Party Time!

Well... the party on Saturday night was really cool. It was a farewell party for Meg E. Riggs, who works at the US Embassy with education. The party was in the Embassy compound at Hannah and Graham's house. They also work for the US Embassy. The compound was right off the Atlantic coast, and we could hear the waves from the porch. This was a neat experience, and one that allowed Holly and I to meet some Americans who are living in Monrovia. They were all very friendly. Some of them had a hard time understanding why we would come to Liberia voluntarily for a year. Holly and I enjoyed telling them our story and why we are here. They have all heard of Rick's Institute, and speak very highly of the school. Meg and her husband, Gib, have been here for 4 years. They are moving to Washington DC for 6 months for language training before they begin their next assignment. We stayed at the party pretty late, and were exhausted when we got back to the guest house. 

On Sunday we slept until almost 1:00pm. This allowed us to catch up on all of our lost sleep from traveling. We came over to the school at 2:45 for Closing Convocation that started at 3:00pm. This was very much like a graduation ceremony, only without the diplomas. In Liberia, promotion is based on standardized test scores. There is a rule in place that no students are allowed to graduate until the test scores are received back by the school. So legally Rick's Institute was not allowed to hold graduation, since they do not have the test scores back. Olu was telling us that by having "Closing Convocation" it was like a protest. The students were each presented with an empty diploma cover, the senior class president gave his speech, and the ceremony went on like a normal graduation would. Olu and many other expressed their frustration, to the overly crowded room, about the law concerning the test scores. The argument is that the test should not be the only standard that determines if a student can graduate. Some of the students are A students but do not perform well on the tests, and therefore are not allowed to graduate. I will be interested to see how the testing process works this upcoming school year. 

Closing Convocation was an amazing experience! Holly and I were guests of honor, and we sat on the stage with the guest speakers and faculty. I spent most of the 3 hour ceremony "people watching" from my seat. From my seat you would see the graduates on the left, the school choir on the right and rows and rows of family of friends in the audience. People were so dressed up. Most of them were all in their native dress. The clothes are beautiful! We sang hymns, listened to speeches, and heard an amazing performance by the school choir. As people left the convocation, most of them were dancing and singing in their native language. It was so cool! I feel like this day formally began our time here at Rick's Institute!