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Ex-Augustan Reports on Trip to Africa
Africa! Praise the
Lord, I got a chance to
go.
In August, 1980, I had
the golden opportunity to
visit five countries in
Africa, our homeland.
The trip was
organized by the
National Association of
Black Social Workers,
who for the past six
years has sponsored an
International Con
ference in Augusta that
allows black Americans
in human services and
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Miss Connie Danford To Become Bride Dec. 27th.
Connie Danford Weds
Byron Moore
... .Miss Conniestene
Ardella Danford,
daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Richard Dix
Danford Sr. of
Waycross, will wed
Byron Maurice Moore,
son of Mr. and Mrs.
Johnny Moore of
Augusta, in rites of in
terest this month.
The couple will
marry Saturday, Dec. 27
at 5 p.m. at Greater
Saint Paul Baptist
Church in Waycross.
A reception will be
given in the church
social Kall.
The couple cordially
invites all friends'and
relatives to the
ceremony and reception.
Miss Danford, attractive
bride-elect, is the grand
daughter of Mrs. Minnie
A. Danford and the late
Mr. Andrew Danford
and Mrs. Willie Mae
Rogers and the late Mr.
Nepoleon Rogers.
Leontyne Price to Sing
in King Center Benefit
The Martin Luther
King, Jr. Center for
Nonviolent Social
Change presents, “An
Evening with Leontyne
Price,” in tribute to
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The concert will be held
Jan. 14, at 8 p.m. at the
Atlanta Civic Center.
Actress directress
Yolanda King, who is
coordinating this event,
stated, “This is the
Fourth Annual Cultural
Evening that the King
Center has sponsored as
it develops its Cultural
Institute. Through these
artistic vehicles, the
center will reveal
nonviolent alternatives
and illuminate the
images and attitudes
that are necessary to
create “the beloved
community’ which Dr.
King fought to achieve.
In previous years, the
Cultural Evening has
involved a multiplicity
of forms, styles and
performers drawn from
both the Atlanta Com
munity as well as the
National and Inter-
other professional areas
to visit and exchange
knowledge, struggles,
and experiences with our
brothers and sisters in
the Carribean and other
black countries.
This year the trip to
West Africa entailed two
tour programs. Tour I
was to Dekar, Senegal
for 17 days, and Tour 11,
was visiting five
countries with 3 to 4 days
in each country.
I took Tour 11, and
visited five countries in
Mr. Moore is the
grandson of the late Mr.
and Mrs. Johnny Moor*
Sr. and Mr. and Mrs*
Clarence Barnes and tM|
late Mrs. Thein*
Barnes.
The future bride is ■
graduate of Waycron
High School and Paine
College, Augusta. She is
employed by the DeKalb
County Board of
Education in Decatur f
and is presently enrolled
in the master’s program
of Deaf Education at
Georgia State Univer*
sity, Atlanta.
Moore, a graduate of
Richmond Academy and '
former student of the ,
University of Georgia,
School of Liberal Arts, is
currently serving an
active tour of duty with
the United States Army
at the Communication
Center in Washington,
D.C.
This year, Miss Price
will perform a reper
toire which will include
classical and spiritual
music.
The King Center’s
President, Mrs. Coretta
Scott King, said, “Music
in its classical form can
express the philosophy
of my husband and serve
to uplift the mind and
spirit.” She continued,
“The King Center ia
pleased to be able to
present an artist of Miss
Price’s caliber and offer
the Atlanta community
the opportunity to ex
perience her
magnificent gift.”
Proceeds from thia
Cultural Evening be used
for the suppor of ongoing
programs at the Marti®
Luther King, Jr. Center
for Nonviolent Social
Change. Tickets are sl%
$12.50, and $lO. They are
available at all SEATS
outlets (including all
Rich’s stores). For
further information, call
< r 4 v or r*
Africa. They were:
Dekar, Senegal;
Abidjan, Ivory Coast;
Freetown, Sierra Leone;
Movorian, Liberia; and
Banjul, Gambia.
We were greeted in
each country by the
minister of human
services, the minister of
education, and the
ambassadors. In each,
country, there was a
conference where we
shared in discussion, the
political, social and
economic issues of the
country.
Each conference
allowed for dialogue that
helped each person
express concerns, ex
pectations and
knowledge about the
continent, and about the
status of black
Americans in the United
States.
The emotional im
pact of the trip allowed
me to become open to its
roots, and to truly ex
perience searching out
our heritage and seeing
our ancestry. This ex
perience was most
revealing and it made
your heart and soul feel
alive and open to the
beauty of black people.
“A Flavor and Taste
of Each Country.”
A friend told me
never say how long you
will stay in Senegal. If
you say you will stay a
few days, the days will
become weeks. If you
say you will stay a few
months, the months
become years, and then
you may never leave.
‘‘Staying is the easiest
possible thing you can
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“The African says to
you that you have come
home, and they have
decided to keep you.”
You are also welcomed
with open arms in the
home of the Africans.
