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November 26th , 2008

Adam is in Senegal now, working on the house in Kafountine set in several acres of  bush, filled with butterflies, monkeys and birds.  Thankfully few if any mosquitos, and its hot, dry  and sunny. The house, complete with well, water tower, fruit and cashew trees is part of a  long term goal to be able to spend ever more time in  West Africa and where we hope to be able to run workshops,  but first Adam needs to get the roof on!  The walls were built before the rainy season and left to soak up the rains and then dry and harden.  Needless  to say we are using local skills and materials and our good friend Moussa has been invaluable in making it happen.  Not a holiday home but a way of life in the making.  
 

As I sit here in  beautiful but chilly South East Wales you can imagine me typing this and smiling through gritted chattering teeth!  Hope to go out for a couple of weeks, but will be a last minute decision.    

Kath  x

 

 

January 5th, 2009

Well I made that last minute decision and went to  Kafountine in the Cassamance, Senegal - two blissful weeks!  We are both back now, delighted to find more kora and kora bag orders but struggling to keep warm.  Kafountine at this time of year is like the UK on a good summers day, the evenings are cool and there are hardly any mosquitos.  

 

The house, as you can see is coming on well.   When Adam goes back out, hopefully in February, he will be rendering, plastering , painting and tiling.

Kath x  

 

 

The blocks are made on site, the walls built and left to harden in the rainy season.  The tin roof is now on and later will be thatched. Since these photos the doors have gone in and the windows should follow in the next few weeks.

Courses/Workshops By Jan 2010 we hope to be able to run our first workshops there - no idea of price yet - too many variables at the moment.  If you are interested in learning the kora in a warm, beautiful, calm setting, 10 minutes walk from the longest beach I have ever seen, get in touch!    The plan is that there will be no fixed course dates; instead  a kora teacher will be available every day for a few hours tuition, the rest is for relaxing, practising,  swimming, and enjoying the local culture.  There will also be the opportunity to make your own machine head kora to take back to the UK.

 

April 16th, 2009 and we’re back from another trip to Kafountine where the house is now habitable, the well water is drawn by a solar-powered pump and the young orange trees are flowering.  

 

As you can see, compared to the photos below the house is now becoming a home. Beautifully simple and traditional, there is no electricity, the shower and toilet will be outside and are still being built. Eventually we will thatch the roof but that is more cosmetic and will help prolong the life of the tin.

 

The garden is growing well, bananas, oranges, ‘custard apples’ and coconuts as well as a lovely array of flowering plants.  An avocado orchard is planned as a future income (and food!) source.

 

We are still on track to set-up kora  workshops for a small group of people in early 2010 so if you’re interested do get in touch.

Dec 11th 2009 and its finally happened - workshop dates are agreed, houses are finished and ready to take kora-playing guests (and their friends of course!)  The main house and garden are now well established and we have had our first crop of peanuts, thanks to the endeavours of Diabate, shown below with Moustapha (left) making yet more Hatiya (another crucial job, making the signature strong sweet tea) The next crops are cassava (a white root vegetable that I really like) and bananas.  The banana is the most amazing plant - two that were planted last year are already producing in excess of

thirty fruit each. Did you know they start off like this? Positively alien-looking! We should be able to pick them for Christmas. Adam and I are back in the UK mid-January, straight into planning the teaching side of the workshops now the venue is ready!

 

Even the

washing line is beautiful!