 After Nigeria, we bolted for the airport and skipped across the tarmac to our awaiting white albatross for the short flight to Mali, where we were joined by OXFAM representatives who took us out into the countryside to meet village farmers who are growing commercial and organic cotton.
This was my favorite part of the trip, with the women farmers dressed in bright vibrant clothes alongside men, sharing their stories of economic diversification and the difference the cotton crops were making in their lives. Bono presented the village elders a gift of cola nuts, and in return, they gave him some of the locally grown cotton and a Make Poverty History shirt that had been made with the cotton grown with their own hands.
We all sat under a large shade tree as the midday sun beat down upon the village and shared stories and learned the hardships of drought and water shortages on their lives. As if heaven sent, shortly thereafter a rain cloud emerged and the children began running through the fields with buckets and other home made water spouts to collect the rain water for drinking. I started to realize how fortunate we are in our country that we are to be able to turn on the tap and drink fresh water while here they are extremely dependent on these rains and the four deep wells that have been dug nearby. They are incredibly strong people who survive under the harshest conditions. The cotton they grow helps feed their families and put their children in school but it is the rain that provides life in its most basic form.
We shook hands and waved good bye and headed off into the afternoon, impressed by this village's tenacity and ability to survive and actually thrive under these conditions. Amazing.
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