After the directrice of our institute, Mrs. Berta Szabó Irén opened the event, Ester Netshitenzhe Takalani, the Ambassador of South Africa in Budapest spoke. She tried to present her thoughts in Hungarian as well to the audience, who received the attempt with great zeal.
Thereafter, Sándor Balogh, the founder of the African-Hungarian Union, greeted the visually impaired; the presentation of Dr. Gábor Búr – professor at ELTE (Eötvös Lóránd Science University) and africanist – followed, with many interesting facts about the continent of Africa itself, and the life and culture of its inhabitants. After the presentation, the visually impaired clients could touch the many original, both wooden and bronze statues and masks offered by the African-Hungarian Union for the event.
Afterwards, the culture room of the National Institute for the Blind resounded with music; Bom-C sang authentic African songs accompanied by one single drum, than sang two of his own songs, both which the audience rewarded with zealous applause. After the aforementioned, all-new experiences, a longer break followed, during which the guests could taste the food offered by the Savannah Restaurant for the night. These were typically African foods, completed with pineapple and coconut dressings. Those who got thirsty could mitigate their thirst with rooibos tea. We wish to thank the Savannah Restaurant for its generous offer!
And at last but not least, the grand finale of the event was the musical performance by an African-drum band called Afrobreakz. András A. Gergely anthropologist one of the members of the aforementioned band, who is also a teacher at ELTE, also talked briefly about the band’s founding, instruments, and African drum-culture in general. However, the team members mostly communicated with music rather than words; after awhile, the audience joined them as well. It was an amazing experience to see both visually impaired and non-visually impaired guests make music together so joyfully.
We received a lot of help in the organization of the Africa Day, without which this event wouldn’t have taken place. Huge thanks to Ambassador Esther Takalni Netshitenzhe, for raising the event’s prestige with her presence; to the African-Hungarian Union, particulalry to Sándor Balogh and Györgyi Szabó; to Afrobeatz, especially to Gergely A. András; to the Savannah Restaurant for the delicious food; Bom-C for the fantastic music and mood which it created; and naturally a lot of thanks goes to Dr. Gábor Búr, who offered his help months before the event was to take place, invested lots of time into its organization, and helped a lot with his ideas, connections, and at last but not least, with his presentation as well.
I think it is entirely safe to say that the event was a great experience for both visually impaired and other guests alike.