One of the issues that faces our generation is a dearth (or even the death, in some places) of rich culture. Globally, many ethnic traditions, langauages and rituals are being eroded as the massive flood of Western culture and thinking creeps over the previously unreached hills and terrains of non-western cultures. In almost every continent on earth, there are many aspects of culture that are being eroded. This erosion of culture largely started with the enslavement of peoples and continued with the colonization and conquering of foreign lands.

One of the primary aspects of culture that is being wiped out very fast in Africa is local languages. While I live in America, I normally call my home country and talk to my family there every now and then. It surprises me that most of my nephews and nieces do not speak my mother-tongue at all. They understand bits and pieces but they just do not speak it at all! Also when it comes to African attire, most of it has been replaced by Western attire. Granted, some of it was skimpy and had to be gotten rid of. However, there needs to be a certain aspect that is preserved.

Many indigenous customs have gotten lost over the years. The aborigines of Australia, the Indians of North America, the Maya of Central America, the Tuareg of the Sahara, the Maasai of Kenya, the San and Pygmy peoples, the Inuit of Canada, the Qashqai of Iran, the Sami of Scandinavia and the Chamorros of Guam are just some of the indigenous peoples that have lost many aspects of their culture in the name of civilization.

We can become custodians of culture by encouraging indigenous people to preserve their culture. Teach their way of life to new generations, write books in their native languages, build museums for storing artefacts and memoirs from their past. Of course we are not naive to not think that civilization will one day over-run the whiole world. But we must develop a way of becoming custodians of culture.