AFRICANS IN PROFILE:Largely inspired by Irish people they met at home, many Africans have come to Ireland to find a new life and a fresh start.
BISI ADIGUN, WRITER
"Nigerians walk with their head high," says Bisi Adigun. "The way they look says: 'it is interesting to be alive'." He certainly finds it so. Last month at the Project, his play, Through a Film Darkly, asked whether it is ever possible for an immigrant, white or black, not to feel like an "inside outsider" in a foreign land.
Last year, the Abbey staged an acclaimed production of Synge's Playboy of the Western World, adapted by Adigun and Roddy Doyle. In 2003, Doyle had described The Gods are Not to Blame, directed by Adigun, as the most exciting thing he'd seen on the Dublin stage in years. Adigun had wanted to do Playboy since reading it and realising that Christy behaves "like every immigrant".
Adigun grew up in Ile-Ife in west Nigeria, a place known to his Yoruba tribe as the cradle of mankind. The first play he saw, aged 10, was Oedipus the King, and that was when he decided his career would be in theatre. After getting a degree in drama, he worked on TV commercials, before teaching African drummers for a production of Macbethin London. He was soon in demand as a musician, and got a job with Adzido, one of the biggest dance ensembles in Europe.
When he was turned down for a work permit in London in 1996, he came to Ireland, and loved it. "I felt I was halfway between Africa and Europe," he says. "The humanity, the sense of community, the fact that you could persuade a barman to serve you a pint after closing time."
He has since married Kate, an Irishwoman, and they have a five-year-old daughter. He has also done two MAs and is working on a doctorate. He is artistic director of Arambe productions, and has directed and produced plays including The Kings of the Kilburn High Roadand The Dilemma of a Ghost.He also co-presented RTÉ's flagship inter-cultural TV programme, Mono, and plays in the band De Jimbe.
The African community in Ireland is going from strength to strength, he says. A decade ago, he would have had trouble finding black actors to cast. Now he is spoiled for choice. "And I am talking about really good actors," he says. As for the "inside outsider" question: "There is a lot of resistance to black people here," he says. "Ireland is trying, but it isn't harnessing the creativity and energy that immigrants bring with them."
PRISCILLA JANA, SOUTH AFRICAN AMBASSADOR
"When I arrived in Ireland in 2005, I realised that Africa Day wasn't celebrated here," says Priscilla Jana, the South African ambassador to Ireland. "So I approached Minister Lenihan and asked him to do something. The Government has taken it from there, and this year we have a whole week of events. It brings a great sense of solidarity and I think it is unique."
Jana is a formidable woman. Born in Durban, she is third generation South African from a family of Indian descent and studied medicine in India before studying law in South Africa. As a student, she was involved in the black consciousness movement and was part of the ANC underground. She opened her own law practice in 1979, and was immediately served with a banning order.
"My entire work as a lawyer was devoted to the struggle against the apartheid regime," she says. "I was the first lawyer to see Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, and in fact I was the first woman to go there. There was silence when I walked into the warders' canteen. I represented a lot of ANC leaders and activists, and I smuggled Govan Mbeki's letters off the island for publication." She went on to become a member of parliament, before becoming a diplomat. Her first posting was to The Netherlands. She is still the legal adviser to the ANC Women's League.
The greatest reward of her life came when a couple who were ANC activists and experiencing harassment and imprisonment, entrusted their baby daughter to her care. "Tina was just five months old. She has been with me ever since," she says. "She's 23 now and finishing political science at Trinity College. I also have a son, Shivesh, who is 18 and finishing school at St Andrew's College here in Dublin.
"We are very fortunate in that the South African community in Ireland is mainly made up of professional people," Jana says. "They have integrated really well. I have heard very few complaints." She says there is a strong bond with Africans from other countries. "Last year we had a freedom day for South Africa and we were inundated with calls from people from the diaspora."
She loves Ireland. "I knew it had a very strong anti-apartheid movement, and I find we have a lot of similarities, in our history and our experience. We have much to learn from each other."
BENEDICTA ATTOH, ACTIVIST
It was no surprise to anyone who knows her that Benedicta Attoh was selected by the African Xclusivemagazine last year as one of the top 10 African women in Ireland. Since she came to Ireland from Nigeria eight years ago, she has been a force to be reckoned with on what she calls "the frontline of cultural diversity".
Living in Dundalk, she was given a Louth Person of the Year award for her intercultural work. She is chair of the Africa Centre Ireland and of the Women from Minorities Network, PRO for the Louth African Women's Support Group, and she intends to stand as an independent councillor in the next local elections. She has attained a Master's degree here, and is in demand as a speaker at countless meetings and conferences. She is also married with six children. "Three of them are grown up now and at various colleges around the country," she says.
