Facing the Future of Climate Change in Senegal
You can learn everything you need to know about the main challenges facing Africa today by talking to just two people in Senegal: the rapper and the weatherman. They've never met, but I could imagine them doing an amazing duet one day - words and weather predictions - on the future of Africa.
The rapper, Babacar Niang, known simply as Matador, the 40-year-old voice of the voiceless and one of the pioneers of African rap, emerged from the oft-flooded Thiaroye slum of Dakar to become the godfather of the underground hip-hop scene here. I attended his concert at a cultural center a few nights ago. I confess it was my first hip-hop concert, and it took a little getting used to. The guy behind me had a big can of bug repellent that he would spray and light the plume, creating a makeshift flamethrower, which he used to express his approval of key lyrics - and heat up the back of my neck.
But it never distracted from the hypnotic beat of Matador's rap, which appeals to young Senegalese not to join the migration to Europe - driven by a toxic brew of government failures, overpopulation and extreme floods and droughts - but to stay home and build their country.
The weatherman is Ousmane Ndiaye, head of the climate unit for the National Civil Aviation and Meteorology Agency. He trained at Columbia in climate science. His stage is a drab office at Dakar Airport. His voice is a monotone. His audience of one was me. His flamethrower is his graphs, displaying the recent extreme weather patterns and the oscillating beat of parched and drenched soils from which Matador and his followers emerged.
I met them both while filming a documentary, "Years of Living Dangerously," on climate change that is to air in the fall on National Geographic Television.
Ryan Kendrick Smith