An African speaker and professor of education at the University of Minnesota in Duluth came to speak at Georgia Southern University Wednesday night in the Russell Union Theatre. Hosted by the Multicultural Center, Dr. Chang’aa Mweti discussed understanding cultural differences with Georgia Southern students.

The message that Dr. Mweti was most enthusiastic about discussing with the audience was that of understanding cultural differences. He began this discussion through explaining some of his own cultural shocks; Dr. Mweti’s community in Kenya saved enough money for him to leave Africa and study in the U.S.

Mweti used jokes, audience participation, and poetry and song from his home country of Kenya to expose students to his own cultural viewpoint. In one activity, Mweti talked about how Africans view food in America.

Watch Video of Dr. Mweti's Poem:



“America is the only country where a pizza gets delivered to your house faster than an ambulance,” said Dr. Mweti. “And when I heard of hot dogs for the first time I screamed.”

Mweti stressed that students learn to be open-minded to different cultures and to not encourage stereotypes; specifically those about his home continent of Africa.

Kathy-Lee Cassie a foreign exchange student attending the production said that the performance was special to her.

“He was very funny, I learned several new things about African culture, it’s great that I can connect with his unfamiliarity with a strange new place since I too came from another country,” said Kathy-Lee.

This is Mweti’s second trip to GSU; his first came in 1998. In his closing statement, Dr. Mweti vowed to return to Georgia Southern, possibly as a teacher. For more events hosted by the GSU Multicultural center visit the events calendar located on Georgia Southern University homepage.

David Zaremba