The Ancient Magic Of Africa Lived Out By Our Young People
21 February 2013
On Saturday evening 8 December 2012 at the Kirtley Building at University of Derby, the Congolese young people hosted an evening of singing, poetry, dedication, a fashion show, awards, and provided homemade traditional food from across the continents. It was hosted by Arline Makuba, a second year Social Care student, Elvire Itutu and Lyly Ngoy, also former students of University of Derby. We recorded over 120 people at this celebration of youth where young people from across the city presented 'their journey': Grace Ngolo, Altesse Mulamba, Henrial Mulamba, Ahn Mulamba, Gloria Ngolo, Sephora Mbo, Karen Kambala, Benedicte Kiza to name but a few, attending Saint Benedict School, Roundhouse, Derby College, Landau Forte College, Merrill College, Allenton Secondary School, Chaddesden School and Joseph Wright College. Several young people attended from Littleover school, led by Sally Otim from Ethiopia who also made several of the beautiful African garments. Three University of Derby students walked the catwalk, and one welcomed everyone on reception, Clement Mumba, who is from Zambia.
Deep in time, long before imperialist rule, before the European renaissance and even before our own Magna Carta, somewhere in our own 'dark ages' in time, and deep within the vast continent of the Congo, the culture of their world had already coalesced, was manifest in dance, through dress, through parables and songs, through food, through companionship and community rites, so much so that today despite there being over 500 tribes across this central African plain, there remains a core set of characteristics that typifies what it is to be Congolese. The four national languages of the Congo are always distinguished by them from the 'official' language of French, but together they enable this nation of 65 or so million people to communicate a coherent identity to the world, putting aside if one can the atrocities reported globally every day. We saw that richness on Saturday night at Kirtley Hall, University of Derby when the very young, the young, the elderly and all those in between attended and performed at 'Our journeys - Young people's fashion show'.
Manifest within the way the African young people talked with great prescience and sensitivity about the lost lives of child soldiers taken into war and prostitution, away from their school desks, their futures destroyed, while then dedicating the songs and poems they had written and performed, to their mothers and grandmothers, symbolic of the 'motherhood' that roots everything, love binding this nation together. And deep within the catwalk, this community permeated across the audience, Africa, its roots, its culture of pride and love of the arts and all things creative: the models danced from within the movement of the Congo; reliving the rhythms of ancient times. There must have been over 20 little children who upon seeing the fashion show, started to dance, got very excited and had to celebrate by walking the catwalk: which they did, taking over proceedings for a while to receive a standing ovation from everyone there. The evening was a rare celebration of a community reaching back joyously, honouring their past encultured in them now: reliving and reconnecting after their early years of settlement in this new world, the UK. There followed the presentation certificates by Dr Jill Bunce, our guest of honour, who spoke about the privilege of the University to be so engaged with our communities, a short presentation by our community artist Rita Kappia, and talk about this work being linked to 'Common Threads' by Caron Kirkham from Derbyshire Mind. Lots of acknowledgements to those who had made the evening possible, and of course, a bewildering array of homemade traditional food to complete the celebrations.
The evening shone through the lives and thoughts of our young people; rooted in the past, living now and through events like this, helping them fashioning their future.
For more information about this University of Derby Community Relations news story contact Peter Walker 01332 591945 or email p.walker@derby.ac.uk
