Cynthia Samake with friends at a wedding

in Bamako, Mali.

Waxy orange flower growing on trees in

Malian landscape.

Barou Samake in front of painted house

at Tiebele, Burkina Faso

Fired pots ready for river transport

to Segou

Dyer shows off a wax-resist fabric, one of hundreds

she and her family have created.

Drum maker friend starts to stretch

goatskin over a wooden drum base; Bamako

Cynthia with her mother-in-law,

Ba-Mariam, Segou

Barou with a marionette character

from a traditional legend; Bamako, MALI

Cynthia and Barou Samake

Tuareg dancer with female relatives

singing and clapping, Timbuktu area

Dogon granary with ladder at left;

near Bandiagara.

Dogon dancers near Bandiagara Falaise

Some BTSA travelers pose

under the shade of an ancient baobab, Ende, Mali .

Two examples of traditional mud cloth or bogolanfini

--cloth dyed with iron-rich mud, near Segou.

Mudcloth artist paints colors onto a modern bogolanfini design; Segou

BTSA traveler helps the ladies paint

a house near Tiebele, Burkina Faso.

Skilled tailor pieces fabric for women's dresses;
Bamako.