Peace For Africa/Paix Pour L'Afrique

Simon Nsielanga

Description

Français:
Peace For Africa/Paix Pour l’Afrique est une plaidoirie pour la paix en Afrique, qui passe par le respect de l’Africain, par la dignité, par le respect des droits de l’Homme et par le respect de la nature. La traite négrière, la colonisation, le néo-colonialisme, l’apartheid, les génocides et les guerres occasionnés en Afrique ont privé les Africains de leur dignité, de leur droit à la vie. Des hommes et des femmes de valeur comme P. Lumumba, N. Mandela, W. Maathai, Dr. Mukwenge et bien d’autres, ont dit non à l’oppression, non à la réification de l’Afrique car c’est une offense au Créateur qui a fait l’Homme à son image. Le respect de la dignité de l’Homme africain est source de paix en Afrique.
English:
Peace For Africa/Paix Pour l’Afrique is an advocacy group for peace in Africa. Africans deserve respect, as peace comes to Africa through the respect of African dignity, the respect of human rights and the respect of Nature. The African slave trade, colonization, neo-colonialism, apartheid, genocide and wars that are occasioned in Africa undermined the African human dignity and their rights to live. Valuable men and women like P. Lumumba, N. Mandela, Dr. Mukwenge, W. Maathai and many others said no to oppression, no to Africa’s reification because it is an offense to the Creator, who made human beings in his image. The respect of the African human dignity is a source for peace in Africa.

Sujets

• Colonisation
• Political Science

Informations

• Publié par: Edilivre
• Date de parution: 12 février 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9782332675033
• Langue: Français

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Cet ouvrage a été composé par Edilivre
175, boulevard Anatole France – 93200 Saint-Denis
Tél. : [phone] – Fax : [phone]
Mail : [e-mail]
www.edilivre.com

Tous droits de reproduction, d’adaptation et de traduction,
intégrale ou partielle réservés pour tous pays.

