perspectives international - wichita state...
TRANSCRIPT
The global voice of the Wichita State University Shockers
Inside this issue:
November 2009
International Education Week
and Africa
Special Edition
International
Perspectives
International Student Union
ISU
ISU is a registered organization with the Center
for Student Leadership Office & funded by SGA.
Volume IV, Issue 5
H ello everyone, We are approaching the end of the Fall
semester, and I am sure all of you must be very stressed due to school and work. It is the exact case with me. But the good thing is that after the successful completion of this semester, you will be one step further toward your goals of either graduation or professional lives. We need to be optimistic as every new day, and every new challenge brings new opportunities. You can decrease your stress level by getting involved in sev-eral entertaining and refreshing activities during the third week of November, which is cele-brated as International Educa-tion Week across the country. During this week several activities have been planned by the office of International Education. The International Stu-dent Union (ISU) is also taking an active part by organizing two events, and this special newsletter edition. You can read details about all these events including venues, times and dates on the back page of this newsletter. During this week, I would also encourage you to watch the three international movies that are be-
ing presented with the collaboration of the Tall grass Film Festival Organizers : The Edge of Heaven - a narrative film from Germany, Turkey and Italy, Captain Abu Raed - a narrative from Jordan, and Nollywood Babylon - a Canadian documentary filmed in Nigeria. All will be
screened in the CAC theatre. Nollywood Babylon is also part of Tallgrass' monthly film series, Tallgrass Third Thursdays and will be shown on November 19th at 7pm. The Co-Director of the movie, Samir Mallal, will be in attendance. These movies are open to the public and WSU students can watch them for free. Read more about these movies on the back page of the newsletter There's much more; this newsletter includes some very interesting articles
related to the African continent. The first article is presented in one of the native African languages, Rutooro, written by Dr. Daisy Kabagarama. She talks about her experience traveling to, and set-tling in the USA, from Uganda. Most of us like listening to music because it helps us to relax but in West Africa music is an integral part of almost everything; without music their rituals, traditions and everything are incom-plete.
(Continued on Page 3)
L ip smacking African cuisine, a fashion parade of culture
and color, and an entertaining, albeit though provoking stage presentation marked AFRI-CANA on Friday the 30th of Oc-tober 2009. As early as 5.30 p.m. the Miller Concert Hall was abuzz with student volunteers and organizers who wanted to shed light on a ―Dark Continent‖ comprising of 53 countries. The sound of the dinner gave way to an elegant entertainment program, hosted by the African Student Association. When the Ikenga Cultural Drumming Group performed, individual members of the audience danced their way to the stage
to a company them, as is the Nigerian tradition. The presentations consisted of both traditional and con-temporary African dances and music. While the em-cees, Zenas Tshitundu and Norma Tokunbok, Ms. Af-rica 2009, peppered the show with wit and histrion-ics, the play ―Scramble for Africa,‖ written and directed by Dr. Chenerye Okafor, Advisor of the African Stu-dent Association and Pro-fessor of Women’s Studies, provided a thematic unity. The audience went home with a renewed vigor and awareness about Af-
rica, waiting eagerly for next year’s event.
A taste of African Cuisine
An Africana Experience...
From the Editor’s Desk... by Wajid Hassan
Editor’s Greetings………….. 1
An Africana Experience…… 1
Orugendo…………………… 2
Religious Diversity in
Africa…..….…………………
2
Traditions, Rituals & Music in West Africa……………….
3
Interesting facts on Africa…. 4
Inter-Cultural Dialogue in Wichita……………………….
