Day 8 - Our final day :(

Day 8 - Today was our final day at Bright Future school. (It was arranged to be a half day so there was plenty of time to prepare ourselves for the party in the afternoon!) For the first 2 hours, the teachers of the youngest children chose games they had learnt from us and put their new knowledge to the test by taking over. With close observation, it was clear that the teachers had embraced the new activities and  gave us complete confidence that there would be a continuation. It was a wonderful feeling knowing that despite being at the school for a short period of time, we were successful in  leaving  a trace of Stoke Park School with them.

The third hour took a slight twist as the teachers showed us some of their Ugandan sports games and rhymes. The final hour, which some of us 8 students might ever spend at Bright Future, was in fact spent learning and not teaching and for us,that summarises the whole purpose of the trip. It shows that this is not a one-way effort and it takes the partnership of the two schools to fully understand one another in order to improve one another. 

We then were sent off by a heart warming assembly, much like the welcome; full of song and dance. There were tears of appreciation and it was upsetting  to think that you can no longer be of physical help to the children and the teachers you have come to care about so much. However, we are comforted with the knowledge that Bright Future is now a home from home and even when we are not physically there, it is safe to say we will be there at heart- as will Bright Future be in all of ours.

The evening's send off party began with speeches and it was clear by the impressive attendance  that the initial Africa Inspires project had left a mark on many. The night was, essentially, a socialising event thats main intention was to bring together the Africa Inspires family and remind us that we are no longer individual and independent schools. We are now a family of schools that depend on one another to progress. 

After the speeches, the dancing began! Quite honestly, the evening  went on for many more hours but this is where the blog for today ends because after the dancing began... it never stopped. 

Today was a lovely goodbye, yet we are sure for many of us this will not be the final goodbye we say to Bright Future- this journey has only just begun.