In 1975, Sufi spiritual guide Mohammed Lemine Sidina founded a village in this remote spot at the center of the West African state, naming it Maaden el Ervane, or "the deposit of knowledge" in the local Arabic dialect.

On a patch of fertile land overlooked by a small outcrop, Sidina built a community based on equality, fraternity, tolerance and hard work.

More than 20 years after the Sheikh's death, his legacy lives on.

"Here, there is equality. No caste, no race," said Djibril Niang, 70, who arrived from Senegal 50 years ago and never left.

"We are all brothers. If someone needs something, we all work together to help them."

Niang ended up marrying his spiritual mentor's daughter –- an interracial union "which was unthinkable" at the time, he said.

On the site of the oldest building in the village, Imam Taha Sidina recalled his father's vision for Maaden.

"Every evening, the community would get together to plan the next day's program—digging a well, creating a road, planting a palm tree," he said.

The village grew house by house.

Residents first built a small dam to retain precious water, then laid out fields, founded a school and set up a community clinic.

Hospitality is a central tenet of Maaden's philosophy, with a visitors' center welcoming, housing and feeding all who pass through.