and wanted to see him dead. One of Prospero’s good friends, Gonzalo, put some food and drink in Prospero’s boat along with some of his books of magic. The learned Prosper, a powerful and mighty magician has been able to command and control the spirits and storms and weather by his magic. His brother, the cruel and ambitious Antonio could not know that. Prospero would survive. But Prospero reached an enchanted but uninhibited island. Through his magic he freed the spirit “Ariel” from the spell of an evil hag called Sycroax who was the mother of cunning. Ariel and another spirit Caliban start working for Prospero.

One day Antonio and his friend Alonzo, king of Naples, went sailing in the sea. Prospero could know about it by his magic and he ordered Ariel to have the ship wrecked by a storm and to have them separated and put in two different islands. None of them were to know about the fate of the other. While Prospero and his daughter Miranda were talking, Ariel brought them the news of the ship wreck and told about the safety of the castaways. One of those wrecked in the sea was Ferdinand, the son of Alonzo and he was sent for by Prospero. Alonzo did not know about the safety of his father who had been put in a different place. Love develops between Miranda and Ferdinand but this was restricted by Prospero.

After a while, Prospero became sympathetic and considerate towards the unfortunate crew and brought them before himself. There, the great Prospero forgot all the differences, cruelty and forgave all of them graciously. Ferdinand and Miranda got married. Ariel was given his freedom and he was happy. And they all returned to their Dukedoms of Milan and Naples.

Printing is a very important invention. Why do we print books? Mainly because one man cannot speak out all of his ideas to thousands and thousands of people at the same time but he can write (print) them in the form of books.

I can say that books are like automobiles because they transport ideas and news from place to place.

Books may explain the way great persons lived and how they enjoyed nature and the beauties of the world. Many people dislike others who read books but this is a great mistake on their parts. All students must be interested in reading many books of varied interest. To read books is like discovering some hidden treasure in unexpected places.

Books are the key that open the door

To the treasures of human pleasures.

There is also the warning suggestion:

The books will open the door

Only for those who know how to use them.

I am an orphan. My life as a whole was very unhappy and tragic. My mother and father left me when I was a small child; so I cannot tell you what kind of people they were. I was their only child. The only thing I know is that I was living with my uncle.

My uncle was very cruel. He used to beat me always. His wife also scolded me many times and said that I should never play with her children so as to not spoil them. They said that I was an evil and wicked poor creature. I was compelled to believe that I was a wicked boy and kept many times to myself. I would go with the sheep while the whole family were farming themselves with the big fire.

When the incident I am going to relate happened I was twelve years old. It was the turning point of my life. One evening my uncle was angry with his wife and when I came to tell him that the big sheep would not allow me to milk her, he threw me to the ground and stepped on me. Although I used to cry always as such things happened, that time I did not cry. My uncle’s wife told me to go ways taking my supper. I was fed up with their treatment and decided to leave the house. I slipped silently from the house intending to enter it no more again and I never returned. But my decision was foolish and childish for there was no human whom I could claim as my relative.

Before I could understand I was running way from the house. I thought as if I were followed by my uncle and ran madly. After running about one kilometer, I stopped and listened and then continued to go but my legs refused to carry me any more .I sat down leaning against a big stone in the black night. That stone offered me a support which my uncle denied me. I could count my heart beating for it was the only movement I could hear at that moment. After a time, I heard a faint cry of a dog and saw light which looked to be in constant movement. I gazed there for several minutes and thought, “Surely my uncle did not follow me for he thought I would run sooner or later.” Fear was starting to rise in my mind for I had no experience of such a night before. The leaving of my uncle’s house did not make me happy. I called myself a fool. Where am I to go now? To return to the house was sure death. I chose to continue on my journey rather than offering to that cruel man. Indeed it is a very bad thing to be without parents. There was no one to love me or feed me. I saw always how my uncle loved his children but treated me like a slave. I was always compelled to bring water in the cold morning and to do the hard work in the burning sun; and still worse, I am now left alone to the mercy of the wild animals and perhaps evil spirit.

