Shaloom Mission: GRADUATION!!

On December 5, 2013, the students of Makoko Language School successfully completed the Kiswahili language course. Of course, none of us were ready, at that time, to go out and speak it fluently, but we're doing our best to use what we've learned. Speaking a new language is definitely a VERY slow process, at least for most of us!

Graduation day began with classes, as usual, in the morning. We were expected to meet in the afternoon with our assigned teachers for conversation in Kiswahili, as usual as well, but that didn't happen. We were all too busy decorating the chapel, the dining room and the library for our celebration. The festivities began with mass in the chapel. The main celebrant was a newly ordained diocesan priest from Tanzania. Some of the sisters who live nearby attended our celebration, as well as the teachers, staff workers and a few visiting priests. After the mass we all met in the library/lab, which had been cleared out for the party. Fr. Edward, the director of the language school, presented the students with certificates. The students presented Fr. Edward, the teachers and the workers with gifts of appreciation for all of their hard work. Next came the entertainment. Mwalimu (teacher) Daniel performed a sing and dance routine, Fr. Orlando sang a favorite Mexican song, accompanied on guitar by his friend, Fr. Leo. Sr. Sofia and Sr. Lucinder sang a song together and Sr. Sofia performed a traditional Samoan dance. The grand finale was the "Sister Act" performed by Sr. Chiara, Sr. Sofia, Sr. Lucinder, Beata, myself, and Fr. Peter, our conductor. I wish I could post the video because it was hilarious! Finally, our celebration concluded with a very nice dinner and cake. All of the students returned to their assigned mission sites within the following two days to put what we learned into practice.