Graduation Timorize style

This was our English class graduation. It was remarkable. At the urging of Janu, who has become our class assistant, we planned the ceremony according to timor-leste custom. This ment a three-hour-long graduation with plans to include dancing, songs, English recitals and Thanksgiving. It would then be followed up by a meal of local food and then a picture taking ceremony. This was all for a 18 week long English class. We were sure no one would come and no one would stay. But we've learned to trust Janu and his understanding of local customs.

We were shocked. Out of the 66 people registered in our classes 62 of them showed up. Everyone stay the whole time. Most were involved with some sort of presentation or song. They had a great time together. There was a lot of laughing and clapping and talking. Even when it was all over people just hung around. It was a great experience. It was moving how thankful and appreciative the students were for the classes.


The ceremony started off with some traditional dancing.
Each of the different classes had one or two songs that they came up and performed.



In this video the students are reciting some of the basic dialogue they learned

After the demonstrations and presentations Cheryl and I gave out the graduation certificates. Certificates are very important in this country.
We wisely had Janu read the graduates names. In this culture the names are long and complicated and most are Portuguese.
As part of their appreciation the students gave us gifts. Around our shoulders we are wearing the traditional ties that are given for Thanksgiving. One of the students even gave us a wrapped gift which turned out to be a baseball cap done in the national colors and Design
We concluded the ceremony with a traditional meal. It was mostly vegetables which are not usually eaten in America. The students loved it. Their plates were mounted with these things which were squash, sweet potatoes, seaweed, peppers and chili. I had about a half a plane until I accidentally ate the chili and thought I was going to die.

Overall the entire experience was moving and memorable.  It was rewarding.


Comments

  1. DeniseJune 24, 2018 at 10:17 PM

    You guys are doing a great service for those people! What a great example you are
    for us future senior missionaries. Maybe you heard that civil unrest caused us to move
    our BYU college interns out of Nicaragua. Also 24 of our volunteers canceled their trip
    when the missionaries were also moved out. Denise and I still made the trip to Nic and re-
    turned unscathed. Our papers will be completed next month. Still hoping to be sent to
    Nicaragua in a humanitarian or training role for the Church.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Trapani's in LiberiaJune 26, 2018 at 9:21 PM

      I thought a lot about the unrest in Nicaragua. I realize how fortunate we were to be served in a country that is relatively peaceful. We just went through an election and had a peaceful transition to a new government. Good luck on your future Mission call. It's kind of exciting not really knowing for sure where you're going.

      Delete

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