Day 7 - emotional farewells

From Cat and Imaan- Today was an emotional last day. Saying goodbye to the pupils of Nelson Mandela High School proved to be much harder than our already high expectations, but we take comfort in the fact that we have made some great friends. We gave our final gifts and promises of friendship and witnessed an entertaining play organised by some of the kids. The heartfelt 'Goodbye' ceremony was tear-jerking with a speech from Chief John Power, followed by our own opportunity to say a personal farewell to the staff and pupils. We even performed our own A Cappella rendition of 'Lean On Me' which even got the teachers foggy-eyed! We struggled to hold back our own tears as we realised a week of memories would last a lifetime.

From Morgan- On our arrival at Hope Preparatory School we were greeted by 322 extremely enthusiastic young pupils screaming our names. During our visit here we have each made strong relationships and bonded with the pupils. Hope once again touched us with their moving songs and joyful children. We had to say goodbye to the adoring and beautiful children who clung to our legs as we reluctantly walked back to the cars.

From Katy: Emotions continued to run high as our friend Aminata introduced us to some of the 40 orphans, paid for by the Waterloo Partnership and cared for by her, as she has no children of her own. We were honoured to speak with the children and hear their dreams and aspirations. Our final visit of the day was to Chuckuma Johnson Preparatory School. The children were unbelievably adorable and impressive in their lessons- they were able to answer every one of Cat's maths questions. I met a small boy named Ishabel who was unable to speak, and the teacher informed us that when he first came to the school, he could not interact with the others, but they did not give up and he now enjoys playing with them. The work of Aminata and Chucka school, particularly its dedication to teach and care for all of its pupils, even those who are handicapped show them to be worth support and we hope to help them more in the future. 

Then the much-discussed Kissy Ferry. All humanity and his/her friends seemed to be on board with all their worldly goods. We were all very hot and sticky, tired and quite emotionally drained after the day's proceedings, but on our way home!