5
Interfest 2009………………. 6
Page 2
Orugendo by Dr. Akiiki Dasi Kabagarama
O kweezi kw’oku-banza, ekiro ky’o-
kubanza rukumi n’or-wenda kinaana n’eberi, nkaimukya Uganda kugenda U.S.A. Obu ekaba emyaka esatu ehingwire kuruga Idi Amin aruga ha bulemi. Nkaba nyine omuhimbo mwiingi habow’orugendo oru. Kandi ekyakizire kunsemeza, nkatunga sente kumpererra Iowa State University nukwo ntunge Master ya Com-munity and Regional Planning. Aborolerezi bange bakatuma omuntu kun-tangaana ha kizaniro ky’enyonyi, J.F.K. Nkasemererwa kurora omwoojo akwasire ibara lyange. Akansende-kereza yampikya ha rwiigi ku kwaata enyonyi kuntwaara Des Moines, Iowa. Obu nahikire Des Moines, nkahunirizibwa
obwire. Ebirika biingi bikaba biri hansi kandi embeho ekaba eri nyingi. Oijuke ngu nkaba ninduga mu kikaro ky’butagasi. Nkaruga Des Moines mu bus nukwo ngende Ames, Isomero Iowa State University mbere liri. Eky’omugisa, nkaikarra n’omwisiki we mbabazi. Akansendekereza yampikya mw’isorolezo ly’abasomi.
Njwaire ekye fubiko ekitanine maani n’enkaito zaTennis, nka-rubata nagenda ha kyombeko ky’ abasomi abarugire aheeru. Abantu bakantangirra n’okusemererwa. Abantu obu barozire ebi-jwaaro byaange bakampa amagezi ngu ngule engoye ezirukuta-gata. Bakangambira ngu ngule ear muffs. Nyowe nkahurra ―ear muffins‖ nahunirra ningamba nti kandi amatu ga U.S. galya ek-yanyenkya! Mukasumi kake, nkamanyiira munsi yange empyaaka, namara emisomo yange kurungi. Nkatunga idaaka lya haiguru muno erya dakitaali kuruga haisomero eri. Mpora mpora, abaana bange aba-nasigire Uganda hamu n’aisebo bakaija. Hanyuma twayongeraho abaana bandi basatu. Emyaaka ikumi n’esatu ehingwiire, tukon-geraho omwaana wamugenzi wange ayazairwe atarukuhurra. Ekyampuniriize muno obu nahikiremu U.S., nikyo ekisisani abantu baine hali Africa. Nkaba nihiire kusanga abantu nibamanya em-baju zombi, ebibi, n’ebirungi hali Africa. Aky’okusalirwa, abantu baingi barora Africa ngu nikyo ekikaro ekitatekaine mu ndema, obunaku, endwaara, n’ebisoro by’omubisaka. Obu tibarukumanya ngu haliyo ebibuga bikoota, obukama, amasomero amarungi, abantu abagaiga, n’ediini z’amaani. Emyaaka abiri namusanju erabireho, nkyalimu nsi U.S. mbere eka yange eri. Nkoku ngonza kwegesa, nkacwaamu kwikara mu U.S. nukwo nteho empingisa. Hati, ninsomesa kandi nindolerra emitima y’a-bantu. Ninsiima abantu boona abankonyiire kwikara kurungi n’o-kukora ebirungi. An English translation of this article which is written in Rutooro, an African language, is available at the following link. http://webs.wichita.edu/depttools/depttoolsmemberfiles/isu/Newsletter/Translated%20Articles/LongJourney.pdf
Dr. Akiiki Daisy Kabagarama
Campus Minister, Wichita State University [email protected]
A frica, the second largest continent in the world is a very di-verse continent. Its diversity can be expressed through its
physical geography and climate; its prosperity of cultures, tradi-tions, beliefs, values, religions and artistic expression; its many means of economic production, distribution and consumption; its diverse social and political structures. According to the words of John Mbiti, a professor in Kenya, Africans are notoriously reli-gious. In stating this he meant that each people has its own sets of beliefs and practices. Religion exists in all departments of their lives and therefore it is not easy to differentiate it from their other cultural beliefs. A study of the religious system in Africa is therefore a study of the people themselves, with all aspects of their traditional and modern life. Africa is a beautiful continent blessed with 53 na-tions in total and with an estimated population of 922 million. It is home to many different religions in the world. All the great world religions are in Africa including Buddhism, Hinduism and Juda-ism. Although vast numbers of Africans identify themselves as one or more of the following religions: Christianity, Islam, and Indigenous African Religions. The northern part of Africa has a huge number of Muslims
compared to the southern side, which on the other hand has a large number of Christian devotees. According to World Book Encyclopedia, Islam is the largest religion in Africa followed by Christianity, whereby 45% of the populations are Muslims, 40% are Christians and 15% follow other relig-ions. During the lifetime of Prophet Mu-hammad (peace be upon him), a group of Muslims escaped persecution in Mecca fleeing into Ethiopia, where King Negus gave them protection, and this was the beginning of Islam in Africa. Along the coastal regions of Africa, Islam was spread by the Berbers, who came into the Afri-can borders for the main purpose of trading with the locals there, but eventually settled in and intermarried. In morocco, the Mus-lims founded the city of Fes, which then gave refuge to Andalu-sia Muslims fleeing from rebellion in Cordoba.
