June 6, 2002 Lowell's Africans throw a party
Organizers hope June 15 festival will introduce new neighbors to their community's culture and diversity WILSON WANENE
Sun Correspondent
LOWELL - Identity labels are a little confusing in Khen Nkimbeng's home. She and her husband Fru are from Cameroon in West Africa. Her older son, Nde, 6, considers himself an American. But Anye, 4, calls himself a Cameroonian. What's ironic is that while both kids were born in the United States, it's only the oldest one who has visited Cameroon.
Nkimbeng and her husband, she explains, are Africans. Her kids are Americans. But can they be called African Americans? The Lowell mother, who arrived in America seven years ago, isn't sure.
A festival in Lowell on June 15 is aimed at helping the Nkimbeng family and other Africans in Greater Lowell to tackle such issues. "A Taste of Africa in Lowell" will take place at the JFK Civic Center from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
"This African festival helps us to continue the education to our kids," says Nkimbeng, who's the vice president of the African Cultural Association in Lowell, which is organizing the festival. "It helps them to see other Africans they don't see all the time."
A similar festival was held last year and attracted about 500 people. Nkimbeng and her co-organizers are expecting this year's to be larger.
There will be music from Lowell African groups, such as the Osibi Dancers, who are originally from Ghana, and the Camola Dancers from Cameroon. But there will also be appearances by outside groups such as Boston-based Rumbafrica, winner of the Outstanding World Music Act category at the 1995 Boston Music Awards. The band is popular for soukous, a music style from Central Africa.
For the taste buds, there will be tables displaying various African dishes with cards listing the ingredients. Other tables will provide a sampling of arts and crafts. Kids will be entertained by a clown called Sugar Angel. They will also be able to get face-painting. An African fashion show will be run by Saratou Allie, the Senegalese designer who owns Saraly Designs in Lowell.
But "A Taste of Africa in Lowell" is actually more than just a family festival. It's a coming out party for Africans. Most of the immigrants are people who've escaped the harsh economic conditions in Africa. Others have also experienced political strife. With new lives here, some, like the organizers, have now established a good enough foothold to begin seeking a more visible public presence.
There are more than 6,000 Africans in Lowell and about 50,000 in the Merrimack Valley, according to the African Assistance Center, which is based in the city. They come from practically every one of the 52 countries in Africa, including the Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Kenya, the Congo, and South Africa. Many of them are proud to call Lowell their new home. And the festival will be a way for them to share their culture with others.
"The thing that struck me is that Lowell is a different type of city in that it accepts diversity," says Josep Varnie, the 39-year-old president of the African Cultural Association and a Lowell resident. "And there are a lot of opportunities in Lowell for work and integration."
Varnie's life is illustrative of the kinds of strange twists that are common within African immigrant journeys to America. He's from Liberia, a West African nation formed in 1847 by freed American slaves.
With a bachelor's in economics, he worked in Liberia as a systems analyst for an institute well known for its research in rice; was a program manager for Doctors Without Borders, the humanitarian relief organization; and finally ended up becoming an assistant secretary for agriculture from 1994 to 1996.
But Liberia was savaged by a costly seven--year civil war that began in 1989. When it ended, he packed up and left.
When he arrived Newark, N.J., in 1996, the only job he could find was as a lowly kitchen worker in a Boston Market. With an older sister already in Lowell, he decided to move here five months later. And his fortunes changed for the better.
"When I looked for work in Massachusetts, I didn't feel insulted," says Varnie, who, like many African immigrants in Lowell and other parts of the state, found work as a nursing aide. "There were more opportunities."
He worked for LifeLinks, a Lowell agency that serves people with mental and physical disabilities. It has 250 employees, of whom, about 70 percent, are Africans. With pay rates starting at $9 per hour, and with the opportunity to work double shifts or be on call, many newly-arrived Africans have been drawn to places like LifeLinks.
"They are a caring, devoted work force, many of whom have suffered themselves," says Yvonne LaGarde, chief executive officer for LifeLinks. "Many of these people are educated people, and they just want to make a new start. We're an entry level employer." Varnie, after his work for LifeLinks, moved on. He's now a systems analyst for the Department of Mental Health.
According to a report released by the U.S. Census Bureau last December, 95 percent of the African-born immigrants in America, age 25 or older, had a high school education or higher as of March 2000. This was the highest rate of any immigrant group. The average was 67 percent.
"We're trying to bring all Africans together and share our cultural heritage with our friends and neighbors in Lowell and the Merrimack Valley," says MariatTou Dumbuya of Lowell, a board member at the African Cultural Association who's both Senegalese and Sierra Leonean.
To her, not only is the festival an opportunity for Africans to share their culture with Americans in general, it's also an opportunity for Africans and African Americans to learn from each other. Last year's festival attracted African Americans from as far as South Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Minnesota.
But Dumbuya draws the line when it comes to sharing recipes. The food tables at the festival will list the ingredients.
But to learn how to cook the dishes, one will have to take classes.
(c) 2002 The Sun (Lowell, MA). All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Media NewsGroup, Inc. by NewsBank, Inc.
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