MALI -
The Last Salt Caravan
a film by Marion Mayer-Hohdahl
Dur: 27'25''
T/C NARRATOR INTERVIEWS
10.00.00PICTURES START
00.18 Mali in north-west Africa. Once ruled by a mighty dynasty and one of Africa's wealthiest countries - today it is one of the poorest in the world. This is a land-locked country with three thirds of its territory within the Sahara desert. Over 10 million people live here, many of whom make the desert their home.
1.06 This is Timbuktu. A city of ancient legends. In the Middle Ages this was a blossoming centre of trade and culture in the Sahara desert. But today, Timbuktu has sunken into insignificance.
1.24 However, it is still an important centre for the ancient trade in salt blocks. The salt originates from Taoudenni, a desolate place 700 kilometres away in the north of the country, close to the Algerian border.In the past a kilo of salt was worth the same as a kilo of gold but those days are long gone. Although salt from the desert is still highly sought after and a basic requirement for survival. All animals and people need salt, especially when they sweat as much as they do here.
2.02 This is just the place to pick up a driver and guide. Ali has just returned to Timbuktu. He has light skin and comes from the nomadic Tuareg tribe. The 1990's have been a turbulent time for these peaceful people. They revolted against the Mali government and fought the army for five years. Only in the last couple of years did peace really return.
2.27 Ali was driven out of Timbuktu when eighty thousand Tuareg fled to neighbouring countries. He's glad to be home, but he won't be staying put. He knows the desert like the back of his hand, travelling for years with the camel trains back and forth between the salt mines in Taoudenni and Timbuktu.
2.45 Preparations for the trip to Taoudenni are underway.
2.50 Everything is neatly packed for each camel but the animals must be woken up and prepared for the arduous journey which lies ahead.
3.07 To prevent the camels running away, one of their front legs is bound up high - not particularly pleasant for the animal, but very effective.
3.22 The driver keeps a safe distance from the camel’s foul teeth while bridling the animal, for fear of catching a bite.
3.36 But as soon as the camels are linked together, they appear to resign themselves to their fate.
3.54 Babeya Sidi Hamed (pronounced Babia) has been in the caravan business for 25 years. For him and his two helpers, it's all routine. It takes half a day of preparation before a caravan can set off on the 700 kilometre trek through the desert. It is a long, hard trip, but for Babeya it is a tradition.
4.19 These animals are used to carrying loads, it is what they have been trained to do, but they fight against the ordeal on every occasion.
4.31 Babeya is lucky. He's sold another block of salt shortly before the journey is to start. In Timbuktu it’s sold for 5’000 African francs - about £5 - twice as much as you'd pay if you bought it at the salt mine.
4.48 Finally, it's goodbye to the camel caravan. The 35 camels are loaded up with rice, tea, sugar, firewood and fodder. The caravans can travel in December and January. But in a couple of months time temperatures will reach 50 degrees Celsius in the shade - too hot to move.
5.10 Despite the harsh nature of this profession, more and more young people are taking it up - simply as jobs are so scarce.
5.19Babeya Sidi Hamedcaravan leader We always have a bit of money left over after bartering salt against grain, rice and other things. So, with this we manage to survive.
5.33 Babeya is from the Maure tribe, an Arab Berber and the camels belong to him.
5.40 Shortly after leaving Timbuktu his caravan crosses another fully laden with salt blocks, which has just made it back from Taoudenni, travelling almost non-stop for 40 days.
5.56 Close to the start of the trail a nomad camp lies along the caravan route. Nomad women are extremely self-sufficient and make most of what they need themselves. They wear their hair drawn to the front of the brow and plaited into a knot.
6.16 To prepare food, goats milk is shaken back and forth in a leather bottle until it starts to thicken. The nomads, happy to have visitors, offer hospitality and green tea.
6.40Mahamud Saibunomad leader I love the way we live. The only time things were hard, was during the civil war. They took away my goats, and often also my camels - and simply slaughtered them.
6.55Baké Saibuwife of nomad leader We have problems when the children are sick. We don’t have any medicine or drugs - except sometimes a little quinine to fight against malaria. Mostly those who are sick don’t survive.
7.07 Nomads won’t say how many animals they own. They round them up only after they have found what fodder they can. An owner can tell his camels by the markings on their necks. If a camel dies in the desert the tribe has to leave its load whilst they carry on. No other nomad who comes across the goods will touch them.