I looked towards the heaven remembering my parents whom I never saw, but felt that they loved me. I knew they were living a happy life up above. The paradise is the home of good people and my parents were a good couple for my uncle had said so. I still looked towards the sky expecting them to appear and say some kind words to me. But no one except some clouds appeared on the sky. I wept bitterly. The fear of the dark night and the hatred of my uncle made me wild with fear and anger. I began to run aimlessly. All the world seemed to be a dark sea full of devouring beasts and my mind filled with dreadful and evil imaginations. I stopped again and looked at the sky. The eastern sky was heavy with clouds. I felt some kind of danger swiftly moving towards me.

I wished death to come and relieve me from all my trouble and fears. For a time thinking about death I forgot all of my fears – I enjoyed the idea of death. I said I could be free after all if I die. No one would trouble me in my grave. I would be sleeping there forever peacefully. No beatings to bear, no uncles to see, no hardships to suffer and no terrible nights to bear. In the cold morning winds would blow silently over my grave and birds will sing happily. Children would pass by my grave whispering some kind words for their former companion. Sheep, goats and cows would be grazing there, sometimes putting their nose on my rough but peaceful grave for there would be no one to build me a nice grave. And at last my uncle will be relieved of me – me the poor orphan.

While I was thus dreaming the tears flowed freely. At that time a bright thing flashed on the earth’s surface and deep thunder followed, awakening me from my reverie. It was going to rain and the danger I had expected before came. There was no place or house in which I could take shelter. I cried loudly like a small child. That was all I could do. Soon sheets of lightning ploughed across the sky and rain began to fall.

The earth seemed to be lost in the rolling of thunder and the flash of lightning. The noise of rain, the deep thunder, the blinding lightning and the sound of rushing torrents all seemed heralds of a terrible death. All around me the forces of nature displayed their mighty powers. My mind was so full of fear and hatred that I could not feel the heavy rain.

A cold body of water touched my feet. It was trying to force its way up. I moved to make way but I fell into a pool and my body was drenched. I could neither see nor do anything. A blinding lightning lighted up the earth and showed me all the world. Right in front of me I saw a hail and remembered – I remembered that there lived a kind old woman who always used to give me things to eat.

I ran towards that direction, falling and rising. The rain slowed down and the earth began

to calm; but still I ran madly. At last my legs could carry me no more. The rain had stopped. The forces of nature had retired. In front of me I saw a dark object; it was a house. I dragged myself and reached the door. I fell there completely exhausted. It was morning when I woke. I was lying in a rough bed. There sat the kind old woman patting me affectionately. She offered me hot milk which I drank eagerly and again went to sleep as I was very weak and tired.

If

If you can keep you head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream-- and not make dreams your master;

If you can think-- and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Tisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stood and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings-- nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty second's worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!

The year's at the spring,

And day's at the morn;

Morning's at seven;

The hill-side's dew-pearl'd

The lark's on the wing;

The snail's on the thorn;

God's in His heaven-

All's right with the world.

Vitamin D, unlike other vitamins, is not found in most natural foods. It is synthesized in the skin in the presence of the ultraviolet rays of the skin. But too much of this vitamin affects the body very much. The sunshine is not the same everywhere in this world. Places around the equator get more sunshine throughout the year whereas other places get less of it. So people in the equatorial regions get more sunshine and their skin will be making more and more of vitamin D. But as this vitamin is harmful if produced in large amounts what is the mechanism of the body which prevents the skin from allowing too much of the ultraviolet rays to enter the skin? The answer to this question has been supplied recently by an American Biochemist.

