THE OLD MEETS THE YOUNG Here, an elderly Wodaabe medicine man exchanges salutations with a young Wodaabe. Wodaabe men also migrate as climate refugees and IDPs, selling traditional medicine or engaging in petty commerce. Like Read more…
Tag: Wodaabe
Left To Their Own
LEFT TO THEIR OWN These children have been left to care for themselves while their parents are on climate-induced exodus. They have limited access to food and water, and no access to health care. Older Read more…
Desert Punks
DESERT PUNKS (current theme: Wodaabe women of Niger) Wodaabe Fulani women venerate beauty. They have their faces tattooed during childhood, and wear their hair in large intriguing hairstyles: the back is braided, and the front Read more…
From Gerewol’s to Prostitution
FROM GEREWOL’S TO PROSTITUTION (current theme: Wodaabe women of Niger) Wodaabe women climate refugees, renowned for their beauty, may resort to prostitution for meager wages, thereby placing not only themselves, but their entire communities at Read more…
Road Cutters and Boko Haram
ROAD CUTTERS and BOKO HARAM (current theme: Wodaabe women of Niger) Najet recalls her latest return as a migrant worker in Nigeria: “Road cutters pulled over my bus and stole everything I had earned over Read more…
The Exodus Fraught with Danger
THE EXODUS FRAUGHT WITH DANGER (Current theme : Wodaabe women of Niger) Kourgil, a Wodaabe, spends six to eight months a year selling traditional medicine in Chad or Nigeria. While abroad she lives on the Read more…
Wodaabe Fathering
WODAABE FATHERING: If the pygmy is considered the best dad in the world, then the Wodaabe Fulani father doesn’t fall too far behind in ranking. One saying among the Fulani men is “you start living when you’ve been pooped on by a child”… hmmm… In many Wodaabe communities, childrearing falls completely in their hands for large parts of the year. Read more…
Mother or Child
MOTHER OR CHILD: This Wodaabe child that I met at a Gerwul ceremony is already a mother. She is so young, and yet participates in this festival where she may find another man to elope with if she is displeased with her first husband. She seems so young to me, with my western perspective. And yet, ironically, it seems to me that Wodaabe girls marry a little later than their Touareg counterparts. While they might be betrothed as early as 14, they may also marry as late as 16. Read more…
That’s a Camp?
THAT’S A CAMP? This little boy and his mother were the first Wodaabe that I met in the Azawak. In fact, their camp was the first Wodaabe camp I had ever seen. When I met them, they were sitting together in the middle of grasses underneath the blazing sun. The mother was mending a shirt, and her son sat patiently next to her, intently observing my every move. Read more…