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Challenge
An Ashanti maxim from Ghana
says; “If power is for sale, sell your mother to obtain it. Once you have the
power there are several ways of getting her back (Tufuo, P.26).1
The issue here is that the wellbeing of any society depends on the health of
the family because it is where life begins and also the building block of any
community, tribe, nation and the entire world. So, to rescue our world from the
prevailing decaying environment we must start from the family because once the
family is rescued then it can fix the rest of the problem. This paper will focus
on the young African family within the Francophone sub-Saharan countries.
Extended Family
The popular statement that
describes the core of African culture: “I am because we are” is better
demonstrated in the unique fusion of the family and the community. The family is
the community and the community is the family. So the African family is more
than the nuclear family of father, mother and children. “Anyone, with whom one
shares blood ties, whether close or distant, is regarded as part of one’s
family. Thus a family includes brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, cousins
and nephews, as far back as anyone can remember”. (Soro Soungalo, P.2006)2
The attachment to this extended family structure therefore affects every aspect
of the individual’s choice and decision in life like who to marry, how to solve
problems in the family and even religious affiliations. You can also observe
that extension in the composition of many of the mainline church denominations
in different African countries whereby particular ethnic groups will tend to
form the majority of a particular church or denomination due to ethnic
identity.
The reason for the extended
family system is that it tends to build within the community a sense of
solidarity and unity among members of the family or community. While this is a
source of strength within the culture it can also become a weakness when it
begins to deny people their individual rights like the right to choose whom to
marry and run one’s nuclear family without frequent interference of parents,
in-laws and other members of the community. It also runs into a problem as it
confronts the modern day development and urban realities like education that
emphasizes individual success and excellence, employment based on merit than
family or community affiliation, important decisions in urban centers which must
be taken alone by the nuclear family who lives far away from the family or
community support. The struggle therefore to remain loyal to the community and
at the same time maintain ones individual identity and right in today’s
developed global village poses a real conflict to the African family.
Tradition
Although the extended family
system in Africa is supposed to strengthen the family through its solidarity and
corporate responsibility of the community to the family but that is not always
the case in African traditional homes. In fact some traditions render the core
of family structure which is the union between the husband and wife weak through
some practices. The Christian religion, for example, recognizes that the core
foundation of marriage is based on the unity of the man and his wife, “For this
reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and
they will become one flesh”, (Genesis 2:24). Based on that it concludes with the
statement, “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate”,
(Matthew 19:6). This is like today’s legal system which gives power and
recognition to the nuclear family comprising the man, his wife and children. As
an entity, the children belong to the man as much as to the woman and receive
instructions, education, love and protection from both parents. However, some of
the African traditional concept of family does not subscribe to this idea of
nuclear unity in the family.
“Among the Senoufo of Cote
d’Ivoire, for example, the wife is called ‘the foreigner’ by her husband’s
parents and must avoid speaking his name out of respect and shame. When the wife
dies in a location distant from her place of origin, no matter how far away that
may be, her remains will be transported back to her village, to her own people.”
(Soro Soungalo, Page 12).2 This undermines the proper
integration of the family as a unity where the mother of the man or even his
brother exerts more authority in the home than the wife and children. In this
kind of situation it is observed that, “Some traditions regard the children as
the offspring of the father and not the mother. She is simply the woman who has
borne the children for him (a kind of baby machine). In matriarchal traditions,
the children are recognized as belonging solely to the mother. Neither system
regards the children as belonging equally to both parents. Either the man or the
woman can feel wronged or slighted in the training (discipline) of the
children.” (Soro Soungalo, Page 12)2.
In either of the two
traditions mentioned the children suffer irreparable damages in their upbringing
because they are neglected by either party of the parents or left on their own
to figure out how to survive in today’s harsh and cruel society. They are caught
within the conflict between their family’s traditional system and the reality of
the modern world where they depend on the love, protection and support of both
parents for their survival. Because of this conflict, some of them slip out from
the family to the street and become street children that eventually turn into
armed robbers, prostitutes and drug addicts. Even those who remain in the family
grow up with complexes that eventually manifest later into various conflicts in
their own marriages. This kind of experience perpetuates disorder in the
subsequent families with various serious consequences.
