Memories given by Ruth Kelck, a staff member who retired in September, 2002, after teaching at Dalat for 43 years.

Remember all the way the Lord has led thee.
Deuteronomy 8:2

Eight months later, the school relocated to the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia where it remained for six years. In June 1971, Dalat moved to its present location in Penang, Malaysia where it became established as Dalat International School in 2002.

Dalat, Vietnam

It all began 68 years ago in the central highlands of Vietnam. The campus, known as Villa Alliance, had been purchased in 1928 with the idea that a school be developed for the children of missionaries whose parents served in Indochina. In 1929 three students and one teacher held classes in a rented house while a large two-story home and servants' quarters were constructed. From 1929 until 1949, the student body remained small. Auntie and Uncle Jackson served as dorm parents for 20 years. During World War II, the French Vichy government placed the missionaries and students under house arrest for three months. Later in 1943, they were transferred to a Japanese internment camp in My Tho, a city south of Saigon. Franklin Irwin, a high school student at that time, said classes never stopped. His teacher taught him in the morning, and he taught the younger children in the afternoon. After the war, the school returned to the Villa in Dalat. During the 50s, Vietnam had a lot of political changes. The French were defeated and the country was divided at the 17th parallel. Dalat School, however, kept growing as new missionaries were appointed and high school students from other countries in Southeast Asia arrived at Dalat to study. In the early 60s, we had several U.S. military families living in Dalat and their children attending as day students. We were fast outgrowing our facilities, so a gym, a new boys' dormitory, and several classrooms were built to accommodate the growth. With the escalation of the Vietnam war, missionaries who worked in neighboring countries questioned the wisdom of sending their children to Dalat. Was it safe? Then on Friday afternoon, April 16, 1965, The US. Embassy in Saigon notified us that they could no longer guarantee our safety. We would have 48 hours to pack up. It was Easter weekend. The choir sang their cantata as planned on Sunday morning, but the rest of the time was spent sorting, packing, and crating. Of course everything couldn't be taken. The librarian was allowed to choose 100 books. All file cabinets had slat crates build around them. The children's bicycles and pets were left behind. Four C-123 U.S. military planes transported the entire student body with its 11 tons of belongings to Bangkok, Thailand.

Bangkok, Thailand

"It was the worst of times" is how most people would describe our eight-month stay in Bangkok. The American Club was not built to be a school. Triple-deck beds made it possible to put 8 students in one room. That worked until the electricity went off, and there were no fans or air-conditioning. It never did work for 50 boys to have only 3 bathrooms. The teachers and students would often face flooded classrooms. The children were more interested in catching frogs than in doing schoolwork. The newly hired Thai cooks had no experience in cooking for Americans. When doughnuts were served, too tough to eat, the students soon learned that they bounced and made excellent balls. Memories of Bep, their Vietnamese cook back in Dalat, came flashing back. He could prepare French, Vietnamese, and American cuisine fit for a king to eat.

Cameron Highlands, Malaysia

Six months later when administrators announced they had found a better place, it was easy to believe and accept. This time it was to be the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia. Tanah Rata, a sleepy little town in those days, had much in common with Dalat, Vietnam--cool weather, a rainy season, waterfalls, mountains to climb and trails to explore. The Eastern Hotel , in comparison with the American Club in Bangkok, looked like paradise, but it was not Dalat. To begin with, both students and staff lived in hotel rooms. Everyone ate all of their meals in the hotel-catered dining room. It was hard on families. New teaching couples who arrived in the summer of 1966 with several pre-school children were given two second-floor hotel rooms in which to live.

We held classes in hallways and tin-roofed quonset huts. When it rained you couldn't hear, much less think. Gradually small chalets were built to be used as classrooms and housing. We settled in and almost overwhelmed the little town. They were use to the British, but not Americans. Mr. Shee at Excell store did everything possible to accommodate us. His response to every request we made was "Can do, will order, two weeks, Madam."

