Motherland and Sierra Leone Anansi Stories

About the Book

MOTHERLAND SIERRA LEONE ANANSI STORIES Traditional African stories Sierra Leone  West Africa Traditional African oral stories, Anansi Stories ‘Nansi-stori or Nansi-tori’ reflect social values in the African culture that motivate the listeners in their pursuit of a meaningful life. These stories reveal ideas, themes, beliefs, and facts that are widely spread. They link the past, present and future, interpret the universe, resolve natural and physical phenomena, teach morals, maintain cultural values, pass on methods of survival and praise God. The storyteller uses her tactics with the intention that the listeners connect with the story and uses her skills to be linked with the listeners through the story. The storyteller teaches the listeners the African morals, values, beliefs; tells each story with gestures, songs, dances, expressions and impersonations to arouse the listeners. The storyteller repeats words, phrases or sentences which make the story easy to understand and recall from memory. The listeners actively participate as they learn the important aspects of the African culture. These Sierra Leone traditional African oral stories keep the family and the community united, pass on traditions, codes of behavior and maintain social order. These oral stories passed down by the writer’s grandparents and parents using their own words were transcribed from her committed to memory version in written format to preserve the traditional African Krio history or African oral tradition, and with the hope that these written stories be appreciated by adults and children throughout the world and perpetuated by future generations.

About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mrs. Eyamidé E. Lewis-Coker (née Smith) born and raised in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. She is a Certified Lay Minister at the First United Methodist Church, Ontario, California; Computer Science Lecturer at Wilshire Computer College, Board of Directors member of the Educational Bridge Foundation and President of the Krio Descendants’ Union of Southern California. In Freetown, Sierra Leone, she attended Saint Joseph’s Secondary School. Soon after, she taught English Literature at the Independence Memorial Secondary School for over two years. Later, she left to further her education in the United States of America. She attended the University of Nebraska and majored in Business Administration and Management. She then returned to her mother’s land, Freetown, Sierra Leone and was a Computer Science Lecturer in the school of Business at the Milton Margai Teachers’ Training College and the University of Sierra Leone, Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM). She has over forty years of expertise in narrating traditional African stories. She has been an inspirational, skillful, innovative, initiative storyteller since the age of six. She has the ability to work within the African tradition, the initiative part of her art and simultaneously gives her listeners new insights into ancient images by using them to give form to their contemporary world which is the innovative part of her performances. She narrates stories for entertainments which provide cultural values and moral foundation for her listeners. She also relies on the African tradition and relates her stories with the perceptible and imaginative worlds. These traditional African stories also allow the listeners to think through the content that had been digested and make some sense out of it, see the patterns, find what it adds to their understanding of the world, and how it changes their conceptual understandings. Most of these traditional African stories are based on the environment, landscape, universe, characteristics of humans and animals. She uses images from past and present to represent fantasy and reality in her performances that usually connects the emotions of her listeners which keep them in harmony with an antiquity that only vaguely resembles fact. Motherland Sierra Leone Anansi Stories ‘Nansi Stori or Nansi tori’ are traditional African oral stories passed down by her grandparents and parents in their own words. She had selected above twenty of these traditional African oral stories that she retained in her memory and transcribed these stories in written format to preserve the traditional African Krio history or African oral tradition, and with the hope that these stories be appreciated by adults and children throughout the world and perpetuated by future generations. Mrs. Eyamidé E. Lewis-Coker holds a Masters degree in Business Administration and Management. She contributes to several African magazines and participates in major African cultural events. In addition, she was married to the late Dr. Delpaneaux V. Wills and has two gorgeous and lovely sons, Adetunji D. Wills and Adeyemi C. Wills. She is blessed with a wonderful daughter-in-law, Becky Wills and has three beautiful and adorable grand children. She is currently married to her wonderful husband, Mr. Tungie L. Lewis-Coker and resides with her family in Southern California.