Marriage
The decision of who to marry,
which is fundamental to the success or failure of the marriage, is in many
instances influenced by the parents. In some cases the children are forced into
a marriage already arranged for them without their approval. It does not matter
whether they like it or not. People are molded by the tradition that they don’t
even realize how that overrides their religious beliefs. It is common to hear
people say “we don’t do it this way in our tribe or culture” meaning that they
see their tribe or culture as the basis for their decisions and actions. Whilst
the extended family system is good in many ways especially in supporting the
couple in times of difficulty, it should not deny the couple their God given
right to make their own plans and decisions unique to them as individuals in
today’s world.
Taboo
With the problem of tradition
and marriage follows taboo. These are actions or foods prohibited in some
cultures. It is believed that anyone who breaks any of these taboos will incur
the wrath of the gods and ancestors. For example, both the Akans in Ghana and
the Igbos in Nigeria consider it a taboo for a man to have sexual relations with
his sister. (Ernestina Afriyie, Page 159).2 In the same way it
was also considered a taboo to discuss openly anything pertaining to sex before
children. Passage of rites or initiation rites was one major way of educating
the youth on sexual matters in African family in the past although it is still
practiced in some countries until today. It is a rite of passage from childhood
or teenage hood to adulthood. The initiates are taken through a series of
teachings to usher them into responsible adult life including sexual matters in
the family. One of the disadvantages of this practice is the use of one knife to
circumcise all the males which can lead to the transfer of HIV virus from one
person to the rest due to non sterilization of the object of circumcision. The
other is the female genital mutilation which is traumatizing, to say the least.
(Judith Milasi, Page 101)2. Because children who live in
the cities have no other way of acquiring sex education today like others in the
village, they depend on whatever they can get from schools, pornographic
publications and videos to learn sex matters and practice. With such dangerous
and limited information because it was forbidden to discuss this with the
parents in the family, young couples enter into marriage with little or no
knowledge of their sexual life thereby preparing the ground for a lot of
conflicts in the family after marriage. Those who are not married yet but are
becoming sexually active begin to practice with sex from what they get on
television, pornographic materials and friends leading to many undesirable
teenage pregnancies, abortions and illegitimate children who later end up on the
streets.
Poverty
There is also the affliction
of poverty. According to Stephen Adei (Wealth and Poverty, Page 762)2 “half of those in sub-Saharan Africa live on less than US
$1.00 a day. Many are poor because we live in a world where injustice and a
skewed economic order mean they lack access to education, land and other means
of improving their material conditions.” (Stephen Adei, Page 762)2.
Whilst the families may not have much control over the natural causes of poverty
they could be better if manmade ones are minimized. For example, the
displacement of families due to civil crisis uproots them from their homes where
they have access to basic farming for feeding their families. With displacement
follows other vices like corruption, rape, immorality, violence and different
types of sicknesses. In this type of situation the boys turn into ‘child
soldiers’ and aggressors while the girls do anything outside the home from
house-help to street hawking just to make a living to support the rest of the
family. This lifestyle destroys the very fabrics of the family. Another form of
displacement is the migration of many family heads—the father to the city to
look for employment. Many of them become unfaithful to their wives while in the
city and end up contracting dangerous sexual diseases like HIV/AIDS that will in
turn infect the wife whenever he visits her in the village. Some of the children
as young as 10 to 12 years old migrate also to the city to look for money to
support their parents and siblings in the village. Without proper parental
guidance and protection many of them find themselves involved in violent gangs
and network of drug and child traffickers.
Divorce
High divorce rate is one the
dire consequences of these conflicts in the family. Without the benefit of
in-depth research in Africa we can see what is happening in other continents
where there are already research results and use them to deduce what is going on
also in Africa. The Barna Research result, (Internet)6 on the
divorce rate across the Christian and non Christian families in the USA portray
some alarming facts. It wouldn’t be surprising if we find the same pattern of
result in Africa because despite people’s claim to be conservatives in their
different religions, their traditional or cultural foundations still dominates
their actions and decisions which manifests in conflict within the new family
structure driven by development and new life style today.
