Carnet de Voyage is simply a description of the "Voyage" of my life: Where I am from, where I have been where I want to go. It's also a description of what I like to do, my favorite music. Simplement un "voyage de la Vie.
Dear readers, it is important to remember where you are from and who you are so that nobody will treat you anyhow. A tree that has no roots will die.The story of my culture I want to share it with other people who are curious to know about the world, and Africa precisely.
Please let me start this post with a song by Pierre Claver Akendengue. An author and composer from Gabon. He is also a poet. I like old school songs. It takes me back to the old Libreville. I made this video with his song “Africa Obota” . A song to call for unity of Africans. When I made the video memories of Libreville, I was so inspired to do it that night. It was Libreville when things were good even though the country was going through a lot in terms of political stability.
Libreville, my little town.
My sister shared my video in her Facebook account to her colleagues and friends who are Gabonese too. I just want people to remember where they are from. Do not forget Gabon. Do not forget Libreville. Do not forget your little country. Libreville welcomed so many people of the world. This country had been a blessing at the time of the boom oil, at the 70's 80's and early 90's. There was a life there, there were people living there...
By the way, I have a book that I recently published about Libreville, my hometown. A guide to life in my little city.
When I was back home, my uncle gave me my genealogy tree. (My uncle is a university English professor who did some research. He had to go to Ireland and London while he was also living in France. He taught in universities in France and later in Gabon. Few years ago he decided to venture into the research of genealogy of my tribe and my ethnic group in general, the Fang/Ekang people in Gabon. He goes to family and write about their genealogies, the clans’ history and he recently published two book already) so you have the ethnic group, the tribes then you have clans within these tribes. My father was Essokè and my mother is Ngè like her father. Her mother was Oyek.
My genealogy tree he gave me is from my father's side and my mother's side. It was quite interesting to see all the names. The people who were before me and those who made me. Those that I have never met and see but are a part of me. He told me the story of my grand mother on my father's side. She was not lucky in love at all...He told me for my grand father too and I understood why he was behaving a certain way towards us. It was important for me to understand these things you know. ..I come from an ethnic group of Gabon called the Fang/ Ekang people. In some description it means “True”
These people have a special story and we have masks that we use in our tradition and culture. A mask like Ngil for instance that recently was the subject of controversy in Europe. It was sold for 4.2 millions of Euros. But now my country is asking for this mask back home.
(picture source: www.rfi.com)
The Ekang/Fang people belong to the Bantu group. Something special about them is the way they settled in five countries altogether in same geographical place. If you look at the map of the central part of Africa you will understand. Research say that they originally came from the Nile valley then they went down to where they settled in a few countries. It is not common to see the same people settled in the same geographic area of the continent of Africa. The Ekang are in Guinea Equatorial, Gabon, Cameroon. Republic of Congo Brazzaville and Sao tome e Principe. Some added that they are also found in the Republic of Central Africa. That makes them the major ethnic group in Gabon. In fact they are in four provinces of my country. I am from the Estuary.
They were the last ethnic group to settle in Gabon.So it's quite interesting to know about them. They were also warriors. It's a tribe of warriors. So they have a special way to see themselves. They are very proud of their origins, very proud of their culture, their language very proud of their history (some people do not like it and I don't understand why. You have to love who you are right?) They do not back down in front of the situation. They are just warriors. This is about our culture, in Gabon, the Fang/ Ekang people speak the same language but the variation in words differ from a country to another but also from a province to another. Yes, they perfectly understand each other. We have traditional weddings, traditional dances and beliefs like the Melan, bieri etc. and also what we call the Mvett.
What is the Mvett? I do not know a lot but I can tell you what I saw when going to the village visiting some family members or when we had family events there.
The Mvett telling is performed in gatherings. It is usually a man who is in charge or doing the Mvett. What is the Mvett? It is an ensemble of epic poems or battle stories (but also history of the people) told by a griot (storyteller) . We have an oral tradition that's why it is important to us. It is an old culture. You have to be initiated into the rite to better understand it. It means that everybody cannot be a teller of the Mvett.
The epic poems of Mvett are really old and they are told generation after generation. How can I compare it?
To the story of comic books of super heroes of Marvel. Yes, we knew the Marvel long before Hollywood. It is in my culture. If you are curious you can do your research on the Mvett.
