Student group promotes African cultural awareness
Elexa Broder
Issue date: 9/22/09 Section: News
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With the club only a year old, president Samuel D. Aboh Jr. has already lead the club to expose the full African experience to the University of Rhode Island's campus. Club Member Nora Mends said the club "brings awareness [of the continent] to everyone in the school.
S.A.W.A. is a student organization dedicated to giving Africa a better reputation through cultural and artistic events.
"The more we know about each other, the better we will be," Maxwell Edmonds said, Historian of the Student Alliance for the Welfare of Africa (S.A.W.A.).
President Samuel D. Aboh Jr. has lead the year-old club to expose the full African experience to the University of Rhode Island campus.
"The club brings awareness [of the continent] to everyone in the school," sophomore Nora Mends said.
The mission statement of S.A.W.A. is to bring a positive light to the subject of Africa to benefit URI and the nearby community, according to the club's Web site.
It also states the goal of the club is to increase students' understanding and awareness of the several heritages and cultures native of Africa.
"We respond to who wants to hear about Africa," Aboh. said. "We want to promote the unity of the African population on campus.
Aboh started the group because he wanted the African population of URI to "be proud of their culture and where they came from."
"It's a beautiful place," Aboh said.
A Taste of Africa, one of several events S.A.W.A. hosts during URI's Diversity Week, is a fun way the group reaches out to the community. During this event, the club hires a chef and sells African food for $10.
The club also plans to host "Gitahi's Own," a sculpture exhibit displaying the work of local artist Gitahi Gititi.
S.A.W.A. is also hosting "Lights for Africa," an event in which 200 students will receive small hot-air balloons to simultaneously release on the URI Quadrangle.
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