Day 84
As I embark on this 84th day I reflect upon where the impetus for all this began. An act of good will to attempt to reconcile the hatred of the world. Lofty, I am well aware. Key word is ‘attempt'.’ Just as the potential for good in people is great, so is the capacity for the destructive and the cruel. A few years ago, I befriended a young man named Bikima in the village of TImbolo, (Mali) north west of Timbuktu, where the great guitarist Ali Farka Toure called home. In 2016, with the help of the community, this brave young man built a two room school house to educate young children of the Tuareg nomads. For three years, he did just that. Seeing updates and pictures of bright children smiling and learning was a real treasure and a huge lesson in how much privilege we take for granted here in Canada. There would be intermittent stoppages for desert sand storms, militia and political violence but always the educating would go on.
The school was burnt to the ground yesterday. No one was injured as they are on break until October, but that level of cruelty is just overwhelming.
I am dedicating today’s session to hope and warm thoughts for all those children and families in that tiny village and in any place of turmoil, and especially to my friend Bikima whose efforts do not go unnoticed.
Be kind to each other, to yourselves.
