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Students, community experience Africa through Taste of the Motherland

by By Tyler Jeffe For the Collegian

Dozens of students and State College citizens experienced a taste of African cuisine at the Taste of the Motherland dinner Friday. The event, hosted at the Albright-Bethune United Methodist Church by the African Students' Association(ASA), was designed to showcase African culture and social life as well as raise funds for Touch of Africa, the organization's most well-known event, said Al-Hassan Sheriff, ASA president.Attendees were invited to sample foods from various countries in Africa and listen to African music for $15. ASA members from different countries cooked dishes from their native lands to provide a diverse assortment of African foods. "This is not just for African students. We really wanted to reach out to the community," Sheriff (junior-public relations) said. "A lot of members helped plan the event. We have foods from all over Africa." Moromoke Adeleke (senior-supply chain and information systems) provided Egusi Stew, a dish from Nigeria made with ingredients including chicken, melon, dried fish and turkey.

Fatou Diouf (junior-life sciences) provided Jollof rice, a dish that is a popular meal throughout western Africa. However, Diouf, as well as other ASA members, noted the taste of foods was different from country to country. "Jollof rice is eaten a lot in western Africa, but in Senegal we make it the best," she said. For many students, the event was a chance to try African food for the first time. "I've never had African food before, so

I had no expectations. But it is very good," Becky Wieczorek (graduate-geosciences) said. Students waiting to eat looked forward to tasting something different than a typical Penn State meal. "We're all excited about trying something new. We're not really sure what to expect," said attendee Behdad Masih Tehrani (junior-industrial engineering). Others had a better idea of what to expect from the African food. Jimi Ogunkua (graduate-environmental pollution control), a student from Nigeria, has experienced some African food but was still looking forward to trying something new. "There is a big difference from region to region with African foods. I've had food from the east and west -- I'm looking forward to trying food from southern Africa," he said. After they had finished, students were invited to the after party, where they experienced more African culture through music. Though the dinner was smaller in size than the annual Touch of Africa event, Sheriff said it is important Penn State students have more than one chance to experience African culture. "We are mostly known for Touch of Africa, which only happens once a year," Sheriff said. "Events like this give people a chance to experience African culture and social life through food and music."

Salamy Sisters Contribute

African Champ
Seymira Salamy has made an impact as a freshman.

By Kurt Bopp
Collegian Staff Writer
In the first match of her Penn State career, Seymira Salamy was defintiely nervous. Few freshman joined the team with more expectations than she did.
But shortly before halftime, Salamy found herself with the ball and eluded a tackle to get to the sideline. She raced all the way to the endzone, scoring her first try of her career and of the match.
And just like that, she showed she could live up to the hype.
Salamy is one of the many talented rookies of the Lady Ruggers this season, the type of player they have been waiting for.
"I've known about her for a long time," head coach Pete Steinberg said. "We're really excited to have her."
In only five exhibition matches, Salamy has already made her mark. Against Shippensburg, she scored two tries and set up a third. Last weekend in the Beantown tournament, Salamy accounted for two of the team's tries in the tournament championship.
Watching Salamy elude defenders can be deceiving, as she makes it look as easy as she thinks it is.
"Four of the teams there were pretty easy," Seymira said of the tournament. "[Brown] was a challenge because they could tackle, and I'm not that physical, but beside that they were pretty easy, too."
Saying she isn't physical is quite the understatement.
Salamy, one of the smallest players on the team, relies mostly on speed and agility to score.
Despite the size difference, Salamy never really thinks about getting tackled -- unlike her father.
"I'm very concerned about her safety," Ganieyou Salamy said. "I told her my concerns and told her to listen to the coaches to be OK. She knows to be careful."
Seymira acknowledged her father's concerns but said he has been supportive throughout her career.
"He tells us school is first, because you can get hurt and never play again," Seymira said, "but they can never take away what is in your head."
It took Ganieyou a week to sign the papers to allow his older daughter, Ani, to play in high school.
Seymira and her family had moved from the Ivory Coast to State College in 2001, and two years later, Ani started rugby. Seymira, in 8th grade at the time, was playing basketball. But her coaches used to sit her down because she was "too aggressive" on defense. As if that wasn't enough, the players weren't friendly or welcoming to Seymira, who still struggled with English.
Every day she would go home upset and hear Ani talk about rugby.
"She would tell me how great it was and how nice the girls were," Seymira said. "It sounded so great."
Once in high school, Seymira joined her sister on the team at State College Area High School and made an immediate impact.
"My first game, coach said, 'Just catch the ball and run,' " Seymira recalls.
Within the first five minutes of the game, which she started, Seymira was slamming the ball down for the first try of her career.
Nearly three years later, Seymira joined the U.S. Women's Under-20 National Team. With the team, she traveled all over the United States and even to South Africa for a month this summer.
Her family and friends back in the Ivory Coast are simply surprised.
"They don't believe it," Seymira said. "They remember me as the girliest girl. They don't believe it until they go online and see me. Everyone thinks I'm so small."
Seymira was thrilled to play for Penn State, one of the best programs in the country, consistently advancing to the national championship. Ani played for the Lady Ruggers her freshman year until a hamstring injury almost caused her to give up on the sport -- until now.
"Seeing [Seymira] play motivated me to come back," Ani said. "[Playing with her] is one of the main reasons I came back. Being together on the Penn State team is the best."
After watching Penn State scrimmage Shippensburg, Ani approached Steinberg and asked to come back, saying she is perfectly healthy. Now she is playing with her sister, who never would have gotten into rugby if not for Ani.
Rugby could become more than just a hobby for Seymira. Though she is concerned about how it will affect her body, she got excited thinking about her future.
"I love rugby," Seymira said. "It's my life. I want to play until I can't anymore."

