PERSPECTIVES November 5, 2009 ● Mount Holyoke News 13 Welsh: MHACASA is proud that all proceeds from the dinner and show are going towards “ChildVoice International.” Donating to a charity in the Caribbean or Africa is done yearly in support of our heritages. As such, we are not only interested in broadening the views of people on campus; we want to serve as an outreach to those who are in need of our assis- tance. With this in mind, we anticipate large crowds in helping us help others. Q: The charity of your choice is ChildVoice International. What exactly is ChildVoice Inter- national, and how did the committee pick this organization? Both: Just like the theme for AC Day, org members suggested and nominated several different charities and then voted for one. Child Voice International won with 53 percent of our votes. Q: What are your future donation plans and is it going to become a regular thing? Both: As mentioned previously, fundraising for a charitable cause is at the heart of AC Day and is one of our two purposes for organizing AC Day. Each year, money is given to a new charity. We don’t usually give to the same charity more than once. Last March, we gave the proceeds from AC Day to Red Cross Kenya after the post- election violence that occurred. In March this year, we raised money for a hospital that helps to surgically treat women, chil- dren and babies raped in the Congo. How- ever, the decision of where the proceeds from AC Day should go is entirely depend- ent on the organization and who they vote for. However, if the organization feels it is important to give money to the same char- ity again and they vote for that charity, that is where the money will go. Q: AC Day has become one of the biggest an- nual events of the Mount Holyoke calendar, and MHACASA has been around since 1993. As far as you know, did AC Day backtrack to 1993 as well? Do you know who or what specifi- cally started AC Day? Opoku: To my knowledge African Caribbean Day started in 1993 when MHACASA was formed. MHACASA was formed in recognition of the need for cooperation and cohesion among African and Caribbean students at Mount Holyoke College. I believe that those who formed the organization also realized similarities among African and Caribbean students (in terms of culture). It was important, I believe, for them to share the “foreign” cultures with the new environment students found themselves in. This was essential in order to breakdown negative stereotypes and let people know who they were. However, AC Day is not the only thing that MHACASA does in order to do this. We also have Awareness Week which will take place in the spring, but AC Day is the biggest thing that we do. Q: The theme for AC Day this year is “Celebrating Our Past, Forging Our Future.” How did the theme come about, how is it relevant to our students and how is this AC Day going to celebrate the past and forge the future? Opoku: Members of our organization nominated themes and voted for them. I suggested the theme of “Celebrating our past, forging our future.” When I came up with this theme, I was thinking of what Africans and Caribbeans have in common and also what makes us diverse as MHACASA. Although they are somewhat differ- ent now, there are still underlying themes of similarities in our cultures and I felt it was im- portant to recognize this and celebrate it. It is also essential for us to forge our identi- ties as Caribbeans and Africans, not as Africans and other Africans (who have been) taken to the Caribbean. Embracing all these different identities and using these differences for the development of our regions is what forges our fu- ture. Both: This year’s AC Day will have acts that would be different from what peo- ple are used to. These acts will show our similarities as well as differences, not just as people from separate regions, but also as people from different countries. Some of the acts will show progression, featuring performance pieces from the past and its evolution to more contemporary forms. Lest we forget, the mouthwatering foods that will also serve as a uniting element for everyone involved. Q: The proceed from this year’s AC Day are going to charity. What made the committee decide to do this? Do you think it will affect the number of students attending? Opoku: African-Caribbean Day serves two purposes—to educate stu- dents about African and Caribbean cultures, and to fundraise money for a charitable cause on the African continent or in the Caribbean. Giving the proceeds of AC Day to charity is at the heart of AC Day and we hope people would be encouraged to know that AC day is not just to entertain and to educate, but also to make a differ- ence in the lives of the people that would be blessed by the money we raise. Therefore, we hope more people would come as a result. Forging African and Caribbean identities “Next we have Somalia,” were the first words I heard as I entered Chapin auditorium this week and saw stu- dents rehearsing for the 2009 African Caribbean Day. Crystal Boateng ’10 was calling the names of one African country after the other as students catwalked on stage with wide smiles glued on their faces. This fashion show constitutes only one element of the African Caribbean cel- ebration to take place on Friday, Nov. 6. As AC Day approaches quickly, many students have been working hard to deliver another unforgettable show to the Mount Holyoke community. Several nights on end, they gather at Chapin auditorium, dance studios and dorm lounges to go over their spiels and synchronize their col- orful performances. During the day, they make final ad- justments to the music and costumes. “We have so much to show,” said Emelia Hall-Tui- sawau ’11, who is the social chair for MHACASA and the show’s second MC. “Look at this,” she added with excite- ment pointing to the stage. Up there, barefoot students were practicing their Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) dance. But just minutes before they had started snapping their fingers to the rhythm, a different dynamic occupied the stage. Naa Abia Ofosu-Amaah ’10 swayed her arms, waving a blue-yellowish scarf up and down, back and forth. She was cheered on by the crowd par- ticipating in the AC Day’s fashion show. Students representing different African and Caribbean coun- tries catwalked with the playfulness of professional models. Although they were rehearsing in jeans and casual sweatshirts, at the Friday performance they will showcase the traditional wear of their na- tive countries. Morocco, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Tanzania and Ghana are just a few of the countries whose costumes will be highlighted during the fashion show. A Ghanian native, Boateng is organizing this sec- tion of the program. “I really like fashion, especially clothes made with African prints because they are very vibrant,” she said. Within seconds, the students shook off their fashion ways and took on humorous roles—they started rehears- ing for a Nigerian wedding skit. They quickly regrouped, some leaving the stage and others joining. Their perform- ance drew upon a Nigerian tradition—the groom visits the family of the girl he is courting and asks for her hand. The family members, however, are supposed to present him all maidens in the household. Eventually, he loses patience and, as Temitope Ojo ’10 said, he asks, “Where is my real bride? This is the person. I want to marry.” As a Nigerian native, Ojo directs the skit and has included in it an authentic groom—her high school mate and current Amherst College student, Charles Oluwunmi. Appropriately enough, the wedding skit ends to the song No One Like You by Nigerian twin performers P-Square. The funny wedding skit, Cote d’Ivoire dance and fash- ion show provided me with a quick peek into the colorful celebration of AC Day. The Friday show, however, will highlight a lot more elements of the African Caribbean cultures. It will deliver a celebration justifying the hard work and celebrating the genuine laughter at the re- hearsals. BY EMILY CHOW ’12 STAFF WRITER BY MAGDALENA GEORGIEVA ’10 PERSPECTIVES EDITOR Fashion show participants pose for a photo in Chapin. From left to right: Zohra Damji ‘10, Naa Abia Ofosu- Amaah ‘10, Laura Turyatemba ‘11, Hope Mbabazi ‘10 and Asinath Rusibamayila ‘10. AC Day organizers Abena Opoku ’10 (African co-chair) and Natalia Welsh ’11 (Caribbean co-chair) talk about their biggest event on-campus. Behind the scenes: students rehearse for AC Day Photo By Magdalena Georgieva Perspectives 11.1.09:Layout 1 2/7/10 10:56 PM Page 1