Glenn Davies: An African Easter - Remembering the Children

I find there’s no better time in life to reflect than during a holiday season - and Easter is no exception. Now I’m not talking about having to reflect on one’s personal beliefs or faiths but more on life and the world around us - perspective.

Where I grew up, Easter was about family, getting together and celebrating life - and of course lots of chocolate. As a child I was so excited to wake up and see a scattering of colored eggs at the end of my bed and hidden in corners around the house - this was our tradition.

In Africa, like many parts of the world, Easter has a social as well as spiritual dimension. At Easter families come together. They share traditional food with their neighbours, indulging in mostly boiled or roasted rice with meat or chicken.

Africans for the most part enjoy the celebration of Easter.

Traditional decorations of hand-made fabrics made up in the forms of flowers, banana trees and butterflies are everywhere. Hymns are sung along with the beating of the native African drums; And these are usually accompanied by the very high-pitched songs made by women.

It is customary for different activities to take place which could be anything from traditional dances to more high pitched singing from the women.  When all is calm and quiet, some people return home to continue their Easter celebration while others remain and celebrate within their small communities. Gifts are made for the children and most people are resplendent in their best clothes, usually the dazzling white traditional dress.

North Africa (Egypt) celebrates Sham el Nessim, an ancient celebration which literally means “sniffing the air” on Easter Monday to celebrate the arrival of spring. Families celebrate with outdoor picnics of a wide variety of food particularly a salted fermented fish (fissekh) which can be poisonous if not properly prepared. The traditional preparation of fissekh is often passed down through generations of fissekh makers.

Kenyan’s began their day with song and hymns in mix of Arabic, Swahili, and English. African indigenous leaders gather from Darfur, Southern Sudan, and Congo! And in the evenings children will swim and play together!

But whilst these traditions are wonderful and symbolize what life should be about, I am reminded that outside of these celebrations we are faced with the harsh reality that millions of children across Africa have, or are suffering and will never get to experience such special traditions.

This is my time to reflect.

2014 filled our newspapers and media with heart breaking stories on the continuing suffering of children. In May 2014 we learned that children are still sold as slaves in West Africa. The children are gathered together and put onto boats — wooden, open boats, probably about 100 to 150 children on each boat. They're land at night close to Libreville, the Gabonese capital, and then they are distributed to their various employers.

In April 2014, the BBC reported that more than 9,000 child soldiers have been fighting in South Sudan's brutal civil war. In June, Aljazeera headlined “Over 50,000 children could die this year of diseases and malnutrition”. CNN reported in January of last year that they are witnessing unprecedented levels of violence against children. And more and more children are being recruited into armed groups, where they are also being directly targeted in atrocious revenge attacks.

In South Africa there are approximately 10,000 children living on the streets as reported in November by iOL news in June 2014; And in May last year, UNFPA launched an historic campaign to end child marriage across Africa  - reporting from Ethiopia.

According to UNICEF, there may be as many as 6,000 child soldiers in the Central African Republic as estimated by the UN. In AUGUST 2014 - MG Africa reported that accusations of children being witches are especially common in Central and West Africa, particularly parts of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola, Central African Republic (CAR), Cameroon and Nigeria. Children are blamed for untimely deaths in the family, broken homes, problems at work, poverty, pain and sickness. And in Kenya, it is estimated that over 15,000 children are already working illegally in artisanal mines across the Nyatike district alone.

And who can ever forget that fateful night of 14 April 2014, where 276 female students (children) were kidnapped from the Government Secondary School in the town of Chibok in Borno State, Nigeria. The horror of this news sent shock waves through the global community and sparked a worldwide online campaign “Bring back Our Girls”. Every day the Bring Back Our Girls demonstrators — whose activism fueled the hashtag campaign — rally at Unity Fountain in Abuja. Families of the missing girls, their neighbors and fellow citizens, over 100 strong, congregate, carrying signs and chanting the now-familiar mantra: "Bring back our girls.” Today is the 353rd day since their kidnapping.

None of us are isolated by these events and we should never forget what is happening around us. Our roles as citizens of this earth should be to help those who are unable to help themselves.

So what does it mean to reflect during this holiday season?

Reflection is part of learning and thinking. We reflect in order to learn something, or we learn as a result of reflecting. Reflection allows us to analyze our experiences, make changes based on our mistakes, keep doing what is successful, and build upon or modify past knowledge based on new knowledge.

So whatever your traditions may be, and no matter what your beliefs, during this Easter holiday period, use this time to reflect and make the changes necessary to build a better world.

Glenn Davies is Group CEO of Inigmah

 

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