Joy as visiting students celebrate culture

Students of St. Constantine School in Arusha performing during the start of the cultural visit to the facility by about 100 students and teachrs from 16 other high end schools in South Africa, Kenya, Namibia and Ghana at the weekend. The visitors are on a one week learning tour of Tanzania which will also take them to the national parks and other tourist attractions around Arusha. PHOTO|FILBERT RWEYEMAMU

What you need to know:

  • "Welcome to you to our first Round Square conference. Tanzania, we believe, is famous for the warmness of its people", said Muhiddin Gwiyama, a high school student at the 66 year old school owned by the Hellenic Foundation of Tanzania.

It was dance, fashion show, sports drills and lectures as over 100 students and their teachers from high end schools from around Africa converged at St. Constantine School on the outskirts of Arusha on Saturday night.

"Welcome to you to our first Round Square conference. Tanzania, we believe, is famous for the warmness of its people", said Muhiddin Gwiyama, a high school student at the 66 year old school owned by the Hellenic Foundation of Tanzania.

Joyous pandemonium filled the air inside the main hall as traditional dances mounted by local students graced the start of a week-long tour of Tanzania which will also take them to the famous game parks.

Utamaduni (culture) is the theme of this year's visit by the young learners from more than a dozen academies, many of them from South Africa. Others are from Kenya, incluidng the famous Starehe Boys, Namibia, Ghana and Tanzania.

"Culture is the backbone of it all and Africa has such a rich heritage to celebrate. We believe this is our time to resurrect what was forgotten", said Gwiyama, who also doubles as chair of the conference as the Indian dancers took the floor.

He said Africans and specifically Tanzanians are obliged to preserve their culture. "We are the fruits and flowers that blossom. There is no future without a past", he pointed out.

He warned in the world of rising technology and globalization, it was evident that specific African cultures can slowly fade away, leadint to "crumbling of our roots"

According to Michael Murray, the head of primary education at the academy, the congregation dubbed Round Square is organized regularly by the schools and hostes at various campuses. The last one took place in the United States.

"This is a way to enable our students refresh after long periods of hard learning sessions.

Besides the Starehe Boys, schools represented from Kenya included Brook House, Bridge House and St. Andrews Turi. From  Ghana and Namibia, the academies are ICS Kumasi and St. Georges respectively.

Ten schools are from South Africa while Tanzania is represented by St. Constantine School, established in 1952 and one of the oldest using the international curriculum.