Continuity & Change. A Conversation With My Grandmother.
Penda Diallo
It was a calm day. The air under the Baobab tree was fresh and clean. The leaves were green and shiny, unlike they have been for the past several years, covered in red dust. I could hear the birds singing, unlike for the past years, when their songs were drowned by the noise of the machines from the mines. When I sat down under the Baobab tree, all I could only think of was my grandmother. My eyes started to close. It was as if the purity of the air, the bird songs, and the stillness of the surroundings had rocked me into a deep sleep.
I heard a beautiful voice singing the most beautiful song I have ever heard. Perplexed, I turned, and there was a woman who looked like my grandmother. Before I could open my mouth, she said- “My child, don’t be afraid, I had wanted to visit you, but I am too old now and cannot hear when there is too much noise. But when I saw you today, and the fact that it was calm, I seized the opportunity. By the way, my child, tell me why is today so quiet?
Me: Today is unusually quiet because there is a virus in the air, and we are under lockdown. People have been asked to stay at home so as not to spread it.
Grandma: My child, I am also happy to see you. When I used to sit here, I could see your grandfather’s farm, my friend’s house, the fence to our home, and the mosque we used to pray in. Now, I do not recognise anything except this Baobab tree and the water spring below. What happened?
Me: This land is now what we call a mine. All these big metal pieces on wheels you see are cars, trucks, and trains. They are here to extract a mineral called bauxite, which is under the ground. This thing they are extracting is supposed to give the country a lot of money. Look, our grandfather’s house is now the office of the mine manager. Your friend’s house is part of the processing plant where a lot of noise comes from during the day. Our family’s farm is one of the mines where the bauxite is extracted.
Grandma: I am confused, my child! This thing you call bauxite when you dig it, does it grow back? Before you answer, I’m thirsty, get me some water from the spring.
Me: No Grandma, it does not grow back. Everything is taken abroad. Sorry Grandma, you cannot drink the spring water; it is polluted. If you drink it, you will get sick. Here is a bottle of water. It is safer.
Grandma: The land is gone, and the spring water is no longer clean. Awa do no santideh - What has happened to this land, my child?
Me: Grandma, it is all happening in the name of modernisation. People have been made to believe that the money from the bauxite will give us a good life; that we’ll have light, we just need to touch a button. And that for water, you just turn a tap. What’s more, they said we will all drive machines and will not need to walk. However, in reality, as I speak to you, at home, I have no water, no light, no money, and not enough food. With this COVID-19 virus, I’m not sure my job in the factory is secure.
Grandma: So who owns the mine? When I tried to come out a while ago, I saw people who are much lighter than the Fulanis, like your grandfather. Some were dark, but not like my cousins in Senegal. Are they real people, or am I having visions?
Me: The people you saw are from faraway lands called Asia, America, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East, and some are from other parts of Africa. They own the mines and have all come to work on them.
Grandma: And all these activities, what you call mining are being done for money?
Me: Yes.
Grandma: This is crazy, my child. Things cannot continue like this.
Me: I want things to change too; I am tired of the noise, the dust, the smoke from the machines. I am tired of hunger, the lack of money, and lack of control over our land and resources. I’m tired of seeing our spring being polluted, and I’m tired of not knowing if I will have a job tomorrow.
Grandma: My child remember this, when you are tired and want things to change, you can change things, but you cannot change what I see alone. First, it is essential to discuss these issues as a family and then as a community to come up with a solution.
Me: True.
Grandma: Hmm. Before our next meeting, I will leave you with an activity to do. Get a handful of seeds and plant them near your house. Count a handful of coins and put them in a room. See what happens! Let us meet after 30 days, and discuss what you see.
Me: Grandma, I will do what you said.
Grandma: See you in 31 days.
Me: Thank you, Grandma.
This is a fictional conversation written in loving memory of my grandmother who passed away on the 28th of April 1956 in Guinea. Guinea is located in West Africa. Guinea holds the world’s largest deposit of bauxite and iron ore.
Of Earth For Earth (2020)
PENDA DIALLO
Penda Diallo Before joining CSM, Penda was Senior Resilience Advisor at CARE International-UK, providing technical support and project development assistance on resilience building projects in various CARE country programmes including Niger, Nepal, Somaliland, South Sudan, and Haiti. Before joining CARE she was a livelihoods and governance advisor, where she worked on natural resource management projects in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cameroon. Previously she had worked as an environmental consultant for AECOM, and in research and communications roles for the Conflict, Security and Development Group in King’s College London, Helen Keller Worldwide in Guinea. She has recently published a book on her research into bauxite mining, Regime Stability, Social Insecurity and Bauxite Mining in Guinea.