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| Hanging with Thabo and his best friend |
Last year I promised my brother Thabo that if I stayed in
Lesotho, I would attend his Form E Farewell. This is the local equivalent of a
graduation ceremony; however, students finishing secondary school do not get a
diploma as part of the ceremony. Typically the ceremony occurs just before the
students begin writing their nationalized exams. If they pass these exams they
will get a certificate showing they have completed secondary school. Graduation
ceremonies are reserved for tertiary and university educations.
I was coming to the ceremony from the Peace Corps training
village, so Thabo had arranged for one of his teachers to greet me and to store
my backpack safely in the staff room for the duration of the event. Miraculously,
my host mother, ‘M’e ‘Masekila arrived just after I took my seat and we were
able to sit together.
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| Reading the program, I was surprised to see my brother was giving a speech! |
As I looked at the program, I was both filled with pride and
annoyed. My brother was giving a speech but had not told me about it! I had to
learn it when I saw his name in the program. My pride only continued to grow
when the Form E Boys Choir began performing and I realized he was leading the
choir too!!
