Every spiritual tradition must have its own headquarters, often in the form of a centre which symbolises the essence of the teachings and accomplishments of the spiritual tradition. It is also a focal point for adherents from all over the world to experience their beliefs at a practical level. In the absence of such a centre, the teachings of the spiritual tradition are bound to remain a mere theory which is unlikely to bring any positive change to society.
The International Sufi School has acquired 10 hectares of land in the village of Pout in Senegal for the establishment of its headquarters. The land is a space where the adherents to its philosophy of non violence are presently experiencing the conditions for the making of a global peace village in the 21st century based on the teachings of non violence and service of Shaykh Ahmadou Bamba.
A pre requisite for the making of a peace village is the making of the peace citizen. The work being conducted in Pout provides the real conditions for the transformation of the adherents into peace citizens. The foundations are being laid for an economy and society geared towards peace and service to humanity through the active participation of all those committed to this ideal.
The International Sufi School Khidmatul Khadim in collaboration with the humanitarian organisation Third World Family Humanitarian is pioneering a global peace and community building project through agriculture and farming. This project, based on several hectares of farmland, is inspired from the thought of Shaykh Ahmadou Bamba (ra) who said:
“Be like the earth – It absorbs all the unwanted waste of mankind but in return it only gives back good: plants, flowers and fruits”.
At the International Sufi School we believe that to restore peace in society it is imperative to go back to the origin of conflicts and wars in order to address the root causes of violence and hatred and find true solutions towards lasting peace. All conflicts and wars have an economic causative factor. Greed and selfishness are often the cause of conflicts and violence, a cause that finds its origin at the level of the earth. The richness of the earth’s resources triggers in man the desire to acquire and hoard resources, often at the expense of others. This gives rise to an inequitable distribution of the earth’s resources among individuals, communities and nations.
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The richness of the earth's resources has been, since time immemorial, a cause of greed, selfishness and conflict. As soon as resources emerge from the earth, greed also appears, giving rise to conflict among individuals, communities and nations. Today we must learn to use the earth as a resource for peace building.
Today the thought of Shaykh Ahmadou Bamba (ra) is being actualised in the village of Pout by Venerable Master Shaykh Aly N’ Daw who is leaving no stone unturned in the making of the global peace citizen and the global peace village.
The project is a model meant to awaken consciousness among the peasants and youths of Pout and Senegal at large about their human capital and the richness of the earth’s resources they have been blessed with in their lands. The work is meant to empower peasants in the villages to be the real actors of work and the actors of their destinies in view of reducing overdependence on the State and provides a way out of the network of economic violence deeply anchored at all levels of society.
Sustainable peace building must necessarily involve measures to protect our environment. The project in Pout is an agro-ecological model based on environment- friendly initiatives.
As the Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Wangari Mathai says:
“When we protect our environment we sow the seeds of Peace.”
A domestic waste recycling project has been initiated in Pout in view of raising people’s awareness around the importance of protecting the environment and recycling domestic waste material.
A compost making project is ongoing in Pout. Organic waste products such as fruits and vegetables are collected every week at the market of Thies, a nearby village. The organic waste is used in the making of compost to be used as organic fertilizers in the production of horticultural produce such as green beans, tomatoes, okras, and exotic fruits such as papaya, melons, watermelons and mangoes.
A youth and environment project is currently being planned and will soon be launched in view of gathering the youths of Senegal around sports such as football in an attempt to raise awareness of current ecological issues.
The project will provide a platform for exchanging thoughts and ideas around the environment issues and the pressing need for adopting measures to preserve the environment in order to safeguard the future and promote global peace.
The youths of Pout and neighbouring villages will be given training into environment issues such as domestic waste management and recycling, tree planting, good management of water and soils, measures to improve water retention in soils in view of reducing risks of water depletion from underground reserves and measures to reduce soil erosion.
People in the developing world are steadily deserting lands in their villages and gradually heading for the cities. This situation arises because the inhabitants of villages lack essential resources for farming their land and have limited or no access to water supplies. They therefore abandon vital agricultural activity and village communities are gradually disappearing.
The International Sufi School Khidmatul Khadim in collaboration with Third World Family Humanitarian hopes to restore water supply in villages in order to facilitate irrigation and develop agriculture as part of its community and peace building objectives.
The project involves the drilling of water wells to access underground water and the subsequent installation of infrastructure for drip irrigation in order to practise cost effective irrigation programmes.
There are plans to extend the water well drilling initiative to other areas of Pout and Senegal at large in order to enable peasants to resume vital agricultural activity on their lands. At present there is hardly any agricultural activity on the surrounding lands in Pout as water rates are prohibitively high and water supply very limited.
Community life has resumed and is steadily growing in the desert of Temerkaye where the mausoleum of Shaykh Sidy Ahmed Ibn Ismouhou lies.
This community life has resumed after many years thanks to the recent drilling of a well in the desert of Temerkaye to provide water for essential services.
A future project is envisaged for the drilling of a deep water well in the desert of Temerkaye in order to encourage farming and horticultural production.