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Seventeen years ago, Copsa Mica was the dirtiest village of Europa because of two industrial complexes with soot and zinc. Its story made the front cover of magazines such as National Geographic and I was curious about how it looked like today. People now look back with mixed feelings. On the one hand the factories strongly and visibly polluted the area. On the other hand it provided work for most people in the surrounding villages. As for today, most young people have left, leaving their parents behind.

Tattoos are no longer the exclusive of sailors and criminals. Prisons, however, stay the Walhalla for tattoo lovers. A lot of prisoners enter as a blank sheet and leave ‘signed’ for life. Rogue folklore, status symbol or means of expression. A look in the world of Chinese ink and a lot of pain. There is no place in the world where you find as much tattoos as in prison. Fifty-six toeighty percent of prisoners has one. Or more. Some are covered from head totoe. While a lot of them are tattooed in prison, it is strongly prohibited.

During my first stay in Banjul, I met several people belonging to the Baye Fall. I was immediately interested in these people and their religion. When I returned to Banjul, I made a series about them. The Baye Fall are a religious movement rooted in Sufism. It originates from the IslamicSenegalese Mouride Brotherhood and was founded by Sering Tuba. In contrast tothe more traditional Islam, the focus in Sufism lies on the spiritual religiousexperience.

I also made a documentary about SOS Children’s Villages. This is aninternational non-governmental social development organisation that has beenactive in the field of children’s rights and committed to children’s needs and concerns. In 132 countries and territories our activities focus on children without parental care and children of families in difficult circumstances.

In the summer of 2007 I visited Gambia, the smallest country of West Africa. I made a documentary ofthe capital Banjul commissioned by the cooperation agreement between Ostend andBanjul. These two cities work together since 2003 on topics such as localadministration, ecology and education.

My thanks go to the city of Ostend and Narafi. Without them this would not have been possible.