Girls High shines at carnival

Teens were not left out during the celebrations and in that regard, Harare Girls High was awarded US$10 000 for being the team with the best display during the prestigious parade on Saturday.

Schools commenced and it was business as usual this week but spirits were still high at the girls’ school. Their carnival organiser, Brigitta Matengenzara, credited it all to hard work.

“We are happy about the achievement but it all came about through teamwork among students, teachers, parents and other players who made it possible. Our procession was amazing because we took the time to research on the carnival so we had a clear understanding of what was required,” she said.

Matengenzara also revealed that for the school, the carnival was not a one-day thing but they had hosted a mini celebration prior to the May 25 parade.
“We had highlights last week Friday and at a ceremony graced by Umoja’s Tsitsi Tizora who also spoke on the empowerment of young women through the arts,” she said.

During the procession, Girls High proved to be the most popular with the public through their lively and colourful motorcade. Just as the whole procession was being led by the national carnival queen, the Girls High parade was led by the school’s carnival queen and her princesses too. The rest of the motorcade consisted of a rich culture display that came in six forms.

“We had a display that told the school’s culture with our prefects body dressed in our school uniforms. We also showcased the schools uniforms that were worn by the school dating back from as far as 1960,” she added.

As part of the school culture, the school also displayed two trophies of lionesses they hired at the national museum. The lionesses, according to Matengenzara, are a symbol of courage on the school’s badge.

The local culture also had a firm representation with the school’s cultural department displaying the Zimbabwean culture. The display even went further into exhibiting the local foods that includes madora with peanut butter.

“We also decided to parade foreign cultures like that of the American through the drama majorettes and the British — our former colonisers. We also engaged the Japanese embassy assisted us with costumes that some of the students were wearing during the parade. Since we also offer French lessons in all forms, we also had a display of the French culture as the students dressed in the traditional French berets,” she said.

The event was indeed a time for fun and learning as well for the students. In most of the exercise, the organiser said they found themselves putting into practice all the things that they learn on a daily basis.

“The art department contributed greatly through creating the carnival masks for other students while also painting the faces of clowns who took part in the parade. The best part of it all was that we successfully marketed our school which turns 100 in October,” she said.

The head of the schools’ procession, who is the reigning Miss Carnival at the school, Michelle Munyukwi (18), was visibly ecstatic about her experience.
Great was her experience that she vowed to contest for the national finals next year.

“Everything out the day was memorable and as the queen, I felt like a celebrity because of the royal treatment. It was out of this world and people kept taking pictures and videos of us because we all looked really good,” she said.

Nyasha Kurambeso and Lisa Njovana (both 18) who are the first and second princesses respectively echoed the carnival queen’s sentiments and added that they were happy to take part and market their country not only to locals but the tourists present too.

Their Miss Personality Kudzanai Tarangeyi (19) warned other schools that the trophy they won as the best team will be retained by Girls High School next year.
“Other schools should shelve any plans of taking the beast team award next year because we will be back again with a big bang,” she declared.

As the winning team at the carnival, Girls High School also pleaded for a parade of the same magnitude to be arranged for a display of all the local cultures in all corners of the country.

They also expressed great interest of taking part in carnivals in foreign countries.