Irene Abdou Photography, LLC - Travel. Lifestyle. Documentary. NGOs, Development & Public Health.

Thunder of Laughter / Mirth

Title: Thunder of Laughter / Mirth

Caption: Children in the Durumi area of Abuja, Nigeria crowd up towards the camera.

Keywords: Nigeria, abuja, african city, developing countries, impoverished, international development, poor, poverty, third world, underdevelopment, vulnerable, wealth, west africa

Children in the Durumi area of Abuja, Nigeria crowd up towards the camera. A young Fulani girl drinks "kunu" from a plastic bag while manning a fruit and vegetable table at a roadside market in Nigeria's Niger State. Kunu is a delicious millet drink spiced with ginger. Left: A woman in the village of Diagourou near Tera, Niger wears the traditional silver jewelry of the Fulani people. Right: Fishing villages co-mingled with tall palm trees line the beach between Benin's capital of Cotonou and the historic town of Ouidah. Women walk along the dirt road that connects Cotonou and Ouidah, carrying food and belongings on their heads. Zalika Amadou, daughter of the former chief of the village of Bele Kwara, sports the traditional facial scarring of the Fulani of Niger. The scarring is done with a razor blade, and charcoal powder mixed with cream is rubbed into the fresh wound to create the darkened effect. Left: A boy mans a small shop in the Grand Marche of Bamako, Mali that sells bootleg music and DVDs. Right: A woman sells bowls of tapioca in milk near the Grand Marche of Bamako, Mali. A young Fulani man sells oranges at a roadside market between Abuja and Gurara Falls, Nigeria. Dressed in her brightest, finest clothing, made-up, and wearing the hallmark silver coin jewelry of the Fulani of Niger, 9-year old Dicko readies herself to walk the five or so miles from her village to the town of Torodi. In Torodi, she will sell the fruit of the karey tree that she worked so hard to gather the past week. A Fulani man sells strips of cloth woven together into colorfully-patterned breakfasts in the market in Segou, Mali. A young Dinka man in a cattle camp near Akot, South Sudan keeps his AK-47 close. After generations of civil war, this photo illustrates the commonality of weaponry, even in remote cattle camps like this one. Yuma Dicko, a young Fulani woman from the Djibo region of eastern Burkina Faso, prays the afternoon prayer. More than half the population of this small, land-locked country is Muslim. A Dinka family sits amidst hundreds of cows in a cattle camp near Rumbek, South Sudan. A group of hunters, one carrying a bush rat kill, pass through Abuja's Millenium park on their way home at the end of the day. © Irene Abdou / The Image Works A woman lounges in front of this Chief's Palace in Abuja, Nigeria. Dinka youth from a cattle camp near Akot, South Sudan sing and beat their sticks together in time to the music. Hair died orange with cow urine, the youth have also smeared cow dung ash (the white marks) on their heads, faces, and bodies. Every Dinka male is a warrior. In this photo, these young South Sudanese men group together at an annual gathering in Rumbek's Freedom Square to select a new song for their warrior "age-set." An old Dinka man smokes a traditional pipe in Rumbek, South Sudan. A boy in the Fulani village of Senosa, near Djenne, Mali, stands in a sea of calabashes. The calabashes are made from gourd plants and will be sold in market. A young Fulani boy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso wraps a turban around his head in traditional nomadic fashion. The turban protects from the harsh dust and wind of the Harmattan season. These children are growing up in a Dinka cattle camp. Pastoralist cattle keepers, the Dinka traditionally live in cattle camps of hundreds or even thousands of cows. In post-war South Sudan, a young Dinka cattle keeper near Akot holds an AK-47 across his lap, as a little boy peeks out from behind a hangar. A Wodaabe Fulani woman and children from Niger visit the market area of a village near Abuja, Nigeria. The Fulani are traditionally pastoralists, crisscrossing the Sahel in search of water and green pastures. Young men from the village lead donkeys pulling carts of cooking ingredients, like baobab leaves, okra, and hibiscus, on the long road to Niamey, Niger. They will travel day and night 60 kilometers to the capital on a one-way, one-week journey. Fatimata Diallo comes from Eastern Burkina Faso, but has traveled to the capital, Ouagadougou, to visit relatives. She takes the opportunity of a brief respite from cooking and laundry to get her hair braided. A group of Dinka gather around a prized cow, proudly showing me its specially-shaped horns. The Dinka are traditionally cattle herders, owning hundreds or thousands of cows per family. Dowries (payment by a man's family for marriage to a girl) are also paid in cows, with a beautiful girl garnering a bride price of hundreds of cattle. A woman stands by the side of the road in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, her bicycle loaded with straw brooms for sale. A Dinka woman in Kotobi, South Sudan holds her child in her arms. A group of young Fulani in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso eagerly crowd