Germantown Elementary Hosted an International Carnival

Germantown Elementary School celebrated its 1oth annual international night on Friday. The event was hosted by families from different countries who brought information, food, clothes and cultural artifacts from countries they had either visited or emigrated.

Lorelei Castro and her husband helped the school PTA organize the event. She said 18 of the 60 countries represented in the school community were represented during the evening event.

Castro said volunteers had a chance to share anything from any country of their choice to help students understand and appreciate different countries and cultures.

“I think it is wonderful to recognize where we all come from,” she said. “It is a beautiful thing when we can identify ourselves with a beautiful country of our own and be able share it with a friend.”

As students and parents lined up for henna body decorations and across the all purpose room, Aba Kumi, whose daughter attends the school stood behind a table with information on Ghana. Beside her, stood a display of fried plantain, beef stew and jollof rice. On the next table were artifacts from Lesotho and Indian samosas, or meat pies.

Kumi said it was important for students to come together to celebrate diversity in the small community.

“We have great food and great entertainment,” she said. “It is a great opportunity for the kids to come together to learn about the different areas of the world.”

In another corner of the room, Grisel Burgof and Tanya Acevedo shared the Puerto Rican table. Both parents watched another parent play three conga drums, to accompany an African story teller on stage with a troupe of elementary school drummers.

Burgof said the evening was important for her to help other students learn about her culture, but even more important so her two daughters may know the roots they came from. Acevedo agreed.

“I have my son,” Acevedo said. “He was born here. I want too show him and other children the roots in Puerto Rico the beauty that our island has, our culture, the things that we represent.”

Castro, the organizer, said the over-arching lesson for the day was cultural diversity and global citizenship.

“In the world today they are really pushing for a global economy,” she said. “ I think it has really opened up our minds to not just think and concern ourselves with things in our own backyards but beyond these walls beyond these townships and these United States but to other countries and other borders and share all the different countries we come from.”