7.43 Caravans which are on their way to Timbuktu come one after the other. An adult camel can carry up to four salt blocks - a load of 120 kilos or more, the equivalent of two adult men.
7.59 At night camel dung is burnt as fuel. The flames are a useful source of warmth and dinner is cooked over this. Nights here can be bitterly cold and there is little protection from the elements.
8.13 Each morning at sunrise, the ritual begins.
8.18 Grumbling and bellowing, the camels try to prevent their heavy loads being strapped on. Most have spent the night on three legs and are bad-tempered about their fate.
8.32 Then, from dawn to dusk the drivers and their camels are on the move.
8.46 Skeletons and bodies are witness to the often deadly price of crossing the desert.
8.52 During the day guides and traders use the sand ripples and the forms of the dunes for orientation, as well as the traces of thousands of camel trains which have trodden the same route. At night it’s easier - as the stars show the way.
9.13 At last, the first water well. Camels can survive for 14 days without water. During extreme temperatures they lose a quarter of their body weight ...after many days on the march an animal can drink 130 litres of water in one go. They perspire at a higher temperature than humans - 46 degrees and the water they gather up is stored deep in their bodies - although contrary to popular belief not in their hump, which is in fact fat.
10.02 Araouane is a rest station, 220 kilometres north of Timbuktu. Every morning the children collect the camel dung. Here there are no trees, no firewood - nothing but sand.
10.21 But, Babeya is at home here. He’s brought food with him from Timbuktu. The women know this, and honour him with drumming and singing. This village used to be popular with tourists before the Tuareg uprising.
10.39Babeya Sidi Hamed Araouane used to be a lot more prosperous. The Americans had a hotel here. Now, there are only the caravans. The rebellion ruined everything. We hope the Americans will come back. Many people will be forced to leave here because they can’t earn enough money.
11.09 A sheep is slaughtered and grilled over camel dung. This only happens on special occasions. Araouane has lived off the caravan trade since the 16th century. It’s the only village north of Timbuktu before reaching the Algerian border.
11.40 Before Mali's civil war tourists who were fascinated by the nomad culture of the desert used to come here. Ali spent 4 years as a desert guide showing the tourists his way of life. A hotel was built and trees were planted. But in 1990 all that was over.
12.01Ali Oueld Bayedesert guide Once there was peace, I finally came back here. This is my home. My father and mother are buried here. They will always be here.
12.23 Outside Araouane lived a revered Muslim prophet. No Tuareg or Maure neglects to say his prayers at this point. They pray for a safe journey without obstacles. Babeya’s son joins the caravan here. He is going to work at the salt mines in the most God forsaken place on earth.
12.46 And the caravans continue to pass. As evening draws on they have been on the move for 12 hours.
12.55 And this is Taoudenni. For three long months Baba, Babeya's son, will quarry salt here.
13.03 His uncle and cousin have already been here for several months, hacking the salt blocks out of the ground
13.10 Baba came to Taoudenni for the first time five years ago, when he was just fifteen. His home, whilst he remains here, is made out of salt blocks. It keeps neither the wind nor the cold out during the night.
13.30 The miners are supposed to have the salt ready when the caravan arrives. The caravan driver will wait for his salt blocks, but in these conditions, every day counts for both man and beast. Baba will remain until the summer, when the heat becomes unbearable.
13.50 Every worker in the salt mine has a contract with a buyer in Timbuktu or with the caravan owner. The buyers pay for the workers' food during their time at Taoudenni. Baba has it better than most as he works for his father.
14.12 About 6’000 years ago a huge inland lake existed here. The water came from the Niger river and the salt which is now quarried here is a remnant of that time.
14.24 Every mine first must be dug three to five metres deep before good salt can be quarried.
14.35Baba Oueld Babeyason of caravan owner I don’t know how they manage to have the strength to get the salt blocks out. Q: What do you do?I can only move the rubble away.
14.47 Increasingly, black men are found in the mines, descendants of the former slaves of the Tuareg. They do the hard work. First they hack away the salt layer on the surface. The second layer is 40 centimetres thick and only useful for building houses. The first five layers are poor quality, then comes the salt which is highly prized.