According to this survey,
25% of all American adults
have had at least one divorce
27% of born-again Christians have had at least one divorce
24% of all non-born-again Christians have been divorced
21% of atheists have been divorced
21% of Catholics and Lutherans have been divorced
24% of Mormons have been divorced
25% of mainstream Protestants have been divorced
29% of Baptists have been divorced
24% of nondenominational, independent Protestants have been divorced
Media Influence on
the Family
Even without the benefit of
research as Barna research group’s on divorce, it is a common knowledge that the
rate of divorce has increased today more than it was a decade or two ago. The
question is what could be the driving force behind this development? One of the
factors is the rapid development of mass media that uses slick advertisements,
captivating entertainment programs, music and other forms of media to show the
young families the new life styles and mode of today. This creates expectations
and desires that are sometimes not easy to realize thereby ending up in
frustrations and other strange behaviors. Looking to another research on media
influence on the American audience,(Internet)5 we see that media
influence on the family starts from the little children to other members of the
family. Here are some results of the research.
1. 66% of
children's programming had violence.
2. 46% of
all television violence identified by the study took place in children's
cartoons.
3. The
average child spends approximately 28 hours a week watching television,
which is twice as much time as they spend in school.
4. The
average American child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on
television including 16,000 murders before age 18.
5. A
study of population data for various countries showed homicide rates
doubling within the 10 to 15 years after the introduction of television,
even though television was introduced at different times in each site
examined.
6. Longitudinal studies tracking viewing habits and behavior patterns of a
single individual found that 8-year-old boys, who viewed the most violent
programs growing up, were the most likely to engage in aggressive and
delinquent behavior by age 18 and serious criminal behavior by age 30.
7. Studies suggest that higher rates of television viewing are correlated with
increased tobacco usage, increased alcohol intake and younger onset of
sexual activity.
8. Potential adverse effects of excessive exposure to media include: increased
violent behavior; obesity, decreased physical activity and fitness,
increased cholesterol levels and sodium intake; repetitive strain injury
(video computer games); insomnia; photic seizures; impaired school
performance; increased sexual activity and use of tobacco and alcohol;
decreased attention span; decreased family communication; desensitization;
excess consumer focus.
It is clear from these
studies that media affects the family’s behavioral pattern from children to
parents.
The
power and presence of media with its influence on the family is so real in
Africa today as observed by Louise M. Bourgault in “The Mass Media in Sub
Saharan Africa”. Even with poverty, it is not uncommon to see many television
antennae and sometimes satellite dishes on the roofs of the slum houses in
Abidjan city of Cote d’Ivoire. The same thing applies to the proliferation of
mobile phones. There are “cabine Telephonique” on almost every street of
Abidjan, where one can make his call for as little as 100 francs (US$ 0.2) per
minute. In the same way, there are “Cyber cafes” and video clubs on almost every
street corner where young people pay very little for internet services, video
games and movies.
In a research done
by MRI, Michigan, USA on behalf of 3XM and PEMA/ACT in Ivory Coast and
Togo in 2009, it confirmed in its report for Togo that: 7
1. The most prevalent communications technology in
people's homes in Togo is the radio, mobile phones, television sets and
audio cassette players.
2. 18.7% of the respondents indicated that they were
Internet-users.
3. In some of the age groups, radio, TV and the mobile
telephone are used more than even word of mouth.
4. 81.7% of the respondents reported that they did watch
television. Obviously, many people watch television in places other than
their own homes.
5. 72.8% of those who had seen “Miel Mortel”—MM, said
their behavior had changed as a result of watching the program.
This research was done to find out the penetration and impact of ACT’s
television program MM on the audience in Togo. MM is aimed to sensitize the
youth about the danger of AIDS, how to avoid infection and live a healthy life
style. The program is broadcast weekly in Togo and in eleven other countries.
The target is the youth.
We received over 6281 responses from viewers in Cote d’Ivoire alone from January
to June 2009 on impact of the program in their lives. Out of these contacts,
2,412 affirmed their decision to do HIV test, 1,082 decided to change their
behavior and adopt either abstinence from sex before marriage or faithfulness as
prevention methods against HIV/AIDS infection, 976 persons committed their lives
to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and 1,816 needed more counseling for different
needs related to their families and HIV/AIDS.
