Oakland dance studio pays tribute to Malawi

Returning visitors tell audiences how trip to Africa enriched their lives

Masankho Kamsisi Banda was 25 when he left Malawi in 1987.

The country was under a dictatorship, his father was imprisoned for political dissidence and thus he was banned from attending the African nation's only university.

And so he began a long journey to America, where he earned a degree in theater and dance in Ohio and a master's degree in culture and spirituality from Holy Names University in Oakland.

Last summer he reversed the trip, taking more than 40 people from around the world to his native country for two weeks, mostly spending time in the small village of Tukombo. The group brought the stories of the people they met back to Oakland as part of ongoing Black History Month celebrations.

In a recent performance called "Malawi Wowee!" at Oakland dance studio InterPlayce, the performers interspersed personal accounts of their experiences in the small central African country with dances they learned from natives there.

"I've traveled the world to spread peace and tell my stories," said Banda, now a teacher and peace activist. "People always ask me, 'Where do these stories come from?' Now I get to show them."

Performer Randy Newswanger said the visit enriched his life.

"My great aunt worked in Tanzania for 19 years," he said, "and now I'm asking her all kinds of new questions. I just asked her the other day, 'Did you ever eat hippopotamus?'"

Phil Porter, co-founder of the community-building dance program InterPlay, located on

Telegraph Avenue near the 19th Street BART station, described meeting a young girl in the African village who was crocheting with twigs.

"So when I got home, I sent a whole box of crochet hooks to Tukombo," Porter said during the performance. "That's how I'm going to change the world. I know: It's so subversive."

Performers described images of poverty. InterPlay co-founder Cynthia Winton-Henry recalled visiting the only hospital in the area to find 150 beds and just one doctor working there. Another performer described a school of 850 students with just six teachers.

But noticeably absent was the portrait of Africa as a horrible, desperate place, as it's often depicted in American media. Most descriptions of the villagers emphasized their kindness, friendliness and enthusiasm despite their struggles.

"The perception of Africa here is skewed," Banda said. "Of Africa's 52 countries, about eight are involved in serious conflict, and 15 to 20 have ongoing problems with food and poverty. Those places need attention, but I don't want the world to think Africa is nothing but miserable. By and large, the people in Africa are happy, and some are even becoming wealthy. The standard of living is getting higher."

Malawi adopted a new democratic constitution in 1994, and Banda's father is a member of the Parliament.

"My father always wanted me to go into law or economics, or follow his footsteps into politics," Banda said. "So I travel all the way to America and what do I do? I learn about dance and theater. He was very worried about me. It wasn't until I started bringing my friends back home that he understood: I'm doing the same thing he does, reaching people and working for peace, but in a different way."

While the performers didn't emphasize pity for the people of Malawi, they did raise some serious problems facing the country and encouraged people to get involved.

"Half the children in Tukombo are orphans of the AIDS and HIV pandemics in Malawi," Winton-Henry said. She encourages concerned citizens to make donations to the Kunyanja Development Organization.

"We can do a really amazing amount of good for not too much money," she said.

InterPlay will be sponsoring at least two more trips to Malawi, which are scheduled for late July and late December. Many travelers paid their own way, but InterPlay holds fundraising events and offers scholarships. The total cost of the trip was about $3,900 per person, Winton-Henry said.

Sean Maher is a student at San Francisco State University. Contact him at seanmaher1@gmail.com.