The curtain will come down on African Awareness Month within schools, next week.
Arthur Smith Primary School in St. Matthias, Christ Church, will hold its African Awareness Day on Monday, February 27, with the highlight on countries in the African continent, including Nigeria, Ghana and Zimbabwe.
Students dressed in African garb will display exhibits of these countries depicting their presidents, culture, music, food and craft, and there will also be a showcase of African masks.
At the Lester Vaughan School in Cane Garden, St. Thomas, celebrations will be held under the theme: Ubuntu – meaning “I am because you are”. There will be a hair-braiding competition on Tuesday, February 28, from 10:00 a.m., and African Dress Day, with staff and students expected to wear African garb.
The following day, Wednesday, March 1, the school will host an African Heritage Area Primary Schools’ Quiz, at 10:00 a.m. Participating schools will be Hillaby Turner’s Hall, Holy Innocents, Sharon, St. Matthew’s, and Welches.
Christ Church Foundation School will host a number of activities on Friday, March 3, including a modelling competition at its Church Hill location in Christ Church. The Sharpest Edge, a haircut competition for males, a Braid Check for both males and females and an African Tik Tok dance off will feature prominently.
Meanwhile, the programme for Christ Church Girls’ School will centre around the theme: Embracing Our African Heritage. As a result, teacher and author, Tatem Voghn, will visit the Water Street, Christ Church school, on Monday, February 27, at 8.45 a.m., and give students a talk on ways in which this can be done.
On Wednesday, March 1, there will be an Open Day from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. It will capture aspects of the research done by students on personalities such as Nelson and Winnie Mandela; feature African kings and queens, as well as “Things African” that have been incorporated into Barbadian society. These include the Tuk band, Mother Sally, and the Stilt man.
Dress Up Day, which will be on Friday, March 3, will see students dressed as some of the personalities they would have researched during the month.
At Maria Holder Nursery in Gall Hill, Christ Church, the highlight for African Awareness Month will come on Thursday, March 2, and Friday, March 3, when students will play African games, dress in African attire, model, and engage in story-telling and drumming.