All of her activism is voluntary. She is a great believer in "active citizenship" and in leadership, which she feels is insufficiently emphasised in Ireland. "There is more to being a citizen of a country than having a passport," she says. "It is about being alive and aware of civic responsibilities. In all the work I do, I try to promote and strengthen relationships between Africans and Irish people. It is a two-way thing. The Irish Government has to create an enabling environment, and we have to be good citizens."
She chose to emigrate to Ireland because of her experience of Irish teachers and missionaries in Nigeria. "We always felt, these are very good, exemplary people, and they always talked about what a welcoming country Ireland is, so it was the obvious place for us to come to," she says.
Her experience was a bit different. Like many well-qualified immigrants, she found that her African degree was not recognised here, and she had to take a job in a food factory. Women, she says, face particular barriers. "They have no access to family networks and childcare costs are prohibitive. Some people say Ireland is racist. I don't believe that, though I have experienced racism and discrimination here, as have many others. What we do need is to raise awareness. We also need sanctions to make sure people change. Those who incite hatred should be prosecuted."
CHARLES MUTARE, EIRCOM EXECUTIVE
For Charles Mutare from Uganda, the challenges of managing four children, the youngest just three weeks old, while he and his Irish wife, Jenny, both hold down jobs in IT, currently preoccupy him more than anything to do with cultural integration. He's been in Ireland for 14 years and says he has had no problems with racism or discrimination. "If you have the capability, it doesn't matter what colour you are," he says. "Moving to any new country is a challenge. You don't walk into a job anywhere."
He came here in 1994 as a business student, got his degree and stayed. For the past nine years, he has been a corporate accounts manager at Eircom, managing the accounts of government agencies. He and his family live in Hollystown, near Castleknock in the suburbs of Dublin. "Ireland is home, but we try to go back to Uganda now and then. Last year we went back for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary.
"I was brought up in a committed Christian family, and we are bringing up our children in the same way. They are comfortable and well integrated. I am very involved in the Church of Ireland here."
He thinks Irish people and Africans have a similar outlook. "The Irish are humorous and witty and they have big hearts in the way they deal with vulnerable people in society," he says. "I was very touched by the way they embraced the Special Olympics, for example. Irish people have gone all over the world, as well. They have had the experience of being emigrants."
There are only a couple of hundred Ugandans in Ireland, but there are also many Irish people who have lived or worked in Uganda. As chair of the Uganda Society, Mutare is currently busy preparing for Africa Day. "We will have a gazebo showcasing traditional Ugandan food, like green bananas and cassava. We'll have Ugandan crafts and we'll have people doing cultural dancing and wearing traditional Ugandan fashion," he says. He believes it is important for Irish people to appreciate Ugandan culture, in the same way that Ugandans must appreciate Irish culture: "Integration is a two-way process," he says.
MARIE KARUGENDO, BEAUTICIAN
Marie Karugendo was born in Rwanda but grew up in Uganda, where her parents moved because of the political situation in their native country. Things in Uganda proved equally difficult and Karugendo was forced to flee the country in 1998.
"The reason why I came here was a little bit critical, so I was given my asylum straight away," she explains. "My life was in danger if I stayed in Uganda." Karugendo chose Ireland because she had contact with Irish missionaries working in the camps in Uganda. "I had met some people who were from here and they were doing a great job." She was 38 when she arrived, and her initial experiences were very positive. "It was a very difficult time but I got help from the Irish people, who were very understanding. I made friends straight away, especially among the Medical Sisters [ missionaries] who helped me a lot."
With their help, and the help of the Irish Refugee Council, she was also able to return for her four children, whose father had already been killed. She is now 10 years in Ireland, and after a diploma course in Crumlin college, she now practices as a beauty therapist in her own clinic in Crumlin, Dublin. Despite the length of time here, she still misses Uganda. "There is still a great attachment there. I miss the culture, and I want to go back, but there is no security, that's the problem." As assistant chair of the newly formed Uganda Association of Ireland, she is also connecting with other Ugandans based in Ireland. "We think we are about 150 to 200 here now, and we are trying to get ourselves together to see if there are more who don't know where to turn or who to talk to," she explains.
Together with the association, Karugendo is hoping to promote the sport of netball in Ireland. "It's the main sport for ladies in African countries," she explains. "It's the biggest thing next to soccer back home, so we are thinking of introducing it to people here, trying to get people together. That's also going to be part of our show in Dublin Castle on May 25th."
