Cheik Fadel ' le bonne homme du Sahel"
It is time for Cheick Fadel ! Cheik Fadel ” aka Fernandel” – le bonne homme du Sahel !
I have created this site also for the ones who have worked, socialized, suffered, danced, laughed, cooked for me, talked through the nights, had meals with me, opposed, helped, invited, fought me, shouted at me, explained, hugged me, gave me presents, listened to music with me, worried, cared for me – and simply became my friends. Yes this is possible! The most beautiful thing about development work is that true friendships can develop and will and that is why I have added a very personal note to this blog.
Not only did Cheick Fadel have a great sounding, melodic name – who could resist carrying such a name! Not me! His name is somehow music and so is the whole man. Cheick was born and bred in Nara, a true man of the Sahel. His family has lived there for generations and still is. He worked for the project for several years as ” the field agent for community gardens programme” that was aligned with the Conservation and Management of the Natural Resources Sector.
What else did we do in Nara? Well, we did basically everything. That is the nature of ” holistic village development programmes” .
Cheick Fadel on tour in Kabida Bambara
Cheick Fadel ” toured” the community garden sites with a 500 Yamaha XT off road bike day after day. We all had a moto cross bike but I think he developed a special relation with his bike. No wonder considering the time he spent in the bush with “her”. He “sensibilised” the people in the villages, showed them how to grow vegetables, supervised the installations of new community gardens and did a trillion of other tasks, always radiating happiness and content.
And he fought a very personal and raging fight against the natural predators, ravaging the pampered gardens in great numbers every year.
Cheik Fadel going to war against the predators
It has to be said that ” la lutte contre les predateurs” ( pest control)- at times turned into a war. And I really don’t know where he got the gas mask from. It was there before I came.
And his favourite place to do after hours work was of course ” Kouame” !
I was invited so many times to his place and we listened to tapes on his tape recorder he had bought on the market in Bamako. Cheik Fadel introduced me to Malian music and to many other aspects of Malian culture and tradition.
Nara - La Saheliènne 