The Dancing Forest - a film by Brice Lainé

Portrait - Yawa

Yawa Doroua was born in 1962 in Ghana in a family of merchants from Baga. She returned to Baga aged 13 where she continued her elementary school studies. At 18 she finished fourth grade and dropped out to get married. Faced with the difficulties of agrarian life, her husband is compelled to spend long periods of time working in Nigeria to ensure his family’s survival.

Desiring a better life for her 7 children, Yawa joins the Bakoté movement to improve the yield of her fields as well as to be able to send her children to school.  She also credits her participating in the Bakoté movement with her increased self-confidence: a previously shy and reserved woman, she has become a natural leader in village group meetings earning the respect of others.