They will give you a bed
and feed you. They take
time to teach you the
Wolof language. They
want to communicate
with you.
There is a different
attitude about what
hospitality means to the
African. In Africa,
people honor youfhouse
by coming to visit you.
In Europe people in
vited you to dinner to do
you a favor, to save you
the price of a restaurant
meal, that is, if they
invite you at all. In
relationships.
A Wolof proverb
says: “To honor
someone doesn’t take
anything away from
you.!’ And to the
African, all people are
worthy of respect, the
elders, the children, the
rich, the poor, and the
beggars.
Hospitality is ex
pressed in many dif
ferent ways: in saying
pleasant things to
someone, in making
friendly gestures in the
greeting.
It is not that wealth
has a higher value.
Wealth is the source of
respect and prestige
only to the extent that it
is shared with others.
While in Dekar, we
visited Goree Island:
The Slave House. On its
shore stands in silent
testimony to our an
cestors, their agony and
enslavement, a part of
our history that must
never beforgotten. This
haunting yet beautiful
island is the home of a
growing number of
black-African artists.
Despite intensive
contact with the French
for more than a century,
and French efforts to
assimilate the
Senegalese by in
culcating European
values and standards,
one has the impression
that the Senegalese are
very much themselves.
Although they may pride
themselves in speaking
French very well, they
only speak it when
necessary. Among
themselves they speak
their own language.
The markets in
Senegal are beautiful
and clearly demonstrate
unity in families who
work together to provide
for each other. It is one
major source of income
for the African people.
The Elephant
County. The Ivory Coast
is a very wealthy
country in West Africa,
known as “Black
Paris.” The .native
languague is “Zula.”
They also speak French
Education is free.
French must be
learned in order to move
in the system. The
French educational
system can hinder
education. But those who
do not successfully
complete the exams in
French usually remain
in marketing.
There is no welfare
system as we have in our
country. Everybody is
involved in some kind of
work force: selling in the
markets, helping with
tourist, plowing the
fields for food, or
bringing water from the
wells. Everything is a
business. The country is
beautiful with an air of
wealth that is open to all
people.
Movorian, Liberia
....The “air” and
“scenery” reminds
one the South. One
truly knows that one has
returned home again.
We visted Boy’s Town, a
social agency for boys
who presented social
problems There are 150
boys in the village. It
was established in 1962
by a priest. The
government of Liberia
now funds it.
The boys who live
there are from age 8-22
year old. There are 11
social workers employed
in the agency, and 22
house parents. The
environment is
therapeutic. They use
the generic approach
with the boys. The boys
are products of poor
home environment and
lack love and parenting.
After the history of the
Boys Town which was
delivered by the
minister of health and
social welfare, the boys
danced for us which was
a beautiful expression of
love.
Sierra Leone,
FREETOWN
....Freetown was the
place where the slaves
The Augusta News-Review - Dec. 27,1980 -
were freed. Sierra Leone
was the name given to a
mountain that the white
man thought looked like
a lion.
A full day of social
work conferences took
place with the social
workers of Sierra Leone.
Keynote address was
given by Hon Thaimu
Bangura, Minister of
Social Welfare. He
highligted the history of
the continent and
described the social,
political and economic
factors affecting the
black community in
Africa and throughout
the world.
Freetown was
discovered by the
Portugese. The people
speak English. The main
objective of the social
welfare system is to
increase the standards
of living with the people.
There is a Planned
Parenthood Program,
which reflects this ob
jective.
This is a beautiful
place with beautiful
people, who want to
communicate with us,
and who want us to come
dicuss and plan
together how to respond
to the needs of our
people.
OTHER OB
SERVATIONS
... .1. 75 percent of the
African people are
Muslim in West Africa.
2. We are in the
majority and thate
makes one feel good.
3. One major problem
is the availability of
medical care in the
villages.
Page 3
4. Family planning
has started to spread
throughout Africa.
My return to the
Gambia, Banjul
....Alex Haley’s an
cestoral home). We
visited the Mandingo
Village. We listened to
the history of the
village, and exchanged
knowledge with each,
other about our history.
We were entertained in
the village by the
African dancers. The
dance represented the
life style and beliefs in
the villages. “To have
each dance explained to
you by an African man is
areal treat.”
homeland is a trip and
visit I will always
cherish. I felt like a
pilgrim. I viewed the
land of my forefathers
as my spiritual bir
thplace, and like a
pilgrim, I was there in
reach of the past of my
heritage that will addd
meaning to my life
today. I am ready to
visit all parts of the
continent, and I invite all
of you at home to come
and go with me.
I was reminded of
Langston Hughes’
Poem: My People, and I
quote: “The night is
beautiful, so are the face
of my people, The stars
are beautiful, so are the
eyes of my people,
beautiful, also is the sun,
Beautiful also are the
souls of my
people.’’Thanks to:
National Association of
Black Social Workers
and The Late Mr. and
Mrs. Lonnie C. Hamilton