Press Release
Fulbright FLTA 08 Ernest Makulilo teaches children in West Virginia about Tanzania
October 23, 2008
On October 9, 2008 Fulbright FLTA Ernest Makulilo talked about Tanzania to 300 primary school children at Spring Hill Elementary School in Huntington City, West Virginia. Makulilo talked about Tanzanian culture in general, the meaning of the colours of the flag of Tanzania, and about the Maasai tribe. He demonstrated how the Maasai dress by dressing two of the students in the Maasai Shukas. He also taught them a few words of Kiswahili; their favorites were “Mwalimu”, “Asante” , and “Rafiki” . The event was organized by the Huntington Museum of Art as part of their two-month exhibition on African Art.
The Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Program takes young graduate English teachers to the U.S. to teach their native Kiswahili and study at U.S. institutions for a year. The program is a fellowship under the U.S. Government funded Fulbright international exchange program and aims to foster mutual understanding between Tanzania and the United States. Makulilo teaches Kiswahili and a class called “Global Connections: Discover Africa” at Marshall University in West Virginia.