WOFA comes to Wonkifong

Through this blog I’ve done my best to show friends and family back home a little bit of what I see everyday living in my little village, Wonkifong. If you’ve read any of my blogs there is almost always one or two references to someone’s surprise, shock, or disbelief at seeing a white American guy wander through their village. The reactions vary from levels of “check this out” all the way to “NO EFFING WAY! THAT’S A WHITE GUY! SERIOUSLY GUYS, EVERYONE COME LOOK!” I want to stress that this is my experiences but it’s also a within reason generalization for a villager’s reaction to one, only one, foreigner. Now take those reactions and multiply them by a group of 15! That’s what I got to see this year when a group of high school students from Massachusetts came to stop by.

                



Wofa and my students!



For about 6 months prior to the planned visit, I had been in contact with one of Wofa’s lead chaperone. She had put up a post on a PC Guinea facebook group, explaining that her group was planning a trip to Guinea and would love to meet some students around the same age. I loved the idea of setting up pen-pals for my students and then the amazing opportunity for them to meet their pen-pals! That would have been enough for me to get on board but then the group sweetened the deal when I found out that they were not your average group of Guinea-enthused high schoolers (everyone knows that group right?) but a group of dancers and drummers who specialize in Guinean traditional music. I couldn’t believe it. If you know me at all, you know my passion for dance and this helped to push me to make something amazing happen with this incredible group.

                

As Wofa’s impending visit got closer, I did what I could to facilitate the letter exchange between the two groups of students separated by an ocean and a language barrier. Before the group even landed in Conakry, my students all had the names of their assigned pen-pal memorized, well they knew how to write their names, pronunciation was still a work in progress. In their defense, I don’t know many French speakers who would pronounce Wyatt, Iris or even Ryan in the American way, at least clearly. Despite these, and many other, linguistic problems, my students were very excited to receive their pen-pals in their own village.

                



Improvised drums!



Wofa got to my village in the late afternoon where a decent crowd of students was mixed with other interested village neighbors waiting in the community center. The group stopped by my house first to prep as best they could after their morning travels. They ended up using my empty buckets and bidons (big water container) as improvised drums and the dancers started to stretch out the cramps of the bus ride over. The students and their chaperones were a bit nervous upon arriving but all worries subsided as they entered the community center amidst the claps and cheers of a sizable audience. The group wasted no time and got the performance started right away. After a shortened version of their full show, the mic was passed off to Wofa’s leader, Alpha Bisko Kaba. Once I met Bisko, I understood the group’s origins much better. I admit Guinean dance is complex and beautiful but I couldn’t understand how a dance troupe from suburban Massachusetts picked it up for their focus. Bisko is originally from Guinea and leads the group of dancers at a local arts-focused high school.  

               

The event ended with the two groups of pen-pals meeting on stage. Everyone involved played along like good sports despite the language barrier between the two groups. Inspired by the initial performance, my students insisted on dancing for their new American friends. They all clapped and laughed along as a few key students took the spotlight for a few minutes. To end the day, my students told me they wanted to sing for the group as well. So without needing more than the go-ahead from me, my student’s busted out the one English song they all knew: Nas’ “I Can.”  Wofa was clearly shocked to hear the opening phrases of a dated hip-hop song come from my students with confidence.

“I know, I can

Be what I want to be,

If I work hard at it,

I’ll be where I want to be!”

-Nas “I Can”

Even though the group had to rush back to Conakry before losing the daylight, I got to see Wofa once more the next week at a special performance at the American Ambassador’s house. I was pretty shocked to get such a special invite, but also I was happy that I’d get to pass off the newest batch of letters in person. After watching their set for a second time, I got a chance to chat with Wofa a little more. I spent the better part of the evening talking with the group and the one thing I could not get out of my head was the realization that I was nowhere near this cool when I was in high school. I definitely did not have the guts to fly off to Africa let alone dance, sing, and drum while interpreting hand signals accompanied by phrases in Sussu. I was quite impressed.

I never got a great opportunity to thank Wofa for their willingness and courage to visit a random Peace Corps volunteer. Thanks Wofa, you’ve truly made memories for my students, for my village and most of all for me. I nu wali.