Small Dakar!

A suspicion of morning compliments,
Small Dakar!

The walls draw their curtains of veil on their secrecies,
the streets, the famous traces of famous passers by,
all hidden in immense trucks, discrete,
On very strange women, far from unfriendly glances.

The flavours repaint the coffees into brothels,
the glare of the day, the defects in virtues.
It is the hour when the masks marry the obstructed faces,
Shameful, their glances fleeing their already forgotten passions.

Small Dakar….

Inflating its hypocritical chest of savours,
the city stretches its exhausted past.
One enjoys already forms and colours which one deciphers,
While obstinately waiting for the arrival of Midnight.

--------

Ibrahima Amadou Niang is not just a dreamer.
Yes, he writes poetry but he also digs wells.














That was his Creativity, Action and Service project in his final year of the International Baccalaureate Programme – to dig a well for a primary school in a poor area to help them towards cultivation of food.

Now he is fast becoming a regional expert on election information and training in West Africa; servicing an international website with the latest data (www.aceproject.org) and vigorously and determinedly finding ways to contribute to the growth of Africa.

And his poetry is rich in African imagery and references that direct the reader to the source of his inspiration and aspirations.

For Ibou (as he is known to his friends and colleagues) believes that anyone can be African.

If you subscribe to the underlying value of creative energy as the foundation for all your actions.

If you believe that one part of everyone’s life must be given over to leaving something to be shared by others. A poem. (Any art work, actually.) Good ideas. Positive actions that help other peoples’ lives towards self-sufficiency and giving your full attention to the challenge that presents itself, here. Now!

If you are determined to effect affirmative change, starting with the people around you; and most importantly with yourself. Self-determinacy is one of Ibou’s strongest features.

He was the top student at his Dakar school (won a prize at Senegal’s most prestigious “Concours Général” in 2001) and then spent three years at Reading University obtaining a B.A. in International Relations and Economics. Returning to Senegal, he completed a Masters in International Law; started researching for a post-graduate diploma in political science, and participates in the 2007-2008 African Interaction Leadership Programme run by the British Council.

He also currently manages the West African Regional Centre of the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network from the Gorée Institute (www.goreeinstitute.org), and will be an accredited BRIDGE facilitator (www.bridge-project.org) by July 2008. Contracted by International IDEA (www.idea.int) and funded by the European Commission and the UN Democracy Fund, these Resource Centres are the regional knowledge hubs of ACE. Not only do they strive to build and inspire electoral expertise in their own regions, but they also incorporate their respective regional perspectives into the ACE network and enable fruitful knowledge exchange with other election practitioners and electoral assistance providers around the world.
Ibou says:
“The bad images people have of Africa are due firstly to Africans. It is we as Africans who must rework that image and show what we have to offer. It is up to us to raise awareness, in even small ways, and to change what doesn’t work. We have the power and we have the creativity – we can do it!”

Read Ibou’s poetry and meet an African who straddles the world through dreams, imagination and action.

Well-digging of another kind, indeed.

ibrahima.niang@goreeinstitute.org


By Nicky du Plessis

Posted at Friday, June 20, 2008 | 0 Comments

Imagination is the most democratic force: the domain of freedom

The Gorèe Institute was the venue for the Arterial Conference in March 2007, and is a close partner to www.imagineafrica.com, having integrated the theme of an Imagine Africa Agora – a meeting place for the re-imaginings of our continent – for the past three years within the Institute’s strategic plans.

Under the banner of Imagine Africa at the Gorée Institute, projects are facilitated and partnerships sought to gather together a community that subscribes (in a multiplicity of ways) to the vision of a re-imagined Africa. It is a vision of empowered citizens who act creatively within their personal and collective environments - despite everything that mitigates against it. This vision is frequently articulated through art and cultural practices of all kinds. Hence the coupling of culture as one of the core businesses together with development and the promotion of democracy, within the Gorée Institute for Democracy, Development and Culture. We are a Pan-African organization that facilitates actions, commissions research and holds a space for peace-keeping activities, dialog and community development. www.goreeinstitute.org

The Imagine Africa Agora is a way of focusing our attention, reminding us to shift our compass bearings; to steer towards an other north. It is a direction, if not a destination. An intention, comprised of persistence and partnership.

Faces of a Re-Imagined Africa is a series of monthly articles from the Gorée Institute about people who wipe the dust from their faces, look up, and get on with it. It is about projects and activities that embody a trajectory into the future by taking even a small single step forward. Some of these people have impressive international reputations and high social standing, while others are not even always known to those they serve. Several of these projects emanate directly from the Gorée Institute whereas others operate independently, but resonate with a similar pulse that makes us kin. Many of these visionaries live physically in Africa; while for others it is their heart (and probably also their soul) that resides here. What unites all of these people and their actions is their appreciation of the constant tension between what is and what could be. And their commitment to walking that edge.

Posted at Monday, May 19, 2008 | 0 Comments

April 2008.

Four different kinds of workshops with four different target groups on Gorée island in one week.

For two days, representatives of woman’s organizations undertook an appreciative enquiry process that included plotting the treasures of Gorée; drawing images of hope; applying colour, sparkles and serious intent to the tasks of building their communities and tackling the problems that are gender-based.



The next day, students, teachers, artists, and other island people created dream trees and found ways to connect good ideas between environment, youth and tourism issues.

Without pausing for breath, onto a class of ten year olds at the local school (whose teacher had been with us the previous day) to investigate more dreams for the future. What are you going to be when you grow up?
“A fisherman,” said a little girl proudly.
“A general, of course,” replied the boy next to her, adding more glitter to the already glittery military uniform.
Of course.



Finally, coming home to the staff of the Institute for an in-house session, tracking and deepening the personal resources that support the ideals of open and self-reliant societies in Africa.

Common to all of this was the employment of understanding the best of what is, imagining how it could be different and creating the change. These are the principles that fire Madame Bliss W Browne of Imagine Chicago (www.imaginechicago.org), an intergenerational, intercultural civic project, founded in 1992 that has inspired a global movement on six continents. The aim is to cultivate hope and civic investment by building the capacity of individuals and organizations to envision and realize a positive future for themselves and their communities, wherever they are.



Imagine Africa Agora at the Gorée Institute was proud to host Madame Bliss for this whirlwind week, and to open to links to the Imagine movement through her. The sessions were rooted in stimulating the imagination at every turn; through symbol-making, the use of visual metaphors, colour, song, games and rituals. These were not talk shops but practical, vibrant opportunities to realize commonalities and to look to a future of possibility.

As Madame Bliss put it,

People find hope and inspiration by being connected to things that are bigger than they are. As meaning-making people, we need transcendent connections and a sense of purpose. The Imagine movement helps people connect to bigger wholes that are a place from which they can learn, draw courage and recognize that their individual effort is leveraged and exalted when put together with others.

Bliss W Browne
Ms Browne is a sought after keynote speaker, facilitator, consultant and trainer nationally and internationally. Formerly a corporate banking Vice President and Division Head at the First National Bank of Chicago, Browne brings a unique combination skills to her role as motivator of change. She has served in leadership capacities for the Parliament of the World's Religions, the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative, and the Community Advisory boards of the Field Museum and the Chicago Historical Society, among others. She holds degrees from Yale, Harvard and the Kellogg School of Management, and has received numerous awards and accolades. She has also authored two books and contributed to many others, as well as a range of journal articles worldwide.

Nicolette du Plessis
Programme CoOrdinator: Imagine Africa Programme
May 2008

Posted at Friday, May 02, 2008 | 0 Comments