(Look for Religious diversity on page 7)
Religious diversity in Africa by Allahrakha Mohammed Shafik Nizar
From the Editor’s Desk Page 3
(Continued from Page 1) You can read more about it in the arti-cle Traditions, Rituals and Music in West Africa written by Hamadoun. An interesting report by Jacob Goering on ―Harvest Fest‖, organized for promot-ing understanding between different cul-tures is a must read. Shafiq Nizar has done a very good job in discussing the religious diversity on the continent in his article. Contrary to popular belief, it is surpris-ing that Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt. You can learn more amazing facts such as this about African continent. The International Student Union had
been quite busy this semester organiz-ing events, one such event was Inter-fest, Read a report on it as well as one about The African Student Associa-tion's successful event, Africana. Finally, I wish you all good luck for the rest of the semester. I also would like to
extend invitation on behalf of the ISU Executive Committee for you to become
a member of ISU; and note that you don’t have to be an international student
to be a member.
Wajid Hassan, Pakistan, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science,
Traditions, Rituals and Music in West Africa by Hamadoun Barry
W est Africa is the part of Africa
bounded by the Atlan-tic Ocean and North and Central Africa. The region consists of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory
Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nige-ria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo. West Africa is a land of great cultural and ethnic diversity. Music, as an element of culture, reflects this diversity; however, West African music also has a commonality, which differentiates it from the types of music of other parts of the world. Traditional music is an integral part of West Africans. While those countries are separated by artificial borders created by the colonizers (European countries), West Africans have many beliefs in common and they use music to bring into focus those beliefs and traditions. To better understand West African rituals one needs to understand their traditions and to understand those traditions you need to understand their beliefs. It is like a circle in which music is the hypothetical beginning point. Because music and Africans’ lives are inseparable, traditional music has played an important function in the lives of Western Africans. People use rituals all around West Africa to perform their daily activities and special events. According to the importance and occurrence of an activity or an event, rituals can be simple or very complex. Some rituals are very simple and people perform them on a daily basis. Those rituals are used to cele-brate ceremonies such as birth, initiation, marriage, new chiefdom and good harvest.
To get a better understanding of those rituals imagine the rituals like a tree. Just like trees lose their leaves during a period of the year, but still remain alive, a society can decide to not perform these rituals or postpone them without getting in trouble. What’s would happen when the roots of the trees are cut? Will the tree die? The answer is most likely ―yes.‖ Some ritu-als represent for the society what roots represent for a tree; to be precise they are absolutely necessary for the soci-ety. Failure to perform those rituals causes disasters. Many people cannot understand other cultural practices because they have limited interpretative skills, and their failure to understand makes them reject or not agree with those cultures. In many African countries people use rituals to communicate with the invisible world and to maintain the societal norm. When they fail to perform these rituals or perform them in an inappropriate way they lose contact of the invisible world. For example, when someone dies, West Africans believe that he/she joins the world of the ancestors, and his/her ad-mission depends on how the society per-forms the funeral rituals. In case people leave out the funeral details in their hurry, the deceased person has no access to the invisible world, and the soul comes back, harming people. Therefore, in order to com-municate with these ancestors, the society must organize ceremonies with songs, dances and sacrifices. In Mali and Nigeria, the ethnic groups Yoruba, Igbo, Dogon and Bwa use masks reserved for those special ceremonies to communicate with the ancestors. If the an-cestors are satisfied they are willing to pre-
dict the near future and the society perform appropriate rituals to prevent disasters.