15.12 All the equipment is made here and material is paid for with salt.
15.18 Every salt layer of quality has a name. First comes "the white", then "the daughter", "the top beauty" and then "the beautiful". The working conditions here are inhuman. The salt eats into the skin of the workers. There’s no shade and the sun burns without mercy.
15.47 The caravan owner owns every fourth salt block, or else it belongs to the buyer who has sent the workers here. A worker can only leave his place of work if he can pay his advance back in salt. But where would he go? Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, and jobs are hard to come by.
16.13Baba Oueld Babeya Salt workers often die here. We don’t have any medicines and the water is salty too. We have to buy drinking water every day.
16.22 Salt from Taoudenni is much more prized than sea salt, and supposedly better for man and beast. But the sacrifice is high - skeletons of animals surrounding the salt mines are witness. As are the miners' swollen hands and stomach cramps. Nearly everyone here has diarrhoea - caused by the high salt content in the water.
16.48 Bori Binbarka and his son Ali belong to the Bella tribe. The Bella used to be slaves. Officially, slavery in Mali is forbidden but Bori, along with most of the other workers in Taoudenni, is totally dependent on his employer and lives in conditions of bonded servitude. They quarry salt out of the mines for nine months of the year without seeing their families.
17.12Bori Binbarkabonded labourer We have nothing. We are constantly dependent upon the wealthy. I have to borrow money and work it off through the month. My family also has to live. Every time I go back to Timbuktu I have nothing left over. We work like slaves.
17.32 The salt miners are totally dependent for their food. Everything is sent by the caravan owners in Timbuktu and exchanged against salt. Sometimes a goat survives the desert crossing and is used for milk. All the miners lose weight while they are in Taoudenni. Losing 15 kilos is not unusual.
17.52 For hundreds of years caravans have been trekking across the desert. The word "caravan" comes from Persian and means protection of trade. Often caravans were formed as protection against attacks by robbers. Larger caravans meant the owners were stronger and their trade routes more secure.
18.19 The camels resist once again, as if they know that they will now be underway for weeks on end.
18.40 The salt blocks are laid against alpha grass to protect the animals' skin. Camels are by far the most highly performing beasts of burden. In the 14th century the rulers of Mali became the richest people in West Africa because of salt. When the emperor of Mali was on his way to Mecca he sold all the salt and gold he had brought with him, depressing the price of gold for several decades.
19.11 Baba helps with the preparations for the return journey to Timbuktu. But he will remain here and continue quarrying.
19.24 On the road again.
19.48 Others are also on the move. These are Peul nomads. They keep Zebu cattle which distinguish them from other tribes.
20.02 The Peul nomads consider themselves light skinned - like the Tuareg.
20.06 The Zebu cattle carry the entire household, including the structures for tents. But as beasts of burden, they are not always as successful as the camels.
20.30 This is a camp of Tuareg refugees who’ve returned to Mali now that the civil war is over. When the Tuareg rebelled against the government they demanded autonomy, but the army hit back mercilessly. For five years, the entire northern half of Mali was an impassable war zone. 80’000 refugees have slowly been trickling back since 1996 - and have returned to a completely different life. During the civil war they lost all their herds.
21.05Ahmedou Ag AbdellaTuareg chief The civil war destroyed everything, our life, our traditions. We want to be settlers here because our ancestors are here - we belong here.
21.24 For two weeks they’ve been digging a well, without knowing if there is any water underneath. The Tuareg once had slaves to do this work for them. They were once proud. The twentieth century has not been kind to them. A terrible drought in the 1970’s and 80’s meant that many families lost their herds and their lives. They became impoverished. That's when they let their slaves go as they could no longer feed them.
21.57 Two caravans now cross one another. This one is taking alpha grass - fodder for the animals - to the salt mines at Taoudenni. The other is returning to Timbuktu, laden with salt…
22.14 After 1’400 kilometres of desert, Timbuktu is a real paradise to those arriving back. Trade in the market place is flourishing. The words of the caravan song were inspired by the relief of returning here. "Caravan of suffering,caravan of thirst,now I know the price of salt.Taoudenni, you are the devil's hell!"
22.41 Now the great slabs are broken into domestic blocks according to need. Salt here trades for twice as much as in Taoudenni.
