This is a drawing I made about 2 weeks ago. She is the grandmother of my children,  known as Mèr Khouma (mother Khouma).  She lives in Dakar, Senegal and is the light and soul of the household. Apart from being very caring and warmhearted she is incredibly funny! During our visit I remember many nights when she’d have the whole house in bits. Grandchildren  rolling on the floor, all of us laughing so hard tears would be running down our faces!

I love how, in Senegal (and many other places in the world), people at a certain age will get the title mother, father, grandfather or grandmother  whether you have children or not.

Age is celebrated, the older generation still enjoys respect from the young, they are still seen as a valuable source of wisdom and guidance.

People care for each other ‘together’. So if an elder sees a young person doing something bad they are allowed (and expected) to talk to the young person.

Here in the west, having lived in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands I can safely say peoples attitude in general is: mind your own business. So if a bunch of kids are being disruptive, only their parents are expected to do something about it. That is tough!

Here is another drawing I made with the topic ‘Family’

Thanks for visiting! Back on Monday 🙂

Love, Salam

Isabella

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EDIT  9 April 2016  Thank you for featuring my drawing on your Instagram account @passion_photo_senegal