YSEL Closing Ceremony

  It’s hard to believe that a month had passed so fast and the day came when we were holding our Closing Ceremony. The day before we all said goodbye and left our home in Debre Zeyit, we put on a big show to celebrate the culmination of all our work.  We had special visitors from the US Embassy, Peace Corps and USAID.  Molly Phee, the DCM who wished us well at the beginning of camp came to help celebrate our success at the end of camp.  Bob Post, the Public Affairs officer and Tahra Vose, the Cultural Affairs officer were also in attendance, as was Greg Engel, the head of Peace Corps and Michelle Chen of USAID.  We showed our special guests a typical day at camp from “Morning Song” to “Goodnight Ladies” highlighting all the things we learned throughout the month. Afterwards, there were speeches and we received our certificates of completion and some books from the embassy. 

  It was a very special day and yet somewhat sad because we had become so close with each other and now we had to say goodbye.  “Going home tomorrow is going to be really hard,” said Senait Zemenu of Bahir Dar.  “The YSEL family is like my own family and I will miss them a lot.”  Like everything in life, there is a beginning and an end.  There is the YSEL Ethiopia FaceBook page and everyone has each others’ contact information so it won’t be too difficult to keep in touch.  Before the last day of camp comes, we will celebrate and enjoy every moment together.  Long live YSEL!