Society for International Students

WA-as the Yoruba will say. Zo-as the Hausa will say. BIA-as the Igbo will say.

WAZOBIA-Come, come, come!
Friday the 11th of October was definitely a beautiful day to share Nigerian culture! Since Nigeria had just celebrated her independence on the 1st of October, the SIS thought it plausible to make Friday’s cultural hour a celebration of Nigeria’s vibrant culture.

This culture-sharing event began at exactly 2:00pm and took place in the Center for International Programs building. Students arrived promptly, enthusiastic to embrace the Nigerian culture, food, languages, etc.
The president of the organization, Chioma Madueke, a Nigerian, started off the event by showing a video about what Nigeria and life in this amazing country looks like. The video discussed the various recreational spots in Nigeria, the different cultures of various Nigerian ethnic groups, the food, and so on. This video also helped in dispelling the myths some students had about Nigeria and helped the students see Nigeria and the Nigerian culture in a different light.

Somai Nwokike, the Secretary of the organization and another Nigerian student, and Chioma, also enlightened the students about the various languages, food preferences, and all other interesting facts about the Nigerians. There are three major languages from the three major ethnic groups: Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa. There are over 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria. You know what else is pretty cool? In those ethnic groups there are different languages, and for those languages, there are different dialects! This right here is a salad bowl of diverse cultures! Can you believe that?

Moving on, Nigerians enjoy having their food spicy! Chioma and Somai explained that one of the adjustments they had to make when they moved to the US was concerning the food. For example, whenever they want to prepare a Nigerian dish for their American friends, they have to bring the spices down a notch. Although they do like their spicy food, they have to accommodate different cultures and people of those cultures who are not exactly used to spicy food. This is also one of the main goals of the SIS—to encourage students to embrace/accommodate various cultures.
Speaking of food, after the info session about different aspects of the Nigerian culture, it was time for the food!! The dish for Friday was something the Nigerians call Jollof Rice and it was served with plantains. Kudos to our chefs Somai and Tochukwu Madueke, the PR Officer of the SIS, and also another of our Nigerian students, because the food was AMAZING! Jollof Rice is one dish that is common amongst all Nigerian people, irrespective of their ethnic groups. It is also a pretty common dish in some parts of Africa.

In all, the event was a success. The guests that attend had their perspectives broadened by learning more about the Nigerian culture. The SIS is definitely pleased to have some Nigerian students in the organization who keep sharing their amazing culture.

That’s all for now folks! As the Nigerian Igbo people will say—Daalu oo! Nwe ubosi oma!

Special  thank you to the author of this post Tochukwu Madueke our public relations officer for the SIS!

Every year Valdosta State University celebrates its Homecoming whereby students are encouraged to participate in several activities. The theme for this year’s homecoming was commUNITY. The Society for International Students incorporated the theme and came up with their own which was 50 nations, 1 commUNITY. The 50 nations is the amount of countries represented by international students attending VSU which makes up one community. The theme was appropriate for the SIS because the organization is on a mission to be more active on campus.

On Saturday October 7, international students began to congregate at the Center for International programs at approximately 9 a.m. They were encouraged to wear VSU colors or traditional outfits from their home country. Many came out representing their home countries and were eager to participate in the parade. Students were provided with flags from their home country in which they held or wore as part of their clothing.
The parade began at 11 a.m. and the SIS had international music played by a Belizean Dj, Dj Karlo. The music was very live and our students celebrated by singing and dancing throughout the parade. We also had a student dressed up as VSU’s mascot, Blaze who lead the SIS in the parade. Students also gave out candy to the children during the parade.
The SIS also had its homecoming queen representative, Dilcia Turcios from Honduras in the parade. This was her first homecoming parade and she was honored to represent the SIS. The SIS was so colorful in the parade with all the flags and energetic students which made us win the Presidents award. We are very proud to win this award and we couldn’t have done it without our students!