An Invitation to All

It dawned on the teacher part of me that before I retired, if someone had gone on a trip like this, I might have wanted my students to follow along. Thus, I'm inviting you; friends, students, teachers and all interested folk to bookmark this blog. I promise to update it as often as possible. The best that'll be is on each weekend. Since I need to wait for a gellah-gellah to be full enough to leave Makumbaya and then travel about a half hour to Brikama and then stand in line, sometimes for 2 hours, to get into the internet cafe to upload what I've written during the week, all I can promise is that I'll try to publish new posts each weekend. If anyone has left questions on the blog, I'll try to answer them. 

Right now, I would say that I'll be keeping you abreast on the following.

1. My life within the compound.

2. Teaching in the school.

3. Village life.

4. Any lessons I take on traditional instruments.

5. Any pop music I hear on Friday or Saturday evenings.

If you'd like to contact me by email BEFORE my departure, please write to hkopf@ptd.net. 

Meagan's video of the accommodations in the Sarr compound

Living Situation

I feel really lucky that I'll be staying in a compound with a family. The head of the compound is Ebrima Sarr who is also MondoChallenge's In-Country Manager. Living in the compound  are his two wives, his mother, his two sisters in law, three nieces, six children and various animals including cows, donkeys, cats, dogs, chickens and goats. Once again Meagan, last year's volunteer filmed the living accommodations I'll be using. I hope it comes up with this post. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldiIoXaUQRw  I'll have a lockable door, a sitting room, bedroom with table and bed with mosquito netting and a private courtyard that contains the bucket shower and "drop loo" (British words for a hole in the ground.) 

Three meals a day will be prepared by the women in the compound. Breakfast typically consists of cous. (A porridge made from the millet we use as bird food!) Lunch is the big meal of the day. Both lunch and dinner normally will be rice with either a fish or peanut based sauce. 

Five or six times a day, we'll be drinking Ataya (a strong green tea heavily sweetened with sugar.) Here's what Meagan had to say about this custom.  " Each family has their two attata glasses: small clear, octagonal shotglasses. And these two glasses are used all day, every day. They are rinsed at the start of the brew and then passes from person to person (men first, then women, then children) at least 7-8 times in one sitting - or as many pots of the green tea as can be had while there is still flavor escaping the leaves. It's more than a mouthful of sugary tea, it's a mouthful of community and ritual and history. It's what you do, it's custom, and it's delicious! I hardly ever refuse, unless it's after 3 o'clock when I know I won't sleep. I don't think about who had the glass before me, or whether they've had the sniffles that week. I have to let that one go, at least 3 times a day." 

Something to think about, huh???

 

More Gambian Facts taken from CIA Factbook

Country Name: conventional long form: Republic of The Gambia

conventional short form: The Gambia

Independence: (From UK) 18 February, 1965

Ethnic groups: African 99% (Mandinka, 42%, Fula, 18%, Wolof, 16%, Jola, 10%, Serahuli, 9%, 0ther 4%) Non-African, 1%

Religions: Muslim, 90%, Christian, 8%, indigenous beliefs, 2%

Languages: English (official), Mandinka, Wolof, Fula and other indigenous vernaculars. 

Literacy: (age 15 and over who can read and write)

total population: 40.1% male, 47.8%, female, 32.8%

Economy: "The Gambia has no confirmed mineral or natural resource deposits and has a limited agricultural base. About 75% of the population depends on crops and livestock for its livelihood. Small-scale manufacturing activity features the processing of peanuts, fish, and hides."

"The Gambia's natural beauty and proximity to Europe has made it one of the larger markets for tourism in West Africa."

"Unemployment and underemployment rates remain extremely high: short-run economic progress depends on sustained bilateral and multilateral aid, on responsible government economic management, on continued technical assistance from the IMF and bilateral donors, and on expected growth in the construction sector." 

A Bit about The Gambia

Size: The Gambia is 11,295 sq km. Connecticut is 12,997. It is the smallest country ON the continent. Some islands are smaller.

Population Density: 151.71 per sq. km. (PA is 105.80. Northumberland County is 79))

Life Expectency: 54.79 (Northumberland County, 76.4)

Median household income: $370 (PA, $43,714)

For more statistics: http://resourcepage.gambia.dk

Doin' my homework

I realize I haven't written since I began the blog on November 14. I certainly have thought about it often. But I've had so much to do to prepare for this adventure, I've been thankful I'm retired! No way could I have been teaching full time and doing the research. What research you wonder? Many different things. My latest helpful endeavor is reading the blogs of Peace Corp volunteers in The Gambia. Those young folks volunteer for two years, not a measly three months! Most of them actually tough it out and develop their own rhythm for life there. 

I guess I should start at the beginning. What am I doing? I have volunteered to teach at the Makumbaya Lower Basic School. Although the school is only one mile from the end of the runway of the only airport in the country, the village and school have no electricity or plumbing! Luckily, the British non-profit with whom I am volunteering did dig a well at the school. 

There are 12 classrooms in the school whose pupils are from seven to twelve years old. Because there are over 600 students (from many surrounding villages) there must be two rotating shifts. Some students attend from 8:30 to 1:30. The others come from 2:00 to 6:00. Because this is a Muslim country, there is no school on Friday afternoons. That's why the children rotate their time in school. Although NOTHING can be stated as absolute before I actually get there, it seem that I've been asked to teach English and Math to grades 3, 4, 5, and 6. I can't imagine what the afternoon sessions will be like in 90+ degree heat! MondoChallenge has also asked me to incorporate drumming and more music into the classroom. I'll see what that means when I get there. I'm also hoping to use folk tales from West Africa in the English instruction. Those who know me know that I've been active in theatre for years and established and ran a children's theatre for the last seven years of my career. I'm hoping some of those folk tales become productions. Perhaps that will help the story remain in the minds of some of the villagers.

Another "Why"

In preparing for this experience, I've been researching many things. One is the various versions of Afropop and Mbalax music. It seems that I can take a bush taxi (van) into Brikama which is the "music center" of the country. There are many big names who perform there such as Youssou N'Dour and Baaba Maal. Because the performances don't begin until after the gellahgellah (bush taxi, many spellings) stops running, I'm sure I'll be studying a few instruments. I'd love to understand how to play the kora, the national instrument of the Gambia. It has 21 strings. "Google" Ballaké Sissoko, Tata Dindin Jobarteh, Toumani Diabaté, Dembo Konté, or Alhaji Bai Konté to hear it. They're all well-know kora players. I also have interesting learning the basics of the Tama, the Gambian "talking drum" and the kutiro and sabar. 

One reason to study traditional instruments is that the teaching is usually in the family compound and many of the teacher's allow you to stay overnight. That would allow me a chance to be "safe" and to hear the dance hall music too. 

Why

Many people have asked why I'm undertaking this adventure. There are actually many reasons. The first began a few years ago when I began learning West African Drumming. All of my African teachers were folks who had left spouses, children and extended family in their homeland in order to earn money to send to them. (The YEARLY income in West Africa is $309!) These teachers were sharing their culture as a means of helping families they only would see once or twice a year. I am going in order to "give back" to those teachers in the only way I can.

A second reason is that I am fascinated by the use of their music within daily life. Each rhythm is connected to one or more aspects.   A whole category of rhythms is "cultivation", where there are separate rhythms for the various activities: hoeing, planting, harvesting, etc. There are others just for "rites of passage" such as baby naming, circumcision, courtship, marriage and death. I wanted to experience their music within daily life. Many have to do with Muslim holidays and general celebrations. I am going to Makumbaya, a village with no electricity or plumbing, in order to experience the music in that setting.