Gandalf Around The World: Kankan, Guinea

2019-02-18 : diving by 38°C in an authentic African city.

We will immerse ourselves in the African atmosphere of this city that probably does not see many tourists. Kankan is the second most populous city in Guinea with an agglomeration of about 480,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of Upper Guinea. It is a mainly Malinke town and it speaks of course mainly the Malinke. It was founded by the Mandingoes in the 17th century and was occupied by France from 1891.
We wander the crowded streets of the city center, giving us the opportunity to start a lot of small talks with passers-by, street vendors, craftsmen and many others. It's always good and smiling.
We find the bank where it is possible to withdraw only 800 000 GNF (Guinean francs) at a time. So I do 3 transactions in a row to come out with two million four hundred thousand GNF. That equates to about 240,00 €.

In the streets of Kankan

Buying ananas

We continue to wander at random in the city. On the way to the great mosque we pass the evangelical mission that has just celebrated its 100th anniversary. We enter and it is the Pastor Joel Moriba who welcomes us and introduces us to his church. The complex also includes a school with over 1,100 mostly Muslim students, but this is not a problem. As almost everywhere in West Africa religious communities live very well together and without (apparent) conflict. In Guinea, the proportion of Muslims (similar to Senegal) is estimated at 88%, while in the Ivory Coast Christians and Muslims in the south are each approx. 40%, Ghana is 70% Christian, Togo 40% (Islam 15%), Benin 50/30 and in Nigeria Christian and Muslim are about the same number. In all these countries freedom of religion is enshrined in the constitution and is also lived by the people, with the exception of a few virulent groups, the best known of which is surely Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.
To return to the evangelical mission and his school, teaching is done in French from kindergarten. This is a big advantage over the public school where classes are done in Malinke, the traditional language. The children who come out of it are handicapped to pursue studies or professional life when they do not master French.
It is the pastor's wife who gives the religion classes.

The evangelical mission. Christine and Pastor Joël Moriba.

The big Mosque of Kankan

In the Mosque

The first Mosque of Kankan

Malinke have their own writing (arabic on the top, Malinke in the midlle and french at the end)

A little further on the other side of the street is the large mosque in the center of a vast park with majestic mango trees. We need to go around the park before finding an unlocked gate. In fact it is children who open the gate from the inside.
We enter the park and go to the mosque without daring to enter it not knowing if it is allowed for a non-Muslim in Guinea. It could be a beautiful mosque, the architecture is interesting but the maintenance leaves much to be desired. The interior is very dusty and needs to be renovated.
We find the"ouamis" merchant that we had met on the sidewalk on the way. Her name is Mariam Bereti and seems to have a small business that works well. "Ouamis" are small donuts made from white rice, fonio, sugar, salt and corn. We sit on a small bench to taste one. It's excellent and we buy a dozen to take away. 10 for 5,000 GNF (0.50 €).

Mariam's "ouamis!

The smile of Mariam!

The Mariam's "ouamis"

Shortly before our camp we take a
street that I would gladly call the "tube souk". We find a series of small workshops lined up over a hundred meters specializing in the recycling of old tires and tubes. There is no limit to the African imagination: bags with old tubes, straps with old tires, brake pads for mopeds cut from leftover tires and even "fagots" to make fire with pieces of tires ... ..and everything and everything ....

The "tube souk"

Water bags from old tube.

The Catholic Cathedral des Victoires et de la Paix.

We park Gandalf directly in front of the Catholic Cathedral of Kankan, the Cathedral of Victories and Peace, and it is Father Jean-David who receives us. He is the bishop's assistant, but he also often serves Mass when the priest is not available.
The Diocese of Kankan is with 118 000 km² the largest of the 3 dioceses of the Republic of Guinea. Jean-David makes us visit the estate, especially the large cemetery in a deplorable state of abandonment. Some whites are buried here, French, German and Americans.
The cave of the Virgin with its black Christ but with typically Western features is worthy of interest.
The father invites us to have a drink in his office. He serves me a beer, Christine a juice. we will discuss for a little while. Among other things, he explains that Mass is held every day at 6.30 am on weekdays and at 9.30 am on Sundays. On large religious festivals, up to 2,500 faithful attend mass, in ordinary times, on average 1,500 faithful are present. In a 90% Muslim country it's a good score.