Carnet de Voyage: Something of Gabonese Culture

"They say we are not civilized because we do not have the same lifestyle. They say we are savage because we do not do the same thing. They say we have no culture because they do not understand us. It is ok if tyhey don't because because they will never do anyway. They say we are wild because we speak other tongues and we do not think like them. They say we have no taste because we are different. They say that we are poor because we are not into materialism. They say we have never been a part of History of Humanity when in fact we did give a lot to the world. Africa gave a lot." Always remember where you come from. Always love where you come from and your culture.

A song in my native language. Michel Nzamata "Nfulbeng" The story in the song is about a child who is asking to his mom what are they going to eat. When people sing this song they beat two sticks of wood one on the other following the rythm. Hello Everyone! That was just my way to introduce this post today.

Welcome back in another post. It is something of the Gabonese culture. This is another post about my country for those who are curious to know more. I share with you some pieces of Gabonese culture. I recently went to the museum of arts and tradition of my country. it is situated in town center. below are pictures representing a scene of a family meeting in villages. People are often sitting around the fire, the dog ( the Angome Fang meaning friend is a species of dog that has no real breed. I mean we don't know where it really come from but they have been living with villagers for decades. people told me that they first came here with White missionaries when they arrived in Gabon to preach the gospel. When they returned home they left these dogs. since then, they have been living with people in village until today. they go hunting with villagers but they are always afraid of strangers. you saw them on my vlog in Donguila. I played with one of them. The other one did not want to get close to me. When I go to my village I always tried to catch them. But they run away so fast lol! My Mom would always say "Laetitia! Leave them alone!" Do you think that I stop doing that? No way! I always try to catch them. Lol! When I was going with my parents that was my thing. If a villager was stopping by our place to greet my parents, I would go playing with his Angome Fang and my parents did not like it because they didn't want me to catch a disease from those dogs.)

then you see some baskets made by the local population. these baskets are used for specific purposes. They can be used for fishing, keeping food and many other activities. Different tribes and ethnic backgrounds make their baskets. You have tribes like the Fang, the Punu, the Myene, the Kota, Eshira, Mitsogho many others

women usually do

The next picture shows something to put on the head for initiation. Only initiated people in Gabonese spiritualities can wear them. By the way do never try Gabonese spiritualities if you do not understand them.If you do not understand their purposes. I personally do not do it at all but I saw some foreigners who became mentally unstable after trying some stuffs here. I can tell you more about it because there are so many stories and things that I saw. These foreigners were living now in a parallel world. They were lost in a bubble. They could not dissociate the real world from the one of the initated. Maybe few of them got lucky but I doubt it. I saw some walking naked feet in town as if they were lost...Like their soul or mind was lost. I found that video interesting. It is a traditional dance from my country and you can see it is not anybody who can do it. You have to be spiritually initiated and anybody cannot get close to that entity. People used to say that a spirit was dancing inside. So do not get close at all or you will lose your mind. O! We were scared! yes, that are the mysteries of spirituality from Gabon. As you can see it wears a mask. People who are selling our masks in auction in Europe must understand that our masks are not for decoration or home design. They have an important meaning to us. We do not put or wear masks anyhow. The two guys with branches are teasing him (the spirit) to dance on purpose.

the way women do it in a traditional way

the corps de garde also known as the traditional court for the villagers. This is the place where only men come to discuss social issues and family related things. They can even spend good times there like listening to music or extraordinary stories like the Mvett. How can I describe the Mvett? It a series of tales which is more like the Marvel stories that you watched on TV. It is older than the Marvels of course but it is related to my people. You can see in the picture an instrument used to tell stories of Mvett hanging on the top of the wall. When they tell you stories of the Mvett it is about men with super power doing extraordianry things. It is very much cultural.Some people experienced it in the spiritual realm. In the corps de garde, men can also play traditional games like the Tsongo it is a very interesting game. You must be focused and smart.

Ok! Thank you for reading. I leave with a song from Gabon in my native tongue. Precisely from Lambarene. Lambarene is a little town of Gabon in the Moyen Ogooue. There are many rivers and fishes. It is a nice little town. It is well known for being the place where Dr. Albert Schweitzer lived and took care of the population suffering from leprosy in this little town. Maybe you do not know Dr. Schweitzer, you can read about him online or in books. He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1952. Dr. Schweitzer was a musician, theologist, humanitarian and a physician. You can tell he was really talented and a very smart person. He was originally from Germany. (I mean from the German Alsace) His hospital still exist here in Lambarene and people are still getting their medical care. See you in my next post. Thank you (Bach and Rythms of Gabon)