Spoon Roots

For my recent second trip to Gambia, to coordinate a new round of the social network surveys, we start working in the West part of the North Bank and we were sleeping in Albreda-Jufureh, the location were the most famous best seller related to Gambia is situated.

I was watching "ROOTS" the TV mini-series based on the novel of Alex Haley tracing his origins in XVIII century when Kunta Kinte, supposedly his far ancestor, was capture as slave in Jufureh and brought to the new world. The movie is not bad, but the characterization of Mandinka villages is too stereotypical and, in my view, completely inaccurate.

For example, look at the first part of this extract:



It's ridiculous!! even nowadays, 250 years after, is very difficult to find a spoon in a village (forget about a fork) and no individual bowls exists, everyone share in the same pot. This is the real way: