About Basia
A great many indigenous traditions share the belief that if someone is unwell, it is an indication of what is going on in the community. In my native home of Senegal, there is a Wolof proverb that goes, “Nit nitay garabam,” which translates to “the people are the people’s medicine.”
Depending on the context, the meaning of the word ‘Garab’ is interchangeable with both ‘medicine’ and ‘tree’ in Wolof, the etymological explanation rooted in the understanding trees were a primary source of medicine.
Healing, in an African context, is inseparable from community.
I began Sago Journal in the end of 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic in both my quest to find answers to these questions, but also my desire to build a semblance of digital community to share, connect, and exchange knowledge.
Sago Journal is many things; a journal, an archive, digital space for learning, but it is first and foremost a community. A labor of love, this project was created and continues to be co-created with the intention of exploring the multi-faceted nature of what it means to heal as humans, within our bodies, within our communities and with each other.
With love,
from Basia