Celebration of the African-American Child

This past Saturday I spent most of my day at a volunteer workshop with the Umoja Committee. The Umoja Committee is an organization that works to uplift New Orleans' African-American community (the word Umoja means unity). 2009 marks the committee's 20th year in existence. Their biggest event is the Celebration of the African-American Child which will be held on April 4 from 11 AM to 5 PM in Armstrong Park. The celebration is open to the public and provides educational games and crafts and important information to the parents. There is also a small parade that marks the beginning of the celebration and a stage for performers and vendors. After a few hours of being at the workshop, my understanding is that many of the people in the Umoja Committee hope take control of their own destinies. Through the Celebration of the African-American Child the committee works to expose black children to healthy lifestyles and good role models while also instilling in them pride and self-esteem.

My volunteer position primarily involves researching the Top 10 health issues that African-American children are facing in Louisiana. This information will then be presented to parents and teachers at the event. The day of the celebration I will be helping children to do arts and crafts activities, most of which are centered around African-American/African culture and history. For three hours on Saturday we created and designed new crafts and activities in preparation for the celebration. I got to make lots of cool crafts, all of which I got to keep (and ended up sending to my mother as a gift). This was a very refreshing experience for me because I was exposed to locals beyond the borders of Tulane and the Garden District. At times it even reminded me of events that my brother and I participated in as children in the South Side of Chicago.

If anyone is interested in volunteering don't hesitate to let me know. The committee would like to have at least 200 volunteers at this year's celebration (especially men lol).