Its floor is concrete too. The women charged with overseeing it remind neighbors that they'll be fined if they walk on the concrete in shoes. On the well casement an artist has painted pictures showing how to purify the water. Since few people here can read, the pictures are necessary, says Gueye the translator. Driving from Kerou to Bamako, then further south on a two-lane road, a visitor watches the landscape change drastically.
Dust replaces sand.
The countryside begins to green up a bit. This could be the breadbasket of Mali. The fields of corn, millet and vegetables hint that the soil is fertile. Mile after mile, cotton grows on one side of the road and cattle graze on the other. At Salamale, about 80 miles south of Bamako, the change is obvious.