The Mohammed family arrived from Timbuktu . The French orientalist René Basset notes that in language of the Berbers, "tin" means "place" and "buqt" means "far away". "Tin-Buqt(u)" means a place almost at the other end of the world.
After their long and difficult four day bus ride to Bamako, the Mohammed's felt that they had in fact travelled from the "other end of the world". Mom, Dad and baby Abdalla are Tuareg , a mainly nomadic people who live in the semi-arid Sahel and arid Sahara in an area that overlaps with the modern nations of Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Algeria and Libya.
Abdalla ´s Mom and Dad spoke neither French nor Bambara and so the translators we had recruited were unable to perform their assigned task. As the Mohammed's however speak a Berber dialect of Arabic , I was enlisted to translate. With my limited Arabic, I explained the process to Dad, but giving his precious son up to the nurses was not something he was prepared to do. He kept saying, “he will cry”. In very broken Arabic, I assured him, as best I could, that Abdalla would be well cared for using the injunction "In Shah Allah" (with God's will) Those were the magic words! He handed me Abdalla so the nurses could examine him and take him to the operating room. All the while he clung to me until sedated on the table.
The surgery was quick and I was again enlisted to explain the medications, timing, the cleaning process for his wounds and that his mother must not breast-feed for three weeks. Abdalla's Dad was very thoughtful - wanting to get it right. He nodded that he understood each instruction and then repeated them to his wife to be sure she also understood. It was quite comical really, a combination of Arabic, English and hand gestures!
As Mali is an incredibly poor country, watches are a luxury many cannot afford. The Mohammed's were no exception. Improvising, we suggested following the times of the required prayers to administer meds. This too worked out quite well.
Obviously, Abdalla’s parents were immensely grateful to all of us, but as Abdalla left the hospital, I realized how grateful I was for having had the opportunity to meet and help this Malian family.