into the house for a photo. One of them dashes back outside, only to reappear moments later with a radio, which she proudly displays on her lap for the world to see. Young women in Abuja, Nigeria paint their hands with henna. An elderly Touareg man lays his head on his arm during an afternoon nap in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. A Fulani family near Djibo in eastern Burkina Faso poses excitedly in front of its traditional straw house. Nomadic pastoralists, they live in "portable houses" made from woven straw mats that can be disassembled and assembled as they move with their cattle. Fishermen ply the waters between Cotonou and Ganvie in Benin. Ganvie, Benin, with some 3,000 stilted buildings and a population of 20,000-30,000 people, may be the largest "lake vllage" in Africa. In Ganvie, the population lives exclusively from fishing, building houses on stilts in and next to Lake Nokoue. Because the Dan-Homey religion prohibited attacks on communities living in the water, the village of Ganvie dates back to the 16th or 17th century, when it was built to protect people from slavery. Even Ganvie's fruit and vegetable market is on water!!! Fishermen ply the waters along Benin's coast, such as here in the capital city of Cotonou. Ganvie, Benin, with some 3,000 stilted buildings and a population of 20,000-30,000 people, may be the largest "lake vllage" in Africa. In Ganvie, the population lives exclusively from fishing, building houses on stilts in and next to Lake Nokoue. Because the Dan-Homey religion prohibited attacks on communities living in the water, the village of Ganvie dates back to the 16th or 17th century, when it was built to protect people from slavery. Ganvie, Benin, with some 3,000 stilted buildings and a population of 20,000-30,000 people, may be the largest "lake vllage" in Africa. In Ganvie, the population lives exclusively from fishing, building houses on stilts in and next to Lake Nokoue. Because the Dan-Homey religion prohibited attacks on communities living in the water, the village of Ganvie dates back to the 16th or 17th century, when it was built to protect people from slavery. Ganvie, Benin, with some 3,000 stilted buildings and a population of 20,000-30,000 people, may be the largest "lake vllage" in Africa. In Ganvie, the population lives exclusively from fishing, building houses on stilts in and next to Lake Nokoue. Because the Dan-Homey religion prohibited attacks on communities living in the water, the village of Ganvie dates back to the 16th or 17th century, when it was built to protect people from slavery. Fulani children pose in front of a market stall selling colorful woven blankets in Segou, Mali. A woman sells vegetables in the marketplace in Segou, Mali. Between Cotonou and Ganvie in Benin, boys of fishing families learn the family trade at an early age. In the town of Djibo in northern Burkina Faso, young "doohoobe" (people who sing "doohaali") dance in traditional fashion. The men and women each form a line facing each other, rhythmically shuffling towards and then away from each other. The women clap their hands and sing as the men "dooho," or sing a distinct, deep rhythmic chant. The man in the purple turban plays a calabash (a form of drum), as the other men hold "cabbi," sticks which are used when herding cattle. "Doohaali" is a distinct form of music practiced only by the Fulani in Djelgooji, a particular area of Burkina Faso. The young men in this image are the winners of a regional music and arts competition, going on to perform at Burkina Faso's 2010 "Semaine Nationale de la Culture" (SNC) in Bobo-Dioulasso. The women clapping at left are members of the community who have joined in the nighttime fun. The 12th biannual Salon International de l'Artisanat de Ouagadougou (SIAO) in Burkina Faso welcomed emerging and well-known musicians and dance troupes. This traditional dance group has won multiple awards, performing internationally in Africa and Europe. The DC Caribbean Carnival is held annually in Washington, DC. Launched by a large Caribbean-style parade with dancers in traditional Caribbean carnival costumes, the festival promotes and educates the community about Caribbean arts, crafts, and culture. The DC Caribbean Carnival is held annually in Washington, DC. Launched by a large Caribbean-style parade with dancers in traditional Caribbean carnival costumes, the festival promotes and educates the community about Caribbean arts, crafts, and culture. The DC Caribbean Carnival is held annually in Washington, DC. Launched by a large Caribbean-style parade with dancers in traditional Caribbean carnival costumes, the festival promotes and educates the community about Caribbean arts, crafts, and culture. The DC Caribbean Carnival is held annually in Washington, DC. Launched by a large Caribbean-style parade with dancers in traditional Caribbean carnival costumes, the festival promotes and educates the community about Caribbean arts, crafts, and culture. The DC Caribbean Carnival is held annually in Washington, DC. Launched by a large Caribbean-style parade with dancers in traditional Caribbean carnival costumes, the festival promotes and educates the community about Caribbean arts, crafts, and culture.