Tour de Senegal/Casamance: The Home

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

A highlight of our time in the Casamance was visiting with Almamy's family in the villages of Seleky, Enamper, and Essyl.

Unlike the village compounds found in other parts of Senegal, the availability of wood allows for the construction of larger, multi-room, single family dwellings. For Randi and I, the homes we visited were like ethnographic museums, for their architecture, construction materials, and furnishings. Almamy's relatives were humored by our fascination with what for them is mundane.

Photos (top to bottom): photos 1&2: Almamy and his relatives with whom we visited; photos 3&7: a smoothly-worn sitting bench propped against a mud-brick wall and cement floor; photo 4: Randi in a front-to-back corridor linking the main rooms; photo5: birds nest amongst roofing beams of palm wood; photo6: a traditional Diola oil lamp stoppered with a wooden plug; photo8: door to a storage area (I was taken by the smooth surface from long wear); photo9: a tool for hand-plowing furrows in rice fields, prominently displayed in a front room; photo10: a duck wanders through the front entrance to a house, a common site in the homes we visited; photo11: decorated sticks used in the Initiation Ceremony are stored above in the rafters; photo12: to the left is a belt used to climb palms for harvesting wine.

For vide, see clip.

Tour de Senegal/Casamance: The Candy Man

Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew

Cover it with choc'late and a miracle or two

The Candy Man, oh the Candy Man can

The Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love

and makes the world taste good

Almamy knows how to make friends. His secret: Lollypops!

Who can take a rainbow, wrap it in a sigh

Soak it in the sun and make a groovy lemon pie

The Candy Man, the Candy Man can

The Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love

and makes the world taste good

Throughout our travels Almamy was the designated dispenser of sweets, sometimes cookies, sometimes candy, much to the delight of the stampeding village kids, who clawed and elbowed their way to the source.

Oh, who can take tomorrow, dip it in a dream

Separate the sorrow and collect up all the cream

The Candy Man, oh the Candy Man can

The Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love

and makes the world taste good

Next time we must bring a first-aid kit and set-up a triage for the injuries, for children everywhere LOVE CANDY (more than their neighbor).

Who can take tomorrow, dip it in a dream

Separate the sorrow and collect up all the cream

The Candy Man, the Candy Man can

The Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good

Yes, the Candy Man can 'cause he mixes it with love and makes the world taste good

a-Candy Man, a-Candy Man, a-Candy Man

Candy Man, a-Candy Man, a-Candy Man

Candy Man, a-Candy Man, a-Candy Man

For video, see clip.

Tour de Senegal/Casamance: Audience With the King of Oussouye

Knowing of my interest in the mystical, animistic side of West Africa, our driver Samba contacted a friend, Pierre, who explained that we might be able to sit-in on a ceremony being conducted by the so-called animistic King of Oussouye, pronounced Oos-you, in the neighboring town of the same name.

Talk to anyone about animism and magic in Senegal, and they'll likely point you toward the Casamance. As a Senegalese friend from school mentioned, you'll find some powerful Djola Men in deep Casamance. Oussouye is considered deep Casamance. The possibility of an audience with the King would clearly be an opportunity not to be passed up.

Sibiloumbaye Diédhiou, the King of Oussouye, referred to as Mane, continues a sacred tradition in Diola culture. He is a religious leader, symbolizing unity and social cohesion. Since his consecration in January 2000, the present King of Oussouye is always dressed in red and carries a scepter of straw. The King's birthday, lasting 15 days, is celebrated at the end of September. It is a traditional festival of peace and communion which includes organized dances, prayers, and tradition Senegalise wrestling. For other media, including video, see Witness1, Witnes2, Wrestlers' March, Animistic King, Oussouye.org, Lonely Planet.

Confirmation of our participation would come by telephone the next morning, and when the call came we jumped.

We twice met with the King this day, once accompanied by an assistant, who responded to our questions for a few minutes, the again later in the afternoon with a group of elders for an extended period. It was a fascinating exchange, particularly in the afternoon, too detailed and personal to be related completely herein.

