Africa. 1 continent. 55 countries. 1.1 Billion inhabitants. More than 2000 ethnic groups.
For some, synonymous with poverty, wars, disease and wildlife. For me, synonymous with singularity, cultural richness, diversity, potential.
My passion for my continent has grown over time. When I was younger, I never took the time to appreciate it for its particularities. I was blinded by the Western ideal and the way of life that foreign media sold us. I took for granted the traditions and simple pleasures of life “back home”. But as the quote says: “We recognize happiness by the noise it makes when it goes away”.
So I had to leave my home, after 17 years of living in Africa (Ivory Coast, Togo, Cameroon and South Africa), and land in the Canadian cold to open my eyes. Leaving home allowed me to realize that I missed the good humor and friendliness of people. That after all, I liked “old people’s music” that my parents played in the car all the time.
I had to leave, to realize that the continent that saw me grow up and that shaped the person I am today, is for many people a distant and mysterious land where wild animals and humans live in perfect harmony, where wars, famines and diseases punctuate the daily lives of populations.
I had to leave to also understand that a good part of my brothers and sisters in the diaspora, and also a good number of those living on the continent, have lost all hope of positive developments for the continent.
It is therefore this awareness that leads me to write this blog. I want to share with you the Africa that I know, the Africa that rocked my childhood and that drives my future ambitions. An Africa which certainly has a lot of challenges to overcome, but which is experiencing significant progress.
“Korofolie” [kɔRɔfɔli], in Malinké, means criticism, gossip or “affairs” as the Ivorians say. But in this beautiful, multifaceted language that is Malinké, this word also means “find the hidden meaning” of something. And that’s what I plan to do on this platform.
Expect articles on Africa's great progress, reviews of history and traditions, my cultural favorites but also rants, because we all know that this continent has aspects that " "warm the heart", as they say at home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Aissata Madina Sylla and I am passionate about by the African continent, its history, its culture and its potential. Of Ivorian origin, I have had the privilege of living in Ivory Coast, Togo, Cameroon, South Africa and now in Canada. This allowed me to broaden my horizons and discover the cultural diversity of the African continent and its diaspora.
This is what encouraged me to co-found the Desautels African Business Initiative, the first conference in Canada organized by students and focused on business in Africa. This is also what encouraged me to create Korofolie.
This platform is for me the opportunity to explore and deepen my knowledge about my continent, while sharing it with the rest of the world. I am not an expert, but simply a young woman wanting to participate in the writing of an African narrative by Africans. As an African proverb puts it so well: “As long as the lions do not have their historian, hunting stories will always turn to the glory of the hunter”.