Mali girl1

A few years ago I took a photo of this young peul girl. She carried a calabash with fresh cow milk on her head and was on the way to the market in a small village called Kani Kombolé to find a buyer for the milk. It was one of my favorite portraits of that year and also became one of my most favorited and popular photos on Flickr. A few weeks ago, in June 2008, I made another trip to Mali and hoped to meet her again. I brought a copy of the photo with me and with the help of some villagers in Kani Kombolé I managed to find her somewhere in the `brousse´, where she lived with her family in a small shelter made of straw. It was very special meeting her and her family and great to see her beautiful smile again. Most important that I finally got the name behind the smile. Her name is Mariem, the peul girl from Dogon country.