We are an international team committed to supporting multilingualism and equitable access to education. We have founded LILIEMA in order to create a truly inclusive approach to literacy in multilingual areas that does not exclude any learner or language.
Below, you can find information on our founding members and their roles.
Alpha Naby Mané (deceased on August 22, 2021)
FORMER PRESIDENT – organisational restructuring in progress
We deeply regret the loss of our president Alpha Naby Mané from Agnack, Senegal, who unexpectedly dies on August 22. He was a founding and key member of LILIEMA, active as the president and board member of the Association. Furthermore, he was a film-maker, translator, research assistant and linguistic transcriber who has transcribed and annotated multilingual speech in the DoBeS project ‘Pots, plants and people’ from 2010 to 2013 and in the Leverhulme Crossroads project from 2014 to 2018. He also worked as a LILIEMA trainer.
May he rest in peace.
Aimé Césaire Biagui
TREASURER
Aimé Césaire Biagui is a LILIEMA teacher and trainer from Brin, Senegal, and a founding member of the LILIEMA Association, where he also serves on the executive board. He is a linguistic transcriber and has transcribed and annotated multilingual speech in the Crossroads project from 2014 to 2018.
Joseph Gérard Preira
SECRETARY
Gérard Preira is a LILIEMA teacher from Agnack, Senegal, and founding member of the LILIEMA Association. He has been working as a voluntary supplementary school teacher in Agnack and is teaching LILIEMA classes there and in neighbouring villages.
Jérémi Fahed Sagna
DEPUTY SECRETARY & COORDINATION
Jérémi Fahed Sagna is a LILIEMA teacher and trainer from Djibonker, Senegal, and founding member of the LILIEMA Association, where he also serves on the executive board. He holds a master degree in sociology, is a linguistic transcriber and has transcribed and annotated multilingual speech in the Crossroads project from 2014 to 2018. He also served as the research manager of the Crossroads field base in Brin.
Friederike Lüpke
RESEARCHER & COORDINATOR
Friederike Lüpke is Professor of African Studies at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and Professorial Research Associate at SOAS, University of London, UK. She is a LILIEMA teacher and trainer and founding member of the LILIEMA Association, on whose executive board she serves. She led the VW Foundation DoBeS project “Pots, plants and people – a documentation of Baïnounk knowledge system” and the Leverhulme Research Leadership Award Project “At the Crossroads – investigating the unexplored side of multilingualism” in Casamance.
Miriam Weidl
RESEARCHER & COORDINATOR
Miriam iWeidl is PostDoctoral Researcher in multilingualism at the University of Helsinki, Finland. She is a LILIEMA teacher and trainer and founding member and executive board member of the LILIEMA Association. Her PhD thesis investigated the role of Wolof in the multilingual repertoires of inhabitants of the village of Djibonker, Senegal as a member of the Crossroads project. In her postdoctoral research, she explores the multilingual repertoires used in LILIEMA classrooms from a sociolinguistic and anthropological perspective.
Julienne Diatta
TEACHER
Julienne Diatta is a LILIEMA teacher and local health advisor from Djibonker, Senegal, and founding member of the LILIEMA Association. She teaches LILIEMA classes in Djibonker and neighbouring villages.
Landing Biaye
TEACHER
Landing Biaye is a LILIEMA teacher from Agnack, Senegal, and founding member of the LILIEMA Association. He has been working as a voluntary supplementary school teacher in Agnack and is teaching LILIEMA classes there and in neighbouring villages.
Cécile Marie Diemé
TRAINEE
Cécile Diemé joined LILIEMA in 2019 as a trainee. She attended two LILIEMA workshops, participated and supported LILIEMA courses in Sindon. She aims to teach her own LILIEMA courses in 2020.
Mariama Camara
TRAINEE
Mariama Camara joined LILIEMA in 2019 as a trainee. She attended two LILIEMA workshops, participated and supported LILIEMA courses in Agnack Petit. She aims to teach her own LILIEMA courses in 2020.
LILIEMA 