AFRICAN STORIES BY MOONLIGHT
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
The Wicked Stepmother Ike was a teenage boy whose mother had died. After some time, his polygamous father also died. It became the responsibility of Uba, the father’s surviving wife, to take care of him. Uba was a mean-spirited woman who barely fed Ike. All the menial jobs were left for Ike to do. One day Uba went to market and bought udara, a delicious fruit. She ate it all with her four children, giving none to Ike, and threw away the seeds. The following day, Ike took one of the seeds, planted it on his mother’s grave, and began to sing: My udara seed, germinate, Germinate, germinate, germinate. Germinate for the motherless, Germinate for the fatherless. My father’s wife Bought udara from the market. Ate all with her children. Gave none to the motherless, Gave none to the fatherless. This life is vain; One is born, One is gone.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
Introduction to African Stories by Moonlight. The most memorable evenings I had as a child were those in which, together with other children, I listened to adults tell us stories which were often accompanied with rhythmic and delightful songs. When I started raising my own family in the city, my children looked forward to those nights when we would regale them with those stories and songs. I noticed then that many urban children were not exposed to these stories, as they were no longer in the environment in which they were told. It was after I did some studies on Indigenous African Education as a Visiting Scholar in the African Studies Center at UCLA, that I realized the molding influence of these stories on our character. Storytelling, of course, was a basic ingredient for traditional African education. I have therefore decided to share some of these stories with those children of African descent who are now away from the environment where they are told. Children and adults of other cultures will enjoy these stories, and learn from the wisdom embedded in them. The enthusiastic reception given to them by the multicultural classes to which I read them in the Long Beach Unified School District in California, further encouraged me to seek to publish them. I have written ten short stories in a language suitable for school readers, and a wider audience. If these stories help to revive storytelling in homes and communities, one objective for writing this book shall have been achieved. For the benefit of teachers who want to use the book to teach English, social studies, or multicultural studies, and for the benefit of families who would like to use the book for entertainment and learning, comprehension questions and answers have been prepared on each of the stories. These are available from paternostercpm@aol.com
About the Author
Dr. Celestine Ebiringa Ebegbulem was born in Ahiara Mbaise, Nigeria, where he attended primary schools. He had his secondary education at Holy Ghost College, Owerri, and attended Christ the King College, Onitsha, for the Higher School Certificate. He then proceeded to Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone for a combined degree from the University of Durham, England, in mathematics and physics. He was appointed as education officer (science) in Eastern Nigeria and later posted to teach at the Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri. Shortly after, under a USAID scholarship, he studied for an MA in education at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He returned to teach at the Alvan Ikoku College and was sent under UNESCO sponsorship to study for his PhD at the University of Western Australia in Perth. Dr. Ebegbulem returned to Nigeria to hold various positions in the Imo State civil service: chief registrar in charge of examinations, state director of education, and director general/permanent secretary of secondary education. He was also a fellow at the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), Paris, and a member of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). On retirement from the Imo State government, he returned to UCLA as a visiting scholar. He thereafter taught as an adjunct in universities in California, and in schools in the County of Los Angeles. Dr. Ebegbulem’s published poems have received awards. He is a 2007 poet fellow at Noble House, London, England. He now resides in Los Angeles and can be reached at paternostercpm@aol.com.