We live in an era where everyone is fast adopting the Western culture, the technological age seems to gradually steal the knowledge of our culture and heritage from our young ones, and this is fast becoming a topic of concern, children nowadays are no longer taught how to speak their native language, rather they are forced to go to school and learn about the western culture and language which isn't a bad thing but shouldn't be at the expense of their rich culture, some parent now call their language vernacular and prohibit their children from speaking it, isn't this sadly funny?
It is sad to know that it is beginning to seem like a new normal when your child refuses your rich local cuisine for foreign junk, and they know nothing about their origin. Maintaining connections to our roots and ancestral wisdom should be an integral part of training your child as it helps them have a sense of identity that allows them to confidently pass through this ever evolving world. Our cultural backgrounds give us the strong foundations we need to be selective of what we adopt in the Western culture, and not just blindly follow the crowd, when we are fully educated about our culture, we will be able to filter out negative outside influences from the modern/western culture, because truth be told, they won't always align with what is right and proper also acceptable by our traditio.
Sometimes when I see what a fellow countryman does in the name of being exposed, I shake my head in shame, and I wonder how our ancestors would react if they get to see this present generation in action, I weep for the children who have been misled in the name of westernization, we are not advanced in technology, but we are advanced when it comes to morals, and we should by in no way forget that about us, it is our originality, and no one or child should feel less about maintaining high moral standards because the modern world don't care anymore.
While adapting to modern Society, it is important we maintain our cultural heritage by teaching our children about their rich cultural foundation, telling them stories about their ancestors, how they lived their lives, how they maintained peace compared to what we have today, the reasons why some traditions are very vital and shouldn't be looked down on no matter how the world evolves. For example, from where I come from, adultery is frown against seriously, and the penalty is death, this is an old age tradition that was set In place to curtail adultery, keeping men and women committed to their marriages, I don't know the science that binds us, maybe bloods because this tradition has been in existence ages back, yet it still has a strong influence over us as we've seen men and women who go against the tradition, become afflicted with the curse that certainly leads to death, except for those that confessed and bear the shame, this is no fables, it happens for real, the only solution from the curse of this tradition is to sign out of a marriage you are not interested in by doing some certain rituals like returning the bride price paid in case of a woman instead of cheating on your husband, I see nothing wrong with this tradition, then imagine not teaching a child about this part of their origin, and they become victims in the future because the western culture doesn't have a strong rule and backing against adultery like from where i'm from, you can now see reasons why teaching our children about their origin ultimately gives them the confidence to be proud about their heritage and also having the discernment to take the best and positive aspects of Western influences and modernity. They can travel around the world without losing themselves.
We are always quick to praise the new age scientists about their invention, but do you know that most of the knowledge used in creating something we adore today was gotten from our ancestor's wisdom, they were not as clueless as some of us think them to be, preserving our cultural traditions and wisdom also ensures that useful accumulated knowledge around disciplines like environmental preservation, traditional herbal medicine and peaceful living aren't lost forever as we rush to meet up with the western science, industry and urban development at all costs, modernization shouldn't have to equal us abandoning all of our traditional ways of life and co-existence with the natural world, we've already started witnessing the negative influences of forgetting our origin in terms of preserving our natural habitant, we now cut down trees to build industries and skyscrapers, and later complain of the intense heat waves, what about the sky scrappers co-existing with the trees, I'm sure there should be a way around that.
And this teaching is not just meant for parents alone, our children's schools should make history a very compulsory subject for all students, it's so sad that recently there has been news about scrapping this very particular subject in our school's curriculum, how insane, I just wish that this law isn't passed successfully because we would be lost forever.
As our children grow, becoming the leaders of tomorrow, those with a firm understanding of their heritage and ancestry will be able to acknowledge their roots while remaining open-minded, adaptable and additive rather than taking their heritage less important. They will add unique meaning to the globalized world as they gather experiences rather than merely let their culture dissolve into it.
More than ever before, I think it's not too late to impact the knowledge of our traditions in them, speak your local dialect to them, explain to them the nutrient they derive from our local foods, also more about our fashion, rather than forsake their origin, there should be an infusion of our tradition into the modern world, and let even the western world be jealous of our rich culture.
This post is inspired by the #Aprilinleo monthly topics, day 3, with the topic Heritage and Culture, you can also be a part of this initiative, hurry now and check the announcement post
<All images used in this post are mine.