Faatu, from Rome to Senegal

Rome, February 9, 2022

One of the most beautiful aspects, emotionally speaking, of my work is to be a witness and part of the life of the people we care about.

Births, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, birthdays...

The birth of a child, however, certainly remains one of the most powerful and unforgettable photographic moments. For me as for those who live it and will remember it through my photographs.

If you add to this the fact that as the protagonist she is one of my closest friends, then the value doubles.

Ilaria, who when one of my very first photography courses finshed in 2014 promised me that I would not get rid of her easily. And so it was.

Since then she has always been there and I for her. She still calls me “teacher” and this makes me deeply tenderness.

Therefore, witnessing the baptism of her first child was a great emotion.

Ilaria

Ilaria and Moussa (Musa in Wolof language). One of the many – fortunately – mixed couples in Italy.

United by love for Africa.

Because Moussa, her husband, comes from the city of Rufisque, in Senegal, and has now lived in Rome for over ten years and Ilaria has Africa in her blood.

They met thanks to a friend who was also present on the day of the baptism.

Loretta, this is her name, in anticipation of a trip to Senegal wanted to study the Wolof language, so she met Moussa who became her teacher. Loretta loves working with leather and making products to sell in markets or at artisan fairs, and it was thanks to a leather keychain with the Senegal flag that Ilaria met her in 2017, at the Carlo Pisacane school during the “Taste the World” festival. When she asked why of that flag Loretta told her about the Wolof language lessons and since she too was looking for a teacher, she put them in contact.

It was June 2017 when they first met via text. In August they met in person and in January 2018 they were in Senegal for the wedding.

Ilaria and Loretta

It is thanks to Ilaria that Africa has entered a little bit of my life.

As I love Asia, she loves that continent viscerally and she also collaborates with a non-profit organization “Energy for Human Rights” which has offices in Africa.

Moreover, in Senegal, she had already been there four more times beyond the year of her marriage: the first time in 2011, and in 2015 she even drove there from Italy.

I remember when she sent me the photographs from Senegal, to let me enjoy those colors and those beautiful faces. Moussa had left a month before her because he had not returned home for seven years, she joined him and they were married, after four days, in the mosque on 25 January 2018 with a big party at the home of his older sister, Faatu.

The last trip was in 2020 when they were stranded for seven months due to the pandemic.

And here we are, when a few months ago, in one of our famous dinners with our dear friend and companion, of course, Marzia, Ilaria asks me: “Don't you notice anything different?”

And when a woman asks you either she has gone to the hairdresser or she is pregnant.

Then, despite the work commitments, we just had time to take some shots at the Parco degli Acquedotti a week before giving birth.

And here comes our little Faatu, like Moussa's sister: on February 2nd at 01.08, with her 3260 grams and 52 centimeters. Faatu is a variant of the Swahili name Fatoumata, which is itself the African version of Fatimah, one of the most important women in Islam, the last daughter of the Prophet.

Parco degli Acquedotti. Rome, January 23, 2022

On 9 February there was, in the presence of Imam Souleyman, the official Islamic baptism, the aqiqah, which in Wolof is called ngentè, while the moment of assigning the name is said Tuddu, from tud which means name, or say the name.

The Senegalese friends gathered for the ceremony, also in the presence of Loretta and Ilaria's mother, visibly moved during the words of profound esteem and affection towards the new mother from Moussa's compatriots.

Two mothers

After that, the imam, first, whispered the Adhan and the Iqamah into the child's ear (when the prayer is about to begin, the Iqamah is recited, which is an indication that the imam has taken his place facing the Kaaba and is ready to start the prayer. The Iqamah is a shorter version of the Adhan, which is the call for the faithful to prayer), each of those present took Faatu in their hands and recited private prayers for her.

The imam told me that, in Senegal, this ceremony is more complex, the child's hair is cut and a sheep is offered as a sacrifice.

After the ceremony, friends took turns during the day.