| SWARTKEI SAFARIS 2006 NEWS LETTER |
We hope that this letter finds you and your families all well and that the year behind has been kind to you. We have had an incredibly successful hunting year. It has definitely been the year of the lion. Congratulations to the following people who hunted big game this year.
LUKE CORBETT (lion, rhino, 2 giraffe, roan & sable) JIM MORRIS (lion , giraffe)
STEVE BASS (2 lion, 1 lioness, buffalo, leopard) ..... BRAD KLINE (lion)
STEVE LASKEY (rhino) .................TOM SHAFFER (rhino)
THOMAS BAKER (rhino) ............... JASON WOODS (sable)
RIP MILLER (darted Black Rhino)
It was wonderful having a number of our old friends hunt with us again this year including Bill Ferguson and his 2 sons, Dan & Keanon, Jose Dominguez and his family, Jerry Jaeger, Ed Kampsen, Brad and Theresa Kline, Tom Kunz and his son, William, Lee & Susan Schultz, Fred McDonald, John Ackley, Roy Salley, Roy and Linda Jacobsen, Kelly and Connie Lafay, Todo Myane and his daughter, April.
We had a new addition to the Swartkei family on the 19th of May this year. Her name is Ashleigh Hope and is a new daughter to Philip and Sharnell and a sister to Olivia.
Olivia is already 3 and keeps us permantly entertained. She adores her little sister and infact sometimes thinks she is her MOM. So far when she grows up she wants to be a singer/dancer/ princess as long as she can still go fishing with her Dad. Her favorite color is PINK in every shade.
Ashleigh is 6 month old already and is sitting, rolling over and getting from A to B on her tummy – almost crawling.
She is so cute and always smiling. She has discovered food and now wants whatever you are eating. She is a real treasure.
Robbie is 2 already and ruling the roost at Bowers Hope. He has great admiration for his brother and follows him everywhere saying dooooom! (baby language for SHOOT)
Grant is now 8 and still an avid hunter. He disappears for hours on his four wheeler with his kwedine (little black friend) and his 3 Jack Russells and returns with a basket of rock rabbits which they have harvested with no gun! He has developed an interest in fly fishing and loves to go fishing with all his mates at Thrift.
Caroline is 11 and turning into a real lady! She is still as diligent as ever and doing really well at school. She also likes to hunt when her brother gives her a chance! Cally is really enjoying ballet and next year will be doing other dance styles aswell. She is has a passion for teaching and is unbelievable with little children from all walks of life.
Rudolph is still a valuable asset to Swartkei Safaris and his loyalty is something to be commended. This year he hunted in Mozambique for 2 months and came back with a spider bite that had eaten his flesh right down to the bone! He has made a good recovery and is almost as good as new.
We also had a student with us again this year, Dylan that some of you may have met. He has moved on and we will be getting another one next year, Christiaan.
As some of you know, unfortunately the children of the Ithemba Mission School where moved away last year. The teacher, Phumeza, went to teach Beth’s children for a year (Charles and Philips sister). She is back in the local township and has been asked to look after a crèche of about 40 children between the age of 3 and 5. We are trying to help them with resources. The Sinomncedi Mission Preschool is still going well into its third year now. We are also supporting the teacher there and providing them with resources.
Phumeza has a real gift with children so we have decided to send her to Durban in December this year for formal training in the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE) curriculum. She is very excited and we wish her all the best. She will be able to work in any ACE school after her training as she already has a 3 year diploma in Business Administration.
Due to all these expenses we appeal to any of you that would be interested in sowing into this mission field. If you are please contact us via email at swartkei@hotmail.com to make arrangements. We thank you in advance.
Many of you know that our children have been home schooled for the last 4 years. We have now set up a learning centre in Tarkastad on Kevin and Kitty’s farm (cousins) called the Plumbline Christian Academy. We have employed a teacher and will be starting with 10 children next year. We hope that this number will grow over the years and that we will offer a school of excellence in a country environment promoting Godly principles in a time where all the other school systems are falling apart in this area. We hope that Phumeza will be able to be a part of this school in the near future as we would also like to run a mission school along side it.
This year saw the completion of the building of the beautiful Oceana Wildlife Reserve lodge. We feel privileged to have been a part of this with Rip and Lee Ann Miller. We wish you many happy years at Oceana.
We will be traveling to the States in January again for the conventions. We will be attending the Dallas Safari Club show from the 12 to the 14th of January. Our booth number is 667. We will then be going on to the Reno SCI show from the 24th to the 27th of January. We will be exhibiting out of Jeff Neal’s booth and the numbers are 1371, 1369 and 1468. We hope to see you all there.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your valued support and friendships that have grown over the year.
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