Designing a Place-Based Inquiry: Note 4

If you're just joining: this series documents the process of designing a 90-day place-based inquiry in West Africa, in real time. Start with the first post to follow from the beginning.

 Location. Last November, I met a woman named Isatou and spent the day with her. She introduced me to several other women. I watched how she interacted with everyone. The smile that reached her eyes, her beads clacking as her legs took long steps, her casual as-salamu alaykum to those around her.

After my day, I wondered what belonging looked like for women when culture and religion shape the rules of it. Isatou was the first glimpse. That’s why West Africa.