The weight of sand

They are fishermen. For the Bozo people from the region around the city of Mopti in Mali, fishing on the Niger has always been their main source of income and livelihood. They share a spiritual bond with the river. But now climate change is being felt here too: water levels are low, and only a few fish get caught. As a result, many families leave their villages to become “sand fishers” in the capital, Bamako. The city has an insatiable hunger for cement and sand. The sand from the Niger’s riverbed is perfectly suited for this purpose. "Water gives strength, but also life and death" — such is an ideogram of the Bozo. With their only tool being a bucket they painstakingly unload their boats and transfer the sand to the waiting trucks which quickly race off and deliver it all over Bamako. It’s a laborious, barely profitable job—and yet the only chance. They are to struggle for survival. A Sisyphus tale.