On this anniversary of America's 9/11 attack, I can't help recall a story I heard from the tiny Bedik tribe tucked away in the remote southeast corner of Senegal.
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| My illustration of the Bedik story of bees killing attacking Muslims. Bedik tribe, Senegal, Africa. |
On my first journey to the Bedik, the village "historian" told me the story of how Muslims once attacked the tribe because they refused to be converted to Islam.
It was terrible. Many Bedik were killed in the attack. Out of desperation, the tribe prayed to their spirits for help. The spirits then sent bees, many bees, which killed the Muslim attackers. The bees saved the tribe. And they still refuse to become Muslim.
On my second trip to the Bedik, not long after 9/11, I heard the story again, this time from the chief.
Now, all these years later, I'm still trying to grasp similarities and differences between the Bedik story and 9/11.
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| Bedik village, Senegal, Africa. |
Faith that their spirits would help by sending bees, saved the Bedik.
America sent missiles. Will that be enough to save America?
