Voices from the Sahel

This film is about the practical dilemmas of people living in a harsh environment. For people in the Sahel and Sudan zone, mobility has always been an important way to cope with the insecurities and hardship of the environment they live in. Hardship is often caused by climatic circumstances: drought and irregular rainfall. The stories they tell about their lives and the difficulties they encounter often feature migration to other places. Some move from the north to the south of Mali. Some, like the Dem family, eventually stay in the north but make expeditions to other regions. For others, like the Sankare family, life becomes too strenuous and they decide to move to the south where they ultimately stay, as life there offers more economic opportunities than life in the north. However, especially for women, the migration experience leads to feelings of being ill at ease, in spite of the fact that migration brings more economic security. Even those returning to their home village seem to be at a loss. Recent findings show that migration is becoming an ever-important strategy to survive in the Sahel countries. [Abstract reproduced from dvd-video]