The students loved climbing the mountains, catching butterflies, exploring the trails and swimming at the waterfalls. We had lots of cookouts and picnics. When Jim Thompson, the Thai silk tycoon, mysteriously disappeared, never to be heard from again, our high school boys got the day off from school to go hunting for him in the jungle. When President Johnson came to Kuala Lumpur for a visit, the US embassy invited our entire school to be on hand to greet him. On one occasion, we all stopped at the police station to see the tiger that had been shot and brought in from the jungle. We made national and international news when one of our teachers, taking a wrong turn on a mountain jungle path, was lost for three days and three nights in the jungle. We loved the Highlands, but there were some drawbacks. The British military was withdrawing, and they were closing their hospital which previously was available to us in case of emergency. Those in need of a dentist or orthodontist had to make a two and one-half hour taxi ride to Ipoh. The school had grown to 180 students. Our compound seemed to shrink. The director, principal and business manager made trips to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang, searching for a better place. The withdrawal of the British military meant they would no longer need Sandycroft, here in Penang, as a rest and relaxation center. In February of 1971 we inquired about Sandycroft, but it was difficult to get any definite word. The timing wasn't right. We were told that we might have a three-percent chance of leasing it as others were interested.

Penang, Malaysia

Unknown to us at the time, a professor at the Baptist Seminary here in Penang had a special interest in Dalat. He had a daughter who wanted to attend. If Dalat moved to Penang that would be possible. On his way to work he would pull off to the side of the road in front of Sandycroft and pray that Dalat might obtain the lease. On April 19, 1971, six years to the day, from the date of our move from Dalat, Vietnam, to Bangkok, Thailand, our director and business manager made a trip to Kuala Lumpur and negotiated the lease for Sandycroft.

It was exciting news for nearly everyone, even though many people were sad to leave the Highlands. For some staff it was the third move in six years and they were not looking forward to it. On a long weekend in May before the school year ended, two van loads of staff and students headed for Penang to assess what had to be done in order to get Sandycroft ready for school in August. Mr. Baxter, the science teacher at that time, along with two senior boys, began gutting the building that would become the science lab. The building was full of shower stalls and toilets, complete with all of the plumbing. Muthu, Kumar and Rajin's father, had removed the plumbing fixtures and pipes. Then the two senior guys and their science teacher donned safety glasses and with sledge hammers smashed to smithereens brick, cement and tile, demolishing all of the stalls and cubicles. They returned to the Highlands covered with cuts and scratches but Mr. Baxter was overjoyed that he would now have a science lab and classroom of his own design. In Tanah Rata his science lab was an eight-foot-wide hallway.

In late June thirty-seven truck loads of school supplies, furniture and personal effects were loaded in Tanah Rata and unloaded in Penang, all within one week's time. The transformation of the British rest and relaxation center into a school took a lot of work. By the end of the summer the staff was exhausted. We as teachers were not used to physical labor and we were not used to the humidity and heat. I never wanted to see another paint brush or can of paint. On August 31, 1971, we had 214 students enrolled with one-fourth of them coming in as day students. Penang had so much to offer us. The beaches were beautiful. We were no longer an isolated school. Our boarding students could land at the Bayan Lepas airport and shortly thereafter be on campus instead of facing an eight-hour bus ride. Our coaches and athletes liked the MSSPP inter-school sports program. The choir and drama club had new opportunities to perform. We could attend concerts and drama productions sponsored by the Penang Arts Council and the British Council. The people of Penang welcomed us with open arms. It was a shopper's paradise. Jimmy, a young Chinese man who worked for the KK grocery store would pick up our individual shopping lists each morning and deliver the goods later in the day.

In those early days the student canteen, a little shack-like building, about 12 by 12 feet, situated right on the corner of where we presently have our student center, was the best kept and painted building on campus. Every year a high school class would claim a new side of the building, then paint an original design as well as large numbers indicating their year of graduation.

In those early years the seawall demanded constant repair. Truck load after truck load of rocks were brought in. Our high school boys spent many a Saturday carrying rocks to fill the huge black holes that would suddenly develop under the smooth cement facade. They worked two hour shifts and coordinated their work hours with the low tides, some getting up at 5 and 6 AM to make sure the cement got poured and somewhat dry before the tides came in. In the last 10 years we have added some major buildings. First it was the student center and then the gym. Thanks to fund raising by the PTF, the swimming pool became a reality in 1995. Retired British military personnel often stop by to reminisce about how things used to be. The empty skyline of 25 years ago is now filled with hotels and highrises. The old Bamboo Bar and the horse stables are long gone.

Penang and Sandycroft have changed but Dalat School remains much the same. Our students still think the most important part of school is their friends and social life; the parents still think Dalat is a safe place providing a quality education and we teachers still think that our students are the greatest and best. And Dalat International School continues to educate both missionary kids and day students.

God's faithfulness to us over the years is obvious: four locations in three different countries covering 75 years. To God be the glory; great things He has done.