Boukary Konaté, Malian blogger

Boukary Konaté. Source: Deutsche Welle, 2012

Boukary Konaté, teacher, blogger, story teller, "defender of Malian culture," passed away on Sunday 17 September - too soon (age 40) - due to a critical health condition that deteriorated rapidly. He was laid to rest the next day, yesterday, in Bamako.

I did not know him well, having made his acquaintance via Twitter, where he went by the handle @Fasokan (which means "language of the homeland" in Bambara). Although we never met in person, I appreciated his work and contributions to communicating Malian culture and using the Bambara language on the web. Boukary's production - writing mainly but also photography - and work in the field touched many people.

Here are some tributes from friends and associates who knew him well, along with some news items (this list will be amended over the next few days):

• "À Boukary Konaté," Renaud Gaudin, Medium, 17 Sep. 2017 
• "Boukary , le village se réveillera sur l’espoir…," Fatouma Harber, Les Nouvelles du Mali : Le Blog de Faty, 18 Sep. 2017
• "Hommage à Boukary Konaté alias @fasokan," Lamine Ndaw, Dakar-Echo.com, 18 Sep. 2017
• "Hommage à notre Observateur Boukary Konaté, grand défenseur de la culture malienne," France 24 - Les Observateurs, 18 Sep. 2017
• "In memoriam : pour Boukary Konaté, le meilleur d’entre nous," Boubacar Sangaré, Mondoblog - L'Etudiant Malien, 18 Sep. 2017
• "In Memory of Boukary Konate," Phil Paoletta, Phil in ____ (blog), 18 Sep. 2017

On the matter of serious illness in poorer countries

Boukary Konaté died due to a liver condition that was not identified early enough for effective treatment (despite a late effort to collect funds to permit his evacuation to a country where appropriate surgery could be done). Such a situation can affect anyone anywhere, but the possibility that better equipped health service in Mali might have made for a happier outcome is cause for some reflection. We have benefited from Boukary's presence, but his early departure would probably not have been necessary in a more just world.

Ala ka hinε a la!