photo courtesy St. Gabriel's Catholic SchoolElizabeth Kahura plays traditional African songs with students using traditional African instruments made of leather and everyday items.
photo courtesy St. Gabriel's Catholic SchoolKahura, who was born in Kenya, presents a Kenyan flag to students at the school.
photo courtesy St. Gabriel's Catholic SchoolA St. Gabriel's Catholic School student dresses like an African queen for one of the songs.
Students take in sights and sounds of continent
The sights, sounds and feelings of Africa were brought to the students of St. Gabriel's Catholic School by Elizabeth Kahura. Kahura was born in Kenya and is the founder of the African Safari Program that offers a variety of presentations about the continent.
Kahura focuses on knowledge enrichment and presented a St. Gabriel's sixth-grade world geography and cultures class with an interactive lesson.
Students learned facts such as the number of nations in Africa, how fast a cheetah can run and what the colors of the Kenyan flag represent.
Kahura also taught students some Swahili translations for animals and about the many thousands of languages spoken throughout the continent.
Every student participated in an impromptu band of African instruments, made out of material such as leather and bottle caps.
"I was excited to be able to connect the students with aspects of African culture as part of our unit on Africa," sixth-grade teacher Theresa Pione said. "Ms. Kahura did such a great job engaging [the students], and she made us think about sustainable living. The students gained a deeper understanding of what it would be like to grow up in Africa and a greater appreciation of the richness of all the diverse cultures throughout the world."
