Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Sahara: Tuareg Woman Processing Goat Skin


In this 1970 picture taken in the Sahara’s AÏr Mountains of Niger, a Tuareg woman sitting in the shade of a thorn tree is processing a goat skin with vegetal tar to help it waterproof it. Her family will use it to hold its water and, every few days, to refill it and other goatskin bags at a distant well. Two water-filled goatskins hang from the tree   behind her.
   The processed skin will remain somewhat porous, allowing some water loss. At the same time, evaporation through the skin’s pores will maintain the water cool even in scorching heat.
   Though water is essential to the survival of the Tuareg, they camp far from wells. They camp where they find enough vegetation to feed their herds. So many herds are watered at wells that they don’t leave as much as a blade of grass standing over large surrounding areas.  Staying away from wells also protect the Tuareg’s privacy.
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