| | Ever since I first became interested in the kora, I have wanted to visit the Gambia. It is the home of the kora, and has a well-developed traditional musical culture. Although Liberia is an interesting country in many ways, it is extremely lacking in terms of quality local music. I had some vacation time with Samaritan’s Purse, so I decided to take some time off in the Gambia.
After an unexpected delay from the airline, finally on the 3rd of this month I was able to leave for the Gambia.
 Don't bother trying to stand up straight in this plane if you're over five feet tall!
I was going to stay in a town called Brikama, not far from the Senegal border. Gambia is a tiny county sectioned off by the British during the colonial era. Word has it that the borders were drawn based on the distance British gunships on the Gambia river could shoot their projectiles inland. Thus Gambia is a tiny enclave almost entirely surrounded by Senegal (a former French colony).
I arrived safe and sound and was met at the airport by the man who was going to be my kora teacher, Moriba Kuyateh. 
Although I didn’t realize it at the time, Moriba also taught several other kora players in the US, whose websites were familiar to me. As I said, the Gambia is very small, so it did not take us long to arrive in Brikama. I was shown my room in Jobarteh Kunda, with its simple but livable accommodations. Most of the people who lived in the compound are musicians. The father of the compound is one Malamini Jobarteh, who is an elderly kora player with a distinguished career, playing in many international contexts. 
The kora is traditionally used to accompany stories and songs about great men in Mandinka history, many of them warriors who spread the Islamic faith in that region of West Africa. I first started playing the kora about seven years ago. But not having a teacher, I was only able to progress so far. The kora is definately one of the most complicated stringed instruments in Africa. Most have twenty-one strings, although some have as many as twenty-five. Moriba’s kora, like my own, has twenty-two strings. The kora is especially difficult, because you play a bass and treble part simultaneously. It would be like playing lead and bass guitar at the same time. Thankfully Moriba is a patient teacher, and worked with me every day to learn a number of popular Mandinka songs. On two occasions we took public transportation to a fishing village called Gunjur, where Moriba had connections with the owners of a beach lodge. It was nice to get away from the noise and heat of Brikama and be at the beach playing the kora. So peaceful...
We also had a chance to travel into southern Senegal, which is called Cassamance. Moriba’s band was scheduled to play a show there, so we all boarded this rickety old bus and headed down a road which consisted of huge mud-holes sprinkled with occasional patches of road. The fun thing about this bus is that there are holes in the floor that let the muddy water from the potholes in! 
We reached the border before long, and I had my passport stamped on the Gambia side. But there were no officers on the Senegal side to even look at my papers! Our destination was a popular tourist destination called Abene. After we arrived and the band started to set up, it began pouring rain; making the show impossible. The next day I was able to see a bit of the town and the beach before heading back to Brikama. You might pick up more than seashells on this beach!
Later on I was able to see Moriba’s band perform at a baby naming ceremony. The event is very important in the Mande culture, and takes place a week after birth. This is when the new baby is official presented to the community. If a family has money, it is a huge affair. At this particular event there were three musical acts playing, including an old man playing traditional songs on the kora, a young band from Guinea, and the main act; Moriba’s band. It was quite the party with lots of food, and dress clothes, and dancing.
The Mandinka people are one of the largest and most influential ethnic groups in the Gambia. They are distantly related to the Manya, whom I work with in Liberia. They both are the decedents of diaspora which occurred after the breakup of the medieval Malian empire. They share a common religion, and many cultural practices. Yet their languages have evolved in different directions. As a result now the languages are only about 60% similar; maybe comparable to the difference between Spanish and Portuguese. Although I am not fluent in Manya, I can speak it on a basic conversational level. But that did not help me much in the Gambia. In some ways it would have been easier if it were a totally different kind of language, because at least then I wouldn’t feel like I should understand more! Although the Gambia’s official language is English, practically speaking very few people speak it with any fluency. Children would frequently come up to me and with almost robotic voices asking, “What is your name? What is your surname?” which must be phrases they learned by rote in school. Yet when I tried to speak to them, they would look totally lost. Even other ethnic groups in the Gambia speak Mandinka as a lingua franka. It would be very difficult to work in the Gambia long-term without knowing the language. There are some WEC missionaries working there with the Mandinka. I was privileged to meet a couple from Finland who have been working for a number of years in the area of literacy and Bible translation. Since that is the kind of work I want to do in the future, it was great to talk with them and compare notes.
Interestingly, a number of Manya moved to the Gambia during the Liberian civil war. One day when I needed a hair-cut, Moriba introduced me to this barber who was originally from Voinjama! We had a great time chatting in Manya, and he was very interesting to hear recent news from his home town. Thankfully I brought with me a Manya God’s Story disk, and was able to give it to him before I left. He was very interested to see a video in his own language.
While I had a great time in the Gambia I was happy to return to Liberia. With all its shortcomings, Liberia really does feel like home to me. And while the Mandinka have a more developed musical culture than the Manya, I do feel a special burden and calling for the Manya. I pray that one day I will be able to use what I have learned on the kora, to share songs and stories with the Manya, praising the true and living God, and telling His Story.
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| | Posted 10/18/2008 10:09 PM - 198 Views - 2 eProps - 2 comments
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