The Griot

Growing up in a rural setting is a fascinating experience. Learning (formal and informal) in such an environment has its peculiarities. In primary schools in those days, extracurricular activities played a vital part in the end of term overall score. These activities ranged from the making of chairs, brooms, bamboo mats and, most importantly, to the fencing of the school toilet and urinary. What's important here is the material with which the fencing was done. It was done with the elephant grass stalk. It sufficed for one to visit the banks of River Bui to possess a good bundle of the elephant grass stalk for the task at school the next day.

When we talk about communal life and hospitability, the village and its inhabitants is the first thing that comes to my mind. I don't know if people in the village are born different but there's something so different about them. I grew up in a semi urban area where it was permitted to mind each other's business to an extent, even though each family unit made it their primary business to care about their various households. I was privileged to visit my father's village only when I was about 12 years old. It was an awesome experience and I was greeted by totally new realities right from when I alighted from the vehicle in the popular village car park. Before I reached home, I was embraced with so much love, care and concern even by people who didn't know me and by those who were seeing me for the first time.