23.02 But for some Timbuktu brings not relief but rather bad memories. Ali's house from which he fled at the start of the war still stands empty. Everything has been destroyed. His son and brother were both killed here. Ali and the rest of his family managed to escape.
23.23 His family is still in a refugee camp in neighbouring Mauritania. He hopes to go there soon and bring them back home.
23.35Ali Ouild Boye Agid Before, we all used to work together. There was always something to do. My heart is still sad. Today there’s peace, but who knows if there will be war again tomorrow.
23.52 In these tented villages live those who have perhaps profited most from the drought of the last decade and from the recent civil war. Mali's former slaves - the Bella. Many of them are now independent and have abandoned their former masters. But, they are not totally self-sufficient - the land still belongs to the Tuareg.
24.18 In the old days, many of the Bella used to work in the salt mines. Now they live together - generally on the outskirts of the town. The Bella want to own their own land and obtain their freedom.
24.34 The men till the earth, digging holes for planting. They will struggle to water the fields with one of the tributaries of the Niger river. Half of the small harvest must still go to their Tuareg "masters".
24.49Moussa Ag Insoudjaye We are being exploited. We have to work for others. They own all the fields. We can only just survive. The Tuareg still treat us like second class citizens - like their slaves.
25.04 The last rice of the season is being harvested. And harvesting here is man’s work.
25.16 The women beat the bushels to separate the chaff from the rice grains.
25.33 The village celebrates the end of the harvest season. They dance, sing and thank Allah for standing by them, protecting them and giving them a good harvest.
25.54 At Timbuktu’s harbour they are loading and unloading goods from the many ships that stop here. Food comes from the south, and salt from the north. Timbuktu is the most important trade centre for salt. From here it’s distributed to the rest of Mali. Entire families live from this trade.
26.41 The slabs are loaded onto the boats which sail down to Mopti in the south.
26.54 From there, the salt will be transported on the backs of donkeys to neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria.
27.04 At present, there is a great shortage of salt which makes the white gold from Taoudenni highly prized indeed.
27.25 ENDS
CREDITS:
Reporter: Marion Mayer-Hohdahl
Camera: Jean-Pascal Bublex
VT Editor: Danny van Vuuren
Translation: Jennifer Pagonis
The Last Salt Caravan
a film by Marion Mayer-Hohdahl
Dur: 27'25''
T/C NARRATOR INTERVIEWS
10.00.00PICTURES START
00.18 Mali in north-west Africa. Once ruled by a mighty dynasty and one of Africa's wealthiest countries - today it is one of the poorest in the world. This is a land-locked country with three thirds of its territory within the Sahara desert. Over 10 million people live here, many of whom make the desert their home.
1.06 This is Timbuktu. A city of ancient legends. In the Middle Ages this was a blossoming centre of trade and culture in the Sahara desert. But today, Timbuktu has sunken into insignificance.
1.24 However, it is still an important centre for the ancient trade in salt blocks. The salt originates from Taoudenni, a desolate place 700 kilometres away in the north of the country, close to the Algerian border.In the past a kilo of salt was worth the same as a kilo of gold but those days are long gone. Although salt from the desert is still highly sought after and a basic requirement for survival. All animals and people need salt, especially when they sweat as much as they do here.
2.02 This is just the place to pick up a driver and guide. Ali has just returned to Timbuktu. He has light skin and comes from the nomadic Tuareg tribe. The 1990's have been a turbulent time for these peaceful people. They revolted against the Mali government and fought the army for five years. Only in the last couple of years did peace really return.
2.27 Ali was driven out of Timbuktu when eighty thousand Tuareg fled to neighbouring countries. He's glad to be home, but he won't be staying put. He knows the desert like the back of his hand, travelling for years with the camel trains back and forth between the salt mines in Taoudenni and Timbuktu.
2.45 Preparations for the trip to Taoudenni are underway.
2.50 Everything is neatly packed for each camel but the animals must be woken up and prepared for the arduous journey which lies ahead.
3.07 To prevent the camels running away, one of their front legs is bound up high - not particularly pleasant for the animal, but very effective.
3.22 The driver keeps a safe distance from the camel’s foul teeth while bridling the animal, for fear of catching a bite.
3.36 But as soon as the camels are linked together, they appear to resign themselves to their fate.
3.54 Babeya Sidi Hamed (pronounced Babia) has been in the caravan business for 25 years. For him and his two helpers, it's all routine. It takes half a day of preparation before a caravan can set off on the 700 kilometre trek through the desert. It is a long, hard trip, but for Babeya it is a tradition.
