Another request for teachers in Mali

[Marc_M]

Stetova posted a request for teachers in Mali in the "Help" section, but I was dissapointed to see that there weren't any responses.

The elections in Guinea are making the situation tenuous at best, so I am thinking of going to Mali in July/August. There is room available at djembe hotel in Bamako, so I am thinking of going there, since there is already routine established for visiting students.

Does anyone have other contacts or suggestions for lessons in Bamako?

Any information would be helpful.

Thanks.

Marc

[e2c]

Marc,

you might want to drop a PM to rachel (I think her username is rachelnguyen; she's one of the board mods). Her teacher is from Bamako and knows lots of people there. (Goes back to Mali regularly and is taking a group of students there either this Dec. or early Jan. of next year.)

Rachel went last year and met and studied with some really good teachers.

bops can probably give you some good ideas, too.

[Michel]

I will be joining Sidiki Camara's travel in january 2011 for a few weeks, for details see Sidikicamara.com. He will be teaching only during this event, but there you can get in touch with other great djembefola/teachers like Madou Fane, Modibo Konate. Ibrahima Sarr is taking students in his house, I heard. I think you can get in touch with him through the Coryphee.be website. In the djembehotel (to be found at rootsyrecords.com) you can get in touch with some great teachers as well. I heard Drissa Kone is one of them..... Not bad!

Visiting Mali in July/August.... hot hot hot and raining.... watch the musquito's!! beginning of 2010 I was in Bamako, with political/military tension in Guinee, but Mali still was very peacefull. My advice would be to visit Mali in our winter, it will be still around 35℃!

Good luck. Do ask more questions if you have them.

Michel

[rachelnguyen]

Thanks, e2c,

I am going to be in Mali in January with my teacher, Sidy Maiga. He still has room for a few more students! (there are 5 of us going at this point. It is a great sized group with lots of individual attention.)

See his website for more information... or just pm me. (rachelnguyen)

www.sidymaiga.com

Rachel

[rachelnguyen]

PS: Mali has a very stable government and is safe to travel except for way out in the desert. The elections in Guinea have no impact on Malian travel.

[Marc_M]

Thanks for Rachel and Michel for the info. I was tempted to go to Mali in January, but taking time off at that time of year is difficult, so I'm putting the word out for July/August. I'll probably post more questions later as I get more details.

Cheers.

[bops]

Same here...

I'm going with my teacher, Abdoul Doumbia, this January. We still have room for a couple more people.

As far as other teachers go, I can give you some names (some have been named above), but finding them would be up to you. My experience is that trying to set up your own private lessons in Africa can be an exercise in frustration. Better to go with someone who arranges the classes for you (and who's been doing it for a while). The instruction will be much more consistent.