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The Islander - Thursday 06th March 2003

News From St. Mary's:

PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY THE VIRGIN.  ASCENSION ISLAND (Diocese of St. Helena) Rev. Brian Birchmore Church Warden: Mervyn Isaacs Church Warden: Cheryl Anthony

DOING SOMETHING EXTRA ON THE ROAD TO EASTER

This Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and by the time you read this, you will have had your pancakes and will be all prepared to walk that road.

"What are you giving up?" - that's the usual question when we talk about Lent! Someone asked me the other day what I was "giving up" and I replied "nothing!" Don't be shocked at your impious vicar, but you see I reckon that if we are going to be serious about the faith we profess, then maybe we should do something extra! By and large, if we give up cigarettes or alcohol we are doing it for ourselves - for our weight, our health or even our appearance. There are 70 million Anglicans around the world without the other larger or smaller Christian communities (Russian and Greek Orthodox, Copts,Roman Catholics, Baptists and Methodists and others) ........ if everyone of us spent just five minutes each day saying a prayer for peace, looking at that Bible sitting on the shelf, or even coming to church or speaking to someone you can't stand - then maybe Lent would be a more worthwhile exercise.
This year to assist you in doing something EXTRA, I have produced a Lent programme of discussions and addresses together with taking a look at some great Christians - past and present - to see what we can learn from their lives to help us with ours.

On Wednesdays at 8 pm at the Vicarage, we shall consider quite informally the subjects of Baptism and Confirmation, the Bible and the Church, the Sacraments and the Eucharist. This will be a sort of 'Refresher Course' for anyone and our Confirmation Candidates will join us for it.

On Sundays at our 10.30 am Eucharist, we shall think about Dietrich Bonhoeffer, St Patrick, St Cuthbert and Archbishop Oscar Romero.

On 30th March, we shall celebrate Mothering Sunday which will be our Family Eucharist at 10.30 am ...... Mothers might even get a flower!

The Holy Week services are in our Lent leaflet which gives full details of the whole programme and is available in the Church - do pick one up and come and join the crowds! You might be surprised.

Have an EXTRA good start to Lent

Fr Brian

Lessons for next Sunday: Genesis 9, 8 -17 and Mark 1, 9 -15

LETTERS

SCHOOL PAGE

www.ais.co.ac/school/

HELLO FROM TWO BOATS SCHOOL Awards Assembly On Friday before we broke up we held our half-termly Awards Assembly. The following pupils received awards:

Shalane Thomas

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Consistent progress in Maths and Language

Jaylee Crowie

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Exceptional effort & achievement in Geography Consistent effort in Science Consistent and continued effort in Maths

Alex Thomas

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Consistent effort in Geography Excellent Achievement in Science Understanding & Explanation in Maths

Rico Williams

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Consistent effort in Geography Consistent and continued effort in Maths

Sinead Green

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Consistent effort in Geography

Angelo Moyce

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Consistent and continued effort in Maths

Johah Williams Katie Kettlewell Charlotte Bones Chelsea Thomas Raiy Patterson Luke Stroud Alex Simon Dean Reynolds Jamie Williams Kieran Yon

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Good effort in Maths Consistent effort in Maths Understanding and using good strategies in Maths Understanding and using good strategies in Maths Understanding and using good strategies in Maths Consistent progress in Literacy Good progress in Maths Good progress in Maths Good progress in Maths Consistent progress in Literacy

Suzanne Leo Aiden King Dayna Henry Joe Thomas Alec Lawrence Jamie Thomas Danielle Bennett George Tasker Mike Youde Sophie Henshaw Emily Henshaw Keaton Crowie

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Consistent effort and achievement in Numeracy Excellent reading progress Excellent reading progress Good effort in Number work Consistent good presentation of work in all areas Good effort in written work Good progress in Reading Good progress in Reading Consistent progress in reading Consistent effort and achievement in all areas Consistent effort and achievement in all areas Settling well into Reception

