The gathering of Senegalese Muslims resembled a west African version of US-style summer camp: dozens of young men and women huddled under tents singing songs to the four-time rhythm of cow-hide drums against an Elysian backdrop of flowering baobab trees. Answering the call of the “Ndiguel” – the call to work – has become an important fixture for Mourides, a Sufi Islam movement whose doctrine of hard work as a route to paradise has made it a powerful economic and political force in Senegal.
Each year at harvest, thousands of disciples, from bankers to bus drivers, descend upon Khelcom fields, rising at 6am to pick peanuts under a blazing sun. The work is done on behalf of a local marabout – or religious leader – and the proceeds go to support local schools for poor youth.
