Written by Mahaman Kabir, Project Manager Now-Us!

A mind-blowing experience. This is the title that came to mind to describe our common experience during the boot camp of the 2nd round of the NOW-Us! Prize in Niger. From 14 to 19 March 2023, the adventure was like this. A safe, open, collaborative space where the 10 shortlisted organisations followed a unique learning path: Yoga to let go and rebalance, participatory learning, a session in project development and management.

In the same circumstances, links were quickly made, and many other learning opportunities were created, allowing organisations to support each other.

Over the course of the five days, the participants learned from each other, refining their project idea, formulating an implementation plan and preparing their presentation to the jury. All the necessary tools were available to them to reveal themselves and stand out: an acting workshop, a stage performance, participative coaching on acting and, to top it all off, a director on hand to support the 10 teams until the end. A breathtaking experience! said Pascal, one of the participants: “I am used to participating in hubs and residencies but I have never felt so well surrounded, well supervised and enriched in terms of new knowledge and surprises.

To close the camp, the traditional campfire was lit to gather spirits one last time, have fun and rediscover each other before facing the judgement of the Jury. All 10 projects presented had something to catch the eye. But the 3 winners had to be known. A moment of relaxation with good music and slam. The jury comes out to announce the winners. Through the very emotional voice of the President of the Jury who first congratulated all 10 participants, they were crowned winners of the second round of the Niger NoW-Us! They are :

Association Art-culture Rumbu (ACA RUMBU) which won the grant of €25,000 for the first place; Arts pluriel won the 2nd place and the prize of €15,000 and finally, the Rassemblement de la Jeunesse Nigérienne pour l’Eau (RJNE) left with €10,000 and settled for the 3rd place.

These intensely emotional moments, this 2nd bootcamp produced a learning question: how to build meaningful partnerships? especially as the bootcamp was a great opportunity to build new relationships and generate alliances.

Some answers were given, but the question will remain until the future linkage & learning meetings planned for the Project.