EVENT REFLECTIONS

Lylian Fotabong, PhD candidate, Applied

Linguistics, MIC

For the past 16 years, the Irish Aid at the Department of Foreign Affairs has led different governmental and non-governmental, community groups, and several other agencies to celebrate Africa Day in Ireland. Over this period, I have participated in different capacities, as singer, announcer, moderator, and MC, but I found this year to be especially inspiring and significant because, firstly, Covid-19 pandemic dramatically shut down lives and societies and made me to evaluate how best I can help to inform my society about core issues such as equality, and inclusion at all levels of all people. Secondly, the ongoing Ukrainian war exposed how governments around the world readily offer preferential treatments to a select group of people fleeing war torn zones. For example, the way some Ukrainians are fleeing the war eerily resemble the way some Africans flee their home countries in search of refuge. Sadly, Africans continue to be received and treated dissimilarly in many host countries. This forced me to reflect my position as a proud African Irish in Mary Immaculate College (MIC) and I found that it was important that, as Africans, we should lead conversations on issues that directly affect and impact us – some that are often misunderstood or misrepresented and others that are narrated by people with no experiences as Africans. This led me to conceptualise a conference that would discuss issues about Africans and by Africans, while also granting me the opportunity to further integrate with MIC staff, and to physically connect with the campus in a post Covid-19 era. I am still thrilled that MIC accepted the vision and agreed to actualise - bring it to fruition and that we were able to make the day distinctive and memorable for everyone.

Florence Ajala,

PhD Candidate, Early Childhood Studies, MIC

“I am not African because I was born in Africa but because Africa was born in me” Kwame Nkrumah. As a Nigerian living in Ireland, I always look forward to Africa Day celebration annually in Limerick to promote my cultural heritage and identify with being an African immigrant in Ireland. This year’s Africa Day celebration is dear to my heart because I have the privileged to present some preliminary works of my PhD studies titled ‘A qualitative phenomenological study investigating the lived experiences of Nigerian immigrant mothers who reside in Ireland, and their engagement with their children’s universal early childhood care and education (ECCE) scheme. Also, I am delighted that I am witnessing the celebration of Africa Day in an Irish academic institution. A huge thank you to Mary Immaculate College Limerick for hosting this event.

Linda Kirwisa,

Social Worker

I have lived in Ireland for over 15 years. It has been common practice to celebrate Africa Day and organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The celebrations usually spread over one week with different activities each day until a family fun day which concludes the celebrations. This is characterised by several activities on the day such as children’s activities, face painting, music, and a variety of African food. In Limerick, it usually took place in the popular venue known as the food market. This is an open space, and so allowed for people of different ethnic groups to join the event.

There have been a few African events that I have been involved in as an organiser, but these were limited to a particular function or day and therefore restricted and focused on the one aspect. The Africa day event held at Mary Immaculate College was unique in nature and had a distinctive peculiarity. This makes it very special not only to me as one of the three organisers but also to most of the attendees including the foreign students. I hope they will agree with me that there was a touch of uniqueness that is not easy to define. May be simple is good. There was a psychological touch to it that may have resonated with most of the people in the audience. This was my first time of feeling emotional at an Africa Day event and I can only liken it to moments of relieving. It took me back to places where I grew up and a flush of fond memories flooded my thoughts. Negative thoughts also such as, remembering people who had been part of my life but have since passed on. Those people who instilled in us/me a sense of self and belonging, the difference between right and wrong, and that life can be hard but to keep going.

The inception of organising Africa day began as a concept and sounded great. However, when it came to the practical issues of operationalising, we experienced a bit of anxiety. There were issues of contention namely, the Ukrainian war having intensified at the time, and therefore questionable as to whether it was morally correct to celebrate the day, whether we would get any support. Venue was another big issue for us. Nonetheless, from the start we had agreed that people were the main resources required and for this reason, our plan had a minimal budget of not more than euro 200 which the three of us gladly agreed to contribute towards. As organisers, we felt that using our own resources was empowering and demonstrated the capacity to think outside the box. There is a sense of pride in organising the celebration of oneself, loved ones and those who want to be part of it. That cannot be defined in monetary terms.

