African Social Forum

Day 1

Registration was a long process. Rather, waiting in line was a long process. Being there at the Palais de Couture was very exciting. People from all over the world and all walks of life were present for the event: African women in traditional dress, idealistic young students, Taureg men wearing large facial scarves and old French hippies. I really had a sense of this being how the world should be - like a big international dinner party.

In the afternoon, there was a large parade and rally. The parade was very large - probably about 10,000 strong, with many locals (Bamakonians?) joining in. The finish was at a stadium with African bands and dancers. It looked to be like an interesting next few days, especially after looking at the wide variety of activities available. Unfortunately, most of them were in French and since few English groups signed up to run seminars and workshops, our options were limited. On the upside, the ASF did a great job of ensuring that many important activities had translators on hand.


Day 2

The first roundtable ont the World Trade Organization was excellent. Very informative. However, I quickly learned that the forum was not being organized very well. Neither of the two environmental workshops I went to were running, so I eventually found one on the illegal arms trade. Later on there was another roundtable on what the new world order should be like (how revolutionary!), with the former head of UNESCO, Federico Mayor. He was awesome.

That evening, I watched the sun go down over Bamako from Meghan's beautiful terrace. She lives in a lower-class neighbourhood far from the centre of town, but having that place would make it worth it all...


Day 3

More seminars, some working and some not. For some reason, I went to two of the same ones that a professor from Uganda named Yosh Tandon attended (Eliminating corruption in African governments and South African Iperialism). He really seemed to know the score and spoke intelligently and passionately. I'd like to know where he teaches!


Day 4

The last day of the activities was kind of a letdown. I went to two roundtables on visions for a new Africa and got nothing out of them. Just "talking heads", as Joe said. By this time I had seen a few good events, a few bad ones and a few that never actually happened. Considering the precedent that the World Social Forums of past years set (and the party that should be the Americas Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela), I left feeling like there should have been more. And I know that I'm not alone. Joe, Meghan and Jaysal (an interesting chap from Calgary who is working in Senegal) also felt it as well.


Day 5

I spent the vast majority of this day in bed, with an upset stomach, pressurized head and feeling weak as a kitten. Methinks it was some water from a dubious source consumed at the previous night's dinner. (Sure the water is fine here, Alex the doctor said!) I missed the final big press conference and the closing ceremonies, which were apparently ho-hum as well as Meghan's birthday party.

So the African Social Forum was not a smashing success. The English component was lacking, save for Kenyan groups. I only met one Ghanaian during the entire forum and the head of an Accra-based NGO did not even show up. On the upside, next year there will be a single World Social Forum held in Nairobi, Kenya and it should be a great party.