Graduation

A few weeks back, the college had its annual graduation ceremony.  Though Mweka College has the familiar schedule of a August-June school year, graduation is in the fall. 

This graduation was very similar to an American one.  The campus was decorated with green, yellow, blue and black, plastic lawn chairs were arranged in neat rows, and parents lined up to take pictures of their graduates.  There were even long speeches (though not all in English), restless children traditional and graduation robes and hats (though the Tanzanian ensemble included a coloured sash corresponding to the diploma type).

Before the ceremony began, women with plastic flower leis lined a sidewalk to sell to friends and family members of the graduates.  The leis were then presented to the graduate, sometimes with a gift, after the graduate had gotten their diploma.    

After the ceremony, more sellers lined up with freshly printed pictures of the graduates for the families to purchase.