My understanding is this: The King of Oussouye is the intermediary between the bois sacre, the sacred wood, often a tree, and the individual seeker/petitioner. The bois sacre is conceived as a kind of direct conduit to God, like an antenna, whether for an individual, a family, or an entire community. The bois sacre represents the both the altar and the holy of holies, and in making a request of it one is entering into a binding contract both with God and the place of the bois sacre, typically sealed and renewed with the offering of palm wine. It is not a contract to default on, for the power and influence of the bois sacre, while tied to a specific place, readily exacts its toll, including death, regardless of distance. The contract is taken very seriously; it is at the heart of animism in West Africa. Throughout this trip, we visited bois sacre both in Casamance and the the Kedougou region.

Tour de Senegal/Casamance: The Village of Seleky

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Photos (top to bottom): photos 1&2: on the ferry crossing the Gambia River in the English-speaking, former British colony of Gambia; photos 3&4: Campement Seleky; photo5: dugout canoe being carved on the shore near tidal mangrove flats; photo6: rice fields nearby Seleky; photo7: on the road from Brin to Seleky, passing women carrying harvested rice at day's end; photo8: Randi birding; photo9: a hyena footprint discovered nearby the campement

We opted to tour southern and southeastern Senegal over this winter holiday, accompanied by our friend and guide/interpreter Almamy Badiene. Rather than hassle with driving, we arranged a 4-wheel drive vehicle and driver, Samba-the-Lion. Our first destination was the village of Seleky, located in the Casamance region of Senegal, where Almamy has many relatives from his mother's side of the family.

Seleky is a paradise, a garden, set amongst an abundance of palms, rice fields, and mangrove flats. It's pretty, picturesque, pastural, spotless, dotted with ponds where families of goats and pigs and birds of all kinds congregate. People seem happy, content, kind, welcoming.

We stayed at the lovely Campement Seleky, our comfortable home for several days, on the edge of the village, overlooking a vast expanse of tidal flats. The campement is constructed in the traditional impluvium-style, unique to the Casamance, with a funnel-shaped inner courtyard bounded by a double roof, for the collection of rainwater. The snug rooms included solar panel-powered lights, flush toilets, and showers. Were we served meals in a commons area. Breakfast was typically bread, butter, jelly, and coffee; dinner consisted of rice with fish or beef.

(The campement form of tourism began in 1974, based on the ideas of the French ethnologist, Christian Saglio, who hated westernized tourism, and believed it polluted the culture. The goal of his Rural Integrated Tourism system was to integrate visitors into the rural African life and offer them a realistic view of African culture. The profits, as is true for Campement Seleky, go directly to the villages. Visitors thus contribute to village life.)

As Almamy explained while trip planning, he would be expected to stay in Seleky, the village of his mother, and etiquette would require that he make the rounds to visit with his extended family. We were privileged to accompanied him on his sojourns around the village to meet and greet his extended family, offering Kola nuts as gifts of respect to the elders, as is protocol.

(As an aside, the Kola nut has some interesting pharmacological properties. See Wiki for an overview.)

For video clips, see clip1, clip2, clip3.

Carving a Traditional Piroque

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

At the close of the movie night at Ouakam Peche, as people were departing, I was engaged by a boat builder who invited me to film the carving of a traditional piroque. He would begin the next day, Sunday, and continue for several days.

Randi and I spent much of Sunday on the plage observing the work, as a wood blank (from the fromage tree, found in the Casamance) was shaped into what would become the base of a piroque.

For the video, see clip1, clip2, clip3, clip4, clip5, & clip6.

Building Cultural Relationship: Movie Night at Ouakam Plage

1
2
3
4

As a gesture of friendship, and mutual regard for the sea, I offered to show video clips shot in the sea off the Mamelles to an audience of Ouakam divers at Ouakam Peche. It was the first time such a thing had taken place, this mixture of cultures on the plage, and I had no idea if anyone would be interested enough to attend. With the generous help of Colin Pryce, we carried down an ROV, demonstrated how it worked, and showed video of it in operation. About twenty-five people attended, a nice audience given the novelty of the event.

The Week in Review: Sand Lab & the Winter Concert

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

Clips of the ISD Winter Concert: Grade6 Grade7/8 HSChoir Closing