Aggies celebrate African culture
African cuisine, clothing, dances, music and native songs were presented throughout the evening Friday during the African Student Association’s annual African Night Banquet in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom.
African Night is designed to better educate the community about the real Africa, said Olalekan Olorunsola, president of the African Student Association.
“Africa is not a country. It’s a continent with many different countries within it,” Olorunsola said.
Olorunsola, who is from Nigeria, said the proceeds from the event will be donated to Engineers without Borders, which is building an orphanage for homeless children in Uganda.
The USU West African Dance Group performed local stylistic dances along with native music using traditional African drums.
A fashion show showing attire from different parts of Africa was also presented. The clothes varied from bright colored dresses for women to intricately designed Maasais for men.
Deogratius Msuya, junior majoring in business administration, was wearing a vibrant blue Maasai, which he said is common of East Africa. The Maasai consisted of a light-weight cotton fabric that fell comfortably down to Msuya’s feet.
Msuya, a native of Tanzania, said, “We want to show the positive side of Africa. They only show the negative side to people, and we hope that we will get more support from students.”
Daniel Anguka, sophomore from Kenya majoring in civil engineering, said, “Tonight is the glitz and glamour of Africa.”
A dance drama portraying how an African king may choose a wife was also performed. In the drama, the king sits on his throne with his other wives by his side. Prospective wives from different regions of the land then dance for the king to convince him that she is the one he wants to betroth.
“It’s just one of our many traditions,” said Joyce Mumah, a local of Cameroon who is getting her doctorate in social changes and development. “We are blessed with a lot of talents. We want to show you what Africa is all about.” “We’ve been planning this since last semester,” Olorunsola said. “This is our third year straight doing this event. We want to continue this each year.”
Olorunsola said he wants students to participate more in understanding the truth behind Africa.
“If we can just raise awareness,” he said, “then our job is done.”
Aggies for Africa also made an appearance by selling T-shirts in the ballroom.
“The proceeds from the T-shirt selling will go to Ungana Project, said Allie Gardner, a member of the organization. She said the Ungana Project is a micro-finance program that will help reinvest labor and earnings of locals in business and municipal works, which will make the country less dependent on capital from outside countries.
The African Student Association is open to all USU students. For more information about the organization, contact Olorunsola at olalekan.o@aggiemail.usu.edu.
-melissa.mcroberts@aggiemail.usu.edu