SAHARAN SUSURRUS

Unending, undulating tales and ululations from Sahelian sands...

By Saharan Susurrus

October 1^st, 2014

provenance

It would be impossible to provide photographic (or genetic) proof of when and how it all began, but let's just agree that many centuries ago, I must have been born under a "saw saw" tree, the sand my first cradle, at the teat of a mother's breast and dromedary.

kel tamasheq ties

Of this I am convinced through the assouf I felt pulse through my veins the moment I heard the music of Tinariwen. The sense of their DNA in my essence is palpable with every beat of the tende, every stroke of the imzad, and oh, those ululations in prayer and song feel as vital and natural as my own beating heart. The moment I heard their music, especially Abdallah's voice, I found myself frozen, far away, ancient/new/renewed all at once. The dormant DNA had been beckoned.

you are finally going home

Thus, I take to the east: direction Sahara.

Beckoning to get back to my international development roots. Beckoning to make good on "If you can do good, do." Beckoning to follow a heart that had been longing to find its way home.