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Africans Cook Out -- And Find Each Other in East Rock Park picnic brought together Connecticut Africans

by elizabeth dickinson | September 11, 2006 07:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A first-of-its-kind picnic in East Rock Park brought together Connecticut Africans from nations like Nigeria, Kenya, Congo, Sudan, and Liberia. Only a few had met before. That was the point.

? We want to create an organization for all the Africans to connect,? organizer Kulya Nzogu from the Democratic Republic of Congo said at the Saturday afternoon affair. ?Today, it is like we are family. We want everyone to meet one another."

The Northeast is already the home of several national African organizations, but most are either for business men and women, or immigrants of a particular nationality. Nzogu runs the African Business Network, which has members across the region.

Charles Kodi, who came to the U.S. in 2000 from Kenya, explained that he spent his first few months looking for other Kenyans. After struggling, he said, ?I started to find Kenyans and I brought people together through my hard work.? Kodi said he has united about 50 Kenyans in the area who now gather as a community.

A similar organization, the Guinean Community in Connecticut, Inc., has about 100 members, said its vice-president, Djiba Kane.

The organizers of Saturday?s event want to form a community of Africans from all countries. ?We will start little, but not lose hope. Each time we?ll get two or three new faces,? said Kodi.

Even in their first meeting, the new faces gathered in East Rock Park found they had much to discuss.

Debates over the best African airline gave way to discussions of the climate in Kenya. Picnickers talked equally about the U.S., comparing travel notes and commenting on their various favorite living and vacation spots.

Others told stories about their arrival in America. Renaud Etienne was persecuted in Haiti before he finally fled in 2000. ?I thought I would visit or study in the U.S. but not live here. After I was attacked and threatened [in Haiti], I no longer had a choice,? he explained. ?But despite that, I feel good here.? To attend Saturday's picnic, Etienne traveled from Massachusetts, where he is the vice-president of the Haitian Institute for Life and Freedom.

Charles Kodi, the Kenyan, was happy to see such a diverse group. ?In America, you see people in all walks of life and all professions. They all brush together, and with so many minds together, something good can come of it.? Like this picnic.