The Tuareg bride, Assalama, sits silently as female relatives and helpers make sure that every hair is perfect for the first day of her wedding celebration. Such attention is new for the bride, who is only 15 years old and who has spent most of her time tending her mother's goats and sheep. The Tuareg are nomads, and it was only by chance that she was reunited with her 25-year-old cousin Mohamed a month earlier. Just back from five years working in Libya, Mohamed spotted Assalama as she drew water from a well. "I knew from that moment that I wanted to marry her," he says. Wasting no time, he asked for her hand, she accepted, their families approved and wedding plans began.