I was invited to a graduation at St.Francis Catholic school in Tapeta, where I had served as a Peace Corps Forester.
The graduation was three hours long on a sweltering day in rainy season. I estimated over three hundred people attended a ceremony for 11 graduates.  All the important people in the area attended.  This graduation was particularly significant.   After a senseless war here was the beginning of the new Liberia.  Eleven young people made it through the best school in the area during the trials of war.  These eleven would have the job of rebuilding Liberia.  After a difficult war the graduates represented hope.

I feel privileged to have gone to the graduation that day. I sensed that the people of the town of Tapeta understand the importance of education and know that providing an education for it's young people is the best way to have a secure future. The graduation ended at 5:00pm.

I woke up at 2:00 am and could still hear the celebration.