The film ’A trio of girls in Dankassari’ has been shown regularly in France, particularly in middle schools in Cesson and around Rennes.
We make a point to show it in Niger as well, particularly in the Dankassari villages.
On Niger Television
The film producers, Idi Nouhou and Saradji Bakabe, were granted a free show on Niger Television : Saraounia was shown on TV in October 2020.
In the Dankassari Middle Schools,
Thanks to support from the Ille-et-Vilaine Department,the shirt film Three Girls in Dankassari was shown in middle schools in Dankassari
The team consisted in both film producers, Idi Nouhou and Saradji Bakabethe, and the supervisor of Cesson Dankassari decentralised cooperation at RAEDD as well as of Mrs Aïchatou da Badio Doka, in charge of SCOFI (Girls Schooling) in the Dogondoutchi Department,
Overall, the film was shown in six secondary schools, namely : Goubaya, Bawadi Daji, Dankassari, Kamrey, Dogon Tapki, and Bawada Gida, So, 541 students, with 307 girls and 234 boys, attended the performances, In Dankassari, given the large number, two performances had to be organised, totalling 103 girls and 95 boys, in lively raunions, attended by two of the three leading actors in the film : Oumalher Chaibou and Zeïnab Hamidou. The third from the trio Zeïnab Alio Chanou continues her studies in Malbaza. Two members of the association of mothers of school students participated.
Technically, the projection was difficult, A generator had been provided, as the film was recorded on a computer, But the thatched classrooms weren’t dark enough, and on several occasions the projector was out of order , the film had to be watched on the computer screen,
After each show, the RAEDD supervisor, Issan Dan Badio Doka and Idi Nouhou take turns to start a debate and/or explain some elements of the film, Issa Dan Badio Doka insists on how important it is for girls to study, taking her own experience as an example, She also insists on the boys’ role in helping their sisters by making their parents aware of the danger of early marriages,
During the debate, it is obvious that the pupils have understood that the main point is an early and forced marriage, Girls as well as boys recall one character’s arguments to refuse the early marriage project that threatens her : overwork, endless washing, cooking, risk of being deprived of food she cooked, water fatigue,,,, etc
When asked :’Why don’t you want an early marriage ? ’, a lot of girls argue, for example:
- the husband’s contempt for a wife he didn’t necessarily consent to marry,
- forced dropping out from school for girls,
- broken dreams,,,
Apart from in Dankassari, girls debate less than boys, Issa Aïchatou Dan Badio Doka had to challenge them, asking if they were worth less than their male fellows , to get them to speak out,
Some examples of forced marriages were quoted:
- In Goubey, a teenage girl had A marks at school, Her parents married her to a youngster who lived in Loga, Another teenage girl had complained to local authorities that her parents wanted to force her to marry, while she loved another,
- In Dogon Tapki, a forced marriage occured, but it only lasted one week,
Here are the teachers’suggestions :
- organisation of more shows of the film in Dankassari, the village where the film was shot,
- organisation of further shows in other in other villages in Dankassari, where the problem of early marriages is even more crucial,
- organisation during the school year of at least two awareness missions on early marraiges, intended for pupils’ parents in villages, so as to consolidate the message.
In the Dankassari Primary Schools
The film was shown in June 2020 in primary schools in Chanono, Toullayé ; Tougana peul, Jigarwèy , Danzouré, Kolfa 1, Nakigaza , Sarkin rouafi,, Kamrey peul Tounzourawa within the support to girls’schooling.