A Different Type of Christmas

A Different Type of Christmas

      Christmas, a favorite holiday celebrated worldwide. You can celebrate for religious reasons, the presents given and/or taken December 25^th. You don't have to celebrate at all; you can just wish someone a Merry Christmas. In parts of Africa, Christmas is different. The holiday is celebrated for religious reasons mostly. Many go to church and stay long into the night. Others invite relatives over to sit and eat food together. Some have late night parties. As you read my EGHS Christmas Special article, there are some things you need to know about how the holidays are celebrated in the continent. Just to let you know, Kwanzaa is not an African festivals; it’s actually for African Americans. Many African-Americans in America celebrate Kwanzaa from December 26^th to January 1st. It is thought to be celebrated by Africans because Kwanzaa focuses on the African unity, heritage and culture and Panafricanism, the idea that peoples of African descent have common interests and should be unified.

      In Liberia, there is no Santa Claus but an Old Man Bayka. He's a devil man who goes around begging others for presents on Christmas Day. You'll usually hear "My Christmas on you", which means please give me something nice for Christmas. In Ethiopia and others who use the Julian calendar celebrate Christmas on January 7th. In Ghana, the festivities start the last week of November, which is called Advent. When December comes around, the cocoa bean harvest and the real fun starts. In the northern part of Africa their countries are mostly Muslim, so they don't celebrate Christmas too much. If they do, it's usually private but can be public too. In places like Sierra Leone and Gambia, towns and villages celebrate with masquerade parties.

      I've gotten 3 interviews from 3 different people in my school/community and asked them on their input on some of my opinion-based questions. Read them and if you can, put your own answers to the questions in the comment box below.

Charlotte

1) What don't you like about the holidays?


Charlotte: Spending too much money on gifts.

Beatrice: Nothing.

Temitope: Having family over and all the drama and talk they bring.

2) Do you know what Kwanzaa is? Would you celebrate if you found out what the holidays was?

Charlotte: No because all I need is Christmas to worry about.

Beatrice: No, I mean it doesn't matter much to me.

Beatrice

Temitope: I know what Kwanzaa if, but I don't care about it except for the food. I could try for the presents though.


3) What was your 1st Christmas like in America/travelling abroad?

Temitope

Charlotte: Bored but a little happy because it was my 1st Christmas in America. I didn't do much but it was still interesting.

Beatrice: It was fun. I got a lot of presents and I got to see a lot of my family.

Temitope: When I went to Nigeria, it wasn't exactly 'Christmassy' like in America. It was hot, there were no actual Christmas trees, people didn't really have a lot of spirit as in the U.S. There were still into it. Maybe as a replacement for the trees, you could decorate coconut trees or something.

      In some surveys I've gathered, I've gotten interesting information from people of a bunch of different countries. Many have sermons in church focused on the Nativity Scene and the Bible. Don't try explaining Santa Claus to the Africans, they won't know who he is because Father Christmas isn't an important figure. Everyone from the oldest of grandmothers to the youngest newborn boys are invited to each others' house for visits. People love to eat fufu, εtɔ, curry, soup, ham, goat, dry rice, plantains, chicken, fish and many more delicious foods. Sometimes American foods are mixed in. Many countries don't celebrate Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas day. If so, it's mostly for partying and more presents given and taken. The season is loved by the Africans because of the break from school, the family comes over, the presents, even the good Christmas feeling you get sometimes. 

      There are also many ways to say 'Merry Christmas'/wish someone happy holidays in the many of the tribal African languages alive on the continent. In Rwonda's Zulu language, it's 'Noheli nzinza'. In most of Northern Africa, 'Milad Mubarak' is the way to go. Francophone countries (countries who speak mostly French), 'Joyeux Noël' is spoken. To wish someone happy holidays in Ghana's Twi, you say 'Afe nyhia pa' and you respond with 'Afe nkɔ mmεto yεn daa'. In Nigerian Yoruba, just say 'Ikini ọdun keresimesi' and the Nigerians will nod your way. South Africa's Afrikaans will have 'Geseënde Kersfees'. Most of the time, English is preferred and said as just a regular 'Happy/Merry Christmas'. If you want to know how to pronounce these words, look online or ask any of your friends that are able to speak the given languages.

Sources for this article were found on whychristmas.com, goafrica.about.com, wikihow.com and www.one.org