{"id":461,"date":"2021-04-09T10:53:37","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T14:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ria\/?page_id=461"},"modified":"2025-01-22T09:08:16","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T14:08:16","slug":"mandinka-unit-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ria\/mandinka\/mandinka-unit-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Unit 1: Dr. Bala Saho"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Title<\/td>Conversation with Bala Saho<\/td><\/tr>
Interviewer<\/td>Fallou Ngom<\/td><\/tr>
Subject<\/td>Mandinka Ajami Literacy, Ajami in Historical Work, Ajami in Health, Mandinka Ajami in Daily Life in The Gambia. <\/td><\/tr>
Content<\/td>Dr. Bala Saho is Associate Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. He was born in Badibu Salike\u00f1e in the North Bank Region of The Gambia. He attended both Quranic and English schools in The Gambia. Like many Gambians, he used to attend the English school in the morning and the Quranic school in the evening. Later, he was sent to the Quranic school of Suwaarekunda in Kerewaan to continue his Islamic education. Then, he moved to Banjul, the capital of the country, to attend high school. After he graduated from high school, he worked in the Oral History Division (now called the Center for Arts and Culture) for a number of years before pursuing his studies in the United States. Professor Saho acquired Mandinka literacy skills during his Quranic education. In this video, he discusses many aspects of Mandinka Ajami literacy in The Gambia, including the use of Ajami in public health, in people\u2019s daily lives, and its significance in documenting Gambian history. Dr. Saho also reflects on the importance of oral history and tradition in recording local knowledge, and about the role of proverbs in teaching and educating the youth. He also discusses the enduring role of colonialism that has often adversely affected knowledge production in Africa. Dr. Salo highlights the critical importance of Ajami as a grassroots form of literacy that has for a long time operated parallel to Western-based institutions. <\/td><\/tr>
Language<\/td>Mandinka<\/td><\/tr>
Script<\/td>Mandinka Ajami<\/td><\/tr>
Location<\/td>Brusubi, Serrekunda, The Gambia<\/td><\/tr>
Pedagogical content\/application<\/td>Includes relevant linguistic, stylistic and cultural skills as identified in our assessment guidebook\/ ACTFL guidelines<\/td><\/tr>
Access condition and copyright<\/td>These 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).<\/td><\/tr>
Contributors<\/td>Fallou Ngom, Bala Saho, Ablaye Diakite, Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Mamadou Aw Ndiaye, Ousmane Cisse, Alison Parker, and Frank Antonelli. <\/td><\/tr>
Required citation information<\/td>Fallou Ngom (PI), Bala Saho, Ablaye Diakite, Daivi Rodima-Taylor, Mamadou Aw Ndiaye, Ousmane Cisse, and other contributors. 2022. \u201cConversation with Bala Saho.\u201d https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/ria\/mandinka\/mandinka-unit-1\/<\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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