According to his theory skin color controls Vitamin D synthesis by controlling the amount of sun rays penetrating the skin. Human beings, according to most scientist, originated near the equator and, most certainly, they had black skins. Black skin allows only 3% to 36% of ultraviolet rays to pass through. As early man moved north from the equator his black skin filtered most of the ultraviolet and so he could only make small amounts of vitamin D as the sunshine in the northern regions is far less than that at the equator. This insufficient vitamin D produced rickets and most of them could not survive. But those of them who had a slightly lighter skin could survive because, their skin being light, it allowed a larger percent of the sunrays to pass through. Thus, the farther north man went, the more completely did the light-skinned survive and the dark skinned die out.

Below the skin’s epidermis lies a germinative layer where, on exposure to sunlight, the pigment-producing cells are stimulated to produce more melanin. The black races who experience a lot of sunshine have more melanin which makes the skin very black. This melanin, by colouring skin black, allows only small amounts of the bright sunshine. As they live in places where the sunshine is not abundant, the white race needs all the sunshine it can get sand so their skin does not make melanin. So they are white. The yellow colour of skin is formed due to the presence of smaller amounts of melanin.

One day I went to see the War Cemetery of Keren. The grave which shook my heart most was that of an unknown soldier. No name is there but a grave only. I was so much touched that I started putting my thoughts into words. Now I am presenting it to you all readers in the hallowed memory of that unlucky (?) and unknown soldier.

An unknown soldier

Whose name is not known

Is lying here

Somewhere there.

Years back

He died

For his country,

For some good

Which was his duty.

Now his name is also dead.

A stone is there

Which tells every visitor:

“Here some one is lying

who was a brave solider.”

B.D. SHINDE

“Columbus” says the books. Do you say so? Then you are wrong. Recent researches done by American and British authorities have brought to light and undisputable evidence of the discovery of America by the Norse people 5 centuries before Columbus.

It all started in 1957 (Gregorian calendar). When an American dealer in old books came across an old map which seemed to have been drawn a long time ago. “Green land” was very accurately drawn on the map and parts of the Eastern coast of North America were also shown. This map reached the Yale University where American and British Researchers spend about eight years establishing its authenticity. Finally the date of the map was established as about 1440 A.D. – half a century before Columbus’ voyage.

From the evidence available, today we can piece out a story like this. Eric the Red, a minor chieftain of the Vikings of Iceland was the fist recorded person to reach the vicinity of the North American coast. He had been exiled form Iceland for three years and eh took his men on a westward voyage. They left Iceland in about 981 A.D. and reached Green Land. They settled there and established a colony. Latter on, more people started coming from Iceland to settle in the new colony and reached the present Newfoundland before making his way to Green land. As more and more people started coming, Lief, the son of Eric the Red, established another settlement in Newfound land. This is how America was “discovered”.

The news of the discoveries and settlements of Eric the Red reached Europe, and the information were not forgotten. Later on, in about 1440 A.D. the map mentioned above, along with a history of the voyages was made by a monk in Switzerland.

And then Columbus “rediscovered” America in 1492.

(According to the dictionary Science means: careful study of the nature of matter, of natural forces; a set of facts about these. A scientist means one who studies science and scientific means: having to do with science.)

Whenever we hear the word “science” a picture of a big laboratory with some test tubes and flasks or some one looking through a microscope or some one dissecting a frog or a dead body flashed before our eyes. But science in its true sense does not represent only these. Study of nature and natural things is science no doubt; but it does not always require a laboratory or scientific equipments. One can study carefully nature and all natural and artificial things without taking the help of any apparatus. When Newton observed the apple falling from a tree, he was sitting in a garden and not in any laboratory. But the garden became the laboratory for him and he discovered the famous law of gravitational force of the earth. So a laboratory or scientific instruments are not always essential for scientific inventions.

