Watigueleya Kèlê Damaro
A solar panel in Damaro (Guinea), February 2023
Solar panels allow us to avoid using firewood. They provide light for the hut and the yard, and also give the children a chance to study. They have replaced the paraffin lamps. The family bought the solar panel to light their homes at the Sanankoroni market. The small panels are easily accessible. The women of the village have found a
Wells and market gardens (Damaro, Guinea), February 2023
Khadija and Mawa talk about their working conditions in the fields: “There’s nothing, the poverty is there. We can’t survive without growing vegetables, but because of the lack of water, it’s very difficult. If you grow your own vegetables, you can use the market to help your family. When I dug the well, I was able to get water, so
Plaiting straw for the roofs of huts (Damaro, Guinea), February 2023
This is the preliminary work for roofing the hut. He braids the straw, complaining about the poor quality of the straw: because of the early fires that burn everything, because of the scarcity of water, they are forced to use straw in this state to cover their huts during the rainy season. Real straw has disappeared because of climate change,
Market gardening in Damaro (Guinea), February 2023
Ibrahima Camara introduces himself. He deplores the fact that young people are currently more interested in mining than farming: he has a labour problem recruiting workers, since everyone is currently working in the mines. The second problem is climate change, which is disrupting his agricultural calendar, since the dry season is now longer than the rainy season, which was not
Early fires (Damaro, Guinea), March 2022
One of the causes of the drought is bush fires. As you can see, it’s an early fire. In November, between the rainy season and the dry season, the people of Damaro are allowed to set bush fires to burn only grasses and spare the plants. This policy is put in place as part of the preservation of plants here
Lack of water in the lowlands (Damaro, Guinea), March 2022
Tenen Sangare explains that she has two types of difficulties in the lowlands: the cows and the lack of water. The cows are free in this dry season and come to graze in her field. The lack of water too: they suffer a lot. If there is no water in a lowland, the production cannot be good. She can’t afford
Diarakendou dry pond (Damaro, Guinea), March 2022
Mandiou Camara speaks: “I am stopped in the middle of the pond. Look, there is no more water left in the pond. Otherwise it used to be a big pond. It is also a pond where we grow crops. You see, farming doesn’t work. One day a gentleman asked us to lend him our land. We told him that agriculture
Memory of the forge in Damaro (Guinea), May 2022
The question of climate resilience also arises in terms of resource extraction and the production of agricultural tools. Amadou Siaki is a blacksmith in Damaro. His name, ‘Siaki’, literally means ‘jeweller’, which is what he is commonly called in the village. Otherwise, he is a blacksmith by birth, ‘numu’, which literally means ‘blacksmith’ in the broad sense. He who is
The baobab of Diarakendou in Damaro (Guinea), August 2022
By Aguibou Sow Mandiou Camara speaks: “Here, the parents, the great-grandparents all found the baobab tree already big. They used to test their bows on the baobab. During the dry season, you can even see the cuts of the spears and arrows in the bark of the tree. This tree is very old, Fama, Fakassia, Fadiaraken: none of these ancestors
The Fakassia Union and environmental issues (Damaro, Guinea), August 2022
El Hadj Fantamady Damaro Camara, president of Damaro’s Fakassia union. “It is the association of the children of Damaro, of all the nationals, friends and allies, those from outside and inside. Within the association, every year, all the sons of Damaro meet in a general assembly to present projects and programmes for the development of Damaro. The union