Mawabeni Graduation

Last week we were finally able to have the graduation service for the young men from Mawabeni who we trained in various aspects of building.  The service was held at Willow Park in the new (and nearly completed) dining hall. 

The young men could invite 2 people each to the ceremony so they could show off what they had done in the last 5 months. This meant that I needed to try to find transport for 30 people to get from Mawabeni to Willow Park (about 20klm).  Being true Zim style a majority of my transport plans did fall through at the very last moment … but we did manage to get everyone there after calling on some favours… if there was just one extra person we wouldn’t have had enough transport.

We had en excellent time with the young men and their families, they enjoyed showing off their work and their families were so proud of their accomplishment.  One mother, when we handed out the certificate to her son got up and did a HUGE dance and African song/chant … she was as proud as punch.

Unfortunately, the hall isn’t quite complete yet.  The paint that was stolen from our house was the paint we purchased for the hall, so we need to go across the border to buys some more.  We also need to make some changes to the roof structure, as the company who constructed the roof didn’t make the cross beams strong enough and they are pushing against the walls making them crack under the pressure.