First Andrea and then the Islamist Problem...

Writing once more from a paracetamol induced twilight zone.  The blasted cold has returned in force today because last night Baba and I had to go on a rescue mission at sunset and into the night on our motorcycles looking for my friend Andrea, the Brazilian Amazon who went riding on Petit Bandit at 4.30 last night: by 6.15 pm she had not yet returned.

 Baba and I went crashing through the bush almost as far as Diabolo as night was rapidly falling, asking every stray person we met: women carrying faggots home to prepare for their evening meal or home ward -bound Fulani shepherds with their flocks: ”Have you seen a Toubabo Muso on a horse?” Noone had. In my mind I was  already making plans as I was bumping along the path behind the great clouds of dust from Baba’s motorcycle: one for how to proceed if  if she turned out to be dead: I would  contact the Brazilian ambassador straight away and he would have to sort it ; I would get the telephone number through Eva (my friend the Swedish ambassador). Another plan was  forming simultaneouly for if she wasn’t dead but badly injured. In that case Ace and I would bundle  her into the old Mitzubishi  pick- up and take her to Mopti hospital. I decided that it would not matter that there were no papers for the pick -up and that normally we can’t travel anywhere where we might be stopped by gendarmes asking annoying questions such as: where is your Carte Grise? (The ownership papers. There are none, but that is another long story for another time...) I have always thought that in an emergency such as the one last night it would still be possible to travel to the hospital in  Mopti or Bamako  in the old pick- up: if we were stopped I would just bark-“let us through! There is a dying Toubab in the back!” In my opinion the gendarmes would not put up any resistance...

Since our search was proving fruitless and since darkness was profound by then, we eventually  turned back. 

When we arrived at the hotel we found the blasted girl sitting in the bar  quite safe and sound sipping a ginger juice!  “Oh, I was having such a nice time! We went so far into the bush in one direction that at sunset I realized that it would take at least three quarters of an hour to return! And I forgot to bring my telephone...”

Of course; maybe I shouldn’t have worried too much. I knew Andrea had grown up in the saddle on a large farm in the south of Brazil after all. So we became friends again and even started to plot: why doesn’t Andrea buy a mare and then we can go riding together and also see if there might not be a foal by Petit Bandit? My donkey family seems to be multiplying but however lovely Betty the donkey foal is, it is not quite the same thing... I would love to have a real foal at Hotel Djenné Djenno after all these years and all these horses!

All the above was just a pre-amble actually in order to explain why I am writing in a state of feverish semi-stupour. Therefore it may well be that I am not going to be able to express exactly what I would like to say. But it needs to be said today so I will have a go...two things, really:

I have not had either time or a connecton good enough to follow exactly the debate that is raging at the moment in the news and in the social media regarding the shocking Charlie Hebdo event. Therefore what I am about to say may well have been said already. I know for instance that there was an article in the Times (which I have not read) but the gist of which seems to be: this would never have happened in the UK because British journalists and cartoonists would never have gone that far in their provocation of the Muslim radicals. Now this is an interesting question: Should this be regarded as cowardice or simple good manners, not wanting to offend?  Did the cartoonists perhaps go too far? I have not made up my mind of  what I think about this...

Nevertheless; all  educated liberals of the world stand  united in our  condemnation, and this must be so and it is good. Everyone is  falling over themselves trying to make the differentiation between ‘proper Islam’ and these murderous ‘Islamists’.  I too in my little way here in Djenné have decreed that the theme for the calligraphy competition at the library next week (sponsored by MaliMali) is “Islam: a Religion of Peace”; and the texts that have been chosen for the calligraphy have been chosen in the Koran to reflect this theme.

The Muslim communities of the world have spoken their condemnation of this event via many religious leaders and via their imams in many cities of the world. But I don’t think that it  is enough! The “real “ Muslims of the world, all those that abhor the behaviour of the Taliban; Al-Quaida ;  Isis ; Boko Haram et al need to form an energetic movement for peace in order to show the world that their Islam has been hi-jacked. It cannot be left to the liberal masses of agnostic post-Christians to fight the politically correct battle for Islam! Get yourself together and save the face of your own religion- we may help you as well as we can in the name of peace and understanding but if you want to save the reputation of your religion it is YOUR duty to do so with more vigour than you do now!