Kilimanjaro Journey : First Term Completed!

It is hard to believe that these cutie red suited faces have been in school for the whole first term! The school year begins in January and broken into three terms. After the completion of the term there is a break or holiday! April, August, and December are the months that students are typically off in Tanzania. Here at the Joshua Arusha School the last day is called Parents Day. All the parents attend for a celebration! The kids share bits from each class things that were learned during the term. There is a time of singing and worship. It was so fun to see everyone so excited and happy!

The younger classes focused a great deal on learning colors. I went through new curriculum from South Africa of a box with activities about learning colors. With a few additional flares this was a wonderful help to the teachers. The kids were cute and did an excellent job sharing the colors of the rainbow!

Love these faces!

There was a time of awards during the later portion of the celebration. Various awards were given especially for the top three in each of the classes. This was my favorite part! The kids were so happy and proud as their name was called. But the tear jerker part for me, as you will see below, was when the parent would come up to the table as well. They would each shake the hand of the leaders. Then, several of the parents would then scoop their child up in a congratulatory embrace. It was especially heart warming when the fathers would do this. In a country that is so relational but sometimes not affectionate ~ I loved it! It is also difficult in a country where education for children is not something that is always embraced. These fathers scooped up their sons/daughters so happy for their accomplishment and education! What a wonderful way to end a first term! I will now be busy catching up on office work, curriculum development, and planning for term #2!!