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Lumbidzani Dima, Chronicle Reporter
ONE could catch a glimpse of a bygone era from the attire, materials and food showcasing the true African identity and beauty at the United College of Education (UCE) yesterday.

Students at the institution were dressed in different colours and prints of African attire, symbolic to different clans and tribes of Africa, with some confidently donning the Zimbabwe national fabric attire.

It was not a graduation ceremony; students were celebrating Africa Day.

Zimbabwe today joins other African countries in celebrating the 59th Africa Day which has been commemorated on May 25 since 1963.

This year’s African Union theme for the day is: “Strengthening resilience in nutrition and food security on the African continent: Strengthening agro-food systems, health, and social protection systems for the acceleration of human, social and economic capital development.”

At the UCE, African food stuffs such as amazambane (groundnuts), indigenous fruits including wild medlar (umviyo), chocolate berry (umtshwankela/tsubvu/hubvu), the bird plum (umnyi/nyii) and some African traditional herbs including sjambok tree bark (isihaqa), umgugudu and intolwane were on display.

There were displays of beaded bags, African printed plates and cups as well as some Western products to factor in diversity.

Students were excitedly going up and down the stage in groups to showcase their thrilling talents in the form of uplifting songs, poems and dances which used to be performed in the good old days.

Some were vividly shouting out praise poems staying true to their undiluted past.

The spirit was Afrocentric and kept everyone glued to their chairs. Students were enthusiastic about the whole procedure.

The theme for the day was: “Unity in Cultural Diversity-Leaving no one behind.” Surely, no culture was left behind in those mesmerising presentations.

A student and poet, Miss Dawn Nyakonda said Africa day means embracing the diversity of different cultures in Africa and Zimbabwe specifically.

“Being African actually means everything, my roots are here and I grew up here and I am a proud African.

They say that Africa moulds us to be the best people and that is very true.

I so wish we can always wear this African attire, it’s just so nice,” she said.

Miss Nyakonda said Zimbabweans have lost touch with their African roots as their daily activities revolve around Western cultures, thus forcing them to wear formal clothes daily.

“We have even made English more important than our mother tongue.

Nowadays, you even find poets confidently saying out their African poems in English only and not putting a touch of a vernacular to prove the umph of it being African,” she said.

Another student, Mr Sipho Ncube, said on Africa Day, they felt like true Africans without being ashamed.

He said people have turned their culture into a joke.

“Today we are remembering who we really are and I believe that this yearly reminder is important since we cannot do it every day.

Ubuntu has been kind of washed away by these Western cultures.

If we are not careful the next generation will not know a thing about ubuntu and true Africanism because forefathers are getting extinct as the years go by,” he said.

“It has become a joke to wear ‘ibhetshu’, even the elders have thrown it away, why? All because we are not proud of who we really are.

If we were confident enough and stood by our culture, we would have been smart.

If ‘ibhetshu’ is somehow revealing, why not wear African attire, it is just more smart than these crop tops that are the in thing for those born in the 2000s.”

The deputy principal of UCE, Ms Rosina Mavunga said the college always hosts Africa Day celebrations to make sure that student teachers get a feel of some of the African cultures they will meet as they get employed across schools in the country.

“Considering that we have so many students coming from different backgrounds and cultures and the fact that we also offer different languages, we want to celebrate the cultures of these different people.

We need to respect and accept each other’s culture. We are celebrating on the 24th so that students get to rest on the holiday,” said Ms Mavunga.

She said they were displaying African products as means to encourage everyone to use African products which are very rich.

“Traditionally, we want these students to have that in mind so that when they get deployed in rural areas, they accept the cultures and food served in those communities.

If we showcase them today, they won’t be surprised when they go out there,” said Ms Mavunga.

The guest of honour, Dr Edward Gumpo, who is a board member of the Tertiary Education Council and a former principal of UCE, hailed the college for keeping up the good standards of always celebrating Africa Day which comes once a year like Christmas.

He said it is important to celebrate Africa day to enhance and grow unity among people of Africa.

Dr Gumpo challenged other institutions to follow the footsteps of UCE in celebrating Africa day in style every year.

Other high and primary school pupils in Bulawayo such as Milton Junior in the city centre, Girls College in Suburbs, St Thomas Aquinas in Khumalo and Balfour Infant School in Bellevue turned up for class wearing traditional attire yesterday.

Some were asked to bring traditional food to eat during break time.