Week before last, Rob was on another workshop to Dapaong - the northern-most town in Togo, and only 20 miles from Burkina Faso…

It was a very long journey, about 700 miles from Cotonou. This was all the more tiring as I’d only got back from England two days earlier. Still, a colleague called Lois (the one who - curiously - is also married to a Rob!!) needed to make a trip up north, so came along and shared the driving.
After Kara, it’s about 3 hours’ drive further north, past the Gando turning, and then through a place called Mango:

Dapaong, I have just discovered, is twinned with the town of Issy in France. The name Dapaong actually means new market in Moba (the local language), although it’s an unlikely venue for horse racing (British joke!) I didn’t get to see the market or even much of the town, but this is what the area near the workshop looked like:

The weather was chilly for Africa and only about 10% humidity - quite different from southern Benin. Mid-morning felt like a British summer’s day, but then it got far to hot for that!

So, as ever, we began with some teaching. This was a little different from other workshops, as the aim was not only to compose new songs, but also to encourage folk to use traditional Moba song genres in their churches - something which is not happening across the board. There are, however, loads of traditional song genres. Here are a few:

Talkudg…………..Used for rejoicing and at funerals.
Kɔnbenn……………Played at initiation ceremonies (male or female) and at celebrations.
Jɔug……………….For processions.
Naal……………….Sung when crushing millet.
Kpanbalgingann…..For singing the praises of the chief.
Saab……………….For the initiation of a boy (nothing to do with Swedish motoring).
Kpanjam……………Used when telling a story.
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Here are some photos of the workshop:

Composing a new song

Performing the song to the rest of the group

Recording the new songs on the last day

The percussion section

This was also a special workshop because we composed songs for the dedication of the Moba New Testament, which takes place in March. Three groups wrote a song each and one of these will be chosen to be sung by a choir at the Dedication Ceremony - wow! Exciting stuff! In fact, have a listen yourselves and let me know which song you prefer. (NB This will in no way influence the judges’ final decision!!) Here’s a short extract of each song:

Moba Dedication song based on Hebrews 4 verse 12:
joug-heb-4v12-extract.mp3

Moba Dedication song based on 2 Timothy 3 verses 16-17:
jaab-2tim-3v1617-extract.mp3

Moba Dedication song based on Romans 15 verse 4:
konbenn-rom-15v4-extract.mp3

That’s all for now folks - leave us a comment!