4.19 These animals are used to carrying loads, it is what they have been trained to do, but they fight against the ordeal on every occasion.
4.31 Babeya is lucky. He's sold another block of salt shortly before the journey is to start. In Timbuktu it’s sold for 5’000 African francs - about £5 - twice as much as you'd pay if you bought it at the salt mine.
4.48 Finally, it's goodbye to the camel caravan. The 35 camels are loaded up with rice, tea, sugar, firewood and fodder. The caravans can travel in December and January. But in a couple of months time temperatures will reach 50 degrees Celsius in the shade - too hot to move.
5.10 Despite the harsh nature of this profession, more and more young people are taking it up - simply as jobs are so scarce.
5.19Babeya Sidi Hamedcaravan leader We always have a bit of money left over after bartering salt against grain, rice and other things. So, with this we manage to survive.
5.33 Babeya is from the Maure tribe, an Arab Berber and the camels belong to him.
5.40 Shortly after leaving Timbuktu his caravan crosses another fully laden with salt blocks, which has just made it back from Taoudenni, travelling almost non-stop for 40 days.
5.56 Close to the start of the trail a nomad camp lies along the caravan route. Nomad women are extremely self-sufficient and make most of what they need themselves. They wear their hair drawn to the front of the brow and plaited into a knot.
6.16 To prepare food, goats milk is shaken back and forth in a leather bottle until it starts to thicken. The nomads, happy to have visitors, offer hospitality and green tea.
6.40Mahamud Saibunomad leader I love the way we live. The only time things were hard, was during the civil war. They took away my goats, and often also my camels - and simply slaughtered them.
6.55Baké Saibuwife of nomad leader We have problems when the children are sick. We don’t have any medicine or drugs - except sometimes a little quinine to fight against malaria. Mostly those who are sick don’t survive.
7.07 Nomads won’t say how many animals they own. They round them up only after they have found what fodder they can. An owner can tell his camels by the markings on their necks. If a camel dies in the desert the tribe has to leave its load whilst they carry on. No other nomad who comes across the goods will touch them.
7.43 Caravans which are on their way to Timbuktu come one after the other. An adult camel can carry up to four salt blocks - a load of 120 kilos or more, the equivalent of two adult men.
7.59 At night camel dung is burnt as fuel. The flames are a useful source of warmth and dinner is cooked over this. Nights here can be bitterly cold and there is little protection from the elements.
8.13 Each morning at sunrise, the ritual begins.
8.18 Grumbling and bellowing, the camels try to prevent their heavy loads being strapped on. Most have spent the night on three legs and are bad-tempered about their fate.
8.32 Then, from dawn to dusk the drivers and their camels are on the move.
8.46 Skeletons and bodies are witness to the often deadly price of crossing the desert.
8.52 During the day guides and traders use the sand ripples and the forms of the dunes for orientation, as well as the traces of thousands of camel trains which have trodden the same route. At night it’s easier - as the stars show the way.
9.13 At last, the first water well. Camels can survive for 14 days without water. During extreme temperatures they lose a quarter of their body weight ...after many days on the march an animal can drink 130 litres of water in one go. They perspire at a higher temperature than humans - 46 degrees and the water they gather up is stored deep in their bodies - although contrary to popular belief not in their hump, which is in fact fat.
10.02 Araouane is a rest station, 220 kilometres north of Timbuktu. Every morning the children collect the camel dung. Here there are no trees, no firewood - nothing but sand.
10.21 But, Babeya is at home here. He’s brought food with him from Timbuktu. The women know this, and honour him with drumming and singing. This village used to be popular with tourists before the Tuareg uprising.
10.39Babeya Sidi Hamed Araouane used to be a lot more prosperous. The Americans had a hotel here. Now, there are only the caravans. The rebellion ruined everything. We hope the Americans will come back. Many people will be forced to leave here because they can’t earn enough money.
11.09 A sheep is slaughtered and grilled over camel dung. This only happens on special occasions. Araouane has lived off the caravan trade since the 16th century. It’s the only village north of Timbuktu before reaching the Algerian border.
