Do they know it's Christmas time at all?
Christmas in Africa varies greatly. In some undeveloped and low income countries across the African continent, they can not afford a great amount of food let alone a lavished feast or presents at Christmas. However, some developed countries in Africa such as Seychelles can afford Christmas and have lavished Christmases just like we do in the UK. In Burundi or Uganda on the other hand, they enjoy little things like rice which is a luxury which we may take for granted. I also think that we take lavish experiences for granted and the more extravagant we become with things, the more we expect. This article highlights Christmas in Africa and both ends of the financial spectrum in African countries.
Along with Islam, Christianity is a largely practised religion across Africa and some experts believe that Christianity spread across North Africa before it spread across Northern Europe. This meant that they were a very religious continent and therefore would desire to celebrate the religious event of Christmas. The majority of African countries do not focus on gift giving as much as we do because they are more religious - essentially they believe that the birth of Jesus is the greatest and most important gift at Christmas. If gifts are bought, in urban areas of Africa, the most common gift is new clothes that are intended to be worn at church. In rural areas, not many countries can afford luxurious gifts and if they can, there are not many local places that sell gifts. If gifts are given in rural areas of Africa, they are usually practical gifts such as school books, soap, candles, and cloth. These things would be highly appreciated in rural regions of Africa but we may not be that appreciative if we received some cloth on Christmas Day.
Christmas dinner is an important ritual in African countries that celebrate Christmas and they try to make a large event out of it. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is summer by the time it reaches December or in Africa ‘the dry season’ as they only have two seasons, the dry and the wet season. Therefore, Christmas activities in places such as South Africa includes sun bathing, trips to the beach and eating al fresco which is typical summer food, for example, salad, cold food and antipasti type food. Also, goat may be roasted and biltong is eaten which is meat that has been cured and dried. The meat includes animals living in grassland areas such as kudu, impala, wildebeest and ostrich. However, some families in Africa have a traditional, British based meal complete with mince pies, turkey and Christmas hats. Christmas dinner in Ghana is not complete without okra and fufu soup which some African people consider as a luxury and it is partly like an African version of gumbo. In Liberia, rice, beef and biscuits are all on the menu for Christmas dinner.
Usually, the main focus of Christmas in Africa is the church celebrations. Nativities are performed, carols are sung and sometimes, dances are performed. In Malawi, (a low income country) groups of young children go door-to-door to perform dances and sing carols accompanied with homemade instruments to earn a small wage of cash, just in the same way that western carol singers do. After a church congregation on Christmas Eve, there is a happy gathering with music and dancing. Processions also take place, for example in Gambia, large lanterns in the shape of boats or houses called fanals are carried during parades. Every country has a celebration, large or small, no matter how high their Christian population is.
Christmas carols are sung across Africa from Ghana to South Africa. Many songs sung are at church and are religious songs, of course these all vary across Africa. Band Aid wrote a song called ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ and this was to make money for African families in Ethiopia to help provide food and clean water. However, this song is arguably misleading as in Ethiopia, they celebrate Christmas traditionally on the 7th of January. This is because they follow Christmas according to the ancient Julian calendar and Christmas is known as ‘Ganna’. An Ethiopian Christmas starts with a day of fasting and church services are held on the day with meals consisting of vegetables, stew and sour dough bread. Whilst very few people will give and receive presents, others would rather play games and make friends instead. This is mainly because they cannot afford any presents and they would like to share the festivities with each other before returning to work. This country is a low income country and therefore, not everyone will get opportunities to share festivities or eat food. The Band Aid song was written to make people aware that not everyone is as fortunate as us and gives us the perspective of developing countries that we may not have thought about before. The song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ was written in 1984 as a direct reaction to the 1983-1985 television reports about the famine in Ethiopia, which showed starving children and crops dying. However, it is not a true representation of the whole of Africa and it is important to remember that.
Alice Cronin, Year 8
Along with Islam, Christianity is a largely practised religion across Africa and some experts believe that Christianity spread across North Africa before it spread across Northern Europe. This meant that they were a very religious continent and therefore would desire to celebrate the religious event of Christmas. The majority of African countries do not focus on gift giving as much as we do because they are more religious - essentially they believe that the birth of Jesus is the greatest and most important gift at Christmas. If gifts are bought, in urban areas of Africa, the most common gift is new clothes that are intended to be worn at church. In rural areas, not many countries can afford luxurious gifts and if they can, there are not many local places that sell gifts. If gifts are given in rural areas of Africa, they are usually practical gifts such as school books, soap, candles, and cloth. These things would be highly appreciated in rural regions of Africa but we may not be that appreciative if we received some cloth on Christmas Day.
Christmas dinner is an important ritual in African countries that celebrate Christmas and they try to make a large event out of it. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is summer by the time it reaches December or in Africa ‘the dry season’ as they only have two seasons, the dry and the wet season. Therefore, Christmas activities in places such as South Africa includes sun bathing, trips to the beach and eating al fresco which is typical summer food, for example, salad, cold food and antipasti type food. Also, goat may be roasted and biltong is eaten which is meat that has been cured and dried. The meat includes animals living in grassland areas such as kudu, impala, wildebeest and ostrich. However, some families in Africa have a traditional, British based meal complete with mince pies, turkey and Christmas hats. Christmas dinner in Ghana is not complete without okra and fufu soup which some African people consider as a luxury and it is partly like an African version of gumbo. In Liberia, rice, beef and biscuits are all on the menu for Christmas dinner.
Usually, the main focus of Christmas in Africa is the church celebrations. Nativities are performed, carols are sung and sometimes, dances are performed. In Malawi, (a low income country) groups of young children go door-to-door to perform dances and sing carols accompanied with homemade instruments to earn a small wage of cash, just in the same way that western carol singers do. After a church congregation on Christmas Eve, there is a happy gathering with music and dancing. Processions also take place, for example in Gambia, large lanterns in the shape of boats or houses called fanals are carried during parades. Every country has a celebration, large or small, no matter how high their Christian population is.
Christmas carols are sung across Africa from Ghana to South Africa. Many songs sung are at church and are religious songs, of course these all vary across Africa. Band Aid wrote a song called ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ and this was to make money for African families in Ethiopia to help provide food and clean water. However, this song is arguably misleading as in Ethiopia, they celebrate Christmas traditionally on the 7th of January. This is because they follow Christmas according to the ancient Julian calendar and Christmas is known as ‘Ganna’. An Ethiopian Christmas starts with a day of fasting and church services are held on the day with meals consisting of vegetables, stew and sour dough bread. Whilst very few people will give and receive presents, others would rather play games and make friends instead. This is mainly because they cannot afford any presents and they would like to share the festivities with each other before returning to work. This country is a low income country and therefore, not everyone will get opportunities to share festivities or eat food. The Band Aid song was written to make people aware that not everyone is as fortunate as us and gives us the perspective of developing countries that we may not have thought about before. The song ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ was written in 1984 as a direct reaction to the 1983-1985 television reports about the famine in Ethiopia, which showed starving children and crops dying. However, it is not a true representation of the whole of Africa and it is important to remember that.
Alice Cronin, Year 8