End of Project Ceremony

We were sad to end our work at Mayenjane though our hands and backs were glad of the break from manual labour! Our last day of work ended with the gables of the roof going up and the foundations of a stage dug. The Skills centre that we have helped build will also double up as a church on Sundays and there are plans to extend it over the years to incorporate offices and further rooms such as libraries.

The following day we had a small end of project ceremony, well we had organised to be small, however we got a bit more fame than we were expecting. The Swaziland Tourism Authority came sling a brought the media with them, two national newspapers, one radio and multi media guru and a tv crew! Not quite what we were prepared for but the girls from St Helens and St Katharine School took it in their stride. We had a few speeches, songs from the local children and thanks from the local community. This was followed by a photo shoot by the paparazzi, interviews for Swazi tv and questions to the girls. Some of them had a minute of fame on national tv!

It was also a reality check, a chance to realise the importance of the work we have achieved, of the money donated by the girls and the fact that this will make a difference to the local community. Everyone was so impressed and grateful for the support we had given, it was all very humbling and to recognise the impact that we were having.

This was all reaffirmed yesterday when we saw our pictures in the Swazi Observer, one of the national newspapers. There was a full page (page 20) about our project work, pictures of all of us, quotes from myself and the girls and publicity for all. We all wanted a newspaper each so consequently the town if Simunye ran out of the Swazi Observer!

Now just waiting to see the write up in The Times of Swaziland...