Friends from Cairo: Who do I say you are?

 

Kofi Yeboah Writes,

In Matthew 16:15-16, Jesus Christ asked his disciples: “Who do you say I am?” and Peter answered correctly by declaring the divine identity of Jesus.

In Cairo, Egypt, after meeting the participants of the ‘58^th Training Course for Young African Journalists’ for one week, I hereby play the character of Jesus but, unlike him, I turn the question in the opposite direction: “Who do I say you are?”

I elect myself, as Peter did, to answer the question, thus, becoming both the examiner and the examined, but leaving the real assessment to whomsoever is marking the script.

Although the participants who attended the training course were from different countries and cultures, it was obvious that three weeks of intellectual discourse and lively intercourse succeeded in dismantling whatever barriers that previously blocked their connection.

The francophone participants

Chadians are normally calm, polite and reserved, and in Nathan, those character traits are glaring.

Apart from his official language, French, he speaks ‘small small’ English and he is not too much of a talker.

Nathan mostly engaged with the francophone colleagues and, occasionally, with the anglophone participants when necessary.

There were two participants from Congo Brazaville but one of them returned home on the day I arrived in Cairo, denying me good friendship.

But her colleague, Grace, gave me enough reason not to count that loss in friendship.

Although Nathan’s ‘small small’ English was better than Grace’s, the latter mingled more and communicated better with the anglophone participants, even to the extent of courting an anglo-franco holy matrimony.

What I loved about Grace was that she did not care about the worries of observers, telling them without mincing words that she was even prepared to be a second wife.

Anglophone participants

From Ghana, Porcia and Ebo were very active participants in curricula and extra-curricula activities, apart from having cordial relations with all the participants.

I don’t think the jury will overrule my holding that Porcia was the most excited and exciting participant in the course; not even the discomfort of sore throat could stop her from grabbing that title.

Her love for fashion was defined by her dress code on a daily basis, and she ‘killed it’ on ‘Cultural Day’ in her beautiful kente outfit.

Ebo had real fun and got on so well with everyone, which is a typical Ghanaian attitude.

What I am not sure is typical of Ghanaians is the uncountable number of proposals he made to female participants; I lost the count after my third day with the team, and he also lost it.

Whilst departing from the hotel to the airport for our return journey, Yousra, a participant from Morocco, reminded Ebo: “You told me you will become a Moslem to marry me”, and he responded: “I don’t remember”.

Like Porcia and Ebo, the participants from Kenya – Awuor and Anita – are very lively and lovely, which are typical attributes of Kenyans.

Unsurprisingly, and coming from the country of birth of the renowned African author, educationist and playwright, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, they are intellectually active.

Awuor choses her words carefully, and with that meticulousness underlining her good sense of humour, it does not take a struggle to grasp the message.

She is quite unyielding, especially in discussions, debates and any show of chauvinistic tendencies.

But Awuor is very respectful, caring and helpful just like her colleague from Kenya.

Anita is soft-spoken but she is very tough in conviction and articulate in expression.

She is very peaceful and stays away from trouble, but she is not afraid to confront same when it shows up.

Nigeria is very large in land size and population, and, consequently, Nigerians love to be in charge of any land they occupy.

In that respect, Sunday is a Nigerian, indeed.

He comes across as a natural leader and so serving as the ‘Chairman’ for the group was a matter of course, as he discharged the role diligently and happily.

Sunday is a mischief-maker and has a good sense of humour such that in his presence, there is absence of boredom.

On the night of the closing day, which happened to be the last night for most of the participants before departure, he informed everyone about ‘The Last Super’ taking place.

But whereas there were 12 disciples in the biblical account of ‘The Last Super’, there were only four ‘disciples’ in ‘The Last Super’ at Infantry House.

Emmanuel is not too much of a talker and that is not typical of a Nigerian.

But at any invitation, he is an active discussant with a good sense of humour, an attribute you cannot miss in a Nigerian.

The Tanzanian pair of Happiness and Kaitira both have quiet demeanour but for the happiness that Happiness always exudes.

That happiness may be more of her nature than the wonderful nature in Egypt she was exposed to, hence, her recommendation for a reduction in the period of the training course from three to two weeks.

Happiness is a good conversationist one-on-one and she looks humble but not timid.

Kaitira is the tallest among the participants but standing at 6 ft+, he is the softest-spoken among them all.

He is very gentle and diplomatic, some very fine attributes that endear him to people.

Obviously, these attributes must have earned Kaitira the ‘Grace of Love’ from a female participant who is not bothered to become his second wife.

The Arabic participants

The first time I met Yousra, a participant from Morocco, she instantly caught my attention with her aggression, passion, conviction and frankness.

She speaks ‘small small’ English but she loves to speak plenty of it just to engage people and subject matters, and when she takes a position, she remains fixed like a pyramid.

Until she has finished making her point, she hardly allows others to talk, interjecting their submissions and injecting them with her owns views.

Her disposition of not listening to others during discussion may be a weakness in her but that weakness is subdued by her frank, friendly and caring nature.

Latifa, another participant from Morocco, is almost the opposite of Yousra – she talks less and has a quiet disposition.

She exhibits a lot of kindness and respect, apart from being very friendly.

The participants from Egypt had a common trait – friendliness – that may flow from their status as hosts of the training course and character as a people.

It was very pleasant and great pleasure meeting all these wonderful colleagues in the inky fraternity from across Africa.

Shkran!

Kindly share your thoughts and read other articles on this blog

Writer’s Email: kofiyebo@yahoo.com