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July 09, 2005

We heard the news about your village

I visited all my neighbours in Djibo yesterday on my return from Ouagadougou. Yakuuba, a thirty-something Fulani man who lives across opposite me, greeted me with a worried expression.

Min nani kabaaru wuro ma,' he said. 'Alla hoynu.'
'We heard the news about your village - may God help you.'

After a blank second or two, I realised that Yakuuba was referring to the London bombings. Many people here have still not heard about what happened, but those who have are shocked and sympathetic.

I was down in Ouaga on Thursday, so from midday onwards I had access to news online on news sites (such as BBC), weblogs (like the excellent Londonist) and moblogs (like this one). Weblogs are notorious for spreading rumours and exaggeration, but they also tend to be quicker to break news than conventional sources. Some London bloggers were posting the real reason for the evacuation of Liverpool street station long before the BBC news site abandoned the 'power surge' explanation put about by the authorities.

The London bombings are not unexpected but they are no less terrible for that. The message of my Fulani neighbours to Londoners is simple: 'We heard the news about your village - may God help you.'

Posted by sahelsteve at July 9, 2005 10:19 PM