I love this boy's smile! You can see a green cloth wrapped around Samuel's right forearm because he broke his arm several weeks back when he fell out of a mango tree when he was picking mangoes. The cloth is doing nothing, except maybe reminding people that this arm shouldn't be used. At first it was wrapped in a splint made of wood and cloth, but I think its almost better by now. The little girl is his niece, Masitan. These 2 are my favorites in the village where I go to visit each week.
This is Fatoumata, a friend of the older daughters. One of the older daughters does foot henna as a way to make a little money. Women often get their feet decorated to go to a wedding. The traditional style involves cutting bandaging tape into thin strips and using it to make intricate designs. When all the tape is stuck on, they mix some kind of leaves with mud or something and apply that. Then some nasty chemical that smells like perm solution and burns goes on. The untaped part turns black. The whole process takes several hours. I did this once, it was with my mom when she visited in 2011. That once was probably enough for me. There is another style, a painting of flowers that is done with black hair dye. That is much quicker and easier, and I'll try that sometime if I get a chance.
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