The TZ5A team in Mali for the 2005 CQWW CW contest took a day out after the contest to visit some local villages. We arrived at Kangaba – a typical Malian countryside village – mud-brick huts with thatched roofs, no electricity, no TV or radio.

A completely isolated village in the middle of no-where! They probably had rarely, even never seen foreigners, we were a source of complete curiosity to them; however they were very welcoming and wanted us to see their village. First though, we had to get permission from the village leaders.

The video clip below shows our arrival at the village.

We all sat around the wall in a big circle and introductions were done. Mr. Cissé (seen in the blue shirt and yellow scarf) was the government PTT man who had facilitated our licenses – he came with us on the trip and led the introductions. Following that, we were welcomed by a lady singing – as we understood it, the lady was singing about our visit – a bit like a griot recording the facts for posterity

Once the formalities were over, we toured the village and met some of the locals. It was a terrific, thought provoking experience that makes one silently ponder on western values.