Four poor chickens and a goat with nice eyes.

Today took me to a small village about 200 km from the capital, Bamako. I was searching for children with leprosy. Luckily for them, I didn't find any. Any visit to an African village entails first meeting the elders and going through a series of  courtesy speeches. At the left are the village elders. They were very nice, but you have to go through the motions because tradition is very strong. They live 70 km from the paved road and have no clinic or any health support. But the village chief said he was 95 years old, so he must have been doing something right.


It would be interesting to stay longer in such a village, but being accustomed to comforts such as a good bed, might make the going very rough. I think you can get used to anything and it would be a great experience.

After having looked at most of the children in the village, we decided to head back to Bamako and try to get back before dark. But, the village had prepared a meal and we had to politely explain that we really needed to get back. It would have been interesting to stay, but maybe another time. They were very understanding, but didn't want us to go home empty-handed. This poor goat was our present and had to ride in the back of our 4x4 Toyota in a bag with his head sticking out. At every stop, I gave him a scratch on the head and he looked up with his big eyes, maybe knowing what awaited him, maybe not. We also were given 4 chickens which rode on the floor at our feet in the back. They all survived the trip and may already be heading for someone's plate at this hour.

A couple elders and the next generation.