Donate to the Nomad Foundation

Loading…

Donate to one of our causes:

  • Sponsor Students
  • Tamesna Center for Nomadic Life
  • Cataract Mission
  • Motorcycle Repair Training
  • Traditional Birth Attendant Training
  • Drill the Well for Tamesna
  • Buy an animal for a nomad
  • Buy Jewelry
  • Sponsor a Matrone
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The NOMAD Foundation

seeking to balance cultural tradition...with economic opportunity

  • Home
  • Current Causes
    • Sponsor Students
    • Sponsor a Matrone
    • Buy an animal for a nomad
    • Drill the Well for Tamesna
    • Traditional Birth Attendant Training 2020
    • Motorcycle Repair Training
    • Cataract Mission
    • Nomad Gal Jewelry
  • Projects
    • Tamesna Center for Nomadic Life
    • Water
      • Wells
    • Food
      • Agricultural Development
      • Cereal Banks
    • Health
      • Medical Clinic
      • Traditional birth attendant and Healthcare Training
    • Education
      • Boarding School
      • Solar Fabrication and Installation
      • Schools
    • Work
      • Earthbag Building
      • Solar Fabrication and Installation
      • Women’s Co-ops
      • Herds
    • Mali projects
  • About
    • About the Nomad Foundation
    • Leslie Clark – Founder
    • Sidi Mamane – Niger Representative
    • Press
    • Nomad Board of Directors
    • Accomplishments
    • Awards and Grants
    • Friends and Partners
    • About Niger
  • Events
  • Newsletter
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Facebook

DONATE NOW

Not all work

October 25, 2017 by leslieclark 3 Comments

Having finished the matrone training we got ready to go to a big Wodaabe festival.  This was supposed to happen last year and got postponed, so I was anxious for the new team to see this remarkable thing.  We had a morning to kill since it was windy and we knew the dancing would not start until just before sunset so we called out the beautician from Ingal.  Henna is done for important parties–but most often for marriages.  Since Becky was the only unmarried one of us, she got to be the “jeune marié” as all the crew stepped into our beauty parlor to check out the progress.

Even the bottom of our feet?

Becky-Leslie-Pat ready to go.

Hindu goddess???

We got dressed up and were gorgeous with our henna and went to the Wodaabe festival only an hour away.  It is usually so hard to find these festivals as they are not announced in advance, but Foudouk is a community we have worked with for years and they promised us.  When we arrived there were lots of people, but no traditional dancing–mostly just groups sitting under tress discussing issues.

They promised dancing would begin in the morning.  Sun up and the wind started to howl and still no dancing.  We brought our contribution of 20 crates of pasta.The day wore on with promises of dancing in the evening.  We sheltered in the meager shade as the wind blasted us with sand.  We lay on our mattresses as the sand piled around us.  A field of dunes (erg) begins when sand starts piling up around a small plant or other obstacle.  It creates crescent shaped forms of sand known as barcane dunes.  These are the beginnings of a grand erg which can  extend for thousands of miles–the Sahara is made up of these.  As the sand piled up around me, I imagined myself as the beginning of a barcane dune.  The wind never died, the dancing never began and we decided to retreat to Tamesna a shelter for the night.

All dressed up and nowhere to go.

Spread the Word:

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • More
  • WhatsApp
  • Email

Category Cultural| Festivals| General| Mid Wife Training

Previous
Junior high in Agadez and Ingal
Next
Goodbye to Tamesna

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. diane marinos

    October 26, 2017 at 9:07 am

    what amazing experiences you are still having. I have fond memories of my time with you a few years ago. can’t recall the exact year but i was with Louise Porter and terry ???
    best wishes from California
    Fondly
    Diane Marinos

    Reply
    • leslieclark

      October 26, 2017 at 1:48 pm

      Diane, you may have seen among the last of the “real” festivals–from what I have seen the last two years, the Wodaabe are abandoning their beautiful traditions.

      Reply
      • Philip Whelan

        February 6, 2018 at 3:11 am

        It is a tragedy if the Wodaabe are indeed abandoning their traditions. Along with the Dogons and the Touareg, these cultures made a lasting impression on me when I was last travelling around the Sahel & made Saharan crossings. The homogenisation of cultures is a great loss in the modern world, & very regretful. Your work & efforts to support these communities is admirable & I wish you every success going forward.

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

How To Help

  • Sponsor Students
  • Tamesna Center for Nomadic Life
  • Cataract Mission
  • Motorcycle Repair Training
  • Traditional Birth Attendant Training
  • Drill the Well for Tamesna
  • Buy an animal for a nomad
  • Buy Jewelry
  • Sponsor a Matrone

Posts From the Field

Friends running for Office

Help for Iferouane Students, Artisans, Seamstresses and Matrones

Malaria

Mission 2020–The work goes on during the pandemic

COVID-19 mission to the nomads

Our first local training mission in Iferouane

Niger

niger

Footer

Stay in Touch

We send occasional newsletters about our projects, events and efforts.

View the Nomad Gallery site

The Nomad Foundation, a US 501(c) 3 Corporation

Tax ID # 20-8170046

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.