Rafrançois
Tarika, Son Egal, 1997
(Rasoanaivo)
I met Mr François Fahatelo or "François number 3" near a place called Ambatotsonegaly. That literally means 'Senegalese Stone' but it could equally mean 'The town of the Senegalese'.
I had set off to find out where this was and why it was so called. We had spent endless hours with the aid of map experts but could not locate it. I talked to many people and nobody seemed to know. Eventually, a TV producer gave us a road number, on the way to Moramanga.
We set off at 3 a.m. to get there. We kept being given wrong directions and getting stranded. Finally, we hit a major road works and stopped to ask the workers. There did not seem to be any houses around, no village, no people.
"Do you know where Ambatotsonegaly is?"
"It's here."
But why was it called so? To my amazement, the answer was so simple. "Look", said one of the workers, pointing at a dark piece of rock. "This rock is the reason for the name. It is black and it is tough. We tried so many times, but no one managed break it down so far." So once again the same Malagasy principle had been applied. Anything black is Senegalese.
I found a village nearby to talk to the elders, and there he was - Mr François. He is now 73 years old, but he clearly remembers his fight against the Senegalese.
My inspiration came from his strength and his courage. The Senegalese had forced them to repair the road by crushing the rock, and that Senegalese rock was one they could not break at all.
They practiced fanafody to not get hurt by bullets, but although 13,000 men went from that area, only 800 came home alive. Despite all that, he believes that the young generation should not be afraid of anything to do with Senegalese. Everybody fights and everybody should be able to forgive each other.
François Fahatelo lives near the village of Ambatotsonegaly/Thank you Mr François/Because you did not let me get away/Without knowing more about our history/And I will be able to tell the new generation.
Senegalese sisters and brothers have to put up with our insults/That is not right!/They were also in despair/They learned to obey/They were taught to fight.
You asked what has been done so far?/The strong people are only fighting for a seat. But if the black who are supposed to get together/Do not respect each other and fight all the time/All the work we did for our children/Will have no value and will just be thrown away.
You said that people fight because no one knows each other.
All you hear is the sound of the shooting/We used to just hide in the forest/A lot of you sinned so they died/But you kept on fighting/No matter what happened.
I had to leave you then/I am really sorry for this/But I have to talk to the JN/Many more still say/Senegalese are the worst kind of people/Because they tortured us/It was just far too much pain.
Bless me because I will fight just like you/To reconcile all of us who have the same ancestors.
index
Tarika website (goes to MySpace)
Tarika at froots website
Tarika in Wikipedia
New: 10 November, 2011 | Now: 10 November, 2011