• Latest
Feeding the village forms major aspect of Ifa festival in 2020

Feeding the village forms major aspect of Ifa festival in 2020

2 years ago
International Day for Biological Diversity 22 May

International Day for Biological Diversity 22 May

7 hours ago
Claims of coronavirus at SGU designed to create fear and panic

Covid-19 update: Grenada Dashboard 20 May 2022

7 hours ago
Cambridge GCE Registration Period

Commonwealth of Learning Skills for Work Programme

2 days ago
St Mark Women in Action graduate from UNDP WOW Programme

St Mark Women in Action graduate from UNDP WOW Programme

2 days ago
Calypso Workshop for Students

Division of culture completes 3-day calypso arts workshop for schools

2 days ago
China donates to RGPF to help protect officers from Covid-19

China donates to RGPF to help protect officers from Covid-19

2 days ago
World Metrology Day 20 May

World Metrology Day 20 May

2 days ago
Claims of coronavirus at SGU designed to create fear and panic

Covid-19 update: Grenada Dashboard 19 May 2022

2 days ago
Digital Tourism Opportunities

PM launches Grenada’s National Cyber Security Incident Response Team

3 days ago
Kingdom of Morocco Scholarship announcement

Kingdom of Morocco Scholarship announcement

3 days ago
JICA celebrates alongside Grenada as they welcome 45 years of independence

Japanese Government Postgraduate Scholarship Programme for 2023

3 days ago
Examining the power dynamics of domestic violence

Our Boys and Men

3 days ago
NOW Grenada

Main Header Ad 468x60

  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
NOW Grenada
No Result
View All Result

Article Header

Feeding the village forms major aspect of Ifa festival in 2020

This story was posted 2 years ago
22 July 2020
in Arts/Culture/Entertainment, Community, General News
3 min. read
Members of the Shrine of the Seven Wonders of Africa, packaging meals to be distributed through various communities
Share

by Curlan Campbell

  • Covid-19 scaled down 2020 Ifa festival
  • Initiative provided hot meals to several communities
  • Shrine of the Seven Wonders of Africa looking at making charity efforts a monthly activity

Following a stellar execution of the Ifa festival for the last 2 years, Covid-19 this year has seen a major scale-down of the festival in keeping with physical distancing protocol mandated by the Ministry of Health.

The Ifa festival can be traced back to the West African spiritual tradition of the Yoruba people, which for hundreds of years honoured a pantheon of deities called Orishas which are representations of the elements of nature.

“We were looking forward to this year, it would have been our year of growth because of the number of people who indicated that they will be here so in a way it was a bit disappointing but at the same time we have to keep on with the work for the ancestors,” said Yvonne Drake, Head Priestess Iya Ifatooki, of the Shrine of the Seven Wonders of Africa.

Nevertheless, organisers were able to successfully execute this year’s festival by paying particular attention to catering to the needs of impoverished communities. Despite scaling down this year’s festival due to Covid-19, major emphasis was not only placed on the spiritual aspect but also undertook a major charity initiative in a time of financial hardship by providing hot meals to communities.

In Grenada, the spiritual practice of Ifa was revived by Priestess Iya Ifatooki who has spent over 20 years in Toronto Canada spearheading a charity ministry which provided meals to the homeless on the streets. The organisation spent much of the festival preparing, packaging and distributing meals as part of giving back. Adopted Communities such as Pearls, St Andrew benefited from such an initiative together with other communities such as St Pauls and St David. Over 400 meals were distributed to the various communities especially to the children, during that period of the festival. Being self funded, a festival of this nature can cost upwards of EC$10,000.

According to the Ifa tradition, it is required that initiates first ask for clearance and approval from Esu, known as a messenger between heaven and earth, before they can be engaged in the feeding of the village. Once that is complete organisers started preparing the various meals. For example on Tuesday, 14 July 2020, in preparation of distribution of the food, red wine was poured onto the mutton in recognition of the Orisha Shango which was honoured that day. Once that was complete everyone involved in the cooking must be involved in the sharing of the meal and it is imperative that food must not touch the ground until everyone has played their part in this distribution.

Food preparation during the Ifa festival

“Based on tradition, once the first person starts taking out the food, the food must not be put down because it is a chain of command that must not be broken. It is also necessary since each person touches and blesses the food because this is part of them giving back,” said Drakes.

The Shrine of the Seven Wonders of Africa located in Corinth, St David is looking at making its charity efforts a monthly activity.

NOW Grenada is not responsible for the opinions, statements or media content presented by contributors. In case of abuse, click here to report.
Tags: coronaviruscovid-19curlan campbellfeeding the villageifa festivalIya Ifatookiorishasseven wonders of africayorubayoruba traditionyvonne drake
Next Post
Protect our nation’s children from child sexual abuse

A people majoring in minors

Comment on post Cancel reply

Please enter your valid email address.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Home Sidebar NP 300x250

© NOW Grenada. All Rights Reserved. Published by Aqua Design Inc. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Copyright NOW Grenada

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.