If you grew up before the 1960's, then you may remember your grandparents describing how they entertained themselves when they were young, before diversions such as radio and Monopoly forever changed the culture of children. One of the props for amusement was the Stick and Hoop. You chase a wheel around with a stick. By the 1920's already this must have seemed impossibly tedious and when we all heard of it, compared to options such as Television, it seemed like a marker for the Persistent Vegetative State. If you're under 40 or your memory performs reasonable housecleaning, you won't have heard the concept at all. (But of course, if you're the Internet, you know.) The Sahel is in a time warp. I saw lots of little children chasing wheels around with a stick. They had no notion of how bored they were.