Newsletter No. 533

提 起非洲，港人大多感到陌生，生活中更鮮有機會認識 來自那片遙遠土地的人。現時，居港非裔人口約有三千 人，中大則有十名非洲學生。在校園屬極少數的他們， 緣何來此蕞爾小島，有着怎樣的思想感情？來自非洲南部國家津 巴布韋的人類學四年級生 Innocent Mutanga 和法律二年級生 Myrmidon Kangara ，一位積極帶領人們認識和關懷社會弱 勢，推動公義；一位辯才精湛，演說情理並茂，觸動人心。在本地 社會和校園中，他們雖為少數，卻一枝獨秀，在各自的舞台上發 熱發亮，向香港以至世界宣示他們的美麗、獨特與優秀。 世界任我行— Innocent Mutanga 認識一個人，可以從名字開始。單純的名字，卻蘊含一段複雜的家 國歷史：津巴布韋雖於上世紀六零年代脫離英國殖民統治，但後 者文化已深植津國土壤。為了讓傳教士老師讀得出名字，祖父以 英文為Innocent起名。文化碰撞、順應時局、變中求存，自此成為 他生命的主調。天資聰敏的Innocent從小名列前茅，中學畢業即 獲政府頒發獎學金赴美國攻讀精算、物理和哲學。2013年暑假， 他回到大選前的津國，為結束當權者的鐵腕統治奔走，結果遭綁 架。僥倖逃脫的他無處可去，站在熙來攘往的機場，發現入境香 港無需簽證，遂決定登機一搏。 天之驕子歷劫來港，如入凡塵：他曾托身尖沙咀重慶大廈，也曾 躑躅街頭，在寒冷的冬夜等待天明。人在異鄉，處境艱難，唯一 不變的是他的赤子之心，讓他在險難中進退從容，保持樂觀。他 使出在美讀書時的本領，靠補習英文和編輯報考大學的自述文章 賺取生計，閒時又運用天賦的精明頭腦鑽研快餐配搭，替食客購 餐，並以同等價錢多買一份餐飲，或儲下零錢。 人類學裏悟人生 在港漸漸站穩陣腳的Innocent，建立起自己的生活圈子，抵埗時 入住的重慶大廈，成為他常去的地方。他更在此結識了專研重慶 T o most people in Hong Kong, the distant African continent is either a mystery or an unknown. At present, there are about 3,000 Africans living in Hong Kong, with CUHK hosting 10 African students. What draws them here, and how do they think and feel? The stories of two students from Zimbabwe may give us a hint. A Year 4 anthropology student, Innocent Mutanga champions the cause of social justice through awakening the public to the conditions and needs of the marginalized and the vulnerable in society. Myrmidon Kangara , a Year 2 law student, is a champion of the spoken words who wins arguments and hearts. The minority of minority, they do not take the backstage but show Hong Kong and beyond how distinguished they are in words and deeds. The World is Innocent Mutanga’s Oyster To learn about a person, one starts with the name. The very innocence denoted by Innocent’s name belies a complex and harrowing time in Zimbabwe’s history. The African country was a British colony before its independence in the sixties. To help missionary teachers pronounce the name, Innocent’s grandfather decided to give the child an English name. It’s as if he’s singled out for the clashes of cultures and the struggles for surviving changing times and places. Always at the top of his class, Innocent was awarded a government scholarship upon finishing high school to go to the US to study actuarial science, physics and philosophy. In the summer of 2013, he flew back to his home country on the eve of the general election in support of ending the then current regime’s iron-fist rule. His political involvement led to him being kidnapped and his friends getting killed. He managed a narrow escape but found he had nowhere to go to. It’s only at the bustling airport that he found out Hong Kong did not require a visa and so he decided to take a chance. A hard landing awaited him in Hong Kong. He once took up abode in Tsim Sha Tsui’s Chungking Mansions (a mansion only in name), and there were times when he strolled the night streets to ward off sleep and cold in the winter months. The trying circumstances, however, did not break him. He made a living by teaching English and editing college application essays for students. Putting his natural resourcefulness and actuarial training to good use, Innocent even advised customers of fast- food restaurants on orders that saved money or food or both, and sometimes for himself as well. Anthropology as a Way of Life Innocent soon settled in and began to build his own circle. He frequented the Chungking Mansions where he met Prof. Gordon Mathews , chairman of CUHK’s Department of Anthropology, 02 # 5 3 3 | 0 4 . 0 3 . 2 0 1 9 在學校講授非洲文化 Teaching African cultures at schools Source: Inter Cultural Education