Guinea Conakry
Lying just south of Guinea Bissau, this West African nation, with a population of over 11,000,000 souls, is a former French colony with French as its official language. Nevertheless large segments of the population still use their mother tongue (Mandinka, Fula, etc.) in preference to French in most rural areas. Indeed, in the far north an indigenous script for writing Mandinka is currently being taught at one of the northern universities. Foundation interest here focuses on the Keita Fodeba Acrobats as well as the nation’s rich pool of artists and sculptors. For examples of these please see our West African videos as well as the appropriate file under papers submitted.