ISBN numérique : 978-2-332-67501-9

© Edilivre, 2014
Forward
In this collection of poems Fr. Simon Nsielanga brings together many words of wisdom from diverse African saints and people of honour. Fr. Nsielanga articulates in a very artistic manner the lives of outstanding personalities from Africa while demonstrating that a life well lived is a life that gives itself for the sake of others. The author brings in a new dimension to the works of social justice by using poems for advocacy. This is what I may refer to as poetic advocacy. The advocacy messages behind the poems include calls for: integrity of creation; respect for human rights; freedom and democracy; religious experience of self-giving founded in the life of faith in Christ, among other themes.
The African continent is today faced with many experiences of hope and distress. The experiences of hope are evidenced by the positive economic growth witnessed in many parts of the continent, freedom of association, expression and participation in democratic process, as well as improvement in health and education sectors. However, difficult and challenging experiences include poor governance, conflicts, diseases and poor infrastructure. It is the experiences of hope that will help us overcome the challenging experiences. This is the primary message of Fr. Nsielanga’s poems. Africa needs to invent creative ways of mitigating conflicts. Whether we are talking about the conflicts in Mali, Libya, Somalia, Ivory Coast or Democratic Republic of Congo, we need to allow these situations of conflict “to bring life alive”, as Fr. Nsielanga puts it.
When we look back at the history of the continent of Africa we see that there are men and women who have stood up for truth, justice and peace. Today we need more of those men and women who can make this continent proud of its heritage by inventing ways of ensuring that the African resources are not left to the greedy exploitation of the western multinationals and that systems of governance and accountability adopted by the governments are inclusive and centred on the common good.
Our Christian faith is the very foundation of our commitment to justice and peace. Jesus stood up for the truth that was founded in love and justice. He underlined that “I came that they may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). We need to pursue this fullness of life by creating new opportunities that can bring change to our society.
Fr. Nsielanga has shown us that poetic advocacy can capture in a very vivid manner the daily experiences of our lives, whether of joy or sorry. However, while poems open a door to human experience, Fr. Nsielanga has demonstrated that poems are equally limited by the poverty of spoken and written words in fully capturing the daily experiences of our lives. Hence, as we talk our life experiences, we need to actively engage with our daily reality for a positive change.
Fr. Elias Omondi Opongo, S.J.
Director,
Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations
Nairobi, Kenya.
Let’s honor a heritage
Lumumba,
Your time has gone
It has gone with neatness
It has gone with morality
It has gone with virtues.
Your time has gone, Lumumba.
A new time has come
A time of great destruction
Destruction of our country.
What justification can we make?
What can we say of the heritage
That our generation received from you?
What argument
Can one make on Kinshasa, our capital town,
In which garbages are everywhere,
Even in Gombe and Ma Campagne
Our prestigious ‘communes’?
What justification
Can one make on the destruction of roads?
Can we hold a reasonable justification
Before you?
The time of cleanness of Kinshasa has gone
The beautifulness of this town
Has disappeared.
From Belgians, our colonial masters
You firmly kept a heritage
A heritage that you handled to us
As our national Hero.
Unfortunately
We were not able to keep that neatness.
In any place you walk in Kinshasa today
One meets garbage, dust, noise, and people.
Due to the smell of infected garbage
Due to the smell of infected water of mares
People cannot breathe properly.
Consequently,
They suffer from malaria, typhoid and cholera
They suffer from asthma and pulmonary diseases.
Due to noise
People cannot think deeply.
They do really need a silent place
Where they can think
And speak quietly.
Lumumba cannot imagine
A capital town with bumpy roads
A capital town without light
A capital town full of garbage
A capital town full of street children
A capital town overcrowded.
A heritage is dear
Lumumba, our National Hero
Would not accept any of our justifications
Nor our brilliant arguments
On the dirtiness of our capital town
On the destruction of our towns and cities.
Wake up
Wake up my generation
Let’s honor our independence Heroes’
Heritage, through the reconstruction of our Congolese identity, through the reconstruction of our capital city,
Towns, cities and villages.
Wake up Congolese
Wake up my fellow compatriots
Let’s honor Lumumba’s heritage.
Honorons un héritage
Lumumba,
Ton temps s’en est allé
Il s’en est allé avec la propreté
Il s’en est allé avec la moralité
Il s’en est allé avec les vertus.
Ton temps s’est est allé, Lumumba.
Un temps nouveau est venu.
Un temps de grande destruction
La destruction de notre pays.
Quelle justification pouvons-nous donner ?
Que pouvons dire de l’héritage
Que notre génération a reçu de toi ?
Quelle excuse
Peut-on avancer sur Kinshasa,
Notre ville capitale,
Dans laquelle les ordures se retrouvent partout,
Même à Gombe et à Ma Campagne,
Nos prestigieuses communes ?
Quelle justification
Peut-on donner sur la destruction des routes ?
Pouvons-nous tenir une excuse raisonnable devant toi ?
Le moment de la propreté de Kinshasa s’en est allé
La splendeur de cette ville a disparu.
Des Belges, nos colonisateurs
Tu as gardé fermement un héritage
Un héritage que tu nous as transmis
En tant que notre Héro national.
Malheureusement,
Nous n’avons pas été capables de garder la propreté.
N’importe où l’on marche à Kinshasa aujourd’hui,
On rencontre des ordures, la poussière, le bruit et des gens.
A cause de l’odeur des ordures infestées
A cause de l’odeur des flaques d’eaux infestées
Les gens ne peuvent respirer convenablement.
Par conséquent
Ils souffrent de paludisme, de la fièvre typhoïde et du choléra.
Ils souffrent d’asthme et des maladies pulmonaires.
A cause du bruit
Les gens ne peuvent réfléchir profondément.
Ils ont vraiment besoin d’un lieu
Où ils peuvent réfléchir
Et parler tranquillement.
Lumumba ne peut s’imaginer
Une capitale avec des routes défoncées
Une capitale sans éclairage
Une capitale pleine d’ordures
Une capitale pleine d’enfants de rue
Une capitale surpeuplée.
Un héritage est précieux.
Lumumba, notre Héro national
N’accepterait aucune de nos justifications
Ni celles de nos brillants arguments
Sur la saleté de notre ville capitale
Sur la destruction de nos villes et grandes villes.
Réveilles-toi !
Réveilles-toi ma génération
Honorons l’héritage des Héros
De notre indépendance,
A travers la reconstruction de notre identité congolaise
A travers la reconstruction de notre grande ville capitale, villes, grandes villes et villages.
Réveillez-vous Congolais !
Réveillez-vous mes compatriotes
Honorons l’héritage de Lumumba.
Father Boka
May your soul Father Boka
Rest in peace
May your inner attachment to Congo
Your motherland unites all Congolese
To your insightful legacies.
You legate to our country Hymns
Hymns which became Anthems
Supreme symbols of a nation
Portraying Congo’s fate.
More than 50 years of independence
Obscurity hovered over Congo
Due to colonization
Due to dependency
Due to corruption.
Born in Congo
You shared with your compatriots
The suffering of being dependent
The suffering of being colonized.
The fate of your fellow countrymen
Was also yours.
When June 30 th blew
Your bright insight sprung forth
In Debout Congolais
Our Anthem.
Your ardent wish in this Hymn
Was to elevate Congo to an independent nation
United from East to West
And from South to North
Strong politically
Strong economically
Strong morally
A majestic country
Where to live peacefully.
Your ardent wish was to show the Congolese that
They were bound as one people
People of one nation
Recognizing themselves as brothers and sisters.
A nation
Highly respected
Highly saluted
Gift of our Ancestors
Who loved Congo.
May the spirit of our Ancestors
Unite us to your spirit
To relieve the suffering in which
Our motherland is plunged
For many years.
May your Spirit guide us
To assure Congo’s freedom
And growth.
May your Spirit strengthen us
To implement your high wish
For Congo, our motherland
The wish of a united country
The wish of solidarity
The wish of hardworking people
The wish of an independent
country.
Père Boka
Que ton âme, Père Boka repose en paix
Que ton attachement au Congo
Ta terre natale unisse tous les Congolais
A ton perspicace héritage.
Tu as légué à ton pays les Hymnes
Lesquels sont devenus les hymnes nationaux
Des symboles suprêmes de la nation
Décrivant le destin du Congo.
Il ya plus de 50 ans de l’indépendance.
L’obscurité planait au dessus du Congo
A cause de la colonisation
A cause de la dépendance
A cause de la corruption.
Né au Congo
Tu as partagé avec tes compatriotes
La souffrance d’être dépendant,
La souffrance d’être colonisé.
Le sort de tes concitoyens était aussi le tien.
Lorsque le vent du 30 Juin avait soufflé
Ta vision claire rejaillie
Dans Débout Congolais,
Notre h