Paru le 03/04/2020 | Broché 169 pages
preface by Anne Husebekk | introduction and translations Patricia W. Cummins and Michelle Elcoat Poulton
Desert passions
Four women for a book : I never imagined it would travel beyond the enclosure of our goatskin tent. The magic of writing and feminine solidarity of Anne Husebekk, Michelle Elcoat Poulton and Patricia W. Cummins carried it beyond the confines of the Sahara to the Arctic Circle, to Brittany in France and to Virginia in America. Having traveled to far distant lands, the book still smells of the acacia flower, and like the acacia, it resists the vagaries of time.
This collection is an inward look at the people, their environment, their practices and beliefs. It brings together all dimensions of the Sahara, one of the greatest deserts in the world. It introduces the notion of Ehaf, a social link between women, men and nature, highly demanding in the responsibilities it dictates for people's lives. Through these stories, which magnify the women, the living inhabitants, and the scenery of the Timbuktu region, the book reveals the passions in the Sahara, which, like a garden, bloom in the desert.
Zakiyatou Oualett Halatine was born on the edge of the Sahara and the Sahel. She is an engineer by training. The extreme poverty of the inhabitants of this region was her first lesson in life.
