Secondly there is a huge MaliMali disaster in London:   the sandals Adama and I worked on for more than two weeks  in Bamako have been rejected by the smart Kensington  shop that ordered them as not being good enough. I have had to return the money and thirty pairs of sandals are sitting in London.  I bear the lady of the shop no grudges, but am of course sorry about what was clearly a misundertanding and a case of misplaced expectations. We worked extremely hard on these shoes and spent a lot of money getting them produced and sent. I think they are lovely. However, it is not Gucci quality clearly, and certain rough edges are unavoidable if you work with a local cobbler at the Artisanat of Bamako.