The only thing which is necessary is a good brain or mind with correct reasoning power and having the capacity to go deep into facts. A second thing which is also necessary is a good power of observation. So many people must have seen so many apples falling from so many different trees but no one ever discovered any new thing because they had no good observation power. In science, first we perform an experiment, then we observe it and finally we make some conclusions about it. He needs a scientific proof and then only he accepts the idea. When any idea is scientifically proved then it becomes a fact. Any scientific fact is governed by certain rules and so a scientist can explain about it in a scientific manner.

Science is very important for the present world but scientific views, scientific thoughts and as a matter of fact scientific observations are more important. Anyone can become a scientist without taking any big University degrees but by developing a scientific outlook. Still there are so many Newton’s and Einstein’s among us who are in the dark. We must not await our chances. Science needs the contributions of everyone. Try to develop a scientific outlook and try to observe everyone. Try to develop a scientific outlook and try to observe everything in the light of science and after that make your own conclusions.

In every aspect, sports are necessary to any person , whether he is a student or some other worker, but especially to a student.

Education is not only the matter of teaching the subjects in his classroom, but education also means to make the body of a student healthy; he is mentally healthy too. So his mind will have the capacity to study much more than before – and that is why we have sports in our school.

Previously our physical education teacher was Ato Tzehaie, but this year we are having another new teacher, Ato Ibrahim Yassin.

I would like to acquaint you with a brief history of his life and his future plans.

Ato Ibrahim Yassin was born in Asmara. He went to school and grew up there. Thereafter he started teaching physical education in Prince Meconnen School Asmara. He taught there for fourteen years. He is 35 years old and he is married. He is the father of five children, four boys and one girl.

His mind is occupied with admirable ideas and plans on which he can improve sports here in our school.

As we all saw him he was and is starting sports here, from its lowest position. For the past few days, he sacrificed his time in leveling and improving the football field. And again he will have to fine poles for basketball as well as volleyball, and will have to make them ready for use. When he can accomplish all of his work, he will use the physical education period of every class giving some physical training for about half a period and then divide the students to the different types of sports present and will make them all play. Then after some months he will choose some clever players from every grade and will give them extra training after school.

One of his best plans will be the forming of the “Student’s Sports Committee. ” This committee will be composed of students. I hope this committee will be of great value to our school.

Ato Ibrahim Yassin felt that Keren is very hot, and this is because he is from a cold city. But in the future he hopes he will get used to the heat and face no trouble.

In applauding his ideas and plans, what I would like to say is “It is in our duty to help this new teacher with great diligence as much as our ability will permit us to.”

Men have killed to get it, many empires were built upon it, many wars were fought because of it, and every woman will marry for it. It is simply called money.

Money! How wonderful it sounds. It is made up of only five letters but it shook the four corners of the world. It has a wonderful name which everyone likes to hear, a lovely sound at which everyone will turn, and a call which everyone will hurry to answer.

Money is everything. Yes, it is everything and everything is for money. It is a companion for one who is alone, a teacher for an illiterate and a weapon for a weak person. It is life!

Money is honor. If you want to go to your friend’s house, let us say for instance, and you are well dressed even the dog will wag his tail and make signs of welcome. But if you wear torn and dirty clothes the maid herself will not let you in. She will create every excuse and say that her master is not at home.

The Science club conducted a lecture. Mr. B.D. Shinde gave an entertaining lecture on Hypnotism and Its Applications today. He talked about the history of Hypnotism and some of its present day uses and speculated on the future applications. The lecture was well attended.

Ato Tesfaldet of the Amharic Department conducted a debate “Is the soldier or the teacher more beneficial to a country.” Students of the 10th grade took part. It was a very interesting debate. The debate was won by the side who argued that the soldier is more beneficial to the country. We publish elsewhere an account of the debate.

The Science Club had its second lecture when Mr. R.G. Rajan gave a short lecture on “ Some recent developments in Soil Science.” A method for making the sandy soil retain water was discussed. Another topic was the cultivation of plants without using the soild. The Science Department hopes, in the near future, to grow plants, on an experimental scale without using any soil.