In November 2009 a group called A-freek-A (led by Nicky Such) left Belfast to head to Senegal in West Africa. I have been drumming with A-freek-A for nearly 6 years now, A-freek-A is a cross community group with kids aged between 11-18 years old. The group consisted of 23 people, 15 kids aged 11-17 and 9 adults. The purpose of this trip was to bring resources to a School based near The Gambia in a town called Zinconghour. The School has over 1500 pupils who had very little, our aim was to bring resources to them. We provided them with pens, pencils, books. We also brought over 3 computers and provided them with an Internet connection, also since they are keen lovers of sports we provided them with goal posts and football kits. An additional bonus to our trip was to receive Master African Drumming Tuition from a Master Drummer called Seckou Keita.
Our journey started way back in May of 2009. We knew we had to accomplish our goal and one day get out to Africa one day since we are an African drumming group, (hence the name A-freek-A) We began to fundraise, packing bags, washing cars, sponsored events, fundraising events, drumming in golf clubs, doing parades etc. On one occasion we raised over £2000 pounds in 11 hours of bag packing! We worked so hard for 5 months and in the end we raised our goal £25,000 which could take us out to Senegal!
After a very long journey on Sunday 8th November, we finally arrived at around 6pm on Monday 9th November in a town called Abene in Senegal where we would be staying for the next two weeks. We stayed in a Campermont called Les Belles Etoiles which was French for Starry nights because of it’s amazing constellations at night. The accommodation was basic as you can see from this picture but at the same time it was beautiful, and the huts we were staying in weren’t too bad at all.
The next morning we began drumming straight away to begin developing our skill. Once we had drummed all morning we took trips to the beach about 20 minutes away. It was shocking to see the true poverty in this country, it’s different seeing it on TV but when it is brought to you in real life it’s a completely different story. Some of the kids just followed you wherever you went just to be in your presence. We played football at the beach with many kids; we wanted to be as part of their community as we could.
For two days we made our way out to Zinconghour to visit the School we were going to be bringing resources to. We began to walk towards the school and the whole school came out to greet us, the feeling was amazing! They just wanted to hold your hand and be with you. It was amazing seeing the look on the kids’ faces when you give them something as basic as a pencil, it was overwhelming. It was very emotional. We presented the kids with football kits and the next day we played them a football match with the goalposts we provided.
When we got back to Abene we continued to drum for the rest of the time as well as socialising with the rest of the community. We were taught by master drummer Seckou Keita. He provided us with tuition every morning for three and a half hours.
Throughout the 2 weeks we also went to a few parties at nights which were an amazing experience. They ask you over to dance and join in with their culture, it’s amazing, yes I was a bit shy at first but after the 2 weeks you finally start to get into it. We also had the privilege of holding our own party at the Campermont on the 21st November we held a big African party and about 300 people attended. We performed and enjoyed the African culture one last time as we were heading home two days later.
A couple of days before we left we also received an African dance lesson, it was such good fun but was very hard work because of the heat! Also before we left we painted a mural to symbolise our time in Senegal!
Africa was an amazing, life changing experience and has really made me think about how much we do take things for granted. It has changed my life and I will never forget it. I definitely hope to return in the future!
