Bittersweet

Last night was the celebration of the safe completion of our Uganda trip, organised by the pupils and their parents. George's wife was unwell and unable to attend, so I let James off the hook (he would have come with me but would have known hardly anyone) and offered George a lift. James set off happily to fetch himself a fish supper and to settle down to an evening of watching Children in Need on television. 

Not having been involved in the organisation, I had no idea what to expect. However it turned out to be a most excellent evening.

It was held in the club house of a local rugby club and family and friends had been invited so there must have been upwards of a hundred people there. The pupils had planned an Oscars type ceremony called "The Luweros." It was very funny and they had done it properly with nominations, envelopes with the winner's name inside etc. David and Holly had dressed up as the hosts and made a great job of it. Needless to say everyone from the trip got an award - for best dancer, most photogenic etc. Mine was for "best medic" and a picture of me went up in the screen with a speech bubble saying  "Have you took your malaria tablet?"

But then came one more award for George and me, which was so amazing that I was actually in tears - the parents had ordered a framed picture for each of us with stick figure drawings of all sixteen of us, with our names underneath and decorated with buttons and sequins. At the bottom of the picture is the bible quotation of the Luwero Community "He who refreshes others shall himself be refreshed." It is absolutely beautiful and I will treasure it for the rest of my life.

Then we had a buffet and the dancing started. George and I had planned to slip away at this point but we found ourselves persuaded onto the dance floor to jig about with the crowd. Soon we were singing along to Don't Stop Believing - one of our signature Luwero songs which we performed on the stage there. And then all sixteen of us danced and sang our Uganda songs - Wagula Wagula and Lift Him Higher - and as I looked round the circle at the familiar faces I felt happy to have been part of something so special - but it was bittersweet because tonight's celebration marked the end of it too.