I’ve been going through pictures from my last stay in Senegal. During my last week there I had taken some time to walk along the beach to the nearby
village about 30 minutes away. I have to say that each time I do this, I fall in love with this country a little bit more. My walk takes me through a small fishing village where there is always a flurry of activity. From building and painting new fishing boats, repairing fishing nets, washing goats and sheep in the rolling waves, playing soccer, splashing in the ocean and riding the waves on rice sacks filled with empty plastic bottles to groups of men and
boys enjoying tea brewed over coals in a makeshift tin stove, women preparing and cooking meals on the beach and always, without fail, massive amounts of beautiful African children playing on the beach. This is one of my favorite places to go. As I walked this time, I saw a group of young boys at the far end of the village running and criss crossing from ocean to the banks of the village, dancing and circling around other groups of children in their path before running off to the next group. As they got closer, I could
see their colorful costumes made of torn clothing and plastic and any other useful materials and their painted faces made from the powders of crushed rocks and clay and mixed with water (?). They were amazing……incredible actually, and as I stood there
watching I couldn’t help but think what a wonderful carefree day of pure creativity and play they were having. The imagination that went into their costumes and face paints filled me with life and happiness for them. That day they were playing Lion. They probably won’t know until they are much older, or far away from Africa, that these times….these days are the ones that life is all about. It’s a realization for me each time I am lucky enough to witness something like this that each day is a gift, meant to be lived to its fullest. One again……thank you Africa!
