Harambee - All Together for Africa

The complex problems of Africa were delved into during a forum entitled “Light and Shadows on a Developing Africa” that was held in Rome on May 15 and organized by Harambee Africa International as one of the 2012 forums.

News transmitted by the media is often vague and superficial. For example, Nigeria has been recently plagued by a series of attacks that have been hastily accounted for as the result of a war underway between Christians and Muslims.

Eugene Ohu, a journalist and Harambee representative for the country explains, “Nigeria is a complex country. The Muslim north and Christian south appear to be divided equally when actually many of the northern inhabitants (in States like Kaduna, Adamawa and Plateau) are Christian. The control of wealth and distribution, especially of petrol, are managed by the Federal government and, thus, by the President. This is a hot issue considering distribution has never been regarded as equal. It is thus easy to understand why the different States that make up the nation compete for one of their own representatives to become President”. Ohu adds, “Islam tends to make no distinction between politics and religion, and consequently often tends to consider political adversaries as enemies from a religious point of view. This reality is exploited by people who have no conscious. In areas where poverty and ignorance reign, religion is used even more as an instrument for political conflict. The phenomenon of Boko Haram should be set in this context”.

Fr. Michael Czerny, co-founder of “Africa Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN), and Ekeno Augostine S.J, who helped out with the 2012 Network participated in the forum. The problem of AIDS was the center of attention for Western media for years. Today the issue is hardly mentioned and it’s not completely clear if this is due to progress achieved in fighting the disease or a loss of Western interest in the issue all together.

“It’s okay to speak about European progress, but we cannot say the same for Africa where the AIDS epidemic has not decreased”, explains Fr. Czerny. “Nevertheless, the Church is learning how to manage the problem, trying to get closer to those afflicted and their families through parishes, schools and Catholic associations. One of the main problems with AIDS is that those who are afflicted are marginalized. Making known the reality of AIDS means educating people so they better understand the disease and can take action against the isolation of the sick and lead them to places that can offer them medical care”.

AJAN has been active in resolving this dilemma in different African countries for the last ten years. “The Jesuits believe that the pastoral role of the Church is extremely important in the battle against AIDS. Even if it does not resolve the urgent consequences of the disease, it still lays the ground to stop it from spreading over time”, Ekeno Augostine states. “AJAN focuses primarily on offering pastoral support, then giving medical aid based on the distribution of antiretrovirals. AJAN upholds that pastoral support can guarantee the elimination of the disease, in the long run, without external intervention by instilling profound knowledge and radically changing behavior, something all African society can achieve”.

Jennifer Gitahi also told of her teaching experience at Strathmore University, a center of excellence in Kenya whose particular mission is to have excellence serve society, to improve the lives of people, even those who are extremely marginalized. “This is why Strathmore carries out development projects with the objective of improving training at all levels and of accompanying people as they build more long-term prospects”. Gitahi explains that most Africans do not consider education only as a means of instruction, but as the possibility to learn how to build their own future, something that is not taken for granted in Africa.

Stephen Ogongo, journalist and member of the Harambee Cultural Committee, concluded the forum, highlighting some of the reasons the media tends to show Africa in catastrophic terms. “Beyond the light and shadows, as the title of this forum suggests, Africa is developing and despite this, the media still paints a negative picture of the continent for many reasons. First of all, Africa does not communicate! We, fellow Africans, must learn to communicate, to talk about the positive things going on here, to speak professionally and elaborate on issues. The majority of the news is produced by only a few international agencies that do not give thorough accounts for both editorial and organizational purposes. The result is the circulation of the same, superficial news”. This is why Africans themselves must become more responsible and must take on the role of the authors who produce information about Africa.