The hallways of the school are plastered with flags of different African countries, photos of cultural artifacts, murals of prominent figures, and more.
“An African heritage school in Philadelphia is crazy,” said Bernard.
One wall drew the attention and excitement of Weru as he saw his tribe from Kenya, the Kikuyu.
“Hearing Swahili words and then seeing the Kikuyu, that was really interesting,” Weru said. “It was good talking to the CEO and how he talked about the academic performance and how it actually is one of the best performing schools in Philadelphia. That was really cool to go and see.”
The Harambee Institute isn’t like schools back home in Kenya for Weru – it was a new experience.
“I was kind of shocked because I heard it’s an African school and in my mind I thought it was going to be the way schools are in Kenya,” Weru said. “When I saw it, I was like, ‘that’s interesting.'”