We were once again pleased to see so many parents at the assembly supporting their children.   WHALE AND DOLPHIN WATCH At the Awards Assembly, Richard White spoke to the pupils about the Whale and Dolphin week that the Conservation Office organised last week. As a result the pupils were offered the opportunity of making a 2-hour trip to sea to look for whales and dolphins. A total of 44 pupils opted to take the trip and three trips were made. Unfortunately a fourth trip had to be cancelled because of the state of the sea. Although no whales were seen, some of the pupils were fortunate enough to see dolphins. Our thanks go to the Conservation Officers and to the staff at the Agency, both those on shore and on the 'Wide-awake' who made these trips possible. YOUTH CLUB On Wednesday last week Mrs Wendy Joshua organised a holiday activity for members of the Junior Youth Club. About twenty-five children attended the Youth Club from midday and as well as having their lunch, they took part in a series of craft activities. They had been asked to come in a hat that represented sea life and prizes were awarded for the best ones. The prizewinners were: Kyle Francis Suzanne Leo Euton Peters Chelsea Thomas After two hours at the Youth Club all the children were taken to the Two Boats pool for an hour's swimming. The afternoon was a real success and thanks go to Wendy Joshua for organising the activity and to Jeannie Peters, Debbie Augustus, Sue Thomas, Kim Wyer, Colin Duncan, Kirsty Anthony, Daniel Thomas, Tracey Yon, Lesley Tasker and Marion Leo, all of whom helped. That is all from the school this week but next week some of the children who attended the Youth Club activity will give you their impressions. David Higgins Headteacher

From the Constables Desk
First of all I would like to take this opportunity of welcoming Constable Frederick Wade to the Detachment. Fred is no stranger to Ascension as in the past he has spent a considerable amount of years working for the civilian contractors. He is accompanied by his family and we wish them well for the future. Since January and to date we have received and dealt with 15 reports. Four of these reports were of concern which are as follows: One report of causing harassment alarm and distress. A report of theft and a road traffic accident where the driver was over the legal limit. All three offenders in each of theses reports appeared before the Magistrate's Court. On Saturday 1st March one male person was arrested for in breach of an Injunction Order under the Family Law Act. He appeared before the court that same day and remanded in custody for a period of 48 hours until his release on Monday. Now onto Community Policing What make a good community beat Officer? An officer who is able to identify, maintain or improve liaison with local agency members, community groups, hard to reach groups, schools, councillors and any key players in his or her community. An officer who is able to communicate in the appropriate manner with any of the above. Community policing is one of the main areas as a strategic objective. In order that we see this aim to be consistent with the needs of the general public we have divided our policing area into four locations. They are Georgetown, Two		Boats, Travellers Hill and the US Base. These areas have been allocated to the constables, who are responsible for establishing the levels of crime and disorder problems in their area. Having established any problems they will then consult widely with the population of that area to make sure that the partnership's perception matches that of the local people. The aim is to identify problems with a long term solving approached. We devised a strategy containing measures to tackle those problems. This is to include targets. To date there a number of projects that have been initiated as a result of consulting with the public. These projects involves other agencies to assist us with finding the ultimate solution. They are reviewed from time to time for progress and the information on feed back is given to the recipient to give them reassurance of what has been done. To name a few of the projects which are as follows: Residents of the area of the Georgetown hospital have complained of the unauthorised access road to the nearby homes created by vehicles, which have caused a nuisance by dust, noise and intrusion into their privacy. The Museum at Fort Hayes is a building which contains the islands historical interests. There are a number of residents in that same area which do not have the priviledges of street lighting. The project of street lightening combines the two areas. To prevent crime from being committed on a building of interest and as a safety issue for the residents. Timothy Leo

The Met Office Weather Report

Sorry, no weather report this week.

“METCHAT” ************************ “METCHAT” ************************ “METCHAT” ************************“METCHAT”

Public Accounts Session Its all about working together to achieve a common goal said Chief Auditor, Mary Stewart The Public Accounts Session is not just about putting Heads of Department on the stand to answer to Councillors; instead, Chief Auditor Mary Stewart sees it more as the two working towards a common goal. She said: "The session is intended to improve the way public moneys are collected and spent." Members of Legislative Council raise questions with a view to improving value for money, which is what Government and the people want. The session allows Members to ask questions on the transactions during the year. This is achieved when Councillors look at Government's expenditure and income and after they study material from the Chief Auditor who will have highlighted areas where SHG could improve. The session also allows for Heads of Department and other relevant organisations to explain why certain money was put into particular areas. This information allows for better transparency and accountability, as managers explain and justify their actions. The accounts of some non-government organisations are also assessed at the Public Accounts Session. From past experience Mary said that Public Accounts Sessions work well when those participating are able to see that everyone is working towards a common goal and that the sessions can help to assist departments and the Government to achieve their goals. Councillors are tasked with looking at the bigger issues of government spending and they raise questions on this. "They should make recommendations for improvement," said Mary. There might be a case where a department had planned to spend a certain amount of money in a particular area but over or under spending took place. The Head of Department is then given the opportunity to explain why this occurred and Councillors can decide whether the department could improve spending in the future. Departments' accounts are audited by the Audit Department and it is not all about figures. "We have to be able to identify what is the root of the problem" said Mary. Audit identifies the problem and recommends how SHG or the non-government organisation could go about solving it. Mary said that departments and organisations agree with the majority of recommendations, but that it can be difficult for them to implement these recommendations, due to lack of resources in the form of employees, time and money. Mary explained that during the Public Accounts Session policies are not discussed as there are separate forums for this. Instead Councillors look at the way in which policies are carried out, again with a view to determining whether the Island is getting value for money. Public Relations/Information Office Office of the Chief Secretary 26 February 2003

