La Fôret de Djibril

Newsletter Q2 – 2020

NEWS
  • The work has been completed: more than 8,000 ha have been ploughed in half-moons.
  • The remaining hectares are in the process of being sowing.
  • Preparations for next season are in full swing: 12,000 ha have been identified
Djibril’s Forest: A movie by Kristoff Leue and Saydou Kalaga

Kristoff Leue and Saydou Kalaga, the founders of Hommes et Terre, have produced ‘Djibril’s Forest’: a short film directed by Thomas Ceulemans and entirely produced in, and with the collaboration of the very communities with which they have been working over the last few years.

The film tells the story of Djibril, a boy who is desperate to find the forest that his grandfather has been telling him about over the years. As in a fever dream, Djibril sets off to find the forest, which is, of course, long gone. So is the rain, clean drinking water and the trees that once provided his community with food, medicine and shelter.

We invite you to watch the full movie:

How a forest connects generations: By reforesting, you revive the memory of previous generations and take care of future generations.

Djibril’s Forest brings the story of Djibril, a young boy blinded by the story that his grandfather tells him about a forgotten forest. It brings to our attention the need for an intergenerational approach. We have to plant the seeds today in order for our grandchildren to be able to see a forest grow for. Of course, we invited the village people in Burkina Faso for the very first première. Their reactions were heart warming:

General theme: The importance of storytelling in our work.

From the very beginning of our work, Hommes et Terre has always used storytelling as a very powerful tool in everything we do. We used drawings of our programmes to explain our goals, we used XL canvasses to explain to villages how they could contribute and we used live testimonials during our yearly Assemblée Générale. Last year, we introduced a new medium to our programmes; slapstick-type videos showing l’homme Rouge (the one who ruins everything and is selfish) and l’homme vert (the one who thinks about the future and considers the social aspects of his behaviour). The results have been great. People love the humous approach, they identify with the good behaviour and they support each other in their approach towards the young forests. We’ll keep looking for new ways to bring people together in our fight against desertification. For now, enjoy some of the sketches with l’homme rouge et l’homme vert:

Forests are disappearing,
we need to revive the forest within us: 
Saydou Kalaga and Kristoff Leue in an interview with Ecosia 

As one of ECOSIA’s  main partners in their fight against desertification, we are happy to be featured in their blog ,with a double interview on the making of our movie ‘Djibril’s Forest’.

Read the blog here

IMPACT OF COVID-19: Situation unchanged
Like any organisation, we are considering the impact of COVID-19. However, for the time being we can guarantee that our activities will go ahead as planned in the Sahel region. In order to protect our partners and employees, we are, of course, careful to respect the instructions issued by the local authorities and the World Health Organization (WHO).