Share & Tell: Warp to Weft

My chosen object is a woven shawl that began from a failure. The weft here, composed of baby alpaca wool, was originally the warp of another weaving. My good friend picked up this soft brown wool in Bolivia some years ago. She has since passed.

Tabaski Twenty Twenty (2)

The first activity on the feast day tabaski is group prayer in the public squares. Otherwise it will led in the mosques by the Imams who will be the first to slaughter their animals. After the immolation of the Imams from each zone, the rest of the community starts to slaughter their animal. Following the mechanical skinning of the animals, the meat is distributed at three levels: firstly, the share of the disadvantaged first, then the next of kin and the third part is for the family. This meat is consumed in different dishes, at least within the families.

Tabaski Twenty Twenty (1)

The feast of Aîd El Kébir or tabaski is a Muslim feast. It involves prayers and the slaughter of animals (preferably sheep). This year, it coincided with the Covid 19 pandemic and its consequences. This explained the soaring prices of sheep in the market. The animals were exposed in the parks and on the streets to customers. The prices varied between sixty thousand (60,000 F cfa) to four hundred thousand (400,000 F cfa and up). Because of the high price of sheep, within twenty-four hours (24 hours) of the event, some Muslims could not have the sheep of their choice.

Chatting in the Street Under My Window (2)

One hears in turn two women in their sixties talking in Fulani about the case of covid19 detected the day before 600m from our home, two girls around 8 and 14 years old complaining about the decision of the President of the Republic to reopen schools and a male voice on the telephone, that of a teacher who, after three months' absence, is back to go back to school tomorrow morning.

A Visit to the Market Place (2)

Maybe the people I met today are not asking themselves all these questions. The awareness messages just ask them to "wear" a mask. At the same time, the Minister of the Interior has issued an order on the wearing of masks and the police are punishing all those who do not respect the measure by making them pay a fine of between 3000 and 6000 CFA. One of my neighbors who goes to the market every day told me that she thinks it's a bit stupid to have to pay such sums when a mask costs between 100 and 300 CFA on each street corner.

A Visit to the Market Place (1)

This morning I was at the marketplace, after more than a week without going out. I was astonished by what I saw: almost everyone (adult, child, woman, man, young, old, buyer, seller, security guard...) had a mask. I was astonished because in social networks (Twitter, Facebook) I keep hearing about "the indiscipline of Senegalese who do not respect the barrier measures, especially the wearing of masks". I personally found it very responsible that everyone has a mask, with a few rare exceptions. Then I am aware that there are all the problems related to the quality of the mask and its use.

Making Life Sustainable During Covid-19 (2)

When we bought the plants, we met Mbaye, who has a real garden where he grows vegetables and fruit trees. I was impressed by his knowledge, his courage, and his ability to maintain by irrigation this very beautiful and green garden, in an arid area where it only rains for three months.

Making Life Sustainable During Covid-19 (1)

After more than two months of self-confinement, we went out on 10 May 2020 with the younger ones to buy plants. We went out with a purpose. We decided to set up a small garden in the courtyard of our house. The next few days were very exciting as we collected and transformed many objects that were lying around the house and used them to decorate our plants (tires, empty bottles, etc).

Staying at Home Around a Board Game (2)

Around the meal, I discussed this post (https://bit.ly/3eYutcd) with my family members, our perceptions and interpretations were just as diverse as what I had read in the comments. We did agree on one thing, however: to add "board games" to the list of activities we had drawn up to facilitate confinement. Finally, and after this interesting discussion around the bowl, we chose another game - monopoly, because the Ludo is limited to 4 players. From that day on, the confinement time seemed less long and less boring to us.

Staying at Home Around a Board Game (1)

Today, we have been self- confined for over a month. When I wake up, as I do every morning, I take a little walk on Twitter. Today I came across this tweet from the official account of the First Lady of Senegal, Marième Faye Sall. You can see on the post the sentence « Togg Leen Seen Keur » (stay home in wolof) followed by the hashtag #FaaxasCovid19 (#getoffcovid19). There are also three photos of the first lady, the president and one of their sons, dressed in casual clothes, playing Ludo, a popular board game in Senegal. The comments under this tweet are very diverse.

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