Boom Boom Woma!
/Yesterday I wrote a little about the woman who kept me alive on a day to day basis. Today I will be talking a little bit about the man who made this all possible...Bernard Woma! For everyone who doesn't know, Bernard Woma is both founder and director of the Dagara Music Center and Saakumu Dance Troupe. The DMC was founded sixteen years ago, and ever since then he has opened his home to students from around the world.
I first met Bernard three days before I started my undergraduate degree. Bernard was about to move to Indiana to continue his education, and was having one last gyil jam in front of the SUNY Fredonia music building. Everyone around brought their xylophones out on this warm sunny day. From the moment I heard these instruments I knew I was hooked on gyil.
That following summer I traveled to Ghana with SUNY Fredonia, studying gyil and drumming while experiencign the craziness of the DMC's 10 year anniversary. The following summer I went back to the DMC, this time for two months. After this trip I knew Ghana had a special place in my heart. What I did not know is that in four years I would be living in Ghana for nine months. While I was there Bernard helped me with everything, even while he continued his own work here in America. Every time Bernard visited Ghana he worked as hard as any young man, making sure everything ran perfectly. Even while managing the DMC and Saakumu, he continued to share his knowledge on gyil and drumming with the students at the center. To make a long story short, without Bernard not only would I not have experienced this amazing trip to Ghana, I may never had gotten a chance to study the many musics found in this amazing country.
The story of the Dagara Music Center and Bernard's work is far from over. Currently he is in the process of building a new school that will not only help students from around the world, but will radically change the community in which he lives. Bernard continues to share his music around the world. Touring both throughout Ghana and America with his dance troupe, while teaching future generations of dancers and musicians. This story is far from over.