Life in "The Bush"

This week, my teammates and I moved out into a Fulani village, several miles outside of Guidan Roumdji, called Ly On Kara. This little village sits in the middle of millet and corn fields and consists of 10 small compounds. It is definitely NOT on the map!!! We live in a hut inside the Chief's compound along with his two wives and 12 children. I sleep outside under the stars every night, enclosed in a bug net and surrounded by chickens, cows, camels and a horse. Life is much slower in West African villages but the women and men work hard in the fields, pounding millet and drawing water from the wells. We rest during the hottest part of the day. This month is Ramadan and many of the people are fasting during the daylight hours. They wont even drink water or swallow their own saliva. I have to be very careful to eat and drink in the privacy of my own hut or behind a tree!

I have been given the Fulfulde name "Tetdari" which means my mother gave birth to me on a cold day.