The interest in space phenomena and the hours of reading the book, The Whole Universe, was what prompted Malick Ndiaye to design a telescope with the few resources he had.
The boy born in Senegal, just 12 years old, used some old high-magnification glasses that his father used, a camera lens, wire, paper, cans and cane to make his own telescope.
With these resources, the young African built a telescope that allowed him to see the night sky and the details of the Moon’s surface.
“It took me two weeks to build the telescope,” the little boy dressed in a NASA polo shirt explained in a report to the Spanish media El País, “when I focused on the night sky and saw the details of the Moon’s surface, it seemed to me that I could touch it with your hand. One day I was at the door of the house and a man who worked on the road works passed by. He asked me if it was something about topography and I told him no, that it was a telescope that I had made myself. So he took photos and a video of me and uploaded them to Facebook”
What Malick did not know is that this video would accumulate thousands of reproductions, reaching the hands of scientists in the region who did not hesitate to contact the young man.
In addition to scientists, journalists also approached Senegal to learn more about the story of the young prodigy of that country.
Maram Kaire, current president of the Senegalese Association for the Promotion of Astronomy, went to Malick Ndiaye’s house and delivered a second, more professional telescope that would allow the young man to deepen his space observations.
“When I was able to see the video it reminded me of myself when I was younger and I thought of all the efforts we make to spread this science. I did not hesitate to react because I know how difficult it is to contemplate the stars without a suitable instrument, to have a passion and not be able to develop it,” Maram told the aforementioned medium.
When asked about his dreams for the future, the young man has always said: “I just want to look at the stars.”
