Today, after dropping Elli off in Reko, me, Desiré and Theo drove around all day visiting the three potential transect villages that I had picked out in the vicinity of Ouahigouya. There was a lot of time spent, sitting in the shadow under a tree, waiting for the right person to come back from a neighboring village or the fields. Other men somehow suddenly seemed to have nothing better to do but to also sit down to rest under the same tree, and the children gathered in clusters at a respectful distance but with curiousity shining through their eyes. Every new man that arrived wanted to greet us, and with Desiré there was a whole sequence of words and hand movements involved. For me though, being an ignorant white woman, they settled with just shaking my hand, saying some words in Mori that I didn’t understand and bowing slightly and then touching their chest with their right hand.
I quickly adopted the same gesture. I like the symbology of it. Shaking someones hand and then touching your chest. I imagine it means inviting someone into your heart.
I might be interpreting it completely wrong, but I think that’s my perogative. I am an ignorant white woman, after all.
Be that as it may, if they invited me into their hearts or not, all three village leaders agreed to take me on guided tours in their villages during next week. People here are really generous and I feel priviledged to be allowed to work here.
Katja Malmborg 