In Burkina Faso for example, Mossis (the major ethnic group) consider a sudden and unexpected death of a very young person like a crime that needs to be investigated. To find the criminal the society performs SHIMO. People put the body in a kind of coffin, and they designate four young boys, who have never had sexual intercourse, to carry the coffin. They gather all the old men of the village and after performing certain rituals the young boys carry the body. It is incredible, but really the body always succeeds in showing the criminal. Some-times, if the person tries to hide him/herself the body leads the young boys where he/she is hidden. Once the body designates the murderer, the society punishes severely this person. Sometimes the person has to leave the society, or in the worst case he/she is killed. (Look for Traditions and Music on page 6)
Men playing the Balafon (Author’s grandma took this picture in Burkina Faso)
Interfest Fall 2009
Page 4
A frica is comprised of 53 countries and 8 territories. The territories are governed
by other countries or taken care by United Nations. As an emerging economic and po-litical force, Africa is emerging as a conti-nent with immense potential. In this newslet-ter there are various articles which talk about several aspects of Af-rica. Hence it is necessary to mention some very astonish-ing facts about the continent. We eliminated a lot of amaz-ing facts be-cause of the space con-straints.
Africa is second-largest of the Earth's seven conti-nents, and makes up about 22 per cent of the world's total land area.
Egypt's capital city, Cairo, is the largest city in Africa with an estimated 17 million residents in the metropolitan area.
While Africa makes up about 16% of the world’s population, fully one quarter of the world’s languages are spoken in Africa alone. Arabic (in various dialects) is the most common language spoken in Africa with about 170 million speakers, primarily residing in North Africa. In the continent as a whole, there are over 2,000 recognized lan-guages spoken.
Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Af-rica, and also the world's second-largest freshwater lake.
The River Nile is the longest river in Africa, and one of the longest in the world.
South Africa has a penguin colony, which thrives thanks to the cold Antarctic currents on the west coast near the Cape.
Madagascar is the home of the worlds largest as well as the smallest chameleons! Almost half of the world’s chameleon spe-cies live on the island of Madagascar.
The largest seal colony in the southern hemisphere is a Cape Cross in Namibia.
The Nile crocodile is Africa's largest living reptile - growing to an average length of 5 m.
The African elephant is the largest living land mammal. An elephant can weigh up to 6-7 tons.
The world's biggest hospital is in Soweto, Africa.
One of the world's largest diamond, the
Cullinan, was found in South Africa in 1905.
Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa with a population of 113 million and
the 10th most popu-lous country in the world. Egypt is second with over 76 million people.
The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world. It stretches across North Africa and makes up a large part of a dozen countries.
Madagascar off the East coast of Africa, in the Indian Ocean, is the largest island, in Africa and the 4th largest island in the world.
Number of Ethnic groups (tribes) in Africa are at least 3,000 distinct ethnic groups in Africa. A large country like Nigeria has more than 370 recognized tribes.
Egypt is the most popular tourist destination in Africa with 10 million visitors a year. The Pyramids have been a prime tourist attraction for the past 2000 years. South Africa came a close second with 9 million visitors in 2007 . Morocco and Tuni-sia is also extremely popular, par-ticularly with Europeans.
Sudan has more Pyramids than Egypt. The 223 pyramids in Sudan are smaller and steeper than their Egyptian counter parts.
It might be a surprise, but some places in Africa are ranked as the top romantic des-tinations in the world. For example Bot-swana, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and also the beaches in the Seychelles and Zan-zibar.
Lake Malawi in southern Africa is home to around 500 different types of fish. That’s more than anywhere else in the world!
Four of the five fastest land animals live in Africa – the cheetah, which can run at an amazing 70 miles per hour, wildebeest, lion and gazelle.