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Hash Trash

Hash number: 942

Hares: The Major

Hounds: Mr. Bubbles, Baywatch Babe, Skipper, Mildew, Woodswrecker, Twin Peaks, Puff Grannie, Grim Reaper, Fluffy Bunnikins, Yeti, Predator, 100 Watt, Billy Graham, Pirate, Budweiser Belly, Slap Head, Titpecker, Buzz Lightyear, Chicken Hawk, Batman, Bart Simpson, Hardcore Heidi, Oh That Woman, Goat, Uncle Fester, Joker, Dick Head

A hot hash for sure this week. We all gathered at the old transmitter building at Butt Crater and then were transported down the road to the starting point. We were assured that the route was only 1.9 miles along the road but we knew better than think it would be that easy. The on-on had us heading off one way, but as usual a back arrow followed quickly. Most of the pack held back and were soon taking off in the right direction. The runners worked hard to catch up and regain the lead. Just don't seem to learn, do you, Titpecker?

Over a rough patch and down a tricky cliff into the gully we headed. Buzz Lightyear's little slip had a few of us catching our breath, not that he seemed concerned! It was hot, sunny, not a breath of wind with lots of rocks to scramble over. The Major kept assuring us that the tough going would get better after the next climb. It hasn't taken Mildew long to catch on to him. What was that comment about Pinocchio's nose?

As we trekked on through Death Valley dodging the piles of bones we reveled in the shady circle checks. Of course each one was followed by even more climbing! Thank heavens a few of the gentlemen were kind enough to help pull the shorter hashers (no names necessary!) up over a few of the more difficult spots. Thanks Slap Head, Predator and the rest. Then there were the few who just had to tease the short folks with their long-legged leaps up and over the rocks. Payback for the short people hash last week, Yeti? Billy Graham was spotted taking an unscheduled shade break, which made the front-runners soaking up the shade at the next circle check happy. More time to cool off!

As promised by the Major, we eventually made it to the final circle check where the route would split, one for the runners, the other for the rest of the tired folks! Of course, that was followed by another route change. A few walkers headed back up the road, while the rest headed a little ways along towards a cliff. Of course at the top lay another back arrow, and back down we headed. The runners headed off across the road towards Green Mountain while the rest followed the earlier troop along the road. The Grim Reaper, looking even more grim than usual, Fluffy Bunnikins and a few others were spotted hitching a ride with 100 Watt, who had sat out the hash, after convincing the group he was injured with a rather impressive looking bandage on his leg! A few hardier souls were even spotted attempting a spurt of energy with a jog. Not that it lasted for long!

Back at the building we all reveled in cold drinks while we waited smugly for the runners to make it back. As always, good food followed, thanks to the Major and Hardcore Heidi. Everyone had a nice relaxing time, except for the little hashers who decided to head off towards the mountain with their boundless energy. Setting the next hash, guys? The circle of friendship was drawn yet again and we welcomed two new sorry souls. Rob was christened Joker, and Barry was named by his mate Slap Head. He will now be known as Dick Head. Anyone see a pattern here? Welcome to the world of hashing here on Ascension. Great hash, Major. Thanks again.

Next week: B-14, Two Boats
Hares: Mr. Bubbles & Baywatch Babe

www.the-islander.org.ac

EDITORS : Marie & Sherilyn Anthony
The New Islander Office, Fort Hayes, Georgetown, Ascension Island.
Tel/Fax 00 + 247 6327

E-Mail: editors@the-islander.org.ac

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