Rugamba Jonathan serving food to Rachel Lopez De Castilla (left) and Ren Reed (right).
CHOMA, an African Food Festival, celebrated African culture as the African Student’s Association cooked dishes for members and non-members. Flags from different African countries were displayed and the room filled with the sounds of upbeat songs. Food from Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda filled the paper plates of the guests.
Grace-Kelly Muvunyi giving announcements.
Grace-Kelly Muvunyi, junior nutrition major from Kigali, Rwanda, and president of the African Students’ Association, said it is one of the organization’s biggest events.
“We have a variety of countries represented,” Muvunyi said. “The purpose of the event is to provide an occasion where Africans, Americans and all people can come and experience African culture represented by African students.”
Josiah Oduro
Josiah Oduro, freshman accounting major from Ateiku, Ghana, talked to the other participants about himself and his country. He said the best parts of the event were the music and spending time with people from different countries.
“I came to this event because I miss a lot of things back home,” Oduro said. He also participated by bringing his own dish of rice balls and groundnut soup.
Diana Ejakpomewhe
Diana Ejakpomewhe, junior nursing major from Delta State, Nigeria, said the food festival gave her a break from school stress. She also brought homemade jollof rice.
“My semester is so busy because this is my first semester in nursing school.” Ejakpomewhe said. “I could have just stayed at home and have done homework and I honestly thought about it. But I was like, ‘I miss my friends and it’s going to be really fun’.”
After about a half hour of dancing, the festival ended with a spice contest in which participants had to eat a bowl of pepper soup. Whoever ate the most without crying was declared the victor. The winner was Ojima Edeh, senior nursing major from Otutulu, Nigeria, who won a free T-shirt and membership into the African Students’ Association.
Ojima Edeh proudly holding her finished pepper soup bowl.
