Tradition of Greeting

In African fables and tales, it’s believed that people have met with good luck just by greeting strangers

Welcome to the beautiful morning of June 1st, 2021. By African tradition, it’s formal to say greetings to anyone encountered on the way. Some cultures consider it taboo not to say greetings to people (especially the aged). Here is a tip for travelers; should you visit any African state, be ready to reply to a lot of greetings as locals will surely offer you many! You might even get irritated but be patient – it’s just a grand way of showing acceptance and offering blessings!

Greeting others is perceived as a sign of respect and modesty in Africa. Ordinarily, these are structured in this manner: young ones greeting their elders as in children greeting their parents and students doing so to teachers. This culture hasn’t changed much for centuries. It’s significant to wish people well each morning and to ask them to have a satisfying day. It’s even believed that through greetings many young people have met with good luck as expressed in African fables and tales. One tale narrated of a young maiden who got married to a prince for demonstrating homely training by greeting and honoring her elders. These tales are used to teach our children the virtues and vices in society.

Great importance is attributed to greeting in Africa. Anyone can identify cultured and empathetic people from a distance from the way they regard others. Sometimes I try to compare the African greeting style with that of the civilized world. I’ll try to do a post on that in the future.

I wish a good and blessed morning to you all. Have a fulfilling day. May the sun shine in everything you do. See you in the evening, take care.