Pour Triphène Tamba, «la francophonie est au cœur du développement durable»

For me, francophonie is first of all women and men who share a common language, French, a global language that may not be spoken more than English, but which actually promotes cultural diversity. So, thanks to the Université Saint-Gaure d'Alexandrie, you were one of the 30 volunteers of the OIF who participated last year in the game of francophonie in Kinshasa. Was this mission useful? Very useful, in fact. For example, on gender equality. Today we are talking about the question of gender. Sometimes there are men who inferiorize women, but there is a dialogue that can be made between women and men to try to find a common ground. Also, it allowed me to develop skills in leadership, teamwork, autonomy, the ability to manage stress, especially because I am a person who is stressed sometimes, but this has been really framed thanks to our different training. The fact of meeting other young artists, interculturality, and for me, it also allowed me here in Brazzaville to bring it back to the level of Gare aux Pianos Fabriques Culturelles, where I am in charge of communication and comedian artists. So for me, really, francophonie, the Université Saint-Gaure, played a big role in my professional development. So you belong to a cultural factory in Brazzaville called Gare aux Pieds Nus, and these meetings in Kinshasa allowed you, when you returned to Brazzaville, to make use of this cultural factory. Exactly, because it's a whole team. The latter is led by Sylvie Diclopomos. So thanks to her, the question of gender, already at the level of the cultural factory, when I train children, we put the question of equality. There are men, there are women. We don't prioritize a certain personality. So for me, volunteering is really important. Very important. Trifent Tamba, you often talk about the question of gender and the problems of parity between women and men, and it must not always be easy in Brazzaville. Do your meetings with other francophones help you in this fight or not? Exactly. For example, I take my mission with France Volontaire in 2021, where I was in France at the École Supérieure d'Art et Design de Saint-Étienne at the École Supérieure d'Art et Design. We were 11 young people from Africa, and there were at least 8 girls, if I'm not mistaken, and 5 men. And for me, the fact that we were together, these men did not disqualify us. They actually inserted us into the community. We worked together as one man. And we get to the artistic environment, and there are men who sometimes disqualify women. Ah no, all that, the inferiority complex. But no, we too, we have our place in society. We can do it. Some say that the place of the woman is in the kitchen. I say it's very wrong. Because today, as women, we are the ones who bring up the children. We are the ones who give education. And if we are separated, if a woman decides to revolt, how is the world going to become? Indeed, 3 years ago, during the Africa 2020 season, you studied for 9 months at the École Supérieure d'Art et Design de Saint-Étienne, in France, at the invitation of France Volontaire and the French Institute. And I think I understand that you learned a lot during those 9 months, far beyond art and design. Exactly. I performed in the field of photography that I did not know. So I developed a new skill. In fact, I was affected by the city of design, me as a cultural mediator. The goal was to try to orient the public, to share my culture with the French, to bring down the clichés that exist between the French and the Africans. So what the French think of Africa and what the Africans think of France. Also, I met the young people who study at the city of design there. We participated in workshops, for example, chair manufacturing, the manufacture of a Senegalese self-taught hand-washing machine, because we worked with a designer from Dakar, Basse-Rouad, who taught us how to make hand-washing machines. And I, as a volunteer, for me, design, I did not know what it was. Some think that design is all that is beautiful, but today, even making a chair, it is designed, because we meet the needs of society, since it is learning through practice. As soon as you learn, you adapt. That's a little bit. And why do you say that in this civic service, reciprocity is important? Reciprocity is very important, because at the Congo-Brazzaville level, they can welcome French volunteers and do missions at home. And we also have this possibility to go to France and carry out missions that are very beneficial, in fact. Meet other young people. They also come so that we can get to know each other, share our experiences. And already, being a volunteer, it is to commit to a general interest mission that I loved a lot. It was great. In Brazzaville, Trifente Tamba, you study the economy of sustainable development at the Université Marianne Guabi. What does Francophonie bring you in this learning? So, for example, today, we have a project with the AFD on the issue of water. Water is essential to our health. In the objectives of sustainable development, there is clean water, sanitation and everything. Today, this project is called The Artist in the City. And I, as a student in the economy of development, I participate