THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
We are used to African festivals being events connected with singing, music and dancing as well as other related cultural activities.
A new form of festival will hold on 24 November in Berlin. It’s a festival devoted to our well-being in a holistic sense of it, as the organiser, Lola Bassey of the Aktive Afrikanische Eltern Initiative e.V. (Active African Parents Initiative or AAEI), has captioned it.
“We would like to shed light on how our lifestyle affects the health of the whole family and how to achieve a work-life balance,” Mrs Bassey said.
The day-long event, holding from 10 am to 11pm and organised in collaboration with Jobcenter Berlin, will feature activities such as lectures, a fair and, of course, music and other forms of entertainment.
Specialists from across the broad spectrum of health, including nutritionists and fitness instructors, will talk about how to balance the competing demands of work and life by adopting the right lifestyle.
Work-life balance is typically defined as the amount of time you spend doing your job versus the amount of time you spend with loved ones or pursuing personal interests and hobbies.
The health specialists will focus on our nutrition and what we should do regularly to promote our physical health.
The event will also feature a job fair to provide information on how best to get that dream job and how to acquire further qualifications to better one’s chances on the employment market. The Jobcenter, collaborating partners of the event, will provide advice and information.
Dele Odusoga, member of the AAEI, said the purpose of the event, sponsored by GKV Bündnis für Gesundheit, is to increase awareness of healthy living in the African community. “So, we intend to provide a space to talk about the most important matter in the family, which is the health of the family, and the various factors that affect it,” he added.
“The organisation would like mothers and fathers to pay more attention to what the family eats, how it relaxes and what activities it needs to regularly engage in to promote its overall well-being,” Ms Bassey, founder and chairperson of AAEI, said.
As music and dance also promote healthy living, the event will feature an elaborate cultural programme, including singing and dancing and other performances.
Medical experts have pointed to a disproportionate occurrence of certain conditions, such as diabetes, in migrant communities. This is attributed to lifestyle choices.
The objective of the event is therefore to promote a greater awareness of the issues of healthy living in a modern society in the African community and on how best to divide one’s time and focus between working, family and leisure activities.
“We look forward to making the event a regular one in the African community as our contribution to the overall well-being of our community,” Bassey said.
Femi Awoniyi
Work-Life Balance 1.0 – Afrikafest
Date: Friday, 24 November 2023, Time: 10am – 11pm
Venue: Paul-Schneider-Haus, Schönwalder Str. 23, 13585 Berlin
Organiser: Aktive Afrikanische Eltern Initiative e.V.
Contact: info@aktiv-eltern.de
