Mbaty Ba, age 109, lives in the village of Keur Mbaye Peul, Senegal. To show the rest of the world the respect and admiration given to elders in their country, the members of PTPI’s Senegal Chapter embarked on a humanitarian visit to see Mbaty on December 26, 2009. Chapter President Manel Diallo wrote to tell us about the event.
Members of PTPI's Senegal Chapter
With the main objective of expressing charity and thankfulness to African women, and promoting PTPI, members of the Richard-Toll sub committee initiated a visit to Mbaty Ba, a 109 year old woman living in a the village of Keur Mbaye Peul, which is about 425 kilometers from Dakar, the Capital of Senegal. Our humanitarian activity was graciously supported financially and logistically by PTPI Senegal Chapter member Mouhamed Dia, a sales manager at Nestle Senegal for the area of Saint-Louis. He contributed milk, sugar, coffee and many other products.
PTPI Senegal also wanted to pay tribute to elders in Africa and in the world through this initiative. As the African writer Amadou Hampate Ba said, “En Afrique, quand en viellard meurt, c’est une bibliotheque qui brule.” (“In Africa, when an old man dies, it’s a library burning.”)
Mbaty Ba talks with members of PTPI's Senegal Chapter
The date of the visit coincided with the Muslim feast of Ashura. As a result, many of the villagers went to the market to buy food and different stuffs for the event and the village was nearly empty. We were greeted by Djiby Ba, the Chief of the village who is also Mbaty’s grandson. He told Mbaty that members of an international association were there to visit her, and she welcomed us and asked her family members to take care of us. When we told her that our organization deals with peace and exchange between people of different countries, she said that what we are doing is very important because all human beings are equal and its good to learn about others cultures to better understand them. At the end of her speech, she graciously offered us prayers and thanked us for the presents.
In her younger ages, Mbaty was a well known activist in the cause of improving women’s lives. Thought of as the weaker, more vulnerable of the two sexes, women in Senegal, until recent years, were not respected as people but as property, labourers and producers of children. Women in her village were deprived the right to own land. Mbaty diplomatically arranged to make it possible for women to acquire land.
Keur Mbaye Peul is a village of the Pulaar ethnic group. It is neighbored by Keur Mbaye Wolof, of the Wolof ethnic group. Pulaars are known to be pastoral, with animals such as sheeps, goats and cows. Wolof communities are most of the time cultivators. So it conflicts used to arise between the two villages and Mbaty played the important role of a peacekeeper. Through storytelling and advising, she also helped educate children and even adults in the village.
Village Chief Djiby Ba with PTPI Senegal Chapter members
Djiby Ba, the Chief of the village, thanked the delegates in very grateful words and showed us official documents of their village.
A special thank you to Mouhamed Dia for sponsoring the event and congratulations to the sub committee’s staff for their determination and their initiative.
Manel Diallo
President, PTPI Senegal Chapter