in this project as a communication manager and comedian too. So, for me, Francophonie is at the heart of sustainable development. The struggle to protect the forest is a major issue in your country, the Congo. Is Francophonie one of your tools in this battle for the environment? Yes, I say so, because I want to take the example of the CIAR. The CIAR is the International Conference on Forestation and Reforestation that was organized from 2 to 5 July 2024 here in Brazzaville, where we found young people from everywhere and experts from everywhere too. So there were those from Gabon, and there were others who spoke English, but the language that dominated was French. And we see that Francophonie is making sure that men and women who share the same language, the French language, are regrouped there. We talked about the issues of forest protection. We even insisted that each young person could plant at least one tree. And I say that Francophonie has its role. Another battle that is close to your heart, Triffin Tamba, is the deforestation of the districts of Brazzaville, including yours, Sadelmi, in the 7th district of the Congolese capital. Can your Francophone network help you in this field too? I think so. I participated in a training on the issue of climate change where I talked about my district, Sadelmi, a district that is plagued by erosion problems. We see that the population, people, throw garbage bags everywhere. And for me, I say to myself, if I only try to talk about it, to continue to fight in this field, my network will not abandon me. Those around me, they will accompany me. Already the relationships that I was able to create elsewhere, I think that if I try to see the same people who work in the same field as me, I think it can do the job. Because in your district, when it rains, you can't even walk around, right? Exactly. So in the Sadelmi district, when it rains, there is a lot of water and it's very difficult. Sometimes you take the bus, we pay the bus, for example, now it's 300 francs. It's not easy for the population. Some complain. We take the 4x4. Here, we call them the little stick. So people go up. You are so stuck, like in a sardine box. There, the drivers, when they drive, they don't care. Especially when it's late at night. If you fall in the water, it's your problem. And it's not just the 4x4 that arrives. The buses arrive, they have to increase the price. Sometimes you see someone who pays the bus to Ouissabou. Imagine that I pay from Moukondo to come to Sadelmi. It's very expensive. How are we going to eat tomorrow if I already spend 2,000 or 5,000 francs a day for the trip? So if you have a family, how do you do it? It's very difficult. There are also ravines around where we see how the population is forced to throw away the trash. But the trash also destroys our organisms. Paludism, mosquitos and others. Some even cut down trees. On the contrary, trees protect the structure of the soil. But we don't understand all that. And that's your fight in the 7th round of Brazzaville? Yes, it's our fight. We wish, if we can, to try to better arrange the road because if it is accessible, it will allow several people to come. I say that children are education. If there is something we can leave to a child, it is education, culture. What do we give him today? You asked yourself the question what Africans think of France. For a number of young Africans, francophony is suspicious because it is, in their eyes, an instrument of France, the former colonial power. What do you think? For me, francophony, we can't try to blacken the image. So we, as young people, if we see that francophony is not good, I think it's wrong. For me, as long as it boosts the careers of young people, it's already good. I think that through the Université Saint-Gaulx there are students who go there to study. There are training that the OIF organizes, for example, on the Internet, in connection with the Université Saint-Gaulx and other platforms. If we don't participate in that, it allows us to have certificates that will boost our careers. It also allows us to develop skills. For me, francophony plays a big role. So for you, it's not a post-colonial instrument? Well, no, I don't think so. We're just going to take the bad side. For me, we have to positive things. We can say that we cannot form the present without the past, but also, if in the past there are the dark sides, there is the black, we will not bring back the black because we want there to be light. So actual francophony, it brings light. It allows young people to reunite. Look at us, we were 30 young people. At the game of francophony in Kinshasa, right? Exactly, 30 young people from Central Africa. There were 11 Cameroonians, 1 Guinean-Ecuadorian, we joined the Gabonese League and we formed as one man, we worked together, the union made the force. I think that right now, we have to positive things, say yes, we are moving forward, a new start. As young people, what do we do, what do we propose? Because I think that francophony also encourages training. It allows young people to go study elsewhere, through scholarships, why not? We see that francophony even manages to finance women who want to go forward, who have businesses, boost them too. It's already good in fact.