| There were three of us from the SEDELAN * office attending the World Social Forum in Bamako . What can we take home from the Forum ? In an immediate reaction I feel that the foremost benefit of the Forum was that it refuelled us with fresh energy to carry on the fight. During the three days in Bamako we met with a multitude of men and women from all continents already doing a splendid job in putting up resistance to neoliberal globalisation. The debates were interesting. Joy and hope dominated. This was a boost to our own hopes and aspirations and strengthened our will to continue the struggle back home, each one of us in his and her own place. In January 2005, when it was decided to hold a separate World Social Forum on three different continents, many thought the idea foolish. However, the Bamako Forum turned out to be a clear success, with 20 000 participants registered, of which 10 000 from Mali and 5000 from other African nations. Keeping in mind that African participation at previous forum events has been rare, the full significance of the decentralised formula can be readily appreciated. The Forum recorded 700 activities around various themes. The Mali Organising Committee proved itself very innovative. First of all it scheduled a special session for women’s concerns. Over 1 500 women took part in the discussions at the Bamako Cultural Centre. Moreover the Committee decided to entrust the young participants themselves with the organisation of The International Youth Camp dedicated to Thomas Sankara, President and founder of the young nation of Burkina Faso 1984 (previously Upper Volta), West Africa . « This is the first time that the camp has been given a name explains the Leader of the Camp, Ibrahim Hamani Souley. We decided on Thomas Sankara in order to show the world that Africa too has its Che (Guevara, Ed.’s note) When listening to recordings of his speeches, one realises that he was a No Global ahead of his time. In 1986 already he brought up the issue of debt cancellation for African nations, a topic close to the hearts of today’s antiglobalisation champions. In Africa decision makers do not have confidence in the young generation and do not give it any responsibilities. They merely use the young for their own political ends. Thomas Sankara, on the contrary, stated : Let the voice of the young speak freely, to free Africa and the rest of the world. Rising to power at the age of 30, Sankara dedicated a substantial part of his work to safeguarding the interests of the African people. » (Quotation from Falila Gbadamassi on afrik.com) But Sankara was not only present in the minds at the International Youth Camp. Personally I spent the greater part of my time at the National Library, where the debate centered around the various assaults endured by farming communities and their struggle to resist. Here as well the name of Thomas Sankara was brought to the fore many times. At the session entitled « For a GMOfree Africa » a minute of silence was observed to honour his memory at the request of one of the participants, as the fate of rural populations had been at the core of Sankara’s concerns. A slogan well known to the citizens of Burkina Faso explicits in a nutshell his vision of a development economy for West African nations : « Let us eat what we produce and produce what we eat. » This is a didactic approach to the subject of food sovereignty, one of the main topics at the Forum, in which the farmers of Mali and Burkina took part in large numbers. On the Bamako World Social Forum we invite you to read on in the next issue of this Bulletin : « GMOs and Food Sovereignty ». Maurice Oudet
Koudougou, January 25 2006 * SEDELAN (Service d’Editions en Langues Nationales, Burkina Faso), Office of Local Language Publications for the Farming Community, Burkina Faso. | 
View from the South