EMEKA ONWUBIKO, FOOTBALLER
Emeka Onwubiko's family arrived in Ireland in 2002 from Nigeria when he was 12. Six years later and he has sunk deep roots in his adoptive home, as an Irish football international at U-19 level and a promising member of the Bray Wanderers squad.
Injury has curtailed the striker's involvement in Bray's Eircom League season to date, but he has demonstrated sufficient talent to be labelled a bright prospect by former Ireland manager Brian Kerr. Onwubiko took football with him across the long miles from Nigeria, and believes it helped smooth his transition to Irish life. "There are many people who are living here 10 years and haven't settled in. I just picked it up easily once I started playing football."
Onwubiko's family settled in Swords and he attended Fingal Community College in the town. During his schooldays he played club football with St Kevin's Boys and Belvedere FC, two of the capital's top schoolboy sides. By his mid-teens, scouts from clubs across the water were sniffing keenly. However, his unresolved citizenship status in Ireland initially stymied his prospects of a professional career in England.
"I was over at Manchester City and West Brom. I was over there around six months in all. I signed a contract at West Brom but then I had to come back home [ to Ireland] because I was only allowed stay there a few months because of the visa situation. That's football; you take the good things and the bad things."
In April 2007, though, he received an Irish passport. For now, he is enjoying his football with Bray, but having Irish citizenship has made possible his dream of playing in England.
"Basically, getting the Irish passport was a boost to my whole career. Playing in England is the dream; it's everyone's dream. But I'm still young, only 18, and hopefully everything goes well."
While he plays as a part-time professional with Bray, he also works in a gym in Wicklow town. All in all, life by the sea is sweet, although he must still sometimes contend with prejudice.
"There's so many good things about Ireland. You just have to be yourself and get on with everything. Obviously you get some racist abuse. You get that everywhere. I just try to ignore it and get on with things."
Part of getting on with life is the work he has done with Sport Against Racism Ireland (Sari)to highlight the positive potential of sport as a means of promoting multicultural harmony.
If the Ireland senior team comes calling one day, he is in no doubt where his allegiance lies. "I got a call from Nigeria about a year and a half ago but I turned them down. I'm settled here, I want to play here. I've got my passport and my family are all here. It's a one-way street."
THABI MADIDE, CONSULTANT
Thabi Madide grew up in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and lived through apartheid until, at the age of 34, she was finally afforded the chance to leave. "Having grown up in South Africa where as black people we were prohibited to travel, my world was a ittle bit small," she says.
"Even within South Africa there was a time when I had to have a passport to travel within the country." With the collapse of the apartheid system, Madide was suddenly in a position to see some more of the world. Her first port of call was Ireland, given that her partner at the time had been born in Ireland.
"During apartheid there were quotas for black people to study certain professions. My former partner's father wanted to study medicine but he didn't make the quota so his family sent him abroad," she says.
As a result, her former partner was born in Ireland during his father's time studying here, and once the restrictions were lifted, his curiosity about his own birthplace took him to Dublin.
"He took the opportunity to go and investigate his roots," says Thabi, who accompanied him. She was then pregnant with her daughter, who was subsequently born in the Rotunda, the same hospital her father had been born in.
"I decided to stay in Ireland for so many reasons. Some of them were highly personal. It seemed like a good place to be as there were things that I wanted to leave behind in South Africa," she says.
At the time of her arrival here seven years ago, the birth of her daughter in Ireland meant Thabi could automatically stay, and she did not have to go through the asylum-seeking process. With a BCom degree under her belt, she found work first at the Centre for Independent Living and went on to join Dún Laoghaire Co Council as their community and enterprise development officer. She now lives in Delgany, Co Wicklow, and works as a freelance journalist for the African Voiceand Metro Eireann, as well as running a consultancy offering research and event-organising services, as well as strategic planning and project evaluation.
She has also found time to pen her first novel, which is due out in August.
"I'm writing about the lives of African people in Ireland, but at the same time I want to raise an awareness about the cracks that we immigrants bring with us from our home towns," she says. She has some close friends in Ireland, but does miss things from home. "I do like living here, but it is hard," says Thabi, now 42.
"The lack of family support in terms of raising my child is a very, very big challenge, and every individual needs that kind of emotional support which comes from family and long-standing friendships, so it's difficult to find friendships at this late age in life that can sustain and support you."
Madide is still hoping to make Ireland her permanent home, although she admits it's a struggle.
"I'm considering making Ireland my home, but it doesn't feel like home at the moment, not because of the way I'm treated, but because I'm not settled, I'm still trying to make my mark."
Interviews by Susan McKay, Fiona McCann and Sean Kenny