To his town, however, he returned to visit whenever he could. He spent time with his family and when he left again, he remembers, the women looked in their pockets or in the recesses of their skirts for a coin and gave it to him. Kéré knew that those women gave him his last coin because he was his only hope. They wanted him to finish the race and maybe, in one of those, he would return to town and return the coins in the form of knowledge. Kéré always knew, from the first day, that this was his destiny.
Diébédo Francis Kéré is today one of the most renowned architects on the planet. He has works in various countries and has received hundreds of awards. Recently, he was awarded the Pritzker for Architecture, and with it he became the first African to receive this award. However, the value of his work lies in having involved the community of African peoples in the construction of the buildings, because in this way it generates the possibility of sustainable development.
Creating a balance between tradition and innovation, it equips its community with knowledge that allows it to depend on itself. From local materials and feasible processes, it allows the inhabitants to build their future. One day your presence will not be needed.
The first thing he did was create a foundation in Germany that would allow him to raise funds to take to Africa. During undergrad, he saved every peso and asked his classmates to spend less in their daily life, not to drink his Coca-Cola and give him a little cooperation instead. Thus, he raised 50,000 dollars, created the foundation and went to Gando to build a school, the one that did not exist when he wanted to learn to read. Both the school and the community building processes will prevent the villagers from having to migrate, he thought. Thus, not only is pain and sorrow avoided, but the community is strengthened.
The day he told the inhabitants of his town that he wanted to build with adobe, they did not believe him. They said that he was not going to withstand the rains, so Kéré put an adobe brick in a bucket of water and left it there for five days. When he took it out it was intact, so the school was made of adobe, an ideal material to absorb some of the 45-degree temperatures that hit the place. The school has a floating roof that allows ventilation and has an outdoor garden so that students do not abandon agriculture, a key occupation for the present and future of the region.
He also proposed planting mango trees to be able to offer the inhabitants vitamins that complement the millet with which they usually eat. In addition, the mango trees are designed to provide shade and young people have spaces to meet.
In Gando there is still no electricity and drinking water, but there are schools and a strengthened community loaded with development tools. Today, in Gando, there is hope and possibilities for a better life.