AFRICA/TOGO - Nobody knows the ways of the Lord: the story of an African who returns to the origins

Wednesday, 14 February 2018 culture   society   education   development  

DKD

Kolowarè (Agenzia Fides) - Djery is a young man originally from the village of Alibi, Togo, but who lived in the Ivory Coast and in Europe. "I was a Muslim, but I returned to the religion of my ancestors. I rediscovered my roots. Nobody knows the ways of the Lord". This is how the story of this young man born in Abidjan, in the Ivory Coast, in 1987, former bookseller and social-cultural animator in Paris begins. After years of living in the West, Djery Kpakpalikpa Djiwa decided to return to live in Africa, in the village of origin of his parents.
"Two reasons, among others, can explain this decision", he explains to Agenzia Fides. "The first, the most important, is the desire to promote reading as a tool for learning and growth. Good education and a good general culture will help improve the conditions of our continent, especially rural communities. It is necessary to develop a critical overlook, freedom to think. All this is built, and it is one of the many challenges of today's world".
"A second, deeper reason pushes me: the return to the origins represents a search for identity, an opportunity to see, discover, know the habits and customs of my people. Due to the excessive westernization of our societies, most of the components of the soul of our peoples are getting lost. Does this mean abandoning or denying all that meticulous work of research, which is Africa's contribution to world culture?", says the young man.
Djery Kpakpalikpa Djiwa adds: "I have to recognize my history, my past, my culture, my religion. I feel the need to rediscover my past history; the decolonization of my cultural universe is the obligatory passage for my rebirth. At the moment, I Westernized African, will never cease to discover how important the imported cultures are for the development of the continent, its cultures and authentic traditions".
His project of life - he explains - aims to become aware of the past, of local cultures, and intends to "rediscover the beauty of life in Africa, and in rural areas in particular, in order to protect our communities from the many dangers that today threaten them. I hope I can succeed in making the traditional world and the modern world coexist, the only guarantee of a real sustainable and lasting development", concludes Djeri. (DKD/AP) (Agenzia Fides, 14/2/2018)


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