I woke up with butterflies in my stomach.  We rehearsed two performances, but due the weather, we could not perform the outside show.  I loved the outside one because we could interact more with the audience. There was a part of me that hoped the directors would overlook the few clouds in the sky- it had rained the entire evening, but it stopped when we had breakfast that morning – so I hoped that there might be a slight chance to still perform outside, but no such luck.

Anyway, the success of the performance; the audience’s reaction, the feedback afterwards was worth all our effort and I am glad that we did have the second version of the play. The whole morning and afternoon was very special to me.  After the show, we had speeches where we could say thank you to our sponsors, parents, schools, the people who made the camp so special and of course, our dedicated teachers.  We all enjoyed a most delicious lunch with our parents which was very special to both our parents and us.

The weather was unpleasant for the rest of the afternoon and our last farewell braai was also done inside by our cook, Mrs Van Wyk.  Although we enjoyed the day and the food, we knew that our time together was coming to a close and we dreaded the Saturday when we would say good bye to each other.

Our teachers must have been quite happy that everything went according to plan, that the arrange an Oscar evening for us.  We had to dress up, Mr Blum made a makeshift arch and Mrs Markram handed out the prizes which we had to vote for during the camp. It was such a fun-filled evening.  Every person won a prize! Wow! Mrs Markram presented the prizes in true Hollywood style and Mr Blum took pictures like a true paparazzi! We had so many laughs.

I have grown a bond with my new German friends and teachers.  They are like family to me.  The Germans are very loving and caring people.  I also deepened my relationships with my own school mates as well as my teacher Mrs Markram.  It was good to see her outside of a classroom situation.  The care she took with every detail of the camp arrangements, her diligence and above all her passion is an inspiration to me.

This camp taught me a lot and I am very grateful to this opportunity.  I have learnt so much about Germany but also my own country. I want to shout it from the roof of my house to the children in my community that they must study and make use of every opportunity that comes their way. Life is so much more interesting when one can surprise yourself and learn new things about yourself.