Dosso, a 30 year old Muslim male from Cote d’Ivoire wrote: “I was
struck by the truth that emanates from the program. It shows that HIV is indeed
real. I didn’t pay much attention to it before, but now, I am convinced. I
also noticed within the program the Christian connotation. As a result of your
program, I went to do my HIV test with the woman I am living with: we are both
HIV negative.” Another viewer Mr. Louis, wrote: “As I watch your program,
I was struck by one advice which your presenter gave, that PLWHA should not be
abandoned. On the contrary, they need support. In fact, I am HIV positive
myself. Since I learnt of my condition, I stopped all behaviors that might
infect others and can face it due to my auntie’s support. Also, I fully give
myself to my job and that helps me to forget that I am HIV positive because I
live like anyone else.”
When people saw the impact of “Miel Mortel”, broadcast on the national
television station in Cote d’Ivoire many community centers, church youth groups,
schools and colleges began to approach ACT to project the films in their places.
We not only did that, but also conducted HIV test program on the spot at the
centers; in collaboration with authorized mobile clinics. Between October 2008
and June 2009, we had sensitized 4330 youths with “Miel Mortel” films. Over
2516 did their HIV tests and 36 were found positive. Out of this 2745 people
decided to abstain from any sexual activity before marriage and 1084 declared
their decision to remain faithful to their spouses. From the test results we
were able to identify sections of the city that had more infected youth and
targeted them for intense sensitization activity. The plan is to cover the youth
centers and colleges in Abidjan and beyond by 2011.
Considering the powerful
effect of Television in changing people’s lives “Africa Christian
Television”—ACT” decided to tackle the family issues with television. ACT, known
also as “Proclamation de l’Evangile par les medias en Afrique—PEMA”, is based in
Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. With a well equipped television studio and skilled team
of production staff, ACT started to produce and broadcast on the Ivorian
national television station—RTI, a family television program known in French as
“Et votre Famille—EVF?” since 2001. The goal of this program was to tackle with
open mind the tough issues in the young families using experienced couples to
discuss the issues. After meetings with leaders of different churches and Faith
Based Organizations—FBOs, a committee was established. With advice from this
committee EVF program was launched in 2001. By 2007 ACT had produced over 283
episodes on different topics related to different subjects on family issues. EVF
is currently being broadcast in 9 different Francophone countries.
Mr. Bamba, a Muslim wrote after
watching EVF, “I admire EVF in that it tackles issues that are often considered
as taboo. The topic on communication between husband and wife and parents and
children helped me a lot because I have become more tolerant, and above all,
open with my wife and children. I still have to improve but thanks to EVF, I
have started!” KAMAGATE Bruno Moussa wrote, “I appreciate your vision for the
family. We know that it is Christian, but you don’t attempt to evangelize,
unlike other Christian groups. You address the real problems among the couple in
the family. Since I started watching my behavior towards my wife has changed.
We have learnt to communicate between us and in the family as well. Indeed,
things have changed a lot, for the better.” Besides the television broadcast,
many churches, family retreats and FBOs come to borrow EVF programs to use in
their family seminars and workshops.
In conclusion, we can say
confidently that television is indeed a strong medium of change of people’s
lives and families within the Francophone countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Bibliography:
1. Peter Herndon, Family Life Among the Ashanti of West Africa,
Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute, 2009
2. Ademo, Tokunboh, Africa Bible Commentary, Word Alive Publishers, Nairobi,
Kenya, 2006
3. Kouadio Luc P., Les 7 vertus du marriage, Arc-en- Christ, Abidjan, Cote
d’Ivoire, 2003
4. Louise M. Bourgault, The Mass Media in Sub Saharan Africa, Indiana
University press, Bloomington, Indianapolis, 1995
5. Facts about Media Violence and Effects on the American Family, 2008
(internet)
6. George Barna, U.S. divorce rates for
various faith groups, age groups, & geographic areas, Barna Research
Group, 1999
7. Robert Fortner, Media Research Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2009 | 