Not all the people living in Africa are black , there are white peo-ple too such as Moroccans, Egyptians and South African Whites
Among Africa's popu-lation live some of the shortest people ever born. At the same time some African natives are amongst the tallest in the world.
The larg-est country in Africa is Sudan
with a total area of 967,490 square miles
Africa is currently politically organized into the African Union, a federation created in 2001 and consisting of all of Africa’s na-tions except Morocco
You can find much more interesting facts about Africa on the following link: http://goafrica.about.com/ I would recommend you to visit the website to know more about the culture, traditions , countries and tourism details in Africa. Africa is no longer a dark and this continent has a lot to offer.
Map of Africa
Flags of Africa
Interesting Facts about Africa Compiled by the Editor
On October 3rd, I had the opportunity to witness a unique cultural event. It was the ―Harvest Fest,‖ an event planned and ar-ranged by Dr. Akiiki Daisy Kabagarama, Elder Addie Pearson and family, on whose land the occasion took place, and coordina-tor for Inter-faith Ministries, Mr. Keith Wil-liams. The Harvest Fest focused on elements of African culture, and its broader purpose was promoting education, cross-cultural under-standing, and world peace, explained Dr. Kabagarama.
In the morning from 7-8:30 am, a ―prayer break-fast‖ was held. I, however, arrived at about 11:00 am. There were several tents and tables set up which housed food or displayed artifacts. As I made my way
past a tent, I noticed several multi-colored garments lightly rustling in the wind. They were Kaftans, a native dress worn through-out Africa (see picture). As I approached a table, I met two young ladies willing to discuss the event and their thoughts on African culture. I interviewed Linette from Cameroon, in West-central Af-rica, and Loveness from Malawi, located in the South-eastern portion of the continent. Both were very friendly and helpful, and pro-vided a lot of information. We discussed a wide range of topics, including food, social interaction, familial relations, and the diffi-culty of remaining in touch with one's culture after having lived in the U.S. for several years. Food was one of the things they said they missed the most about being home, and cooking was discussed as a means of stay-ing in touch with culture and tradition. The atmosphere around us was ideal for discuss-ing culinary custom; the food made available at this event was quite tasty, and some of it
rather unique. I tried some goat, which was quite deli-cious and was prepared by Dr. Kaba-garama’s hus-band, Dr. Dan Muhwezi. Dr. Daisy herself prepared what was for me the most delicious delicacy: beef sambosas, or as they call them in South Asia, samo-sas. Linette made something I had tried before in the home of friends from Cameroon, which she called ―African donuts‖ but which I knew by the French name Beignet (pronounced Ben-yay). Beignet are little puff balls made of dough and perhaps some sugar, and eaten with beans. Undoubtedly, the most unique sight that day was a whole hog being roasted in a giant grill! One of the first questions I asked Linette and Loveness was ―What are some similari-ties and differences between your home country and the U.S.?‖ Most of the differ-ences they pointed out had to do with family relations and norms of social interaction. For instance, in the home countries of my infor-mants respect for elders in the family and community is very important. This respect is often demonstrated in avoidance of eye-contact with an older person who is speak-ing. Of course, in general, children are ex-pected to obey parents without argument. As Loveness and Linette discussed, people are also closer and more casual with their neighbors. A couple examples of this are the lack of need to call before visiting a neighbor, and most strikingly, the freedom to
discipline one another’s chil-dren. They spoke of experi-encing less isolation, less re-striction on ―freedom of asso-ciation,‖ and interestingly, less stress. Do we Americans really appear that stressed out? I guess we do get pretty up tight. What was the most devas-tating contrast between Cam-eroon and the U.S.?—they are yet to have fast-food restau-rants over there! I don’t know about you, but I think my sys-
