Panel discusses religious and cultural influences in Africa
The influence of religion and culture on the development of Africa was the subject Thursday evening at the African Student Association’s (AFSA) panel discussion. The five person panel, composed of African students and USU affiliates, took the stage and spoke on regional challenges and approaches to educational and economic progress around the continent.
Joyce Mumah from Cameroon spoke first, describing the beginnings of European exploration in Africa in the 15th century.
“The conquest of Africa was driven by two ideologies. First, it was commercially profitable. Second, they saw Africans as savages and they came to civilize them,” she said. “It was a missionary effort.”
Motivated by religious and economic prospects, the Europeans, mainly the British and French, soon made claim to most of the continent, she said.
“Only two countries in Africa weren’t colonized, Ethopia and Liberia,” Mumah said.
The colonization of Africa wasn’t all bad, however, said AFSA president Muyiwa Ogunlaja. The introduction of religion brought new opportunities to Africans.
“Catholic schools started it all, without the missionaries education wouldn’t have been possible,” said Kenneth Mbwanji from Tanzania explaining some of the complex implications of this religious infrastructure. “Missionaries built schools and facilities, so if you are Christian you get priority for going to school above a Muslim.”
The discussion of Muslim and Christian interaction was largely positive, however, creating a diverse religious atmosphere.
“In Senegal you find a single family, one part being Muslim and one part being Christian, and they live in perfect harmony,” said Senegal native Ousmane Diatte.
This trend of dual religions continues across national borders.
“There are people who believe they are Christians and Muslims,” said Yomi Olorunsola of Nigeria. “On Friday they go to a mosque and to a church on Sunday. That’s one way of solving problems in Africa.”
Language and gender roles in some African countries are different from the typical African stereotype.
Olorunsola said Africa has an extraordinary diversity of culture and religion.
“In Nigeria, we have more churches than we have gas stations,” Olorunsola said. “It’s possible to drive three miles and hear three languages; they don’t speak the same language.”
Understanding this context is vital to foreign aid efforts and a lack of this local knowledge explains the failure of many of those attempts, Mumah said.
“If any country or organization wants to help Africa, in fact, when you’re working with anybody you have to: one, get the people involved. It is their country after all and their development. Two, work from the bottom up with grassroots efforts. Three, be cognizant of cultural practices,” Mumah said.
Mumah described the UN’s efforts as a technological approach to modernize Africa and, more recently, a “basic needs” approach to supply food and lodging for all Africans.
“That didn’t go too well either. They’ve tried a lot of theories, a lot of field work. Their original goal was to have abolished poverty in Africa by 2015,” Mumah said.
Diatte pointed out the shortcomings of some humanitarian groups. Mbwanji agreed there were cracks in the efforts to help Africa.
“They come with their own agenda, not considering the culture. If you want to help people you have to get to know them.” Mbwanji said, “You can build whatever you want, donate whatever you want but the problem starts with Africans themselves. They don’t believe in themselves.”
Olorunsola said the problem with Africa is that the continent has all the resources necessary to build a successful, thriving population but no means of utilizing it.
“Africa has everything we want, but for some reason we can’t distribute it or manage it as we need,” Olorunsola said.
AIDS as a crisis affecting every African country was also discussed.
“Africa only has about 11 percent of the world’s population but it has 60 percent of the world’s people infected with AIDS, and most of those people are women,” Mumah said.
Cultural practices like polygamy aggravate the epidemic, Ogunlaja said.
“People marry three or four wives, they believe it is a sign of affluence,” Ogunlaja said.
The panel had diverse reasons for coming to Logan but some reasons were common among all.
“We are here because we want to have an education, to help our communities back home, to help our economy,” Diatte said. “We have a lot of problems but we’re not giving up.”
–benabbott@aggiemail.usu.edu