For doctoral student Abubakar Idris , the African Studies Center is his home on MSU’s campus.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been very close to the African Studies Center because I think it’s my second home because I’m away from home,” said Idris , a native of Nigeria.
That is how Idris found out about African Tea Time, a biweekly social event organized by the African Studies Center and a student group called Kongamano.
Assistant to the Director Damaris Choti said the event was launched in 2012 as a means to get more students involved with the center.
“When the African Studies Center was operating (then), student services was not cooperated in the program,” Choti said.
She said they wanted to start an initiative that would engage students in an informal discussion, instead of research and lectures.
“In most African countries, family and friends get together over tea for interaction,” Choti said.
The event is geared toward bringing together students, faculty and community members who are interested in Africa, Choti said. Attendees can learn while socializing and having the traditional tea and snacks of the featured countries.
Each meeting is focused on two or three African countries within a specific region.
Choti said it’s usually a student, faculty or a community member from the particular countries who lead a short presentation about various aspects of their home countries, like geography, culture and social life.
Lansing-based singer and songwriter Freddy Nyembwe attended the tea time focused on Angola, Cameroon and the Congos to speak about his country, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Nyembwe, a specialized bilingual educator in the Lansing School District, said having such an event is important so that people can be informed about the latest news in African countries.
“If there is something happening in Congo you can’t see it (on) CNN,” he said.
Idris said the event is also meant to provide students from Africa the chance to reflect on the issues that are affecting their countries and trying to collectively find a solution to fix them, using the knowledge and education they get here at MSU.
“One big takeaway from today is understanding that we share a lot of challenges as Africans, regardless of which country or region in Africa everyone comes from,” Idris said.
African Tea Time is hosted in room 303 of the International Center. The next tea time will be hosted on Oct. 16 and will be focused on Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.
