MONROVIA – The Oak Tree Academy Elementary School, located in Congo Town, celebrated their African Heritage Day over the weekend in commemoration of the African Liberation Day celebrated on Saturday 2024.
By Mae Azango [email protected]
The program brought together parents, teachers and well-wishers who went to grace the occasion.
The audience went wild when few students from the 2nd and 3rd grade classes respectively dressed in their beautiful African outfits, greeted the audience and said goodbye in some local vernacular or Liberian Dialects including: Bassa, Kpelleh, Kru, Kissi, Kreo, from some of the fifteen Counties of Liberia.
Speaking on the Theme: “Our culture is our heritage” Madam Tupee Freeman, One of Oak Tree Academy’s proprietress of the Bassa ethnic group, gave a brief history of the Bassa tribe, and how if a man dies, his brother marries his widow as culture demands.
“If a man does not marry a lady and has children with her, the children become the property of the woman and her family and such children carry the woman’s family name as in my case. I am one of such children, this is why I am carrying my mother’s family name, instead of my father’s name. And if the man wants his children back, he has to pay for them,” she said.
She further added that if a man does not marry a woman and lives together with her as married people and when the lady dies, he will be forced to marry the dead body and perform all Marital rights before the body is buried.
Teacher Lester Tarpeh also gave a brief history on the Lorma people of Lofa, and how they migrated from as far as Sudden. He also said when a man dies, his widow marries her husband’s brother according to culture. And how a child calls his father’s brother, father because when his father dies, the uncle automatically becomes his father.
Teacher Jonah George also gave a brief history of the Kpelle ethnic group, and said the Kpelleh people also migrated from Sudden and has similar culture to the Bassa and Lorma ethnic group, which demands a dead man’s brother marrying his widow. He further Kpelleh people are so kind and generous, because of their kind hearted and submissive behavior, people refer to them as stupid Kpelle people.
Proprietress Lovette Tucker said she hopes to see their school which is gearing towards 5th grade, reaches 6th grade. She said the school takes phonics lessons very seriously, in building the foundation of a child which enables them to pronounce and read fluently at an early stage.
“My Kindergarten children read up to 2nd grade level and no child passes kindergarten unless he or she is able to read. So, I am encouraging parents who want to build their child’s foundation, to bring them to Oak Tree Academy and see the difference,” she said.
At the end of the program, the children exhibited their brilliant cultural performances that had parents and well-wishers on their toes, watching the children show their different dance strokes. Climaxing the entire program, there was African food of the various ethnic groups provided by parents and was served to everyone.
