VI. The website
The time has come for me to demonstrate some of my handiwork to the readers of my blog - assuming there are actually any left at this point. The website I made for the Fondation Marleen van Aken, currently still operating as the Centre des Arts et Cultures Africains, can be found at fondationmarleenvanaken.com (but please read to the end of this article before visiting). We plan to also link the currently inactive address fondationmarleenvanaken.sn but have been faced with bureaucratic and technical difficulties. You may need to refresh the browser several times for the website to appear properly. Although it has been configured for mobile viewing, it is best viewed on a laptop or desktop computer. Depending on your level of French skills, you may also need to enable auto-translation.
It must be said that the website itself is not entirely finished. Among other things, we still need to link the payment system of the shop. This is being managed by PayDunya, a Senegalese startup similar to PayPal but able to take card payments as well as mobile money payments. This is useful to us not only because PayPal is not supported in Senegal but also because many people here, lacking proper bank accounts, use mobile money via applications such as Orange or Wave to make payments. However, we are still waiting on authorisation of KYC (Know Your Customer) security checks. This means that the shop will only become functional once those have been approved and we have configured the platform appropriately. Beyond this, all the main features of the site are working even though they will be refined and edited over time.
Several pages are given over to the presentation of the Centre des Arts and the work that they do. As well as a general “about” page, there is further information to be found about the different trainings and educational opportunities offered at the school. There is also information about the various international partners of the project - information detailed to some extent in my previous post but slightly expanded on in the website. Finally, a gallery provides us the opportunity to share some pictures about the work being done at the school. There is also a page linking to a fundraiser - but I’ll talk a bit more about that in my “reflections” post, which I plan to publish at some point next week once I’m back in London. Lastly, I’ve also included a contact form as well as links to the social media pages (Facebook, X, Instagram) of the Centre des Arts. Feel free to have a wander around (albeit in a virtual capacity) - feedback is greatly appreciated.
My work here in Louga is now winding down. Tomorrow (Friday) I’ll be explaining all the things I’ve done and modifications I’ve made to the team from ABC Group, and also to Marème Thiam and her colleagues. At that point, it will be up to them to manage the website for the most part and really make it their own. I look forward to seeing what they make of it.
This is scheduled to be the penultimate post to be published while I’m still in Senegal. On Saturday morning, we’ll be heading to Dakar to explore the city and its various markets, which should be a relaxing break and a final opportunity to see a little bit more of this vibrant and exciting country. We’ll stay the night there, and then on Sunday evening I’ll be heading back to Dakar/Blaise Diagne airport. I expect to publish the final post detailing actual information about my trip on either Sunday night or Monday morning. Stay tuned…
P.S. I don’t have many photos (browsing the website is the multimedia experience for this blog post) but here’s one recently sent to me from the Réussir au Sénégal project closing ceremony that I attended last week on Tuesday, albeit with my eyes fighting a losing battle against the sun.
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