Saying Goodbye to St. Franks School

After a lot of hemming & hawing, I have decided to move placements.  I’ve really enjoyed my time at St. Franks, and really struggled with what was the right thing for me to do.  There are several reasons I decided to make the move, and without getting into all the gory details, or complaining….My homestay is less than a stellar situation & I’ve just sort of hit my limit with it.  We’ve tried to talk with Mary about some of the issues, but when it comes down to it she’s 18 years old & not ready to care for herself let alone 7 strangers.  Also, while I’m extremely happy that I went outside my comfort zone (really really friggin far outside of it) & stuck with teaching......let’s face it, teaching is just not in my wheelhouse.  I have learned so much, surprisingly had a lot of fun with it, and it also gave me the opportunity to meet the incredible team at St. Franks.  That said, I feel like it's time to move on & hopefully get into some of what I really came here to do.

Lauren & I finished up at the school on the same day.  She’s heading back home to Pittsburgh & I’m moving on to a new placement.  On our last day, the school held a forum with all the students to thank us for our support.  It was so sweet!!  Many of the students came up in front of everyone to read poems or sing songs, others just gave speeches in thanks, and we were presented with a certificate.  (They also gave us what was essentially a report card of our skills which was pretty funny as well).  It was all very sweet and a great send off for us.  

A few little ones filing into their places, 5 wide on the benches.

A poem.

A song.

Apparently not everyone thought it was entertaining.

Receiving my certificate.

The last supper....what else Ugali!  And I'm pretty sure it's a world record.  That sucker was HUGE!

Don't let them fool you, Lauren & I still did all the cooking with the girls.  But they went to work serving it up.

All in all, a good last day.  I’m absolutely sad to be leaving, but know that I’ll continue this relationship with the people at St. Franks.  We’ve raised nearly $1000 so far (Many many thanks to everyone that has donated!), and are hopeful there is more to come so we can help continue the progress there.