The Friday before last, a few of my co-workers stopped by office and mentioned that TCRS had been invited to attend the graduation ceremony at Rubanga School (one of the secondary schools outside of Kibondo that TCRS has been supporting) that Saturday. It sounded like a good way to liven up a Kibondo weekend, so I eagerly leapt at the chance to tag along with Gonza (education officer) and Judy (office secretary).
In order to fully appreciate what an experience this graduation ceremony was, I should explain that I went into it having made a couple of assumptions:
- I’d be back in Kibondo in time for lunch (there were only about 40 students graduating … it couldn’t possibly last all that long, right?)
- I’d be sitting somewhere in the back of the audience (after all, I’ve only been here for a few months and have never met any of the graduates … how could I be more than just a fly on the wall?)
Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t expecting the ceremony to be exactly like any of the ones I’ve attended in the
In retrospect, I should’ve known better than to make the first assumption. This is a country where next to nothing happens quickly and a culture where a church service is considered “very short” if it’s “only” three hours long. So perhaps I shouldn’t have expected to be home for lunch (we left Kibondo around 8am). But surely home in time for a late lunch, right? Wrong. All told, the graduation extravaganza lasted for roughly 10 hours – and we didn’t even stay for the party at the end! 10 hours!!!!! For 40-some graduates!!!!
As for the second assumption, I probably should’ve known better about that one, too. Upon arriving at the school, I discovered that not only would I be part of the entrance procession, I would also be seated at the front table. There were only four seats at this table: one for the principal, one for Gonza (who was giving the keynote speech), one for an important official from the District, and one for me, the mzungu. The rest of the “guests of honor” sat in folding chairs behind us (and all of them were more deserving of sitting in my seat, believe me). The fun continued about halfway through the ceremony when the MC decided to let all the guests of honor introduce themselves rather than be introduced by him. Which means that, inevitably, the microphone landed in my hands. Thankfully, I’d had some time to gather my thoughts … although not enough time to work up the nerve to try the rowdy “Rubango Hoyee! … Form 4 Hoyee!” holler everyone else had led with. And, despite feeling my face was about to burst into flames from blushing, I did manage to introduce myself articulately (to the amused approval of everyone in the audience). And the spectacle didn’t stop there. As it turned out, sitting at the head table meant shaking the hand of every graduate as they got their diploma … and once the ceremony was finally over, it meant posing for pictures with a decent portion of the graduating class. On the one hand, it was flattering, and I was honored to be part of the occasion. On the other hand, I felt a little like a theme park gimmick and also found it rather upsetting that I was sitting at the head table for no better reason than being a mzungu.
Mistaken assumptions aside, the graduation really was a remarkable event. I would have been less enthusiastic if those 10 hours had been full of speeches, but the speeches were surprisingly short and the bulk of the ceremony actually involved performances: singing, dancing, drumming, rapping, and the like. And not just any old songs or dances … they had all be composed and prepared specifically for the graduation, with lyrics and gestures that related to the graduating class. Form 4 (the graduates) preformed several times, and the other classes had all prepared pieces as well – it was really impressive!
I’d hoped to take lots of pictures, but sitting in front of everyone made me shy, so I only have a couple. I did manage to capture some video of the dancing (which was amazing – I think these kids have double-jointed hips!) … unfortunately blogspot isn’t cooperating with my attempts to upload the videos, so I’ll have to try again later.
The diploma receiving line
The top male and female student received academic honors (the necklaces were given to them by their parents after they got their diplomas)
Female graduates line up to receive the graduation gifts we brought (TCRS kangas)
One of the dance performances
1 comment:
alright. I realize you've probably mentioned this before, but I can't remember - what does mzungu mean?
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