The Mali…

It’s as if I heard from here the songs of the children in the streets of

   the village.
My trip to Mali in 2008 changed me forever. We were in a small village of children and

fishermen, far from everything.

 

On the banks of the Niger rivers, we spent hours playing with the children, listening village

elders under the “palaver tree”, a mango tree.
The smile of there people touched me in my heart and I immediately understood that it

would mark me forever. I was young but I discovered the true values of life there.

From Bamako, we made a bus day to get to the village. The heat was stifling, the dirt road

was very painful.

We had very bad back pain. When we arrived, the whole village came to welcome us. The

children were too cute, they danced and sang. Everyone had a smile on their lips. The tiredness

of the trip was immediately flew away. It’s an unforgettable moment.

It was a small earthen village that had only one main place. The gardeners sold their harvest and the fishermen, the catch of the day. There is a school on the other side of the river bank, which has only    one classroom. The teacher was very proud to show it to us.

             Despite the lack of comfort, the villagers welcomed us as their dearest friends. Their smiles                   were sincere and we had incredible moments of exchange and sharing with them.
             I spent a lot of time with the kids. They showed me their games, spoke to me in Bambara                    (dominant language of Mali), and laughed when I repeated their words after them.

             I also spent a lot of time with the women of the village. Some spoke French, so

            we talked about our lives, our habits, their families, their babies, their work. I was

          impressed: these women had habits far removed from our lives. We are dependent

       on our comfort: oven, washing machine, car. These women have none of this and

     are so happy, maybe more. We spent evenings laughing. I remember one night,

Fatou said that her husband had tried to make food one day: he put the pasta in the pot and

roasted it! We laughed a lot.

 When we were there, it was the rainy season. It was very hot most of the time, but when the storm came, it was impressive: The whole horizon was becoming white, and in a few minutes, the blue sky was changing into a storm and poured on us an incredible rain!

 We had three wonderful weeks and I would like to see them again.

When I left, I was sad for a long time. I dreamed of the village every night and I thought of them all the time.
Eleven years later, I still think about it sometimes, and when I look at the pictures I try to imagine the children today. I sincerely wish them to be happy and stay as they are because they’re wonderful people who have brought me a lot.