Tatayo

Tatayo (“Fruit of the Wind”) first arrived in Gabon in 1971 at the age of 21 and became a Gabonese citizen. In 1979, he became the first white person to be initiated into the Bwiti Fang tradition in Gabon. In 1994, he was initiated into the Misokko tradition. As a guide for numerous expeditions and missions, including those of National Geographic, the BBC, and others, Tatayo is considered to have “opened the door” to westerners in Gabon.

He co-founded his first Gabonese NGO in 1981, which has since led to the creation of Ebando in 1999, and is recognized as a healer and a Nima, someone who has freed and detached himself. His initiative of more than 350 banzis (initiates) has directly assisted hundreds of local people and indirectly assisted thousands of local people, leaving a considerable positive footprint.