Last Saturday, October 25th, the campus of Hekima University College transformed into a true crossroads of cultures. Laughter, songs, dances, and aromas mingled in the warm Nairobi air. It was the 2025 Cultural Day, celebrated under the theme: “Thanksgiving for our common heritage: One faith, many cultures.” This theme, more than just a slogan, expresses the very soul of Hekima. It reminds us that the universal and living Christian faith is woven into the diversity of peoples, languages, and traditions. In other words, this edition was a hymn to inculturation, the process of rooting the Gospel in cultures, so that every people may discover the face of Christ through its own beauty.
A Celebration Full of Fervor
The day opened with a solemn mass celebrated by Fr. Alexis Valyamugheni. Prayers drawn from the Mass for the Progress of Peoples and songs in Kiswahili, Igbo, Malagasy, Senufo, and Ndebele gave the liturgy a universal spirit. In his homily, Father Alexis Kasereka Valyamugheni invited everyone to recognize diversity not as an obstacle but as a gift from God: “Difference does not impoverish faith; it makes it fruitful.” He recalled that one can fully live one’s Christian faith without denying one’s culture. On the contrary, the two combine and intertwine for the greater glory of God.
Taking the floor in turn, the Principal, the Rev. Dr. Marcel Uwineza, dressed for the occasion in an elegant Rwandan mushanana, an image that delighted the assembly, stressed that true fraternity is born from the dialogue of cultures. He praised the community’s ability to turn its diversity into a school of unity and hope. After the mass, the community gathered for a shared meal, a moment of fellowship and encounters. The tables, like the conversations, reflected this mosaic of faces and origins: a foretaste of the great human family that Hekima strives daily to embody.
The Spectacle of Cultures
In the afternoon, the stage opened to dances, poems, and music from around the world. From Sri Lanka to South Sudan, from Nigeria to Benin, each performance unveiled the soul of a people. Priscilla Mamusu Koroma’s passionate poem, “One Africa, One Voice,” touched the audience with its strength and grace. Then, the Igbo royal ceremony “The Crowning of Igwe” transported the hall into the splendor of West African traditions. The rhythms of Central Africa, the Tanzanian steps, the Malagasy softness, and the majesty of the Rwandan and Burundian dances, each in turn, electrified the audience. An unexpected moment of humor came from the Mexico-Germany duo, proving that culture knows no borders. Finally, the Democratic Republic of Congo closed the presentations with an explosive medley of music from all its regions, a summary of the unity in diversity represented by this giant in the heart of Africa
A Conclusion in Gratitude
Before sunset, Chinyere Cecilia Ibezim, on behalf of HUCSA, expressed the community’s gratitude. The Rev. Fr. Sebastian Adigwe, Hekima’s chaplain, concluded with a prayer of thanksgiving, recalling that “to celebrate our differences is to praise the same God.” A concert by the Live Rhumba Band, with a distinct Congolese flavor, and a culinary exhibition dinner extended the festivities into the night, offering everyone a gustatory journey around the world.
Hekima’s Cultural Day 2025 was more than an event. It was a sign. It showed that celebrating diversity renews the community’s unity. Under the motto “Truth and Excellence, towards Justice and Service,” Hekima offered the world this message: faith, when it dances and shares, becomes a universal language of peace.
By Belgina-la-fortune-augusta YABIN and Camille Mukoso, SJ
