AKA Mombasa bids goodbye to exchange students from Hyderabad

The three-month Academies Exchange Programme came to an end last week with immense splendor and joy. The AKA Mombasa community bid farewell to the 17 students from AKA Hyderabad with warmth, affection and a truck load of memories. 

Senior School Principal Mr. Francis Kariuki addressing exchange students during AssemblyOn 30 August 2019, Aga Khan Academy Mombasa opened its doors to 17 bright faces all the way from the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad. This year student exchanges took a unique form in the Academies, in terms of the exchange students from Hyderabad being fully integrated into the host Academy for an entire academic term.

The students said their goodbyes to the entire AKA Mombasa community during the Senior School Assembly held on 28 November 2019.

"The last three months went by a blur. I can’t believe it is over," recounted Aashna Lakhani, a Year 9 exchange student from Hyderabad.

The Assembly was followed by a barbeque dinner on 30 November 2019, the evening before the students departed from the Academy. Tears were shed and hugs shared as the exchange students signed journals and posed for photographs with their Mombasa friends for one last time.

"As excited as I am to go back to Hyderabad, I don’t want to leave you all behind," said a nostalgic Year 9 Nasreen Azimi as she invited all her Mombasa friends to visit her in India next summer.