tem could use a break from burgers, fries, and burritos. What about similarities between here and there? Family is something we all have in common. Although family is still greatly val-ued here in the U.S, in Africa, as in many world cultures, this is extended beyond the immediate or nuclear family; there, almost everything is family based. Linette told me she tries to meet with friends or family at least once every two weeks, and her parents will visit (and, of course, bring spices for cooking). She explained that because of work and school, remaining in touch with her culture was difficult, but that at least they are aware of this need. Like in the U.S., people in Africa greatly value education, although they may not al-ways have access to the equipment and resources we take for granted here. They also value hard work. However, my new friends told me that in America everything is about work; in Africa a lot of emphasis is still placed on simply enjoying life. Linette told me ―though [they] are poor, [they] never heard of depression in Africa.‖ This makes me realize that although there are a lot of conveniences here to be thankful for, we should evaluate our priorities. I also found Dr. Kabagarama willing to give a little bit of her time for reflecting on her American experience. Dr. K. is originally from Uganda, a country in East Africa. We talked about how one’s lifestyle might change as a result of making one’s home in the U.S., something Dr. K. did 27 years ago. She observed that over here we live a fast-paced life; we walk faster, talk faster, etc. (Look for Inter-cultural Dialogue on next page)
Inter– Cultural Dialogue in Wichita by Jacob Goering Page 5
Inter-cultural Dialogue (Continued from page 5)
She talked about language as well. Because English has become the international language of business and communication, profes-sionals must learn it very well. Picking up American expressions and idioms is another part of adapting communicatively. Of course at home one can relax and speak one’s mother-language (Dr. K’s first language is a Ugandan tongue called Rutooro). Dr. K. also noted that in America it is acceptable to be older, yet act young. As she explained, one learns to adjust to the social norms here, yet retains the values of one’s own society. I ended my day there by listening to some traditional gospel music. Traditional American music that is. However, one of Dr. Kabagarama and Dr. Muhwezi’s daughters, who both sang beautifully, sang part
of a song in Rutooro. This representation of some aspects of African culture should be relevant to African students, faculty, and staff, and to anyone with an interest in cultures not his or her own. However, I feel that the cross-cultural interactions and exchange of ideas and perspectives pro-vided by events of this kind, organizations like ISU, and WSU as a whole, should be especially experienced by American students, my-self included. I say this because, if we are all going to ride the wave of globalization, the changes it brings should not be one-sided, but rather, a truly mutual exchange.
Jacob Goering, United States.
History & Anthropology. [email protected]
Page 6
Traditions and Music (from page 3)
Now just think about the dead branches or branches that people cut for one reason or another. The tree can still continue to live but the shape might get changed to some ex-tent. In some cases it’s good for the tree.
With the phenomenon of globalization, many West African are loosing or abandon-ing their traditions particularly in big cities. I have to admit that African societies are now much better without some traditions that promoted harmful cultural practices in the past such as female circumcision,: now in several places this tradition has been aban-doned and at other places disliked. However, in other cases loosing its tradi-
tions is like losing its own identity. For ex-ample; Africa has long been a continent without a written history and hence griots have played an important role in teaching African history. In the past, they have be-longed to the ruling families who sponsored them but now the griots are becoming rarer. The influence of technology has had an adverse effect on Africa. Young people in big cities have started to renounce their tradi-tions; the effect is prominent because of television programs, sop raps and online news. For example, earlier during Ramadan and other traditional holidays girls used to use a henna leaves powder paste to blacken their hands and feet in intricate designs that are particular to their tribe or ethnic group, Peo-
ple listened to traditional music and spend the day together. Today, during Ramadan in Bamako (Mali), Abidjan (Ivory) and in many other cities, girls want to have their hair cut like the girls in the sopraps, wear jeans and spend their time in night clubs listening to rap and other modern music. Traditions, rituals and music are the body, the spirit and the soul of West Africa. From birth, when the newborn is welcome by a song, to death during which music is used to accompany the deceased into the world of his ancestors. Music and rituals have always and will continue to influence Africans’ tradi-tions.
