Initiation of the project
The project began in May 2021. Fatoumata Sissi Ngom developed a public perception tool, focusing on topics related to extractive industries and environmental degradation, the local economy, urbanism, and mental health. Gathering people's perceptions through public consultation was a crucial step. This helped us determine where we were starting from. The aim was to shed light on a spectrum informed by data and analysis.
Over 300 responses were obtained with the help of the public and the town hall. A rich database disaggregated by gender and age group. We had to take the time to do what Fatoumata Sissi Ngom calls "data imbibing". We analyzed the data to bring out what is not directly visible on the graphs. Beyond numbers and percentages, data can tell complex stories.
What do we really want as communities
Building community is the foundation of the Proposition named Désir. This means involving all stakeholders, listening, observing, and being open. In Mboro, the project is co-created with local authorities, the extractive and chemical industries present in the area, activists, whistle-blowers, and artists. They all have different missions and talents.
The project is in partnership with the Taïba-ICS High School in Mboro. It is also in partnership with the school's Gender, Environment, and Health clubs. Industries Chimiques du Sénégal, Senegal's largest mining company, is a key contributor to the project. It shows its growing ambition to be a company that serves and listens to local communities. The company is also keen to contribute to local development.
La Proposition nommée Désir is an observation and listening project. Our reflections are scientific, impartial, and courageously nuanced. They call on everyone's share of responsibility. Who wants to live forever as a victim or a rebel?
What Une Proposition nommée Désir is not
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Une Proposition nommée désir is not meant to consider Mboro as a laboratory for constructing desires and imaginaries. It is also not for the encampment of so-called African and revolutionary solutions. It is not a fantasy. First and foremost, it is an invitation to simplify and converge towards the Universal. Knowing what you really want means knowing what you no longer want and what you are not in reality.
Everything has to start from a place of integrity. That doesn't mean closing oneselves off or turning in on oneselves. On the contrary, it's about refocusing, healing, and examining our desires. Then, it is about welcoming external energies that accompany, support, and help realize the most sincere and wildest desires.
It is about seeing the city, its wider territory and its inhabitants as a morphic entity, with its postures, its shadow zones, its desires and its wounds that need healing.
Continue to unfold the DNA of Une Proposition nommée Désir in the sections below 👇🏾.
