Central African Folk Tales: An Imaginative Collection of Wisdom for Children

By Thomas G. Schaefer Ph.D.

Central Africa is at the core of the African continent. The nations which comprise this region are inhabited by hundreds of different ethnic or tribal groups. While there are many differences among these groups of people, there are also many similarities. Oral tradition has played a very strong role in the passing on of the stories of these people, which we refer to as folktales. These stories, told to children, and shared in villages and homes, reveal a great deal about the thought and the culture of the people of this region. In many ways, they show the way people think and the values which they possess.

The stories in this childrens book come from the people of the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Republic of the Congo. Most of them were told to me in Sango, which is the lingua franca of the Central African Republic. Variations of these stories are found throughout Central Africa, where they are recounted in hundreds of other native languages. By translating these folktales into French and English (both official languages of much of Africa), it is my hope to make them accessible to a larger population. Reading them, we learn that people from different cultures think differently, and in many ways possess values different than those to which many adhere. To discover what is different is not to determine what is right or what is wrong, but to learn to appreciate unique perspectives on life. If we approach what these stories have to tell us with an open mind and open heart, we will learn from them, just as children do.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499082203

Thomas G. Schaefer Ph.D.

Dr. Tom Schaefer first experienced Central Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer in the mid-1980s. As a result of the excitement of his experience there, Tom reengaged for an additional year with Peace Corps, and then remained in Central African Republic, where he worked for the Central African government at the National Pedagogical Institute. There, he conducted language pedagogy training for secondary school teachers, while also producing a morning radio program "English by Radio" which was broadcasted nationally. Tom's fluency in Sango enabled him to experience the stories in the book firsthand, and also led him to writing the Sango Language Educational materials which were being used for Peace Corps volunteers sent to the Central African Republic. After leaving the Central African Republic, Tom spent a year in the Republic of the Congo, followed by another year in Cameroon. Upon returning to the United States, he continued to work in education, spending eighteen years at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from which he holds his Ph.D. Tom has spent the last twelve years at La Roche College, where he continues to work in educational administration. His fluency in a number of languages and desire to further study cultures has influenced his entire global perspective on life. Tom is an educator and churchman. He presently serves two parishes in the Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh and also works on numerous boards and foundations. It is his hope that this book of Central African stories will help children to discover how others think and live differently, and open the minds of readers to a new, exciting, and expanded view of the world.

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