From Cote D'Ivoire village. She writes very well and describes Africa Like I have never seen before. I felt like I was back there on every page. Vivid and real. Her last phrase of this paragraph fascinated me and lead me to ponder a whole evening. It's about a village funeral.
"The wails subside, and three women carry out a tiny bundle. The old men stand in a line facing east, with the imam in white at the middle. He calls out a prayer in a clear tenor. Goutoumaya takes the baby and turns south, toward the cemetery. The men fall into place in single file behind him. The women follow. It's a long, tight procession, silent and quicker than the regular pace of village wandering. As we near the empty marketplace at the edge of Nambonkaha, the men stride on. As if a cord has snapped, the women curl off the path, the ones in front leading those behind to peel off to the side and find shade. Just as women don't kill the chicken for dinner, they don't go near the cemetery.
Woman's job is giving life; men take care of putting it to rest."
(Nine Hills To Nambonkaha: Two Years In The Heart Of An African Village. Sarah Erdman. Picador, 2003, Pg 191)
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