The Mvett is usually told or sung by a man who wear a kind of hat made of feathers and he holds this instrument called mvett as well
(Picture source is below)
It looks a little bit like the instrument that is used when playing Capoeira. That instrument is sacred. People gather around and listen quietly to the epic stories. An artist in my country published comic books representing stories of the Mvett. Where does it come from? Listen to this: "Once upon a time, Oyono Ada Ngone, a warrior of the Fang people. During the wars that opposed his people to other peoples. he fell into a coma. After several days of lethargy, he came out of it with a divine inspiration that gave courage to his people already almost beaten by the opponent. His great divine revelation was the mvet.
His manufacture and use were accompanied by the original oral texts that are part of the cultural wealth of the Fang/Ekang people" (source: https://cursus.edu/en/26528/understanding-the-transmission-of-oral-knowledge-through-the-mvet)
The Mvett, tells you such a story of people with supernatural powers who did extraordinary things. In the Mvett , we know a man called AkomeMba. We know man of iron or ironman in these epic stories. As a matter of fact there are some traditional rituals that they did in the old days in a way to build the strength of men going to fight on a battlefield (remember I said earlier that it is a tribe of warriors) My grand uncle from my mother’s mother side. My mothers (when I say mothers I talk about my own mom and her sisters, in another word my aunties. We don't say aunties, we say mothers in my family. That was how I was raised.) They often told us about their uncle who went to Indochina war. He went back traumatized in a way but alive. (France was sending African soldiers that they didn’t train for the war. They were just taken and used as cannon fodder during the wars. You were lucky when you came back home) Before leaving some families had no choice but doing some traditional rituals for body protection to those who where forcely sent to wars.To him it was building him (making him a man made of iron. Commonly called an ironman. It was spiritual) So bullets would touch you but you would not die. The bullets could not hurt you. You see what I mean? It sounds crazy...but it was real. The Indochina war preceded the Vietnam war. He came back home to Gabon but was always talking about the war. The family knew he was traumatized but they could do nothing more. France used many African soldiers in the continent for their wars. They were left with zero compensation. He remembered how they were walking in the river of blood seeing dead bodies and always describing the war. Imagine not being trained for such situation , living a normal life and suddenly sent to a bloody war. That was awful!
I mean... no comment
This is an example of Mvett made in comic pictures video
So this is my culture and it is important to me.
Back to me and my family
My mother and my father are both Fang/Ekang from the Estuaire side of Gabon. They are called Mekè me Koma (If you read my previous post on Donguila , i usually talked about the Komo river that was crossing my village). They live around this area of Komo. My mother and my father both have different ways they were raised but they both speak their language well. My father knew his culture more than my mom because my mom grew up in a very different way of living (I will tell more later)
The Ekang people have their tradition, for example the traditional wedding. I was moved when I heard a youtuber from Nigeria describing how her traditional wedding was. It happened to her many years ago. I must admit that in Gabon things have changed and modernized a lot but the principles remain the same. Their wedding in Nigeria is not really different from mine really.
Anyway, So we have the legal european style wedding and the traditional wedding. In traditional weddings we have the discussion of the families about the dowry. When the amount of the dowry is approved the bride comes out dancing but hiding with the banana leaves🌴🌞 by her sisters. The groom must know and recognize his bride the way she walks and everything because they all surround and hide her. That is how we know when the man really knows his wife.
Then, she will be observing everything brought by the husband to see if everything is ok.Then, she goes on to take a pair of nice loincloths to her mother. She sits on her and the mother gives her the blessings. Then she takes the bottle of liquor for her father who is going to bless her too.
Usually the bride starts crying at that moment because she realizes she will belong to a new family. meaning her husband's family.
That part is really emotional 😢.
When all this is done she goes to sit at her in-laws' side who welcome her with enthusiasm.
The dowry is :a certain amount of money agreed on by both sides of the families, some gifts and presents, food and cattle .
My mom had her traditional wedding in the 80’s. When I was a child I barely remember what happened that day but I know it was in Donguila (lol!😅) my parents were surrounded by family members and very close friends. I am glad we still have some pictures of that day.
My mom had her traditional wedding in the 80’s. When I was a child I barely remember everything. I am glad they took some pictures of that event.
My mother is the lady in the middle with braids . The two women standing with her are her sisters (my aunties or let me simply say my Mothers). As you can see they used to put oil on the bride. In the second picture is my father's elder sister putting oil on my Mom. ( I went to visit her in Libreville when I was back in 2019 . She really looked tired and does not see well anymore...😔 She just recognized my voice) Then, the in laws give to the bride a beloved name from their hearts to welcome her in their 👪 family.
