under the baobab tree
coffee breaks & exposures to africa, mostlyArchive for senegal
solar energy
In a few hours I’m off to Yoff - actually to that very same spot that you can see in my banner. Just a quick note before I go: I’ve been trying to find information about solar energy and what it takes for a charity to install solar electricity to a small school in Senegal. I have contacted a couple of manufacturers in hope of a quote and some basic answers to what would possible be the most useful and of course less expensive solution for the needs of the school. Strangely enough, none of the manufactures cared to answer my questions so far. Then I also asked help from an NGO in Bamako, Mali, and their local expert immediately wrote back to me. We talked over skype and he was even kind enough to send me a rough estimate on the expenses involved – all this for free. I am delighted to have talked with him and impressed by his friendliness and support. Now, what does all this say about businesses?
do you remember your first school day?
The Ndiagamar School Project in Dakar, Senegal
I just reopened my Amharic notebook after a one-month-break and composed an email to my teacher to say hello and to invite him over for a good coffee and more lessons. As it happens, this is my 50th post and to celebrate the occasion I’d like to draw your attention to the fact that not everyone can go to school or follow any kind of teaching. Do you still remember your very first school day and the excitement of it? I remember I insisted on walking to school all on my own from day one and was so proud of my desk and my new class mates and my teacher, who got our unlimited admiration for quite some time, at least in the beginning. How was your first school day?
Try and imagine what it means to skip that first school day – and all the days - and go to work or beg on the streets instead.
alif-baa-taa
Tante Astou, one of Cheikh Aliou Ndao’s female characters, got sacked from the Koranic school – daara – because she had an attitude. She wanted to understand the verses written in Arabic in her wooden tablet, instead of only reciting and memorizing them, and she also refused to accept the occasional physical punishments by the Marabout. Way to go Astou!
I wanted to add here a clip of the Arabic version of the children’s ABC song called Alif-Baa-Taa but unfortunately it is missing from my archives. I may have deleted it in my yesterday’s ardour before formatting my laptop. I never really learnt to sing this song myself but I remember it had a funny, somehow nationalist, echo in it. If you know more about the background of this song I would appreciate if you could share it with us all – many thanks in advance!
mamadou’s birds
Have you already seen the mysterious and fantastic birds, created from discarded objects and recycled materials by the Senegalese artist Mamadou Diedhiou Tall? He is inspired by his home village Niomoune and its migrating birds of all sorts. I saw some of his work in Dakar and they all look so bird-like!
I’ve noticed recently that his art is being copied by others too – I suppose there’s nothing wrong with the idea of practising your artistic eye and with creating new beautiful things out of trash, only it would be nice if all those apprentices had their own ideas and let the material decide whether the work at hand turns out as a bird, a fish, or something else.
The Birdmaker, a short documentary on the artist by Cheik Darou Seck, is available online here.
keep fit!
It’s again that time of year to start a new, better, brighter and healthier life. Quit smoking, take up a new hobby, do your homework (or whatever duties) e v e r y d a y punctually, exercise until all your ligaments are in shock after their dormant state so abruptly disturbed, and so forth.. I have decided only to welcome back certain routines that I am fond of: regular writing – goes without saying in the student business – and the gym. For quite some time now I have wanted to start with something new and I am now very entousiastic about the idea of learning to dance à la Senegalese, though I am not sure if my old bones are up to such a challenge. A while ago I saw some suburb schoolchildren practise a dance performance and was mesmerized by their talent, there’s so much playfulness in the way the Senegalese do it! Last night I saw a TV show with Coumba Gao Seck and at the end of the show she was invited to dance by an old lady, who despite her age and impressive grand boubou was all hands and legs in the air when the drums beat!
In this part of the world there seems to be no need for an expensive health club membership with the extra service – if you sign up for 10 years – of free towels or eucalyptus-scented saunas… go to the beach instead and be inventive! The atmosphere on the beach is quite unique: Someone is praying or preparing for a prayer close to the wall of the Layene Mausoleum while many others are doing sit-ups or running backwards up and down the slopes of heavy sand; some swim, while others wash their trousers or goats a little further away; stray dogs loll in the sand or compete with the eagles on the leftovers of the fishermen’s catch… a few Toubabs have come for a walk away from the dust and the noise of downtown Dakar; here you have to be on your guards only about sudden horse carriages passing by, or footballs. The place is all sports!