Going back to the venue, Ms Lylian Fotabong volunteered to approach Mary Immaculate College and to our surprise, not only was there no hesitation to accommodate the event but there was willingness also to offer support. We were privileged to have the support of Holly Cowman (Director of International Engagement) and Prof. Lorraine McIlrath (Director of EDI & I) to the very end, and including sharing with them a dinner, Jellof Rice, one of the continent’s popular dishes. And for this we are very grateful.

Additional preparations from my perspective were two-fold. One was to ensure the collaboration from the inter interagency whom we thought would fit with the Africa Day Theme “The Way We Left” and preparing also for the speech on the day. The Chinese saying that a long journey starts with nothing, but a step formed my attitude as one of the organisers of the Africa day event. The planning and preparations that lasted a month included late night meetings, phone calls, emails, contacting relevant people. This was in addition to our day-to-day jobs which meant multi-tasking other aspects of these new challenging tasks. Nonetheless, we had commitment, goodwill and resolve to achieve this day and this helped to make bearable the tedious task of organising the event.

As the keynote speaker for the Africa Day event, this was psychologically challenging in nature as it bore a sensitive topic. I had to revisit and relieve memories of my childhood merging them with a few other African settings or cultures so to capture what I thought would resonate with most Africans and tie in with the topics of the two other speakers. This made me to realise what the movie stars go through when they must depict certain characteristics to revisit the life story as experienced by the character they play. This is exactly what I did - revisiting my childhood days that I carry with me laden with fond memories save for the feelings of loss and hurt living away from home and yet taking advantage, adapting, and adjusting to the environment that I find myself in Ireland.

PROF. LORRAINE McILRATH

Inaugural Director, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and Interculturalism (EDII)

We are Mary Immaculate College (MIC) are so delighted and honoured to host the first MIC Africa Day 2022.

This event was led by our African students as a partnership with MIC staff, students and our community partners. This event we feel provides a space for intercultural engagement, knowledge sharing and an opportunity to learn about the diverse cultures and traditions of Africa. Our doctoral students Lylian Fotabong, Florence Ajala along with Linda Kirwasa drove this event from their own lived experiences in their own countries, and their experiences of living in Ireland. They, with their energy and passion, catalysed huge momentum to create this very successful and significant day that we have decided as a community of practice to host on campus as an annual forum for engagement.

Since 2018, MIC has been committed to the development of Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Interculturalism (EDII) and now embedded within the Strategic Plan, ‘A Flourishing Learning Community 2020-2023’ (2019). A unique aspect of this work at MIC is the inclusion of ‘interculturalism’ as a key objective in terms of creating a culture of welcome for diverse communities and ensuring that MIC promotes inclusion for all. MIC is committed to making ‘a difference in the broader world, bearing in mind a received obligation to galvanise efforts to foster social justice and promote equality for the most marginalised’ (2019, p33). The EDII work strives to be innovative and creative that will seek to engage all members of the MIC community. The hosting of Africa Day 2022 is central to our ethos and practice.

In addition, Africa Day comes at a very significant moment in terms in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion in Ireland as the Irish government through the Higher Education Authority recently published the results of the first National Race Equality Survey of all higher education institutions in Ireland (HEA, 2021). The overall aim of the survey was to ascertain the lived experience of higher education staff and race equality. This had led to the publication of the Race Equality Report in 2021 that sets out to ensure the equal representation, experience and outcomes of staff from diverse backgrounds. It is vital for the progression of the sector that we find new ways to engage in discourse and deepen knowledge and appreciation of all people. The Irish government through the HEA is committed to the elimination of racial discrimination and the promotion. Eight thematic areas were identified in this Report to improve collegiality with higher education in Ireland and include: supporting diversity in staff; supporting diversity in student recruitment; make race equality policies visible; reporting mechanisms; awareness and training; fostering diversity in higher education; leadership; and data collection. Africa Day at MIC has been a significant step towards those goals and we are already eager and excited to hosting the 2023 event.

On behalf of the EDII Office at Mary Immaculate College would like to thank the organising committee, the speakers, those who have authored this report, attendees and our colleagues in the College.