A jubilant atmosphere filled the air on Friday 24 May as pupils from three Grahamstown schools celebrated Africa Day with the National English Literary Museum (NELM).
A jubilant atmosphere filled the air on Friday 24 May as pupils from three Grahamstown schools celebrated Africa Day with the National English Literary Museum (NELM).
Children from Ntaba Maria Primary, Kuyasa Special School and the Grahamstown Seventh Day Adventist School were invited to a parade and storytelling session held by NELM to celebrate Africa Day and the 50th anniversary of the African Union (AU).
Starting in Milner Street, the children made their way to NELM on Beaufort Street carrying brightly coloured African flags. Then they settled on the grass for one or two traditional stories from Basil Mills, the senior technician and education officer at the museum.
Mills explains the objectives behind NELM's Africa Day celebration.
Mills said he wanted to show the children what a beautiful and vibrant continent they live on, using stories, music and art to inspire them. Colourful masks and maps dotting the fence outside the museum were created by Kuyasa pupils.
The children were also addressed by Zongezile Matshoba, the museum's manager of education and public programmes.
Mills's message was that the children had something to celebrate.
"There's always been bad news about Africa, but it's not the case," he said.
"Here, we've also got lots of wonderful people, and what I'm trying to do is get them together to spread the news about how great South Africa is."
