A thousand stories

"Travelling; it makes you speechless and then turns you into a storyteller" - Ibn Battuta

We walked up the dusty path, stones and dirt getting into my sandals, one hand holding my long skirt above my ankles to try and prevent it caking in dirt. A small grubby hand caught mine as it swung by my side and I looked down to see a shy smile tossed up in my direction before the little girl again concentrated on her steps – the path really being too narrow for two, but holding my hand seemed to be worth the hassle of being caught in briars and branches every few steps.

Her t-shirt said “Love is all you need” in confident large letters. I looked up the path we were heading along and thought perhaps it wasn’t all she needed. A school, would be nice. Maybe a health centre within half a days’ walk, so that she’d not have to live through more sibling deaths. Something to grow in this dusty barren land, so that her parents would have something to sell at the market, perhaps…

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I’m guest blogging for my friend Ellie today, in part of her “Travel Diaries” series, while she is off travelling herself. Click over there to read the rest of my post…