Background/Introduction

My partner Don Nolin has been taking African drumming lessons -  specifically djembe drums – for several years now.  When Don’s drum teacher took a one year hiatus, he turned over his advanced drum class to his teacher, known in these parts as Mohamed , but in his homeland of Guinea, West Africa as Kalifa.  A member of the faculty at Berklee College in Boston, Kalifa has offered drum and dance workshops in Guinea over winter break for several years.

Seven years ago I spent some time in four countries in the southern part of the African continent. I was enchanted with the people I me  and have been wanting to explore more of Africa ever since.

So when Don tossed out the idea of going to warm tropical Guinea in the middle of a New England winter, and instead of being on a tour, living near a village on an island – well it took a New York minute for me to say YES!!!

We arrived with four large duffel bags, most of  the contents of which were to stay in Guinea – toys and school supplies for the children on the island, and our own summer clothes and personnel belongings that we hoped would be of use to the village inhabitants.  We came home with one duffel bag and six custom made djembes.

I cannot possibly capture all that this trip was – the incredible challenges of being in a place where I don’t speak the language and in a culture is so very different from my own– a combination that requires much more energy than I had anticipated in just getting basic needs met. But then there were the incredibly sweet moments when connections happened with people despite the limitations of spoken language and culture, where we looked at each other and shared the universal languages of laughter, dance, music, and kindness, where we reveled in being human together.

What follows are my attempts to share what the experience of our time in Conakry and on the island of Kassa was for me.  In peace and with gratitude, Lydia