Unit 3: Wandifa Dramé

Videos
Community Images
Pedagogical Activities

Metadata

TitleConversation with Wandifa Dramé
InterviewerIbrahima Yaffa
SubjectHerbal Medicine, Islamic Panacea, Traditional Healing Methods
ContentWandifa Dramé was born in 1965 in Bujee-Saamin in the region of Sedhiou, Senegal. He had his Islamic education in Pakaawu Mankonombaa Saañankundaa, where he learned reading and writing in Mandinka Ajami. Later his father moved to Ziguinchor, where he has lived since then. He serves now as a Muslim religious teacher and healer who focuses on local herbal and Islamic medicine. In this interview, Mr. Dramé recounts how he was motivated to study Ajami in order to be able to read and write in his native Mandinka language. He talks about the significance of Ajami as a traditional Mandinka writing system that is passed down by elders to the younger generation. Mr. Dramé shows and discusses the documents written in Ajami on African traditional medicine that he uses in his treatments. These include various plant-based remedies. Mr. Dramé discusses how he uses these remedies in combination with religious elements such as Quranic verses in his treatments, and reflects on some ways to prepare these traditional forms of medicine. He also discusses various herbal recipes for protection against “night people” (witches).
LanguageMandinka
ScriptMandinka Ajami
Pedagogical content/applicationIncludes relevant linguistic, stylistic and cultural skills as identified in our assessment guidebook/ ACTFL guidelines 
LocationZiguinchor, Senegal
Access condition and copyrightThese materials are subject to copyright and are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. For use, distribution or reproduction beyond these terms, contact Professor Fallou Ngom (fngom@bu.edu).
ContributorsFallou Ngom, Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Bala Saho, Ibrahima Ngom, Mamadou Aw Ndiaye, Ousmane Cisse, Ablaye Diakite, Alison Parker, and Frank Antonelli.
Required citation informationFallou Ngom (PI), Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Bala Saho,Ibrahima Ngom, Mamadou Aw Ndiaye, Ousmane Cisse, Ablaye Diakite, and other contributors. 2022. “Conversation with Wandifa Dramé.” https://sites.bu.edu/ria/mandinka/mandinka-unit-3/

Videos

Mandinka with English Subtitles

Mandinka with Latin Script Subtitles

Community Images

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  • Sikicoor siloo kaŋ ka bo naŋ Gambiyaa. || On the way to Ziguinchor city from The Gambia.

  • M be dunkaŋ Sikicoor ka bo naŋ Gambiyaa. || Entering Ziguinchor city from The Gambia.

  • Sikicoor saatee bundaa baa. || The main entrance of Ziguinchor city.

  • Sikicoor Dinkiraa baa Kuntiyoolu la buŋ baa, joŋoolu maradulaa Purtugeesoolu jamanoo la. || Ziguinchor city Departmental Council Headquarters, a former Portuguese slave trading post.

  • Bukootu marsee baa siloo kaŋ Sikicoor saatee kono. || The road to the big market of Boucotte in Ziguinchor.

  • Sila kiliŋ Sikicoor saatee baa kono. || A street in downtown Ziguinchor.

  • Fallu Ngom, Wandifaa Daraame, aniŋ Yaamadu Kamara be kacca la Mandinka kitaaboolu kunna. || Fallou Ngom, Wandifa Dramé and Yamadou Camara discussing about Mandinka books.

  • Sikicoor tendaa. || Ziguinchor harbor.

  • Ablaay Jakite, kisi-kisilaalu kuntiyo be domoridulaa to Sikicoor. || Ablaye Diakité, the fieldwork leader in a restaurant in Ziguinchor.

  • Kisi-kisilaalu pareeta ka taa dookuwoo la. || The fieldwork team members ready to go to work.

