Message from the Motherland
It was time to give something back last week.
So Mama picked up the mic for a good cause: Gambian Projects.
Teacher Debbie Williams gave up her comfy life, car and home to go live in a mud hut in The Gambia and work with communities there.
When she comes back to Britain, she fundraises like crazy to make money for the school she’s built there.
She organised a night in The B-Bar (Mama’s spiritual home) with the usual stuff like an auction and a raffle. And an Elvis impersonator. Then she added a dash of music in the form of Benny ‘Guitar’ Carr (pictured with Mama and Debbie) and the Hot Rats and classical guitarist Will McNicol.
Mama was MCing and was expected to make sense of this craziness, hosting the night for Debbie. Apparently I did alright, because Debbie gave me this testimonial:
"Mama Tokus was MC for Gambian Projects at our first fundraiser held at the B Bar on Plymouth's historic Barbican. Mama was in touch by email several weeks before the event to familiarise herself with our activities and to ensure that she had the correct background information about our aims and objectives. A week before the event she phoned and went through the plan for the evening which turned out brilliantly due to her natural and instinctive ability to guide the event. She is an intelligent, highly articulate lady with a great deal of charisma and this came across from the very first communication.
She has a naturally exuberant personality and sense of showmanship which I have seen when watching her perform on stage. However, on this particular evening, due to the serious nature of the fundraising aims, she allowed everyone else to shine and knew intuitively when to jump in and when to let others talk. I was very nervous about addressing the audience and she stood strong beside me giving me the confidence I needed at that particular time.
I would recommend Mama to anyone who is looking for a key person to hold an event together. She has her own strong talents and is not afraid to let others show theirs. She was polite, kind and considerate and 100% professional. All our committee were really impressed with her and would not hesitate to invite her to act for us again."
Blimey.
The night did alright too – we raised £1,442 for the Gambian Projects. Read about it here in the Herald.
