The African family is built around a common life. The family is the primordial cell of society, the place where we learn to be attentive to others and serve them unostentatiously. The family is the melting pot of the values that irrigate the whole culture, the place where customs, wisdom, and moral principles are handed down, the cradle of unconditional love.
Without the family, neither society nor the church exists anymore. The family lays the foundation on which we construct the building of our life. Parents are man’s first educators. The family is a place where man learns to be of service to society. In Africa, the family has never closed in on itself; it takes its place within a larger social fabric.
The tribe and the village are generally the natural extensions of the family; the tribe conveys the culture, and protects and transmits some very ancient traditions. An African proverb says, “It takes a whole village to educate a child.” Everyone receives and in the same action, participates in the survival of the group: I speak about survival because nothing is easy. This sense of belonging can be seriously perverted, particularly when some tribes resort to the logic of pride, hatred and disdain for others.
Nevertheless, nothing replaces the family, where we can understand the depth of giving and love. Familial harmony can be the reflection of the harmony of heaven. That is the real treasure of Africa!
MUGERWA MARK JUDE
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