Family Roots in Our Community
This half term, the Owls have been learning about Maafa. Maafa, the Swahili word for “great disaster” or “great tragedy,” is a term used to refer to the centuries-long enslavement of Africans and the lasting impacts on African Peoples and the descendants of those who were enslaved.
To bring this to life, we were lucky enough to have Mr Winkowski in to talk to us about his own heritage and shared a brilliant and engaging presentation about how his ancestors were in West Africa before being taken away from their homes and forced onto ships in a journey called the 'Middle Passage'. After this journey they were taken to America and worked hard on plantations. Mr Winkowski shared with us his family tree - some family members dated back to 1500s. We learnt about how enslaved people were often given the surname of their owners when they were finally 'free individuals' which helped Mr Winkowski learn which planation some of his ancestors probably worked on. The children in Yr 5 and 6 had lots of questions for Mr Winkowski including, 'How do you feel that your ancestors were taken from their homes and made to be slaves?'