The kelie and the tabilie drums
of Sierra Leone

Although it was warm and humid I got four good hours of work in the gardens around our house today. Tonight we went to the graduation party of our African niece from Sierra Leone. She is the one I talked about in the posting called the Pinning. People from Sierra Leone know how to celebrate, with music, dance and plenty of good food and drink. While eating a variety of African foods I put something orange in my mouth. It was the hottest thing I have ever eaten and it took the rest of my Guinness beer and two bottles of water before I found some relief. Food from Sierra Leone, a hot climate, is spicy hot but this orange thing was beyond that.

Traditionally when we go to a celebration with people from Sierra Leone we come too early. The parties start a few hours after the assigned time and last into the late hours. This was going to start at 8pm so we arrived at 9:30 only to find the event had already started with prayer. After that was the time to eat. Everyone brings some wonderful food and everyone takes a plate of food home afterwards. After eating it is time to dance. The real culture comes out in the dance with the heavy drum beats and the colorful clothes of the dancers.

When people started to leave before we did and since we were not the first ones present my wife, Pat, commented that the people of Sierra Leone are becoming Americanized in their sense of time.

My Sierra Leone nephew (it is customary to call older adults uncle or auntie) came in from a short visit. I had worked with him on a foundation he had created, Seisay Foundation to empower the young people of the country after the devastating civil war they experienced. When I asked him how the foundation was going he said not too well as donations had dropped during the recession we are experiencing in the USA. I reminded him that he has not contacted me for help at all recently and you do not get donations unless you ask.

I guess it is natural for groups coming from different cultures to fit in with the American culture and to adopt some ways. It is probably easier to hang on to your culture in Milwaukee than other cities since we are noted for our ethnic festivals and cultural events. In Milwaukee we have parades, parties and festivals for all groups of people. One thing they all have in common with the graduation party tonight is good food, music and dance. Being with first and second generation Africans in America reminds me how much we stole from the Africans who were brought here as slaves. It has been a long and hard struggle for freedom and rights for their descendants. It still goes on. The people from Sierra Leone are a reminder of how much, besides the hot orange thing, African cultures have brought to the USA.

I say thank God for immigrants no matter where they came from, legal or not. They keep us young and vibrant as the beat of the drum goes on.

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