Rosaline Nowaï Camara

The most beautiful four year old on the planet.

Le plus beau quatre année vieille sur la planète.

This is just saved here to keep a record.
How do you even dare? Do you think we never read your journal? I also postedcomments at http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/sweettrip/jessanddayna/.Quick corrections on the Saamato blog. FYI Baga Fote and Baga percussion are2 different things. Baga Fote is a band, which was created by Yves - no oneelse - and is not part of Saamato. Baga Percussion is a NON PROFITorganization, which was created by myself. Bebe is no more part of BagaFote/Baga Percussion - She left the band a long time ago. Neither isManamou.Furthermore I would like to remind you that all material on our website iscopyrighted. We have never agreed to lend you chunks of text (by the waypoorly translated) or video clips.Yves and I have no desire to be "linked" to your activities in any way.Christèle-----Original Message-----From: Jessica Towns [mailto:jessicatowns@yahoo.com]Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 5:43 PMTo: info@bagapercussion.comSubject: Ballet SaamatoYves and Cristele,Soon the website, which is very simple, will be atwww.balletsaamato.com but for now is atwww.balletsaamato.blogspot.comI think it gives the ballet a sense of pride andaccomplishment and also provides former member's withan internet based site to substantiate their educationas artists. (not that it is nescesary, just nice.)I have also linked your website,www.bagapercussion.com in the side barlet me know what you think, Gigla is excited that BagaPercussion is linked to his site.Thanks, Jessica Towns
Dayna and Jess' Fabulous Excursions — Comments
Page 1 of 1
Thursday, 14 July 2005
Warning about Baga PercussionMood: downWarning about Baga Percussion, Cristele Forgot, African Dance, Drumming, Baga, Bangoura, Baga Fote, Baga Percussion. This is a warning to those who are thinking of doing an African Dance and drum course in Guinea, Africa with Baga Percussion. The artists are wonderful people and this is in no way intended to harm them, they are for the most part honest people. The problem is that even though we paid a total (for two students, 5 weeks) 2800 USD, the artists (5 artists per week for 5 weeks) received around 400 dollars in total! Let me break that down for you. Most of the artists are taking care of their entire families, which means the occasional opportunity to teach westerners is very valuable. Cristele paid them about 45,000 guinean francs per week. (Some of the artists only worked with us for one week. monthly that is 180,000fg) That barely covers "the 70,000 to 90,000 francs required to buy a 50kg sack of rice, the bare minimum needed to feed a family for a month." [IRIN Web Special, www.irinnews.org] Plus many of the artists pay rent and electricity, not to mention money for meat, fruit and vegetables and school supplies for younger siblings etc! The camp was also horridly organized and Cristele left the artists without enough money to even feed us properly! We ended up paying out more money to feed ourselves and the artists by the 5th week! The artists were also not sufficiently informed on the importance of potable water drinking water for westerners. Because of this discrepancy we were diagnosed with Giardia. When we told Cristele of our misfortune she told us that we couldn't be telling the truth and that we exagerated! Unbelievable! We really wanted to believe Cristele Forgot because she has FAIR TRADE and she seemed very nice but unfortunately she has proven herself untrustworthy. Either she is using the Guinean culture for profit or she is too naive to read the facts about this unfathmably poor country. She has an opportunity to greatly improve the artists lives as well as the lives of their families but she has fallen short like so many others. If you are interested in contacting the djembe and dancing artists directly please visit: www.manixdjembe.blogspot.com and contact Manamou Camara @ manixdjembe@yahoo.fr if you would like to speak with Dayna or Jess about our experience with Baga Percussion or Cristele Forgot-Bangoura please email us at: jessicatowns@yahoo.com daynaallison@yahoo.com
Posted by journal2/sweettrip at 1:35 AM
Post a Comment
Monday, 10 April 2006 - 5:41 AM Name: Christèle BangouraHome Page: http://www.bagapercussion.comE-Mail: info@bagapercussion.com
