peregrine by nature

There are 10,000 talibes on the streets of Dakar, taken from their rural villages at a young age by a marabout, a Muslim religious leader with credibility elsewhere but in Senegal is using the ancient practice to exploit.

Talibes go barefoot onto the streets of Dakar to beg for their food and for money. If they do not bring a sufficient sum to the marabout at the end of the day they are beaten. They also are isolated in that they often can only speak their tribal language, of which there are 36 spoken in Senegal alone. Read more about them here.

Lac Rose has a heavy salt content which causes the waters to turn different shades of pink according to the position of the sun. The salt is harvested from the shallow lake bottom, dried and sent to market.

he ran to me and asked for my Kirene bottle, one quarter full. they passed it around in a circle, taking careful mouthfuls until the water is gone and i’m no longer my own. some days you cry so hard your ribs might break.

Beaching a fishing pierog in Saly. Many Africans pay a fee to take a boat like this one to the Canary Islands to seek a better life. The trip can take up to two weeks through treacherous waters and thousands attempting it have died of thirst, exposure and drowning. A radar system has now been set up in the Canaries that detects immigrant vessels before they reach shore.

West Africa has a joie de vivre that trancends circumstance. If only I could learn as much. Senegal, you have a beautiful smile. Alhamdulilaay.

Sometimes we scare ourselves with our promise. The spirit within each of us. Sometimes I have to grip the ground to keep from jumping off.

Threads crisscross the planet binding portico to rooftop, my Dakar stoop to your Chicago flat. This is where underdeveloped meets tech; two women are grinding grain, one is taken, and the other takes a call on her Samsung.

The head is considered the tastiest part of the fish and the eyes a particular delicacy. One man’s fish…

Be happy, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.

Years later I still remember eyes that met mine on city streets and in museums, on car rapides and in the village. We’re only souls poured into skin, I could have been anyone.

Dakar has a rainy season from July to September, with oppressive temperatures and high humidity.

While the rains in Senegal are necessary to bring life and growth to the villages the same rains can carry death and disease into Dakar. Due to mass rural exodus and poor city planning Dakar was built without taking into account the geographical horsts and grabens, therefore much of the city floods during the rainy season, bringing sewage into homes and schools and creating a breeding ground for malaria-borne mosquitoes and outbreaks of cholera.

The day these photos were taken the president appeared on the news falsely telling the rest of the world the floodwater had been pumped out of Dakar streets and the threats of disease eradicated. To those that live here the implication is that disaster aid funds given to Senegal had been used to line bureaucratic pockets instead of for their intended purpose. A very common practice in a corrupt government such as this one.

While Senegal remains one of the safest African countries to live, the people are afraid to speak out against the government for fear of the very real threat of retaliation.

Rice, lamb, manioc, carrots, cabbage, tomato, oil, mustard, onion, salt, bay leaves, garlic, pepper.

the moon endlessly orbits the beach pulling sand out to sea until one morning you wake up and the Atlantic is at your doorstep, asking for a cup of sugar and to sit for a while, chat about the weather.

“But anyone can find out what will happen,” said Aslan, “If you go back to the others now, and wake them up; and tell them you have seen me again; and that you must all get up at once and follow me—what will happen? There is only one way of finding out.”