11.40 Before Mali's civil war tourists who were fascinated by the nomad culture of the desert used to come here. Ali spent 4 years as a desert guide showing the tourists his way of life. A hotel was built and trees were planted. But in 1990 all that was over.
12.01Ali Oueld Bayedesert guide Once there was peace, I finally came back here. This is my home. My father and mother are buried here. They will always be here.
12.23 Outside Araouane lived a revered Muslim prophet. No Tuareg or Maure neglects to say his prayers at this point. They pray for a safe journey without obstacles. Babeya’s son joins the caravan here. He is going to work at the salt mines in the most God forsaken place on earth.
12.46 And the caravans continue to pass. As evening draws on they have been on the move for 12 hours.
12.55 And this is Taoudenni. For three long months Baba, Babeya's son, will quarry salt here.
13.03 His uncle and cousin have already been here for several months, hacking the salt blocks out of the ground
13.10 Baba came to Taoudenni for the first time five years ago, when he was just fifteen. His home, whilst he remains here, is made out of salt blocks. It keeps neither the wind nor the cold out during the night.
13.30 The miners are supposed to have the salt ready when the caravan arrives. The caravan driver will wait for his salt blocks, but in these conditions, every day counts for both man and beast. Baba will remain until the summer, when the heat becomes unbearable.
13.50 Every worker in the salt mine has a contract with a buyer in Timbuktu or with the caravan owner. The buyers pay for the workers' food during their time at Taoudenni. Baba has it better than most as he works for his father.
14.12 About 6’000 years ago a huge inland lake existed here. The water came from the Niger river and the salt which is now quarried here is a remnant of that time.
14.24 Every mine first must be dug three to five metres deep before good salt can be quarried.
14.35Baba Oueld Babeyason of caravan owner I don’t know how they manage to have the strength to get the salt blocks out. Q: What do you do?I can only move the rubble away.
14.47 Increasingly, black men are found in the mines, descendants of the former slaves of the Tuareg. They do the hard work. First they hack away the salt layer on the surface. The second layer is 40 centimetres thick and only useful for building houses. The first five layers are poor quality, then comes the salt which is highly prized.
15.12 All the equipment is made here and material is paid for with salt.
15.18 Every salt layer of quality has a name. First comes "the white", then "the daughter", "the top beauty" and then "the beautiful". The working conditions here are inhuman. The salt eats into the skin of the workers. There’s no shade and the sun burns without mercy.
15.47 The caravan owner owns every fourth salt block, or else it belongs to the buyer who has sent the workers here. A worker can only leave his place of work if he can pay his advance back in salt. But where would he go? Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world, and jobs are hard to come by.
16.13Baba Oueld Babeya Salt workers often die here. We don’t have any medicines and the water is salty too. We have to buy drinking water every day.
16.22 Salt from Taoudenni is much more prized than sea salt, and supposedly better for man and beast. But the sacrifice is high - skeletons of animals surrounding the salt mines are witness. As are the miners' swollen hands and stomach cramps. Nearly everyone here has diarrhoea - caused by the high salt content in the water.
16.48 Bori Binbarka and his son Ali belong to the Bella tribe. The Bella used to be slaves. Officially, slavery in Mali is forbidden but Bori, along with most of the other workers in Taoudenni, is totally dependent on his employer and lives in conditions of bonded servitude. They quarry salt out of the mines for nine months of the year without seeing their families.
17.12Bori Binbarkabonded labourer We have nothing. We are constantly dependent upon the wealthy. I have to borrow money and work it off through the month. My family also has to live. Every time I go back to Timbuktu I have nothing left over. We work like slaves.
17.32 The salt miners are totally dependent for their food. Everything is sent by the caravan owners in Timbuktu and exchanged against salt. Sometimes a goat survives the desert crossing and is used for milk. All the miners lose weight while they are in Taoudenni. Losing 15 kilos is not unusual.
17.52 For hundreds of years caravans have been trekking across the desert. The word "caravan" comes from Persian and means protection of trade. Often caravans were formed as protection against attacks by robbers. Larger caravans meant the owners were stronger and their trade routes more secure.
18.19 The camels resist once again, as if they know that they will now be underway for weeks on end.
18.40 The salt blocks are laid against alpha grass to protect the animals' skin. Camels are by far the most highly performing beasts of burden. In the 14th century the rulers of Mali became the richest people in West Africa because of salt. When the emperor of Mali was on his way to Mecca he sold all the salt and gold he had brought with him, depressing the price of gold for several decades.
