by Georges from DR Congo

Speaking of Christmas, I noticed a big difference during the celebration here in Germany. Here in the Congo, the Christmas party is often seen as a celebration reserved for small children only. We buy them new clothes, we really try to make the children very happy that day, sometimes we celebrate with other families, but the majority of Congolese people say that Christmas is for children. The adults are waiting for the big New Year’s Eve party. It’s different in Germany, where the population prefers to celebrate Christmas over New Year’s Eve. I saw it here in Dortmund. I can assure you that we celebrated Advent and Christmas here from November to December.

I, who had the New Year’s Eve celebrations in mind, said to myself; Here we celebrate Christmas with so much warmth, what will the New Year’s Eve celebrations be like then? So it will be like this, that means even more warmth and cordiality than at Christmas? Suddenly January 1st came and everyone stayed at home: no activity, no noise, no heat, it was totally silent on the streets. I even went on a trip to see if it was the same in other cities: and yes, it was the same as in Dortmund

And then I came to the conclusion that Europeans respect and celebrate Christmas much better than Africans, especially us in Congo. I would say Christian Europeans know how to enjoy the various celebrations of special days for Christianity and give value back to the days. Back home in Africa we often look forward to the New Year celebrations which has no bearing on Christianity as it is a celebration for all the different religious denominations on earth.

After these nine months we are still trying to get by in the German language, which is not that easy. However, man must always change; they are trees and animals that can never change. The small problem is that if we now feel the good taste to form a few sentences in German, our visas will also expire. But it doesn’t matter, because what little we have experienced can be of great value to us in our future. Man grows, ages and even manages to die full of hope. Otherwise, many thanks again to the project of the Evangelische Kirchenkreis Dortmund for this support, which continues to be given to young people from different continents for a cultural exchange in the Volunteershouse.

 

The photos shows me in the Christmas celebration in DR Congo in 2020.