I grew up watching a lot of TV. And I think that the impact that it had on me was greater than anyone could have expected. From all the hours of substance less TV I watched a few things have and continued to shape me.
Before I went to Mali I was discouraged that maybe there would be nothing new for me to discover and explore for myself; that the essence of Mali had already been communicated to me though my friends photos and stories and the growing media consciousness of the country. But how wrong I was.
Photos, stories or documentaries can’t school you on what the village smells like at dawn, how the community makes life work for each person or the mental fortitude it takes to sit on a hard wooded bench in a piping hot classroom and learn from a blackboard for 2 hours straight.
Photos of a sunrise is beautiful but so much richer when it takes you back to that morning; the bird calls, crisp air and smell of the fire that made that moment magical. Ernie Dingo was right in those NT tourism commercials...
