Storytellers
On this page are names, photos, and brief bios of the Guébie people who contributed the stories found on this website. The stories belong to the storytellers.
Agodio Badiba Olivier
Olivier is an elementary school teacher in Gnagbodougnoa, Côte d'Ivoire, where he was also born and raised. In addition to his work as a teacher, he is also a farmer and small-business owner. He lives with his mother, wife, and six children, and frequently hosts foster children or other visitors. He has been involved in Guébie language documentation since 2014, participating in elictation sessions in-person and remotely, contributing story recordings, participating in experimental work, serving as a cultural and linguistic translator, and hosting linguists in his home while they are present in the community. He speaks French and Guébie and is committed to the documentation and maintenance of the Guébie language.
Serikpa Gnadja Emile
Emile is a Guébie elder (turning 105 years old in 2026) who has been involved in Guébie langauge documentation since 2014. He lives in the neighborhood of Gaba in the village of Gnagbodougnoa. He has contributed dozens of stories, histories, and other texts to the audio-recorded corpus of the Guébie language, many of which are represented on this website. He is a monolingual Guébie speaker.
Sylvain Bodji
Sylvain Bodji is an entrepreneur, epidemiologist, and computer scientist who has been involved in Guébie language documentation since 2013 when he was a Fulbright Scholar at UC Berkeley. Sylvain was grew up in the neighborhood of Gaba in the village of Gnagbodougnoa and now lives in Abidjan with has family. He speaks Guébie, French, and English. He has participated in elicitation sessions in-person and remotely, contributed recorded texts, and helped to translate dozens of Guébie texts, many of which are represented on this website. He also facilitated an introduction of Hannah Sande to the wider Guébie community of Gnagbodougnoa, Côte d'Ivoire in Summer 2014.
Laeureine Mahile
Laeureine was involved in the Guébie langauge documentation project in 2014 and 2015. She is from the village of Gnamagnoa, was in the village of Gnagbodougnoa during her paticipation in the project, and now lives in Abidjan. She speaks Guébie and French.
Abalé Kadja Juliette
Pictured here (right) with Hannah Sande (left).