The Final Day In Diamniadio

Well, the day I’ve been dreading has come- the last day with the students of Ousmane Sow High School in Diamniadio (the city is pronounced Jem-NAH-joh). All of these sweet, curious, adventurous students gave us the best goodbyes we could get. Sara and I were treated to makeovers, and we were honored in ceremonies. It was bittersweet, as it was an amazing day and I’ll be happy to get back to my own family, but I’m also so sad to leave. That’s the sign of a great adventure, though. Sometimes when you go to new places, you leave a little bit of your soul behind.

After we had our ceremonies, Sara and I went to check out the beautification process that was going on at the school. Each classroom was competing to see who could make the most beautiful rooms. The students were cleaning, painting, and designing gorgeous murals, all while trying to keep their work a secret from the other classes. Sara and I were the only ones allowed into some of the classrooms because the students didn’t want word to get out about what they had done. It was so fun to see the pride the students had in their work!

After the fun of all of that, we were taken to the mayor’s office, where we had a meeting with him. He expressed his gratitude in what we have done for the students in his city and how important continued collaboration would be to us both. I appreciated the importance he put on education!

Then it was off to lunch at Sophie’s house (this time we had Thebougienne with 3 different kinds of fish and fresh mangos for dessert). So delicious! After such a great lunch, we were off to have our final adventures. We went fabric shopping and then stopped by Sophie’s tailor to get our traditional Senegalese dresses made. We visited a friend of Sophie’s who is an artist and got to view her work. Then we stopped back to visit Sophie’s mom again. Finally, it was time for dinner. Sophie took us back to Solome beach for a buffet. It was a beautiful night with the breeze and the ocean waves crashing right next to us. What an incredible journey this has been! Just a few more days left to wrap up the program, and then I get to go home and share this experience with the students and staff at my school! More than anything though, I’m looking forward to hugging my family! I’ve got some great surprises to bring them!