Hamadoun Barry Burkina Faso, Accounting
Interfest Fall 2009 By Adeline Chai Fang Tanu
T he International Student Union (ISU) once again organized a successful Interfest (international food festival) for the fall se-
mester. It was held on October 13 on the Geology Patio. During the two hours, a couple hun-dred people were in line waiting to get a chance to try various types of exotic food sold by WSU’s inter-national students. Fifteen international student organiza-tions and individuals participated in the festival, using their home country’s food as a medium of cul-tural exchange with others. Among those or-ganizational sellers were student asso-
ciations from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Turkey and Korea as well as the Muslim Stu-dent Association, HALO, Asian Student Confer-ence, an Iranian group, and a Malaysian Chi-nese group. Most of the participating organizations ex-pressed their enjoyment of this fund raising activity. There were also some individual cooks from India, Paraguay, Slovakia, Vietnam, and Bhutan. ISU members are thrilled with the festival and are looking for-ward to the next Interfest in spring 2010. Adeline Chai
Fang Tanu,
Malaysia
Psychology and
Strategic Commu-
nication
Visit us at http://webs.wichita.edu/isu
Page 7
Want to submit an article, an event or comment on the articles? send us an email :
[email protected] or [email protected]
Continued from Religious diversity (page 2)
On the East coast of Africa, the Arab mariners had established their territories, since they had been using those regions for trad-ing purposes for many years, for example Zanzibar and Tanzania. The world’s largest church according to the Guinness Book of World Records is located in Africa, specifically in Nigeria. The name of the church is the Winners’ Chapel situated in the Kaduna State. Christianity spread to Egypt and North Africa in the first cen-tury. The largest Christian community at the time of colonization was seen in Ethiopia during the early 19th century. However, over the next two hundred years there was a rapid expansion of Christianity in Africa. At present, over forty percent of the African population identifies itself as Christian. The rapid expansion of Christianity was favored by the coloniza-tion of Africa by European powers and also by the collaborative relationship between the colonizers and Christian missionaries. The colonizers believed that Africans who converted to Christianity would not oppose European rule, and therefore the colonizers thought of the missionaries as important allies. In the early 19th century, many thousands of Christian missionaries from Europe, North America and West Indies travelled all around the African continent. The European colonizers assisted the missionaries in their work, but the missionaries did not come to Africa because they were invited by the colonizers. The primary objective of these missionaries was to spread the religion through the conversation of as many people as they could reach with their message. Some believe in the African indigenous religion, which is closely related to the African peoples’ concepts of ethnic identity, lan-guage and culture. Their beliefs are not limited to belief in super-natural beings or to ritual acts of worship, but they effect all as-
pects of life, from farming to hunting, from travel to court-ship. Some African religions believe in one supreme God who created the world and all that is in it, while others believe in more than one God. Since there are many languages in Africa, there are many different names for God. In African religious tra-ditions, there are different religious roles, which include priests, rainmakers and healers. Indigenous African Religion continues to be important in many African socie-ties. Although its practices have not changed, they have become influenced by Is-lam and Christian-ity. There is also Hinduism being practiced in Africa, which is the pre-dominant religion practiced in the Indian subconti-nent. There is a high population of Indians in Africa. These Indians have now become known as Natives of Africa, since they have spent many generations in Africa. They mainly came into Africa during the pre-colonial era, for the purpose of trading. As a result of the increasing number of tradesman, most of them settled down in Africa, bringing with them their culture and religion. There are currently indigenous communities in Africa practicing Jewish rituals. Most Jewish communities in Africa bear little resem-blance to Jewish communities in Europe or North America, yet their religious practices can be recognized by any Jew. The existence of all the above discussed religions in Africa has made the continent become a shining star illuminating its rays full of knowledge onto the diverse population that enlightens them and enriches their culture. Africa is therefore not only the cradle of civi-lization, but also the sculptor of civilization.
Allarakha Mohamed Shafik Nizar, Kenya
Accounting and Mathematics [email protected]
W ichita State University Does not discriminate in its programs and activities on the
basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, marital
status, status as a Vietnam Era Veteran or disability.
Great mosque of Djenne-Mali
Largest church in the world-Winners’
