7 days ago
Fest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Aurora offers taste of Africa
Kathleen Dewig of Batavia elected to be a little more adventurous with her lunch this past weekend and elected to try some authentic Nigerian food.
'I've never had this type of cuisine before,' Dewig sat as she sat in an open room with tables Sunday afternoon inside St. Joseph Catholic Church in Aurora. 'It's very spicy, and I like the spicy chicken and the rice.'
A trip through Nigerian and other African cuisines, as well as food from other areas of the world, was offered Sunday at St. Joseph Catholic Church as the non-profit Sycamore-based ImaBridge Africa International group offered a two-hour International Taste Festival beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Following a Mass at 11 a.m., the church featured cultural performances, an African cooking contest, kids' games and a plethora of food as the non-profit group hoped to raise money through food tickets and donations for the underprivileged in Nigeria.
This year's effort focused on helping a hospital in Nigeria, organizers said.
Ndifrekeabasi Ecim of Nigeria was on hand Sunday and said she was the administrator for the ImaBridge Africa-owned hospital back home.
'This is going to go a long way to help the vulnerable people – the women who cannot have their children elsewhere – this will help them procure all the help they need for the babies and themselves,' Ecim said of Sunday's fundraiser.
The Rev. Godwin Asuquo, pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church of Aurora and also founder of ImaBridge Africa, said the event used to be held in McHenry and was moved here to Aurora last year, following his being assigned to the Aurora church, adding that he was 'wanting to create more awareness.'
'People in McHenry are familiar with this and we wanted to spread the word to another area,' Asuquo said a few days before the event. 'This is the ninth year we have held the fundraiser and the second time we have had it in Aurora. I was transferred from McHenry to Aurora so some of this was for convenience but also to expand awareness. People from McHenry still come here and we are bringing more people.'
Cecelia Adams, director of public relations for ImaBridge Africa, said the goal of this year's event was to make it even more multicultural.
'We have foods from different places in Africa but also tamales and other groups. We moved to Aurora to expand ourselves both in ethnicity and also to get the word out for others to help those in need across the globe,' she said.
The event focuses on authentic cuisine, Asuquo said.
'We have people of Nigerian or African descent that have flown in and are here with us already – close to 10 people that have arrived from Nigeria who are cooking the food from scratch,' he said before the event. 'We also have people from different ethnicities and we want to make this more of an international festival where we get to learn about different peoples' cultures.'
Officials said the event would raise as much as $30,000 when it was held in McHenry and that ImaBridge Africa is also seeking grants.
'Our goal is to raise $30,000 this year. We didn't make that much last year but we think it was because we switched (locations),' Adams said. 'I've personally been to Nigeria about 12 times and it's the culture and the food that keeps me coming back.'
Gail Wright of Aurora came with her husband Tom and grandson Gabe and said she used to teach in the area.
'We wanted to support ImaBridge Africa and also see Father Godwin who we know,' she said. 'I know there is African food and we're absolutely excited about that and trying it. I only know what Father Godwin told us about the food but we missed it last year.'
