Maravi

Thandiwe hails traditional ceremonies

Thandiwe hails traditional ceremonies
By George Zulu
Mon 14 Feb. 2011, 04:01 CAT

TRADITIONAL ceremonies are a unifying factor which brings people from different walks of life together, says first lady Thandiwe Banda.

During the fundraising dinner for the 2011 Kuomboka traditional ceremony at Hotel InterContinental on Saturday, Thandiwe said the event was important as it signified the passing on of a cultural expression from one generation to the other.

“A cultural expression such as the Kuomboka ceremony plays a vital role in binding communities together and creating meaning in people's lives,” Thandiwe said.
She urged people to reflect deeply on the significance of the ceremony, which she said was a human victory over modernity.

“Quite often, we in Africa get carried away by the belief that to be modern' you should forsake your traditional values and customs. We place more value on the western culture forgetting that a nation that is not proud of its own indigenous value systems and cultural expressions is like a tree without roots,” she said. “A country without an indigenous culture remains prone to external influence in ways that are not always in its best interest.”

She said the nation shall be judged harshly by the future generations if it failed to sustain and preserve cultural expression because people would be denied an important reference against which to build their own developments.

Thandiwe said the success of the Kuomboka ceremony would accord the nation an opportunity to market Zambia as an important tourist destination.

“For many years now, the number of tourists that grace the ceremony has been increasing, which translates into improved government revenue, the success of this ceremony in terms of pulling huge crowds comes with considerable challenges,” said Thandiwe.

Labels: CEREMONIES, THANDIWE BANDA

posted by MrK @ 7:36 AM