RIAlNetwork will provide various activities for our members online and in person. We believe that relationships, friendships, and companionships are built by spending time together.
Activities include:
Training Content
Food
This includes discovering the different foods enjoyed on the African continent and Ireland, sharing recipes, and exploring the significance of foods eaten during special ceremonies and different times of the year.
Hair Maintenance
Hair is of special spiritual importance in Africa. Many African cultures see the head as the centre of control, communication, and identity. Hair was regarded as a source of power that personified the individual and could be used for spiritual purposes. Since it rests on the highest point on the body, the hair itself was a means to communicate with divine spirits.
It was treated in ways that were thought to bring luck and ward off evil. During enslavement, women often braided intricate patterns to help the slaves escape, which made hair a powerful tool. This is why it is important that our members and participants have this historical understanding of African hair. Due to the significance it holds, our participants should be proud of maintaining it. RIAINetwork will provide literature, tutorials, and various activities that are beneficial for our members and their families in their hair journey. The material will help grow an appreciation for their natural hair.
Sports
Sports can change people’s lives, change the lives of their family members, and create a positive impact on the world. Sports can be beneficial among all ethnicities. The rules of sports are the same universally for every country in the world.
Sports also have the power to lift people’s spirits in times of uncertainty and racial divide. The Miracle on Ice hockey game during the height of the Cold War and the South Africa 1995 Rugby World Cup victory are prime examples of how various social sports can foster a greater understanding of different cultures.
Art and Music
Art education connects participants with their own culture and the rest of the world. RIAINetwork will work with members and participants to associate their identity and heritage with that of their parents’ own. Through art and music, they will improve their target language skills.
Book Club
RIAINetwork will host book clubs using books centered around the African continent, African diaspora, and Ireland to culturally and linguistically engage diverse learners. Through reading, writing, and talking about books, we become rooted and united for children, young people, and families. Book club sessions will be done either in-person or online.
Books will be of an appropriate manner based on age and will celebrate and recognize African writers or literature about the remarkable and often misjudged continent of Africa. We aspire to share the best of African literature with members who have limited access to such material.
The voices of African writers and the stories they tell allow the world to get to know the true, vibrant Africa—not the one dominated by stories of crushing poverty, disease, and bad leadership, but one where, despite its imperfections, Africa and its diasporas are full of stories of achievement, love, inspiration, and joy.
