We could not have wished for a better-sweet end of the year’s party than we had during Africa Night in December. The party was preceded by the second edition of the Africa Night dinner. It was one where everyone cooks and brings a delicacy from his own country. This year, we had food from amongst others, Senegal, Belgium, The Netherlands, Surinam, Nigeria and Morocco. And unlike last year when we had to wait too long for everyone, this year everyone was on time and we were all seated around 19.30 hours for a delicious meal. We made sure we tasted every food that was brought. They were so tasty, we helped ourself to 3 rounds of food, which was a lot, considering the fact that we were the only one who did not cook or bring any food! we have a valid reason though.
December is also always the month that every visitor to the Africa Night gets a December gift from us and we spend the whole of this month working on the gifts for our patrons. Of course this year, we had to work extra hours because we were expecting extra people. In the end, the extra hours paid dividends because the patrons were really happy with this year’s gift which was surprisingly different than last year’s.
The good part of having a dinner before the regular Africa Night is the fact that Africa Night can begin in earnest as soon as the tables are cleared. So it was this time around that we could already begin with the music (and dancing of course) from just before 21.00 hours. At around 23.00 hours and to our pleasant surprise, the hall was already almost full! If you’ve read our earlier blogs, you’ll know that this is not a normal happening at Africa Night. Mostly people always turned up late but this time around it was different. What’s more, every one seemed to be in a very festive and expansive mood. This combination made for a very enjoyable Africa Night.
The low point of the evening was also the highlight. Our DJ for the better part of the past 4 years, Le General (Benoumar) played his benedictory music during this show. Benoumar became our DJ at a time when Africa Night was already a niche in The Netherlands. Still he was able to put his stamp on the way guest danced and the way they listen to the music at our show. He has done that in sometimes very subtle ways and sometimes very overtly. In 4 years he warmed his way into people’s heart with his choice of music and an ever present warm smile. He served the guests like the Africa Night DJs before him never did. He was also one of the in house photographers, taking pictures of guests which the other in house photographer was not allowed to take. In 4 years, Africa Night has had a lot of pleasure from DJ Le General and hopefully vice versa.
But all things always come to an end. He gave us notice about a couple of weeks ago that he needed to stop. Not because he no longer enjoys it, but because of his new employment commitments. He has a new paid job which will sometimes require him to work on Saturdays and he did not want to let us down if his working schedule conflicts with Africa Night. He also has a lot of new private commitments. However, something happened on the week of Africa Night that showed the true strength of character of Benoumar and his love and commitment to the Africa Night cause. We are not sure he will be happy with us revealing the details here, but we feel that we don’t have a choice. So Ben, if you are reading this, you’ll have to forgive us if this is news you’d rather have kept under wraps.
Here we go: Benoumar had a very serious car accident while returning from work earlier in the week. So serious was the car wreck that he had to be cut out of the wreckage by the emergency service. By some miracle, he escaped serious external injuries. But he was kept under observation at the hospital and released the following day. But because of the impact of the accident, he had to wear a neck brace because of acute pain in his neck and all over his body. So it was touch and go that he was even going to be able to say bye-bye to the guests at his last Africa Night as a disc jockey. But defying all odds, DJ Le General showed up and without the neck brace to take his deserved bow at Africa Night. And even though he looked frail, only a few people would have noticed because he did his best to cover this. He played some of his best music ever at this edition of Africa Night.
We paused the music around 01.00 hours and asked guests to watch our Power Point tribute to him. Unaware that he was the subject of the tribute, Benoumar just went around snapping pictures like he always does whenever the other Dj takes over. As it slowly dawned on him that he was the subject of the Power Point tribute, you could see him fight the emotions that overcame him. The crowd did its best to honour him too and every step of the way, they showed this by giving him heartfelt rounds of applause. It was apparent that a lot of people are very sad to see him go. On behalf of the whole Africa Night crew and family, we will like to wish Benoumar all the best in his new endeavours. We hope to see you once in a while when time and commitments permit.
The night ended a little later than usual. This was because the atmosphere of the whole evening was electrifying and the guests seemed to want to hang around to have more. All in all it was a befitting way to end the year. Hopefully 2009 will even be better. Africa Night starts the new year with DJ Aziz who has the enormous task of following in the big footsteps of Dj Le General in winning the hearts of the guests in Tilburg . I am very confident he is up to it.
Finally, Africa Night would like to wish every one a happy and melodious 2009. See you from the 17th of January 2009 when we have a live show!
