Sounds and Culture Come Alive During Africa Unwrapped

Drums pulsated while the exotic smells of Ethiopian food wafted into and filled the Vaughn Courtyard last Thursday. The Africa Unwrapped event put on by Diversity Fellowship, UT Stand, International Student Organization and Extreme Elite was put on to educate students at the University of Tampa on a subject that is rarely touched upon in our curriculum: the continent of Africa.

The event was put on to “demystify” subjects of African culture in a laid back setting.

Students who participated in the event were able to enjoy drumming, food, dance and even lectures from UT faculty who were generous enough to lend their time to the event.

“It was a very good experience. It was informative and enjoyable,” said freshman Camilla Chebet.

“We got to know so many things in a very informal setting.

The best part was the lecture from Chioke [I’anson, a UT philosophy professor], the food and the dancers.”

Those participating got to experience great lectures that ranged from the topic of genocide to “Nollywood,” the Nigerian version of Hollywood.

Students truly relished the foreign tastes provided by the Queen of Sheba Restaurant and lined up for tie-dye t-shirts as the Kuumba dancers engaged the students on stage.

“We really don’t talk about he continent of Africa on campus, even though we have the resources to do so.

We wanted to put on an informative and also enjoyable experience,” said Randy Tarnowski, president of Diversity Fellowship.

The anti-genocide group on campus, UT Stand, gave information about the genocide going on in various African countries and student Chris Mitchel helped spread education and awareness by selling Ugandan beads.

The program Beads For Life, lead by Mitchel, sold jewelry made by Ugandan women.

All of the proceeds from those sales went to help those women support their children and even pay for AIDS medication.

Mitchel raised around $400 in cash by selling the beads, but has yet to add up the credit transactions that took place.

“I chose the Unwrapped [event] as a venue because the whole concept behind the program was to raise awareness about subjects that we only hear about every now and then on the news,” said Mitchel.

He was exited about the amount of people that he was able to reach out to and even included small pamphlets with the beads that he sold with relevant information.

“The whole point is not to buysomething pretty; you’re helping spread a message,” Mitchel said.
Africa Unwrapped allowed many to learn and become more aware of African culture so that from now on, even here at UT, students can have a hand in changing the future.

“It helped us make change through a campus event. The more awareness we have, the better chance we have of changing the future,” Chebet said.

If you would like to contact Nicole Robinson, email nrobinson@ut.edu.