by phil | Jan 26, 2013 | Mali
Outside of Timbuktu, January 2012 I am back in Bamako now. Another 36 hour ride with Sama Transport in the books. Previous trips from Abidjan to Bamako (in 2012, at least) foreshadowed traumatic events in Mali. I arrived in Bamako a few hours before the coup last...
by phil | Dec 13, 2012 | Mali
This is Fatoumata with her daughter, Maimouna. I have recently become the part owner of a handful of sheep in Badugu Djoliba, which is 30km or so outside of Bamako. I have partnered with Arouna, who I mentioned in a previous post, and we are trying our hand at some...
by phil | Dec 4, 2012 | Mali
Something happened in Kita, at the fetisher’s house, in a room that smelled like death. Not the smell of decomposition and rot, but the smell of ancient death, like a crypt. Unfortunately, I cannot share what happened there, partly because I’m still trying...
by phil | Nov 8, 2012 | Camels, Mali
Over this past weekend, in a stretch of 24 hours, I saw 3 concerts — Amanar, Haira Arby and Baba Salah — and a theater and dance performance put on by former street kids. I spent time in 10 different Bamako neighborhoods. And I drew camels with 100...
by phil | Oct 31, 2012 | Camels, Mali
Just a short update here. We hit the mark on this camel drawing campaign. Now the fun begins. In preparation, I am traveling to Kita, a town several hours west of Bamako. An important center of animism, Kita is also home to many nyamakala (sculptors of the universe)....
by phil | Oct 23, 2012 | Mali
Arouna (pictured), a 24-year-old car mechanic who also sells phone credit and raises sheep and chickens. Madina, who is studying to be a lawyer. Mohamed, a high school English teacher who collects water from rivers around the world (he was over a dozen samples...
