"Go on, get out now. Go to the capital, go to your aunt. The village is cursed. Don't ever come back here."… — Véronique Tadjo

Colonizing space with enormous rockets will almost certainly not be a lifeline for them. For if they haven't learned to live here, how can they possibly survive in the distant Beyond? (XV)

Humans today think they can do whatever they like. They fancy themselves as masters, as architects of nature.

What one does is never enough. I don't want this challenge we're facing to defeat us. I want to do my bit, I want future generations to understand how hard we fought to stop the triumph of the unacceptable. (V)