wfn.org | Christmas in Africa is family time

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Dec. 19, 2003 News media contact: Linda Green7(615) 742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
7 E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org7 ALL-AF-YE-I{596}
 
A UMNS Feature
By Linda Green*
 
When students at Africa University in Zimbabwe return to their homes for
Christmas break, they will celebrate the birth of Christ in distinctly
African ways. 
 
Christmas celebrations vary from family to family or from tribe to tribe,
says Gitagno Dolorosa Duncan of Tanzania. However, the psychology major notes
that regardless of traditions, being with family at Christmas is the most
important aspect of the season.
 
Tanzania is a multicultural country populated by tribes that, in addition to
observing international Christian practices, also celebrate other traditions
during this season. For example, Duncan says, some Tanzanians who worship
trees go to the mountains to make their sacrifices. 

"Most of the people do their traditional practices during Christmas time
because it's the only time when all of them are meeting together," she says.
 
While most people think of Dec. 25 as the time when Jesus was born in
Bethlehem, people in the Congo regard it as a time when he is born in their
hearts, says Bishop Nkulu Ntanda Ntambo. He leads the United Methodist
Church's North Katanga Area and is the newly elected chancellor of Africa
University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. 

Christmas is a "spiritual occasion that focuses on prayer, praise and the
Bible," Ntambo adds.
 
In his country, the traditional Christmas feast consists of chicken or goat,
he says. The meal frequently includes dancing and singing. "People just enjoy
(celebrating) the birth of the son of God," he says.
 
Zimbabwe students report that the one thing absent from the family
celebration is sadza, the daily staple of the Zimbabwean meal. Rice is served
instead. 
 
As elsewhere in the world, Christmas is a merry time when presents are
exchanged, Duncan says, "but there is more to it as a family."
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*Green is a news writer for United Methodist News Service.

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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