Soon after his bath, three-year-old Mamadou earns a reprimand as he climbs over his father, Soumana Natomo, who is trying to listen to a soccer game on the family radio. In the village of Kouakourou, Mali, on the banks of the Niger River. Published in Material World, page 19. The Natomo family lives in two mud brick houses in the village of Kouakourou, Mali, on the banks of the Niger River.