The pupils at New Horizon Primary School are now in their Christmas holidays. The Christmas holiday in Uganda is equivalent to the summer holiday in Norway and lasts for two months. The ending of the school year was marked with a grand ceremony.

The weeks in advance, the pupils had been practicing songs and dances. The pupils in Uganda start sitting for exams in first grade. The preparations for the closing ceremony were therefore done the days the pupils did not have exams.

It was a cloudy morning the day of the closing ceremony. When the sun decided to come, so did the parents, who were invited for the occasion. Everybody came in his or her finest clothes! The pupils sang the national song and the school’s song.  Speeches were held by the principal, the village chairman LC1, chairman of the PTA, Nyenga Children’s Home’s general manager, and Andrea, a Norwegian girl who has been working as a volunteer at the school this fall. The pupils held their dance- and song performances between the speeches. They impressed everybody and received big rounds of applause.

The ceremony was ended with the pupils and their parents receiving small Christmas gifts. The four classes then went to their respective classrooms where they received their exam results. They now have holidays until the beginning of February. With the new year there will also be a 5^th grade at New Horizon. This class will be moving into one of the two new buildings that are about to be finished in the school area.