Our final celebration at Waranka GR

Today was our final day at Waranka GR, and for me it was an especially bittersweet day. We could feel the excitement from the kids when we walked into the building. Us college kids were messing around waiting for the day to begin by practicing our juggling and clapping games when heads started peaking out of classrooms and over railings to get a glimpse at what activities they would soon be able to do.

The Saint Michael’s students set up different stations for the kids to play with, like painting, drawing, UNO, and soccer. For me though, some of the best activities were the inbetween games. We got to play hangman, Simon Says (or Jacques a dit as the kids would say), learn different silly dances from the kids and much more. While there was a significant language barrier (for some of us, like me, this was a larger concern) the kids were all full of such patience and excitement that any game or activity we could think of was a success, even if we all had a laugh at the broken french used for the instructions! At one point I leaned over to a classmate, right after receving a wave of silly giggles from the littlest kids in their classroom just by making faces at them, and expressed my desire to bottle up this emotion and take it with me wherever I went. The happiness was contageous and I really couldnt image leaving these kids by the end of the day.

After we had lunch, everyone began to get ready for the farewell party that the school was throwing for us. The teachers were getting everything set up inside while we tried to entertain some of the kids beforehand, although you could practically feel them shaking with excitement.

We followed the mass of students out to the front of the school where we were greeted by a DJ and traditional singers. I was grabbed first by one of the teachers and was brought to the center of the circle to dance in front of everyone. While I might have made a fool of myself, in the theme of Senegalese solidarity my classmates joined me in trying to mimic the skillful dances of the school teachers. The party continued as Père Noël (Santa) made an appearence for the kids. His dancing skills rivaled the best dancers at the event, and he also made sure to grab some of us students to join him in his partying.

The event ended with gifts, both for us and the kids, and I couldn’t think of a better way to close their (slightly delayed) christmas party. We were given a t-shirt of the school to match some of the kiddos, a Senegalese necklace/bracelet, and a certificate. While I believe that the hospitality and love that we recieved up until that point was amazing, they went and gave us more. From there, we assisted in handing out a few gifts for some of the kids, with some from our group saying a few words of gratitude.

For me, this was the ideal day. The limitless love we recieved from both the students and the staff at Waranka GR was incredible it is something that I will remember for my entire life. I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to meet all these smiling faces, and to see the amazing job that the school is doing for these children and for the community.

-Lindsey Duquette