WORLD FESTIVAL

Colombia-China-Ghana

What a day it was for the 2nd graders as they each came to school that morning all dressed up in their costumes and prepped for their presentations of the "WORLD FESTIVALS"... Each class was responsible for representing 5 aspects, namely Cuisine, Music/Art, Dance, Costume and general information about selected Festivals from Accra (Ghana - West Africa), Barranquilla (Colombia) and Beijing (China). Teachers joined in the fun, all dressing up in costumes for their corresponding festival. Parents, teachers and other students joined in the celebration which was also a closing activity for their integrated project for this academic year, combining concepts from each subject as well as values and cultural awareness.

2A  proudly showed of their dance in their handmade dragon costumes from the Chinese New Year Festival, whiles others explained their stir-fried noodles to their audience with soft Chinese music playing in the background. This group, which was depicting an Asian culture, had the opportunity to share their experience from the exchange with counterparts from IBSH (Taiwan) with other students and parents who visited their stands. Classroom was decorated with Chinese lanterns, hats etc to set the mood for this special day.

Next door in 2B, at the "Homowo" Festival which is celebrated to "laugh at hunger caused by droughts many years ago", the music was upbeat as the dance group, wearing red, gold, green costumes (colours of the Ghanaian flag) demonstrated their prowess at Ghanaian Kpanlogo dance. Girls had their hair specially braided just like typical Africans and all students had on white short sleeved clothes with beads on arms and legs. The music group played a specially prepared composition on their African drum whilst the food group had to ward off excited students who wanted to taste the spicy peanut soup.

The "Carnaval de Barranquilla" in 2C was all about salsa and enjoyment which depicts the typical slogan from this city in Colombia: Who lives it,is who enjoys it (Quien lo vive, es quien lo goza). This festival, which is one of the biggest carnivals in the world depicts the Caribbean part of Colombian culture. Students dressed up in typical costumes like the "La Marimonda" a hooded figures with long noses, floppy ears and bright trousers and vests and danced to Cumbia, salsa and other local music from that region which also has African Origins. There was food of course, ranging from "Cocadas" or coconut candies etc.