The Story of Birahim Papa Niang's Grandparents
by Birahim Papa Niang
Transcription
"I’m Birahim Papa NIANG from Senegal. This is my grandparents’ story.
My grandparents live in Saint-Louis, which is on the Northwest Coast of Senegal. Since 2021, the losses they faced have been the loss of old clothes and the loss of land. When my grandparents were impacted by the advancement of the sea, one of the important things that were damaged was old clothes. And these play an important role in the traditions/cultures in the region of Saint-Louis. In fact, there are specific clothes for specific local events like weddings and birth ceremonies. Recently, my grandparents lost certain parts of their old clothes; they also lost an important part of the traditions/cultures in the region of Saint-Louis.
Old clothes also represent memories. They used to put away all their old clothes in a specific place to contemplate them. I personally was affected when I was on the ground. I’ve lost some parts of my papers from my course studies at the University of Saint-Louis, where I studied in my first year. My papers were lost at the same time as my grandparents' old clothes because my papers were in the same room as my grandparents’ clothes.
When the parents of my grandparents passed away, my grandparents took an oath and swore to die in this land to respect the memory of their parents when they were alive and that in any circumstances. My grandparents were born and raised in that land, namely the community of “La Langue de Barbarie”. So they won’t accept in any situation, to be relocated to another land than the land where they were born and grew up. “La Langue de Barbarie” is a community which is located in Saint-Louis's region. This community is one of the quarters that are near the sea.
When the Senegalese government made decisions to relocate impacted families urgently to another land, many of them disagreed. Because those impacted families consider that the level of the sea inside their house is not too high to be moved on to be part of the list of impacted families. And my grandparents agreed with this point of view. They were not relocated due to that reason. Also, the measure of relocation is not taking place because the delimitation of the hectare is not finished.
And Boudiouck, specifically in the village of Diougob Peul is selected as the place that impacted families are relocated. Boudiouck is one of the quarters in the district of Gandon in the region of Saint-Louis. There are two districts in Saint-Louis’s region: the district of Saint-Louis and the district of Gandon.
The advancement of the sea is a serious phenomenon of climate change here in Senegal. I am truly convinced that there is a lack of information through sensitization about that issue. That’s why it’s important not only to take solutions immediately through sensitization but also to finance all impacted communities of the advancement of the sea in Senegal namely in the region of Saint-Louis."
About
Birahim is a Senegalese youth Environmental leader specialised in loss and damage. He currently works as a member of the Advocacy and Storytelling Working Group at Loss and Damage Youth Coalition (LDYC).