Education

Junior Diakhaté Niintche, the Senegalese teacher who revives schools amid pandemic

Dakar (Senegal), Oct 2 (EFE), (Camera: María Rodríguez).- Fifteen cents. That amount of money is what Mamadou Diakhaté asked for to each of his then 15,000 Twitter followers - he now has about 21,000 - to fix a school in Dakar closed due to the pandemic.His idea has revolutionized Senegal and now he has to fix dozens of schools. Known for his activism on social media as Junior Diakhaté Niintche, the 34-year-old teacher decided a few months ago to start cleaning Dakar public schools so they could reopen at the start of the school year in November.FOOTAGE OF A SCHOOL IN DAKAR, CLOSED DUE TO COVID-19.SOUNDBITES OF JUNIOR DIAKHATÉ NIINTCHE, TEACHER:"I said to the boys: we have made an assessment, now we are going to look for solutions. It is not enough to be on social media and say: it is not right, it is not right, the State does nothing. We have to react.""People give (money), they are enthusiastic. 100 CFA francs is little money, but they can work miracles.""Every afternoon we do the accounts, the invoices are published on social media. Everyone is looking. We do not deny access to anyone because everyone has given (money). Everyone is looking at what we do.""It is extraordinary. That is the great victory for me, because if other people take charge, we will automatically change things. We no longer have to wait for the State. We don't have to wait any longer for outside partners to come in and put the money into what our children will use to become tomorrow's leaders.""For me, education is the only weapon that can change society. It was Nelson Mandela who said that. When schools are closed, prisons are open. Our countries, very poor, today have only one way to develop: education. If it works, everything works; if it doesn't work, nothing will work."