Secondary School Graduation {Malawi Mondays}

It's time for a little Malawi Monday ! Today is all about Graduation Ceremonies!

I've been able to attend a few Secondary School Graduations (both government and private) and they are so much fun!

Friday, we attended the graduation of one of our Form 4 (12th grade) students from Esther's House! It's so much fun watching a kid that has grown up in the sponsorship program at EH hit this great milestone! It's a big accomplishment to finish Secondary School here in Malawi!

When we received the invitation for graduation, it listed the start time at 8AM. At almost four years of living here, I did not fall for the start time! Like many African countries, Malawi runs on it's own time schedule and we knew if we showed up at 8, we'd most likely be waiting for several hours. So, we played it safe and showed up around 10 AM. Graduation actually started at 11:30. Honestly, I love the laid back time schedule here. For a person who is perpetually late, I love not stressing about being exactly on time. It's freeing knowing that if you show up late, no one is going to be mad at you and you probably won't miss much!

So, from 10-11:30, we (myself, my 7 year old daughter, one of the EH girls, my sister, and two awesome interns) wandered around the auditorium, took photos, and danced with little kids in the back.

{Essau, the graduate}

{"L", one of our EH kiddos posing for some photos while we wait}

{cute neighbor kids dancing in the back}

{graduates waiting to start}

{guys chillin' while they wait for the program to start}

{My Asher-girl killing some time}

My favorite thing about Malawian graduation ceremonies are the dance-in entrances! 

I love the joy, the moves, the celebration!

So fun!

{If you visit my Instagram page, you can see the actual video}

Our two interns are so much fun and danced in with the graduates.

The graduates were pumped having visitors celebrating with them and ate it up!

The dance- in was followed by all kinds of student led activities. 

Boys' acapella songs, reminiscent of Boyz || Men. Lots of rap renditions, poem recitations, 

and even Acrobat Steve!

There are speeches given by the outgoing and incoming prefects.

The speeches are very free and one even complained about the teachers, to the cheers of her peers.

Many headmen are in attendance and sit in special seating on the front row.

An honored guest speaker gives a speech to the graduates. 

{Acrobat Steve}

{There were cultural dances}

Finally, the certificates are passed out! 

So proud of Essau!

Awards are given to the top student in each subject. 

Another fun thing that takes place in Malawi is when a student wins an award. 

The parents usually run, whooping with joy to hug their student and often give them gifts of money or food. 

It's sweet to see the joy/pride/celebration of the family members. 

Next, all the graduates will take their MSCE (National Exam). They will find out the results of this test in September/October. The results on this test will dictate what they can do in their future. If they pass, more opportunities will be available. Entrance into universities and different schools will depend on what kind of score they receive. 

It's a LOT of pressure!

{thirteen} a teenager birthday post

On June 10th, our oldest entered into teenage-hood.

This has felt so big for our family!

I didn't notice all the changes that have happened this year until I looked back on last years pictures. Our kid is really growing up (sniffle)!

Past birthdays:

Twelve

Eleven

Ten

We wanted to make this birthday a big milestone birthday, which feels a little tricky when you are living overseas. But, we tried our best! 

I do love how our kids have grasped onto the simple parties. 

Choosing their favorite meal, simple gifts, and some friends over and they will declare it 

"the best day ever".

Z has been counting down the days until his birthday for awhile!

He picked his favorite breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

He had his friends over for a water balloon war.

His grandparents and cousins had sent gifts with a visiting team, so he had several presents to open up through out the day. 

We have two other families living here with us, two interns, and a visiting friend. 

So, we had a full house for his party!

We had been filing away some ideas for his birthday from other families we admire and from books we have read. We wanted to make this milestone birthday about THREE things: 

Privilege

Responsibility

Biblical Man-hood

Privilege in our family, where we live, means later bed times and some more movie options.  

Responsibility at 13, looks like Zander having to wash his own clothes and also owning the lawn mowing in our back yard. We want to be intentional about preparing him for adult-hood and giving him more responsibilities to learn hard work and excellence. We are hoping to continue to add to the privilege and responsibility areas each year until he is ready to fly on his own after high school graduation. 

The Biblical Man-hood piece was really fun! We contacted a couple hand-full of men that have been consistent in Zander's life. These men are guys that Zander looks up to and strive to chase after God. We asked these men to write letters to Zander for his birthday. The letters were so awesome! I teared up with each letter as they came in because they were EXACTLY what I was wanting for Zander. The notes were filled with encouragement and words of affirmation. They laid out what it looks like transitioning into man-hood, ways that Satan will try to trip him up, and even personal challenges that they faced when they were his age. David and I also added a letter to the mix! We are praying that these letters will be read over and over again as he encounters the blessings and challenges as he transitions into adult-hood. 

Uncle Titus and Aunt Ashley gifted Zander with their telescope! Such a special gift!

All the Esther's House kids came over and we enjoyed lots of cake and playing!

This years' cake request was sugar cookie cake on top and bottom with funfetti cake in the middle (Thanks Tyler ;)

We're so thankful for all who helped make his day special!

I always enjoy taking pictures of my kids on their birthdays and Zander reluctantly allowed me to snap a few pics in the back yard. 

Gosh, we love this kid so much! 

I definitely feel like we are entering a new era of parenting and a new phase of beginning that "let- go" process as we give more privileges and responsibilities. I am praying that our relationship will continue to grow and morph and will come out stronger on the other side! Friends with kids in the stage ahead of us, we are watching you and grabbing on to any advice you can give us!