Helga's house. This is the palace where I have spent the last two nights. The rain would not let me go out.

Women carry their babies tied to their back. The poor baby had been crying for some time while his mother moved working and I took it :-)

Before I came to Mali I had been reading about the sights I will visit. But I feel completely open to learn from the people I can find on my way. I met Helga, a volunteer from Belgium who cooperates with an NGO that is teaching English.

Many parents in the village did not deem it important for their children to go to school. The organization started to distribute a plate of rice after every lesson, three times per week. Now many parents send kids to school. Before this children ate rice three times per week most of them suffered from malnutrition. Now it is obvious Their situation improved

Helga's friend Abba took us on a boat trip with his kids.

Peul village





The Fula, Fulani or Peul constitute a large and disperse group. They were nomadic pastoral groups.



Women are responsible for caring for the cattle, while the men are involved in agriculture.

I think musulman societies don't show affection physically in public. Malians they simply never kiss, neither in privacy. Mothers don't kiss children's faces, so they don't understand what a kiss is. It was so much fun for them to try!

A Bozo village:

the mosque of the village:



The Bozo are Muslim, yet they preserve a number of Animist traditions including masquerade.



Fishing is the responsibility of the Bozo men and boys. The women raise rice and vegetables that they sell in the market.

Have you ever seen yourselves in a photo?

The Bozo people are highly skilled fishermen. They stand on the end of long narrow pirogues to cast their nets onto the waters of the Niger River.




Au revoire!

Can you see the cows crossing the river?

Another Bozo village



Bozo society is patriarchal. It is common for some men to have more than one wife, sometimes in different cities.



Helga's friend took to villages where turists don't show. People were curious and nice, all of them wanted to shake hands when we greeted them in their language. The youngest kid bursted into tears when he saw white people. The closer we got the more he cried, until run away frightened.

Dancing

Market day in Djenne