Photos: Guilderland High School Cultural Fair
The last day before spring break, April 18, was the culmination of almost a year’s work for Guilderland High School’s International Club, when it held its cultural fair.
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Sneakers flash beneath sparkling gold hems of scarlet skirts as two girls in Indian garb run across the Guilderland High School gym.
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Hands clasped, Sarah Gebreyes, whose family is from Eritrea and Ethiopia, left, and Meryam Legesse, who came from her native Ethiopia to Guilderland in the fall of 2018, talk with visitors to their booth. After meeting in Guilderland, the girls discovered that not only do they get along well, but they actually are cousins.
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Look out: Senior Jessa Smith peeks from behind an informational display at the Russia booth and listens as a visitor asks a question.
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Popular and award-winning science teacher Annette Sebuyira, left, and her son, Ekale Elonge, run a booth about Uganda and Cameroon. Elonge says that his mother is from Uganda and his father is from Cameroon. He adds, “I’ve never been out of the country, actually, but hopefully one day, maybe in college or something.”
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
At the Nigeria table, Jessica Airhienbuwa is framed by visitors whose questions she answers. Her parents are both from Nigeria.
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Golden history: Tenth-grader Summer Stedge wears a ruana draped over her shoulder, which her Colombian grandmother working beside her says is like that worn by workers at coffee plantations. Stedge holds up a black cloth studded with reproductions of famous artifacts from the Museum of Gold in the nation’s capital.
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
Bangles from Bangladesh: Rashmina Sayeeda, center of frame, sits among items she had at home and brought to decorate the Bangladesh table at the Cultural Fair at Guilderland High School. Her family is from Bangladesh.
The Enterprise — Elizabeth Floyd Mair
The hand as a canvas: A volunteer at the Guilderland High School Cultural Fair on April 18 uses tubes of henna to paint a tattoo on a visitor’s hand. This activity is one of the few at the fair that involves a charge. Profits go to the International Club and its annual scholarship.