Mariana van Zeller

The sun was just starting to come up.

And we are met by a group of military.

They're all there and they don't want us to leave.

They start creating problems.

They start saying that we don't have the proper documentation.

And then back and forth.

And Kader, my friend, the manager of the airport, is also there.

And suddenly Kader takes the reins and starts literally yelling at the military, which is very risky for him too, and trying to convince them that the papers are in order, that we need to leave, and basically doing us an enormous favor and trying to help us.

And eventually they decide, OK, everybody can leave except for we had a fixer, the producer, local producer, who is actually from Mali, from the neighboring country, who is with us and helping us.

And they said, everybody can leave except for the Malian guy.

And that's when I called my husband and I said, hey, Darren, I'm so sorry.

Everybody's going, but I'm staying.

I'm sending the team with the gear, everything, but I'm staying with this guy.

And I'm in tears.

I'm thinking.

I get emotional still talking about this.

But for me, it was the failure of me as a mother to making this decision.

And it was really, really hard thinking, yeah, I'm not going to be there.

Most important day of the year for my son.

And again, I'm feeling him.