According to my tradition and culture I am from a patriarchal tribe. Meaning that men are in charge and the children belong to them. I belong to my father's side. Children belong to the fathers only after they marry the woman. If the woman gives birth before the marriage etc, the child belongs to the family of the wife. In order to make it fair, the man has to bring back the child from the wife’s family through the dowry as well.
There are many things to understand and learn from. Most of the tribes in Gabon are matriarchal but mine is not. I am from a patriarchal tribe. Meaning that men are usually in charge. Men protecting women and children. You can see it by the way villages were built (On the front side,you have le corps de garde where all the important decisions were taken and where men would spent time together talking playing the Tsongo a traditional game. Then, on the back of the village you have habitations, kitchen etc)
There was food that was forbidden to women to eat. And some were forbidden to eat when they were pregnant. Only men could eat different types of meat.
My mother had a strong impact and education on me because of her strong family support system. The same support system I had when I went back recently to Gabon. My aunts and uncles are my mamas and my papas. I call them Mama and Papa like I call my mother and my father. Same! My aunties are my mothers. My cousins are my brothers and sisters. That’s why we often spent time together. Friends in my life came later on. I do not have many friends, I have my family first!. A man who cannot understand this part of my culture will never understand me.
My mother comes from a family of eleven children. Her father and her mother (my grandparents) have their story. My grandfather was originally a teacher. He grew up an orphan into a protestant missionary (now you understand why I said earlier that my parents were raised differently) . My father never grew up in missions. He had another type of life and I hope to share ot in a next post.
My mom with her siblings were raised with christian values because of their parents serving God. She became scout girl and was sent in her young age to Switzerland by the church. Doing scouting helped her a lot later on when she worked in healthcare.
My grandfather went on to be a head of local authority in his little town of Kango appointed by the government at the time. Then, very later on he got a call from God. He left everything for the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was among the men who worked for the 2nd revival in Gabon.
He had a little church (I used to go there when visiting them during summer. It is funny because I remember seeing some people of the village going there and one of my grand aunties was always falling asleep at the preaching moment). My grandmother on the other hand was a real prayer woman. She loves God very much. My grandparents were hard working people. They did everything that people were doing. My grandfather was also a hunter ( he told me some rules when hunting and told me stories of how he almost died doing it but he had to provide for his family) My grandmother was not educated but she learned to do what women must know in our culture and also she learned on her own how to do a business in her little city. She was also taking care of the farm.
My mother and her siblings were raised together but at a certain time to further their education they had to go o Libreville my hometown. Some of them were sent to Libreville at Mission Baraka to her aunt and uncle (I talked to you about Mission Baraka in my previous post about Gabon, Libreville, my memories) Mission Baraka was an old mission founded around 1845 in Libreville. I must make sure of it ( To go there, you must cross Glass neighborhood then you will find Mission Baraka) it was built by American missionaries. I told you that my grand auntie (sister of my grand mother) almost married an American missionary at the time but her family said No and No because they knew she would have to go live in America. They were scared they were not ready for it.
Some other Gabonese families got married to some American missionaries and had children with them.
(that is the girls dormitory . It is a very old icture I know. Sorry, I will share with you more pictures of Mission Baraka in my next post)
Mission Baraka is still in Libreville it is a historical heritage , it should be included in UNESCO heritage like the St Paul Catholic Cathedral of Donguila (in my village) Unfortunately Mission Baraka has become the shadow of itself due to the government negligence, the protestant communities who did not care much either after the American missionaries left…Some of those American missionaries rest in the compound of the Mission and I don’t know if their families come to visit their graves and take care of it. I heard that some heads of the Evangelical Protestant of Mission Baraka asked for help from the US consulate for years but according to them nothing had been done… (maybe they have reasons not to give them funds and help just by seeing the mismanagement of Baraka) It became a sad place to see today. In my next post I will talk to you a little bit more about Mission Baraka in Libreville, Gabon. I heard they try to renovate some of the buildings...
Back to my mother's family of eleven children. Most of them achieved their dreams
My first aunt (who unfortunately passed away too young in her early 30’s ) married a dignitary of my country. She was a pure product of Mission Baraka. She was gifted. She was a business woman (she invested in real estates and had her own fashion brand) she was sewing for some ambassadors and the governors wives. She would sometimes organize little fashion shows to present her new creations.
(by the way my mom won a beauty pageant in her little town where she grew up and her cousin won the one in Libreville.)
My uncle worked in the Ministry of youth and sport of the governement.
