I’ve always heard her voice from a distance but never seen her before. She was on the other side of the wall in between our rural homes. A week had passed, then one windy morning, as I was just waking up, she came around from the back of her traditional hut and finally came to say hello.
She has rarely seen a foreigner around here, as they called me ‘Tu Bap’ (white man) in their neighbourhood. She heard about me from her daughters and was elated to finally meet. I was too as she had this quiet presence, a shy energy and a beautiful spirit.
She stood there for while, silently just watching me, as I was the main attraction for most of the villagers there, and the moment I smiled and said good morning in her native language, Wolof, “Subha Sang Fi?” (How is your morning?), she was overwhelmed, with a big laughter and excited to get closer.
We had a few moments of connections and smiles, she held my hand, looked deep into my eyes and touched me as part of her own family. She asked where I came from. I asked about her family. We laughed for no reason as we were both excited. I asked if I could take this portrait of hers, so we could keep this moment as part of our memories forever.
She was my beautiful native neighbour.
(Karang Village | Senegal)
