Village Girls
Mali or Senegal 1998
Our van had broken down on the way to Senegal. We waited under a huge kapok tree which was the only shade available. The landscape of red earth was covered in brush and punctuated by termite hills taller than a man. Hours passed. Finally a local transport came rattling down the road. It was the driver’s lucky day. Stranded tourists. That meant money in anyone’s language.
We piled in among the local farmers, squeezing in on wooden benches, clutching our daypacks on our laps, and off we went. We’d stop in villages to let people off. It was in a village like that that I shot this photo. Children came running out to see the “toubabs” (white people).
The children were curious but polite (like country children everywhere). They spoke French and one girl shyly corrected my simple sentence. I still remember what she told me. This shot of the girl with the sweet smile is my favorite. She wants to be my friend and I want to be her friend, too.