January 16, 2004

The 2002 Festival in the Desert was not only a highlight of the year, but of the lives of the Afropop Worldwide producers and fans lucky enough to participate. This year, our core team did not make the Festival. We pass on this preliminary report from Andy Morgan, a prime mover behind the Festival in the Desert over the past three years. His report focuses on the tragic death of Hamou Ag Hamid, the leader of Toureg Tours, without whom many festival goers would never have arrived at Essakane. Afropop Worldwide would like to express a special appreciation for Hamou and his organization, and a great sadness at the news of his death. Here is Andy's letter.

Dear All,

I came back yesterday from the Festivals in Essouk and Essakane. Essouk was just raw and rootsy, with only local Touareg acts playing (apart from Blackfire) in an absolutely epic setting north of Kidal. Essakane was blessed with some maginificent performances by Habib Koite, Afel Bocoum, Baba Salah, Tinariwen, Blackfire, Dimi Mint Abba and Ali Farka Toure. However it was also marred by organizational difficulties. Time permitting I will try and send you all a fuller report sometime soon.

The pros and cons of the Festival are all rendered insignificant however by the tragic news that Hamou Ag Hamid, the manager of Touareg Tours, was killed in a road accident near Duentza on the way back to Bamako from Timbuktu after the Festival. One of the Touareg Tours drivers, Mohammed Lamine, a gentle giant with a happy joyful nature, also died in the crash. I'm still waiting for news about another two passengers who were allegedly also travelling in the same car.

Whatever the shortcomings of Touareg Tours itself, I'm sure that most of you who have actually come into direct contact with Hamou in the past would agree that he was a very sweet man, with a calm, gentle nature and a good-humoured generous soul. During a brief stay in Bamako just before the New Year, Hamou showed me that generous side to the full and I was able to get to know him better. I was with him at Timbuktu airport on the afternoon of Jan 12th, desperately trying to the BBC crew off to Bamako by plane. Everyone was exhausted and tempers got fraught. Hamou stayed calm and helpful throughout. We hardly managed to say goodbye to each other properly in the rush. The next day I heard that he had died.

Please pass this news onto to anyone else who might be concerned or interested.

Many thanks, Andy Morgan.