Open Letter To Your Parent Abroad -- You Are Losing Your Kids To Western Culture

Social IssuesCulture

  • Author Soji Oyenuga
  • Published December 21, 2007
  • Word count 552

Many Yorubas that traveled out of Nigeria in the time past never planned making other countries their permanent home. They did not even come with their families. Many Africans did not want to live far away from home for long. This mind-set is reflected in a Yoruba proverb that says, "Ajo ko le dundun, ki onile ma re'le," "No matter how pleasant and enjoyable your sojourn abroad has been, you must return home."

But in the last couple of decades, more and more Yoruba people have been migrating permanently to the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and the rest of the world. Due to unbearable economic and political conditions in their home countries, they have been making their homes and raising their families in western world. The feeling these days is expressed in this Yoruba saying that contrasts sharply to the earlier one: "Ibi ti aiye ba ba'ni, ni a ti nje," "Home is wherever you find life in abundance." Immigrants settling in America, Canada, Europe, Asia and the other parts of the world have had to deal with a sense of cultural dislocation, as a result of being immersed in a varied and very different cultural milieu. In response, Yoruba people express a common sentiment for passing on their culture to their children, for the sake of individual and group identity and for posterity. Obvious in all these efforts is that Yoruba people are striving to provide their younger generation with cultural roots that will hold them firmly, help them grow, and give them a sense of identity, which many believe has helped them cope with the difficult transition to life in America and other parts of the world.

Yoruba people believe in strong family and cultural ties. They belief that one day they will return home. Yoruba people want their children or foreign spouse to be able to fit into their Yoruba community when they return home. With this in mind, Yoruba people have a burning desire to pass on their language & rich culture to their kids and/or foreign spouse. They love to teach them the etiquette of respect for elders, eating in public, greetings, mannerism and dress code. This is their dream.

A person's language constitute a big part of their identity.

Language is a tool of communication, and not segmentation

If you have no language, you have no culture,

"Preserving Your Heritage Language is the key to preserving your next generation, giving your child a true sense of identity and a high level of self esteem." -- Soji Oyenuga, 2006

We as Yoruba people believe that by teaching our children our culture we will one day go back to our fatherland triumphantly. Yoruba parents abroad are very busy and industrious people. They continually faces the challenges of creating the time and knowing the technique to help teach their kids to understand, speak, read and appreciate Yoruba language and culture. Yoruba parents abroad urgently need to "rescue" their next generation from being lost due to lack of language and cultural transfer. They need external help to achieve this lofty goal. They need to have an interactive and entertaining educational multimedia that will teach their Kids Yoruba language and culture in the "context" of what their kids are used to in this western world.

Copyright (c) 2007 Gaptel innovative Solutions Inc

Soji Oyenuga and Titi Oyenuga are successful Yoruba parents living abroad. They are the originator of the famous, easy, fun and highly interactive and entertaining software/ebook - Yoruba For Kids Abroad - Learn Yoruba In 27 days. Click http://www.YorubaForKidsAbroad.com

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