A land of contrasts, Mauritania exists at the inter­section of the Arab-Berber Maghreb and sub-Saharan, black Africa, and is shaped by both cultures. Once the home of pastoral nomads, it has been transformed by drought into a country whose population of 3.5 million is now concentrated around its cities and towns.
Environmental conditions pose huge challenges for those who remain in the interior. Here, though, a member of a women’s agricultural cooperative in the Assaba region displays a melon grown in a small but carefully tended garden. The image evokes joy, possibility, and the tenacity of hope.
Photo © 2003 Lauren Goodsmith
Associate Volunteer, Mauritania 1989-1990