19.11 Baba helps with the preparations for the return journey to Timbuktu. But he will remain here and continue quarrying.
19.24 On the road again.
19.48 Others are also on the move. These are Peul nomads. They keep Zebu cattle which distinguish them from other tribes.
20.02 The Peul nomads consider themselves light skinned - like the Tuareg.
20.06 The Zebu cattle carry the entire household, including the structures for tents. But as beasts of burden, they are not always as successful as the camels.
20.30 This is a camp of Tuareg refugees who’ve returned to Mali now that the civil war is over. When the Tuareg rebelled against the government they demanded autonomy, but the army hit back mercilessly. For five years, the entire northern half of Mali was an impassable war zone. 80’000 refugees have slowly been trickling back since 1996 - and have returned to a completely different life. During the civil war they lost all their herds.
21.05Ahmedou Ag AbdellaTuareg chief The civil war destroyed everything, our life, our traditions. We want to be settlers here because our ancestors are here - we belong here.
21.24 For two weeks they’ve been digging a well, without knowing if there is any water underneath. The Tuareg once had slaves to do this work for them. They were once proud. The twentieth century has not been kind to them. A terrible drought in the 1970’s and 80’s meant that many families lost their herds and their lives. They became impoverished. That's when they let their slaves go as they could no longer feed them.
21.57 Two caravans now cross one another. This one is taking alpha grass - fodder for the animals - to the salt mines at Taoudenni. The other is returning to Timbuktu, laden with salt…
22.14 After 1’400 kilometres of desert, Timbuktu is a real paradise to those arriving back. Trade in the market place is flourishing. The words of the caravan song were inspired by the relief of returning here. "Caravan of suffering,caravan of thirst,now I know the price of salt.Taoudenni, you are the devil's hell!"
22.41 Now the great slabs are broken into domestic blocks according to need. Salt here trades for twice as much as in Taoudenni.
23.02 But for some Timbuktu brings not relief but rather bad memories. Ali's house from which he fled at the start of the war still stands empty. Everything has been destroyed. His son and brother were both killed here. Ali and the rest of his family managed to escape.
23.23 His family is still in a refugee camp in neighbouring Mauritania. He hopes to go there soon and bring them back home.
23.35Ali Ouild Boye Agid Before, we all used to work together. There was always something to do. My heart is still sad. Today there’s peace, but who knows if there will be war again tomorrow.
23.52 In these tented villages live those who have perhaps profited most from the drought of the last decade and from the recent civil war. Mali's former slaves - the Bella. Many of them are now independent and have abandoned their former masters. But, they are not totally self-sufficient - the land still belongs to the Tuareg.
24.18 In the old days, many of the Bella used to work in the salt mines. Now they live together - generally on the outskirts of the town. The Bella want to own their own land and obtain their freedom.
24.34 The men till the earth, digging holes for planting. They will struggle to water the fields with one of the tributaries of the Niger river. Half of the small harvest must still go to their Tuareg "masters".
24.49Moussa Ag Insoudjaye We are being exploited. We have to work for others. They own all the fields. We can only just survive. The Tuareg still treat us like second class citizens - like their slaves.
25.04 The last rice of the season is being harvested. And harvesting here is man’s work.
25.16 The women beat the bushels to separate the chaff from the rice grains.
25.33 The village celebrates the end of the harvest season. They dance, sing and thank Allah for standing by them, protecting them and giving them a good harvest.
25.54 At Timbuktu’s harbour they are loading and unloading goods from the many ships that stop here. Food comes from the south, and salt from the north. Timbuktu is the most important trade centre for salt. From here it’s distributed to the rest of Mali. Entire families live from this trade.
26.41 The slabs are loaded onto the boats which sail down to Mopti in the south.
26.54 From there, the salt will be transported on the backs of donkeys to neighbouring countries such as Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria.
27.04 At present, there is a great shortage of salt which makes the white gold from Taoudenni highly prized indeed.
27.25 ENDS
CREDITS:
Reporter: Marion Mayer-Hohdahl
Camera: Jean-Pascal Bublex
VT Editor: Danny van Vuuren
Translation: Jennifer Pagonis