Our friend Hannah Baldwin has passed away. She was quite a heroic, remarkable, and delightful person! She and her husband Felipe Tejeda frequently attended our house concerts.

Here are some words from her obit:

Hannah Maxine Baldwin passed away on November 7, 2024, in Takoma Park Maryland, at the age of 78. The cause of death was congestive heart failure, which was a complication of her bone cancer from over 30 years ago.

Hannah was born in Stayton, near Salem, in Oregon. Her parents, Clarence Richard Baldwin father, and June Helen (Sophy) Baldwin mother, are both deceased, as is her beloved younger sister Rachel. She is survived by her husband Felipe Tejeda; her daughter Malado Francine Baldwin-Tejeda; her son Francisco Richard Baldwin-Tejeda; two brothers, Daniel and Samuel; and several nieces and nephews. She leaves behind several adopted African sons, daughters, brothers and sisters in Senegal, Guinea, Mali and Namibia, as well as African grandchildren bearing her name.

Ms. Baldwin, with a Ph.D (abd) from Indiana University’s Folklore Department, spent many years living and working world-wide as a development professional, focusing her time in Senegal, Mali, and Guinea as a USAID program director. She served as a director of training for diplomats in francophone studies at the US Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute, and in Namibia as Peace Corps Director.

Hannah met her husband Felipe in Senegal as Peace Corps Volunteers in 1969, and lived and worked there for seven years, gaining a passionate love for her new-found friends. She spoke French and Wolof well, loved mafe and yassa, and listened and danced to mbalax music.

Hannah came from a family of creatives and continued throughout her life to add to her repertoire of artistic talents. She was primarily a print maker, ceramicist, and painter.

Please consider donating to a Senegal-based NGO, Tostan (Tostan.org), which works in West Africa and was dear to Hannah’s heart.