Popenguine (Region of Thies)

The ecovillage of Popenguine was created in February 2001. Before that, the community of Popenguine had already participated in the third conference of ecocities and ecovillages organized in Dakar in 1996.
The village of Popenguine was active even before it was chosen as an ecovillage. There were existing youth groups and women's and men's associations to develop ecological activities. In time, trade associations, women's groups, adult literacy programs, and job training in the areas of dyeing (“batik”), sewing, and knitting were also created.
The ecovillage of Popenguine is a thriving village community inhabited by fishermen and peasants. It is a coastal village 71 km (an hour's drive) from Dakar in the region of Thiés, Senegal. The climate is variable; very hot during the rainy season and temperate during the rest of the year. The village sits on hilly terrain, above which towers the 74-meter-high Cap Naz. Due to the numerous gullies and the soil's high clay content there is insufficient arable land.
The village of Popenguine faces many environmental problems: water erosion, wind erosion, and coastal erosion. Despite awareness campaigns, individual and household pollution remain significant problems, as does the challenge of waste disposal. These issues are of critical importance because hygiene is capital to good public health.

Name of Ecovillage Association: RFPPN (Regroupement des femmes de Popenguine pour la protection de la nature)
Ecovillage President: Oulimata THIAW
Tel.: 77 632 1971 - 33 952 72 51 Keur cuupaam

Autre contact : Aissatou Mbengue 77 541 92 62

Popenguine is 45 km. outside of Dakar. It has a population that is 95% muslim. It is the second basilica in the world to recognize the islamo-christian dialogue. It has a natural reserve that is jointly managed by a group of women who actively promote the protection of the environment.

Activities

Micro enterprises with the help of a savings and credit bank
Small vegetable gardens
Nursery and reforestation
Development and protection of Popenguine's Natural Reserve through the construction of anti-erosion dikes, gabions, (retaining walls) firebreaks and foot paths in the reserve
Sanitation : cleaning the village and turning waste into compost.
Adult literacy training for those who want to learn to read and write in their native language

Perspectives

Improved waste management: we have been trained in composting but cannot adequately pay a garbage collector. With outside funding we could pay for a garbage collector, a cart, and a horse. Ultimately we hope to develop a sustainable solution to this problem.
Development of new information and communication technologies to allow for foreign contact and exchange.
Establishing our ecovillage as a model for other ecovillages.
Sharing our experience with others around the world.

Within the framework of the “ecovillages partnership”, we want to show our future partners our most precious resource, our culture. There is a tendency to disregard traditional culture in favor of modernism, but we have a rich and varied culture on which to draw and share:

- Funeral, marriage, and naming ceremonies with beuketeu
- Traditional circumcision, which is disappearing as increasingly it is performed in hospitals, but which still exists in the Diola and Sérére cultures,
- The ndeup, a spiritual healing session
- Senegalese traditional wrestling. All the famous wrestlers have begun with the m'bapates
- Tattooing-- traditionally non-tattooed women (or those who ran away during the tattooing because of pain) were the laughing stock of people, with even their grandchildren suffering the consequences.
- The bawenane--women are dressed in men's clothes and go to the bush to implore God for the rain to fall. Sometimes they come back home all wet.
- Traditional dances such as ndawrabine and goumbé.
- The role of women--In the African society, women play an important role: they are the housekeepers and the guardians of sacred spaces (i.e. khambe, the place to go when you are attacked by a bad spirit). Many of the local guardian spirits are women: Mame Ndiaré (Yoff), Mame Coumba Lamb (Rufisque), Mbossé Djiguéne (Kaolack), Coumba Castel (Gorée), Coumba Bang (Saint Louis), Coumba Thioupam (Popenguine) and so on.

We have much to offer the GEN-Europe ecovillages, and our partnerships will produce mutually beneficial cultural exchanges. We have a model ecovillage but would like to improve it. We hope that through Northern partnerships we can make our goals a reality.