My other uncle was one of the first pediatricians of Gabon after he finished his studies in France (and by the way he was my son’s pediatrician too.) In the 80’s he was always invited to a TV show to educate mothers on how to take care of their children. He was elected mayor of his city where they grew up and He is now working for the government.
My mom went to study nursing and anesthesiology in Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire. My brother was born in Abidjan too when my Mom was there studying.
My Mom on the picture with my older sister in Abidjan in the 70's ( the lady on the left holding a little girl. It 's my Mom and my elder sister)
She later married my father who was the first civil/airline pilot of Gabon after his studies in America. ( And btw my father was also the nephew of the first President of Gabon, Leon M’ba. He didn’t stay long in power …maybe a few years only. Maybe I should talk about him a little bit but I don’t like talking about politics.) So on the picture my father and his instructor
My mom had her own career in the health field and she had to travel for international organizations.
This my mom in navy blue at a health summit I think in France or Austria with her friends and colleagues
My parents also had to travel a lot and live in some other countries of west Africa because of my father being assigned by the airlines company at the time. My father knew the African coast a lot because he was often flying there to the south part. He was also flying to Europe, Asia and America with some islands. Commercial flights are a lot of work and time.
My other aunt, after her studies in France, became an accountant for an international company and she later married the first geophysicist of my country.
My other aunt after her studies in France became a computer scientist and married her husband (the English professor who went to study and do research in London And Ireland. He is now working in genealogy. A new passion that he has.)
I had my late uncle who was a sailor. He would often be gone but when he was back on land he was coming to visit us. He was always bringing good stuff from abroad for us..
. My other uncle who went to study Laws in France, went back home and worked as a tax inspector later on he had a brilliant career in Laws. He had often been appointed by the government.
So now you understand when I say my life since my childhood was often back and forth and mostly in France.
Gabon at the time, was sending most of their students abroad on good scholarships. You simply had to study very well. Gabon still sends students abroad on scholarships but it is kind of different now.
And about my youngest aunt. The last of the family (she is a hairstylist, the one who inspired me to write my post “>A la Josephine Baker” in my website www.poshenvogue.com) my grandfather fully paid for her school. She went to learn cosmetology in an American school based in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire at the time. The instructors were American and it was an expensive school. My grandfather often told her:"If you want to be a hairstylist ,I want you to be the best at what you are doing.” and she was really good! My aunt was so nice and she was gifted. She was doing my all mothers’ hair and her customers. She is the one who often talked about the hair style “A la Josephine Baker!” back in the 80’s with her sisters, my mamas.
Josephine Baker had a certain style of hair that many Black women at the time liked to recreate (you should read this article on my website. I was a child when I first heard the name of this famous Black American artist and I was often watching my young aunt doing her job which was making women beautiful. In those days women were so elegant and natural. Not too much makeup. Just simply natural and beautiful. My mothers always brought their beauty kit with them and they were often gathering together. They were chatting about many things. As a child I would simply sit with them and looked at them. Their nails, their hair...yes,my mothers liked good clothes and perfumes. They were beautiful ladies! I started to like perfumes because of my mothers. I knew the smell, the scent and the brands for sure. I was introduced to Chanel, Jean Patou, YSL and the list goes on . Spending time to open perfumes and smell them and remember their names. Later, when I became a teen, I would sometimes flattered women just by knowing and telling them the name of perfumes they were wearing. I was dreaming to be like my Mothers.
My mothers (My mom and her sisters) were her first customers and then, they would bring some of their friends and colleagues but ,my aunt was also working in a well known hair salon in town in Libreville “Chez Dominique” I went to this lady’s home one day with my auntie. Ms.Dominique was her boss and she liked my aunt so much she encouraged her to perfect her skills that's why she went to that American school. Ms. Dominique was a beautiful lady with hazel eyes. She was so nice and she was growing vegetables in her garden)
O! Well this is part one of my story. A little bit of the story of my family on my mother’s side. I believe that they were simply blessed by the Hand of God who was upon this family of eleven children. My grandparents were simply serving God with all their heart. They never lacked for anything. God always provided for the family.
I am going to close this first chapter with some short videos of the traditional wedding of my nieces that we had last year and you will see how different it was from the time my mother had hers.
Wow! that post was long!!! I can't believe it. I did it!
Thank you for reading.
And this is a song of a young artist from Gabon singing and showing the traditional wedding back home' The title is "Alouk" meaning wedding in my native language.
"Alouk" J Rio
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