Copyright 2000
by Phillip Martin
All rights reserved.
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The Welcoming Committee

Selling water to go

OUAHIGOUYA  xSomeone I met said this place was as big as Bobo Dioulasso. xHowever, the farther we drove, the more barren and desolate things became. xI couldn't imagine another Bobo. xI was right.

Ouahigouya was a dry, dusty, town complete with buzzards. xI found a ride on the back of a truck that same afternoon and was glad not to have to stay in that dust bowl.

I thought things were desolate before Ouahigouya. xIt was an absolute wasteland outside of town. The truck detoured off the main road but I wasn't sure why.x In the middle of nowhere, not on any sort of road, we had a flat tire. xI figured we'd spend the night in one of the villages with igloo huts made of sticks. xI stayed in the corner of the truck trying to sleep and not breathe dust.

Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, we by-passed the checkpoint at the Mali border. xWhy? The truck was smuggling goods into the country.xNothing like drugs. xNo, we had mattresses.