To be Fulani is to own cows – and to own cows is to milk them. Sometimes it’s the man who milks the cow, sometimes it’s the woman. Sometimes this depends on the temperament of the cow – my friend Adamah told me that there are some cows that only his wife is able to [...]
The news that Worldreader.org is giving Kindles to children in Ghana must have passed me by last year. At the time it seems there was some debate raging over at the Huffington Post about whether or not this is a good idea. This year Cricket Magazine has put together a nice-looking Kindle ebook called ‘The [...]
Griots are well known for their prodigious memories and their uncanny way with words. In the radio studio the other day I recorded an hour-long cassette with Hassan Sango and Ousmane Kuyate. Hassan is griot (praise singer) to Hammadi bii Hammadi the traditional chief of Djibo. Ousmane, playing the hoddu (four-string guitar), is a well-known [...]
Over the past two or three years, I have been privileged to witness the genesis of SAHEL Design, a brand new West African craft label developed by my wife Charlie. Being married to an ex-London fashion editor has been a steep learning curve. Not so very long ago I thought that a red tote was [...]
