1. Valanga Khoza visits St Martin of Tours for our Book Week – Book Safari

2. We set up an African display to welcome our African storyteller Valanga Khoza.

3. Valanga grew up in South Africa in a village where many people could not read or write. At night the people of the village would gather to tell stories, play music and sing songs…this is what Valanga came to share with us in his own unique and talented way.

4. Valanga spent time in refugee camps where people learnt to make instruments out of anything… Valanga can turn a plastic bottle into a drum This plastic tubing became a flute that played sweet music. Lots of students would have gone home to see what instruments they could make from ordinary things…

5. Valanga showed us a buffalo and a kudu horn. He played the kudu horn for us and it was LOUD!

6. Valanga is a talented musician who can play a variety of instruments… He can play the drums…we were very impressed!

7. Valanga played the KALIMBA or thumb piano while he told some of his stories.

8. Valanga made this wooden instrument that looks like a recorder. Valanga played a tiny mouth harp and the Grade 3/4s sang Advance Australia Fair with him. The Junior classes guessed the tunes he was playing. What an amazing instrument!

9. Valanga made us laugh a lot with his wonderful stories. He was very creative and made up stories about some of our students. The Grade 3s and 4s enjoyed hearing about how Valanga’s grandfather tried to teach him to sing. The Junior classes listened to Valanga’s own story called Gezani and the Tricky Baboon . We were all very impressed with how Valanga kept the bowl balanced on his head as he told his story!!

10. The students in 3BY sent me some lovely thank you letters about how much they enjoyed Valanga’s visit and here are a few…