Spirit tells Bedik women to take care of the spring
Chief Jean Keita told me this story about how a spirit surprised the village women:
"Some time ago, maybe about a year ago, our women went to the spring to fetch water. But the women did
not take care of the place. They were spoiling the water.
"One day when they went there they saw into the water a face. A white face. A bearded face. They were afraid. They rushed back home. They came to tell me what they saw.
"When they arrived, I asked them: 'What did you see?'
"They said, 'We saw a white face on the water.'
“Are you sure it was not your own faces? Did you bend down and see your own faces?
“'No.' the women said.
"Then I knew certainly it was one spirit, maybe the spirit in charge of water who wanted to come and tell
them to take better care of the water.
"From that day, the women and the whole population tried to take more care of the place. Since then, they
have seen nothing more."
Bedik tribe, Iwol village, Senegal, Africa