“Na nga def?” This is how Senegalese people greet you in the local Wolof language, and this is also the warm welcome I received from Djibril Diop, professor at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), in Dakar. Senegal is definitely a fascinating country: spectacular wildlife, unbelievable colours, smiling faces everywhere, even in the most isolated villages where water is still a precious resource.
The “Third African school and workshop on X-rays in materials: some established techniques and applications” was held in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, on 23–28 January 2012. Already in the third edition, this school is unique for several reasons. Thanks to the help of some sponsors, a couple of dozen accepted students (coming from several African countries) are given a bursary to participate, covering all travel and subsistence costs. And for them it is a unique opportunity, as Senegal hosts one of the few powder diffractometer facilities in central and western Africa. Moreover, UCAD holds a copy of the PDF2 database, donated by the ICDD in the spirit of helping the country to develop know-how in powder diffraction. Owing to the limited resources available, none of the teachers is paid or reimbursed to get there. Nevertheless, the teaching team is always of international character. This year the teachers were: A. Cormack, Alfred, NY; T. Miyanaga, Hirosaki, Japan; P. Lagarde, Paris, France; G. Artioli, Padova, Italy; D. Diop, S. Diouf, Senegal, P. Fornasini, P. Dalba, C. Armellini, R. Graziola and myself, Trento, Italy. Most of us are ready to return: a mix of mal d'Afrique, friendship and love for teaching.
Despite the hot meteorological and political climate (riots at the University preceding the elections of the new President), more than 30 people from about a dozen countries attended the school. The topics ranged from basic crystallography and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to instrumentation and applications, with a particular accent on those showing scientific and industrial relevance for Africa as well (e.g. phase identification and quantitative phase analysis). Raw materials are in fact one of the precious resources (not always exploited by the locals) in most of the countries represented by the participants. Extensive laboratory sessions completed the XRD part, giving the students some practical skills in specimen preparation, experiment design, measurement and data analysis.
Notions of EXAFS as well as on the analysis of amorphous materials were also provided, to give a broad overview of the most relevant techniques available for probing the materials at the atomic level using X-rays.
The outcome of the school was more positive than expected: the X-ray African Network Society, lead by Djibril Diop (Senegal) with David Dodoo-Arhin (Ghana) as secretary and Bridinette Thiodjio Sendja (Cameroon) as treasurer, was established to handle this type of events. The next one is foreseen in 3 years' time and will possibly gather an even larger group of students and countries. Things are moving along in Africa.