Pedagogical Activities

Glossary
Notes
Exercises
Mandinka Keyboard

Glossary

  1. Boori, booroo: Medicine, remedy
  2. Dubeŋo koto: In the shade
  3. Duŋ: To enter, when used for people (to dress)
  4. Duŋo: Parasitic plant
  5. Harijee: Luck, fortune
  6. Jaararilaŋo: Treatment
  7. Jaata: Dried, hard
  8. Jaatakendeyaa: Good health
  9. Jamba-wo-jamba, jamboo-jamba: Each page, each leaf, every page
  10. Jamba, jamboo: Leaf
  11. Juu, juwoo: Trunk. When referring to people, private parts, buttocks
  12. Ka a jaa: To dry, drought
  13. Ka a kalamuta: To understand, be aware of, know about something
  14. Ka a kanandi: To free something, cause something to escape, protect, prevent something
  15. Ka a kandindi:  To warm something, heat up something
  16. Ka a kati: To cut, break, to harvest something
  17. Ka a kuruntu: To drag something, crawl
  18. Ka a maa: To touch something, also to copulate
  19. Ka a ñiniŋ: To look for, search
  20. Ka a sene: To farm, cultivate, plough something
  21. Ka a seyindi: To return something, cause something to return
  22. Ka a siŋ: To dig something
  23. Ka a tanka: To protect something
  24. Ka a tuu: To pound something
  25. Ka a wuluu: To give birth, to deliver
  26. Ka a yuru-yuru: To pour, spray something
  27. Ka kana: To escape
  28. Ka seyi: To return, go back
  29. Kandoo: Heat
  30. Kawandiroo, kawandoo: Preaching, sermon
  31. Kele, keloo: Fight, war, quarrel
  32. Kipampaŋo, kipanpaŋo: Sodom apple (calotropis procera)
  33. Kitiŋ: Fresh, raw
  34. Koloŋo: A well
  35. Koo: Salt
  36. Kuŋo: Head
  37. Maasiiboo: Misfortune, calamity, disaster
  38. Munkoo, munku: Flour, powder
  39. Seloro: Strength, potency, efficiency
  40. Senelaa: Farmer
  41. Suloo: Root, also monkey
  42. Tendaa: Market, business center, trading post
  43. Wuloo: Liar, bush, forest, dog
  44. Yiri-fatoo: Tree bark
  45. Yiri-juwoo: Tree trunk
  46. Yiri-suloo: Tree roots
  47. Yiroo: Plant, tree, big stick (like fence post)

Notes

  1. Bii kuu teŋ: “They are not things of today.” This phrase is used to emphasize enduring traditions in Mandinka communities.
  2. Harijee firindaŋo, harijee firiŋ daŋo: “Means of unleashing luck.” This phrase refers to a good luck charm or a decoction made with special plant leaves and Quranic verses.  Local religious leaders make these for people who want to be successful in their endeavors.
  3. Jaararilaa moo fiŋ siloo: Literally: “a healer who follows Black people’s way.” The phrase refers to a traditional African plant-based healer.
  4. Mandinka karaŋ kuloolu: Mandinka educational letters. This phrase is used to refer to writing with Mandinka Ajami characters. It is used interchangeably with the phrase Mandinka Safeeri-kuloolu (Mandinka alphabet or script).
  5. Niŋ Ala kiitita a la: “If God wills it.” A Mandinka expression used when seeking something. The phrase reflects the Mandinka belief that nothing can be achieved without God’s approval.
  6. Sikicoor: The name of a city in the southern Casamance region of Senegal. It is also called Ziguinchor. According to local oral traditions, the original name Sikicoor comes from the Portuguese Creole phrase sinta bu coora (sit down and cry) because the place used to be a Portuguese slave trading post.
  7. Suuta-moo: “Night people.” This refers to witches, people who possess supernatural powers and use them to harm people. Mandinka people believe that such people can transform themselves into wind or animals and that they operate at night and can cause death or illnesses that modern medicine cannot cure.

Exercises:

Comprehension || Writing || Listening / Speaking and Conversation || Cultural Competence

Comprehension: Video

Comprehension: Image

Writing

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For exercises 1-6 below, open the Mandinka Ajami keyboard, type text, and copy-paste it into the box.
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Listening / Speaking and Conversation

  • Podkastoo niŋ Widewoo: Podkastoo ke ñiŋ widewoo kaccaa-kuma-kaŋoolu kunna, waraŋ i ye widewoo sutuŋoolu ke minulu be widewoo la kaccaa-kuma-kaŋoolu koyindi la.

Cultural Competence

  • Teyaataroo safee aniŋ Mandinka safeeri-kuloolu la muŋ be aada kummaayaariŋo yitandi la.