Julie Mbae
“A Saturday Night with a Difference”
The celebration started with the arrival of Beatrice Bwali, the new head of Student Life. Birthdays are always regarded as bright, joyous occasions by children. This has not been different with the MPESA Foundation Academy students , some of whom testified that they have never had their birthdays celebrated.
For the four years I have been here, we used to call the students out in the middle of the common room and sing the usual “happy birthday to you… “ song then we would clap for the celebrants. I used to give them a hug as well as allow their closest friends to do the same, as a quick photo was taken. There was no dress code or even a sweet for the celebrants. Just this simple recognition would make some especially the girls cry. It was so so touching; because most of them would empathize in the same manner.
Another way of celebrating this even was the unexpected pouring of water to whoever revealed their birthdays to a friend who would in turn tell others. This happened before dinner time and in our absence .To them it was a lot of fun. However, we had to stop this because of the risks involved . Surprisingly the culprit would enjoy it because she would go shower and change her clothes cheerfully; awaiting the singing and clapping during the roll call.
