FROM “HOW THEY SEE TO HOW THEY EAT”, RUKA PERU by DANIEL MALKA
YOUR WAY TO HELP THE CHILDREN OF RUKA HAVE BETTER NUTRITION
THANKS!
THE DANIEL MALKA PHOTO PROJECT
FROM “HOW THEY SEE TO HOW THEY EAT”, RUKA PERU by DANIEL MALKA
YOUR WAY TO HELP THE CHILDREN OF RUKA HAVE BETTER NUTRITION
THANKS!
THE DANIEL MALKA PHOTO PROJECT
In the land of opportunity, simplicity is seen as poverty, culture is a luxury, beauty is associated to wealth, which in turn fuels envy, selfishness, vanity, and true poverty.
Going to the Sahara Desert made me realize that the white picket fence is a purchased, embellished and fabricated illusion of happiness and accomplishment, a statement of arrogance, fake success, hypocrisy and monotony; a desert without oasis, where true humanism will never grow, and its soil will only continue to produce poverty, envy, loneliness and violence.
In the land of simplicity, flowers grow from rocks and sand, there is no need for a white picket fence.
Suddenly, my thoughts, body and feelings were submerged in a soft yet powerful wave of harmony and forgotten peacefulness.
The colors, light, the skies, the music, the drive, the mix of emotions and the feeling of belonging in a very foreign and forgotten place, became the perfect ingredients to create a state of absolute serenity and contemplation.
As I stood, observing and absorbing the timeless and otherworldly beauty of my surroundings, I was mirrored by these scenes of people simply standing there and contemplating as well.
We had reached the city of Ouarzazate, the door to the Sahara Desert, where one could be satisfied for a moment by stopping time and watching the scenery bathing itself in the light of a sunset or a sunrise.
I concluded that these figures observing peacefully the landscape, were driven by faith, peace, simplicity and their ability to take nothing for granted.
I want to thank them for helping me find the way out of my cave. Those of you who know me personally will
understand the meaning.
For everyone else, you can just pause for an instant and ask yourselves; how many days of our lives are spent in the chaotic land of absurdity waiting for life to happen while life is going by.
The road from Erfoud to the dunes is short, or so it seems.
The land becoming dryer and more sandy.
I see the road sign, I ask Hassan to stop.
The air is warm and dry.
I ask Momo the meaning of the exclamation mark.
Danger from all directions he says.
Ironic but true I answer, the road to Freedom
Is often very dangerous.
I hear the silence,
Only matched by the stillness
Of the giant waves of sand.
My feet planted in the heavy
Orange and healing dust,
I open my eyes and soul.
No camera can do justice
To such immensity, softness, charm
And magical attraction.
As the sun goes down,
The sky honors its host in
A dance of shapes and colors.
From its face in motion,
The divine sky extends an arm,
A hand of friendship.
The welcoming message of
Peace and Harmony is clear.
We will be one forever.
He is walking along the trail.
We offer him a ride.
He sits next to me silently.
He signals to stop.
He gets out of the car.
Says something to Hassan.
Comes back running with two loafs of bread out of the oven.
He hands me one and another one to Momo.
He smiles, brings his right hand to his heart and bows slightly.
He runs back to his family.
Berber hospitality.
He is walking along the road, lute in hand.
I ask him to play something.
He crouches, plays, and starts singing.
I am on my way back.
This is how my journey ends.
Or does it.
Inspired by a forgotten world,
I was able to reach deep into my own forgotten self,
Find my simplest values of life and humanism;
My true white picket fence.
Although life sometimes brings many losses,
There is always music around us,
A reminder that no matter what,
The Voyage must go on.