Daily Collegian: September 18, 2008

Event sheds light on 'misunderstood' Africa

Shima Shima Kabirigi (junior-economics) talks about her experience living in Africa during the "So ... you live in a hut" presentation in the Life Sciences building last night. Several students from Africa shared their stories about a country they called misunderstood.

By Erin Prah
Collegian Staff Writer
When Ngonidzashe Mpofu (sophomore-pre-medicine) came from Zimbabwe to America for high school, the school officials wanted to put her in eighth grade with her peers, but academically, she was a high school senior.
She was ahead of her age group because many African schools, where she had had her previous schooling, are more academically competitive. But the American high school didn't see it that way.
"They still held me back to eighth grade," she said. "They said I was too young."
Mpofu shared her story at the "So... You Live In A Hut" event last night, sponsored by the African Student Association as a way to dispel myths about students who grew up or lived in Africa at one point.
Al-Hassan Sheriff (sophomore-public relations), who was an emcee for the event, said it was necessary because students have a lot of misconceptions about Africa and people from Africa.
"It's imperative we do this to bridge the gap between students," Sheriff said. "The whole purpose is to be more enlightened and take what we learn here to the real world."
At the beginning of the presentation, Alzetta Williamson (sophomore-life science), the other emcee, asked the audience to say the first thing that comes to mind when they thought of Africa.
"Africa is wonderful," Agaba Tumusiime, an MBA student, said, which brought some laughter from the audience. Some other answers included pyramids, people barely clothed, vibrant colors, and then Tumusiime gave another answer.
"Africa is misunderstood," he said.
As a way to clear up those misunderstandings, Williamson and Sheriff presented a powerpoint with little known facts about Africa. For example, actress Charlize Theron was born in South Africa, her first language was Afrikaan and she didn't learn English until she came to the states. Soccer player Zinedine Zidane, actress Thandie Newton, singer/songwriter Dave Matthews and wife of John Kerry, Teresa Heinz Kerry, are all originally from African countries.
One area of misunderstanding was the languages that are spoken in Africa. Tumusiime explained that because Africa was at one time colonized by different countries, languages like English, French, Portuguese and Dutch are all spoken in different parts of Africa.
Sheriff said the Nigerian film industry is third in the world, behind Hollywood and Bollywood, making 10 movies a week and that Africa is the fastest growing mobile telecommunications market in the world, with seven out of 10 people having a mobile phone.
They told the audience about a group on Facebook.com called "The Africa They Never Show You," which features pictures of places in Africa.
Shima Kabirigi (junior-economics) spoke at the event and said she has lived in 10 countries including France and Uganda and that she didn't experience racism until she came to the U.S.

The Daily Collegian: January 31, 2008