Bongo Love
Last week was one of the best weeks of my life! For the first time ever, Santo Domingo hosted "Festival Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific". The festival commemorated the unique sounds of each region. The highlight of attending this festival was the people we met. Along with two close friends of mine, Melissa and Lauren, I met members of incredible bands from all over the world. We had a special encounter with one band in particular from Zimbabwe called 'Bongo Love'. After a few short hours, they became family to us. They instantly recognized that we were proud to be descendants of the Motherland. Each night we danced, sang, laughed and cleared stereotypes regarding Africans and African Americans. In the midst of this beautiful connection, I'll never forget the moment, Chiwah, one of the band members, looked at me said, "You are African". I wish I could even begin to express how I felt, what I felt. All I could think of was how blessed I was to be in that moment. Later that night, we partook in our own ceremony, where I was given the African name "Buhle Mambira". The first name 'Buhle", which means "beauty", and the last name "Mambira" that comes from the word "ambira" which refers to an "African drum" commonly played in Zimbabwe. Thanks for everything....We'll never forget you Bongo Love!
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