I am writing in reply to Jess _'s posting regarding her experience with my organization, Baga Percussion. I would normally disregard accusations such as hers as absurd, however I feel compelled to set the record straight. Jess accuses me of a number of serious wrongdoings, none of which are true. I do not take such accusations lightly, and as a business owner, a professional, and as one who cares deeply for the musicians of Guinea, I cannot walk away without responding.I am married to a Guinean artist and I lived in Conakry for one year. I am far from naive about, or insensitive to, the hard realities facing the people who live there. I witnessed them and experienced them first hand, every day. Anyone who knows me in Conakry can confirm that I have done a tremendous amount for the artists there - opening my home to them, feeding them for sometimes weeks on end, paying for rent, utilities, passport fees, and even school tuition, on many many occasions. I formed this fair trade organization for the benefit of the musicians and work hard to make sure it is as such.In April 2005, I gave Jess and Dayna the opportunity to participate in a drumming and dance camp in Guinea with the artists of my husband's band for the lowest possible price ($180.00 per week, extremely reasonable for this type of event). Despite what they now say about how their experience ended, after 2 weeks, the girls were thankful, enthusiastic and told me how much they were satisfied. After two weeks, my husband and I needed to return to work (camps are run to support my husband's band, but they do not contribute in any way to my personal income, or his). As we had planned in advance, we left the camp under the direction of one of the musicians whom we trusted. This was apparently our mistake. We left this person with money to pay the musicians salaries for the remainder of the camp. My husband, a musician himself, decided on the salary and I trust that he knows the fair and proper wage for artists in his country. It was a wage above the usual for musicians (200,000 Guinean francs monthly), more on par with an official's salary. We learned later that the person we trusted to direct the camp became overwhelmed and disorganized and managed the money very poorly. Any shortage of money was not because we withheld it, but because it was, regretfully, not properly handled after we left.Any monies not given directly to the musicians or used to cover accommodations, food, daytrips, etc. for the camp were immediately used to cover the band's expenses, which include CD production costs, promotion, costumes, instruments, website creation, and mailings for engagement contracts (and which are considerable). I am ABSOLUTELY NOT making profit off of the camps, the musicians or the people of Guinea. In fact, just the opposite; I have lost money, not gained money, supporting Baga Fote and Baga Percussion. I believe strongly in the success of the band, and I have always been honest, fair and transparent in all operations surrounding it. I also believe strongly in the experience of people coming to Guinea to study drums and dancing and I have done my best to create an environment that fosters growth, learning and fun for the students. Jess neither appreciates this, nor understands the complexity of what it takes to organize camps and maintain the band.On the subject of potable water, the artists most definitely know the importance of potable drinking water for westerners. They do these camps and deal with westerners often enough. That said, Jess was informed of the health risks of being in Guinea (we all get giardia at one time or another, unfortunately. For that, I cannot take responsibility), and I gave her and Dayna all the information they needed regarding necessary vaccinations and medications before their arrival.It's unfortunate that Jess has slandered me and Baga Percussion without fully understanding the real situation, or contacting me to discuss things first. Her words not only hurt our organization, but ultimately may have a negative impact on the band itself, thus ruining career opportunities for the Guinean artists. I believe that Jess is the naïve one, not I.

Thursday, 18 May 2006 - 10:56 AM Name: Christèle BangouraHome Page: http://www.bagapercussion.comE-Mail: info@bagapercussion.com
I need to revise one thing after what I heard from the artists during our recent trip to Guinea. The artists confirmed that there had been no shortage of money and that our students ate very well (3 meals a day) during the entire camp, which was one of my major concerns. In addition, the artists paid out of their own pocket for expenses that the students claimed to be included in the fee - such as mineral water - although I had told them they were not. They did all they could to satisfy Jess - paying her cab when she needed to go change money or buying her things off the street when felt like having something. Despite all this, she was never satisfied and they said she drove them all crazy. They have worked with many international students and they told me they have never seen someone as difficult as her and that they prefer not to teach if they happen to have a student like her again.