Africa dances into the spotlight
The sounds and tastes of nations ranging from Ethiopia to Tanzania were on offer yesterday as Auckland joined in worldwide celebrations of Africa Day.
Emmanuel Tettey-Ofoe, an international student from Ghana, said the event was a chance to showcase Africa’s diversity and positive side.
‘‘Usually when outsiders are reporting about Africa, they report bad things,’’ he said.
‘‘You might think that people live like monkeys in trees, and that’s far from the truth.
‘‘So it’s an opportunity for us to sell the good things about Africa to New Zealanders.’’
Tettey-Ofoe is completing a twoyear Christian ministry course at Auckland’s Laidlaw College, and will return to Ghana at the end of the year to become a pastor.
He said New Zealand had been very welcoming.
‘‘We’ve found it an absolutely beautiful place full of beautiful people, so it was easy for us to settle in.’’
Tettey-Ofoe said it had been an eye-opener coming to a country where the African community was very small.
‘‘You feel like a little drop of water in the ocean,’’ he said.
Fellow student Stephen Nortey said New Zealand had become a home away from home.
‘‘When I came here I realised that people are people, whether they are white, black, Caucasian, Asian … How people behave is the same everywhere,’’ he said.
At the 2013 census there were 13,464 people of African ethnicity living in New Zealand – just 0.3 per cent of the population.
James Rotimi moved to New Zealand from Nigeria in 2004, and is now the programme leader in construction management at AUT’s School of Engineering.
He said he and his children identified with both their birth culture and their adopted country.
‘‘We are Nigerians, but at the same time we see ourselves as Kiwi,’’ he said, ‘‘so we call ourselves NigerKiwis.’’
‘‘New Zealand is home, but we still have very strong connections with our roots.’’
Tettey-Ofoe said the diversity of the African community showed that it was possible for people from different cultures and beliefs to come together.
‘‘Africa is a diverse place, but we are united in our diversity,’’ he said. ‘‘I believe that the outside world can learn that from Africa.’’