The 2018 Celebration of Africa (COA) was an event that celebrated the variety of the African culture through performances, spoken word, food, and fashion. It took place at the Price Center during Week 8 of the spring quarter, which corresponds to Thursday, May 24, 2018. This year’s celebration theme was Safari. An event of this magnitude was possible through the collaboration of many entities on campus, but the main protagonist was the African Student Association (ASA). At this event I saw many people that were there to enjoy the many performances. What I enjoyed most about this was that there were many people from the East African Cultural and Community Center. A person I visually saw was Mr. Awichu Akwanya, who is the program director of the United Women of East Africa and the Mental Health First Aid Instructor. It was surprising to see children and youth at this university because it becomes an isolated place where certain people are not visually and physically present because of many reasons. There seems to be a growing bridge between the African community in San Diego and UCSD. A process of transformation for a better relationship must be done and these are the very few steps. This event was able to accommodate people’s religious and cultural practices, which is a vastly different point of view from what the dominant society has imposed on the university and the rest of the world. During the event, I volunteered to serve people a special type of rice and other delicious food. This had to be done in small portions since we did not have much food for everyone. Towards the end, we were able to serve everyone a plate of food, including those who were praying.
June 9, 2018
Celebration of Africa 2018
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