My lovely sou-chef Fatou gave birth to a baby daughter yesterday morning at 4am. She was still working in the kitchens at Djenné Djenno until ten pm the evening before because we had a full house with lots of dinner guests. The following morning she failed to show up to provide the delicious rice cakes which is our breakfast speciality. Instead she called me from the maternity ward and I hurried over to see her and the new-born which has no name yet.