With her own two hands, Mamissa built the village of Molokayi to create a place where she could realize her dream: to reinitiate the training of young girls in the art of traditional dance and other customs, and to provide a place where visitors could observe these special traditions.

In the not-too-distant past, initiation of girls took place during a rite called ‘Tchikumbi ', where initiates were taught myths relative to the creation of man. The Tchikumbi was also an education in social living and marriage, passing on the local taboos which were to be respected to avoid angering the Bakissi (spirits). During the colonial era, Western missionaries took on the education of girls following their own principals, and Tchikumbi all but disappeared.

But the Tchikumbi are not the only attraction at Molokay. Mamissa herself has an interesting story as well. As the niece of a Gabonese diplomat, she had the privilege to travel in her youth to France, Switzerland, and Jamaica, then as a young woman studied cuisine in such far-flung places as Poland and Japan. Her dance troupe in Congo won awards and was invited to dance for the president. She won the Miss Kronenbourg beauty pageant when living in Pointe Noire and was the steady girlfriend of Congolese rock star Koffi before the war caused her to seek refuge with family members in the tranquil town of Mayumba. Now she lives a much quieter existance, cooking delicious dinners for local dignitaries and visitors, practicing yoga, and teaching the ways of Tchikumbi.