I Love This Country

There's nothing I love more than lying on my millet stock bed, in my mud house...with my stomach aching like crazy...going to my hole, err bathroom, every few minutes...feeling like I'm going to vomit. All this knowing I have to walk 2 hours the next morning to catch a bush taxi...to get to Niamey...to see my doctor. Too sick to cook I was eating up all the granola bars that just came in a care package from my dear Grandma. Oh, and Nigeriens pounding on my door all day and night Tuesday to greet and bless me on my health. And its 110 degrees. Amoebic Dysentery, Bacteria, and bleeding from the intestines, aka shitting blood. I love this country.

Other than thinking I'm dying, what have I been up to? A few weeks ago Barbara and Elyse came out to my village to help me paint a world map on my school. Went well, got the map painted. Unfortunately, when they were around my gas tank was having some problems, well not really working at all. So the solution? We cooked over a 3-rock stove. I kind of felt like a circus act as what felt like the entire village came to watch me cooking over fire. But we were still able to make pretty normal food: tuna samosas, zhatar bread, tortillas, potato chips. And since I just bought a dutch oven, I was able to make bread! My villagers were all doubting me when I was putting it in, but an hour later it was like magic- a loaf of bread came off the fire!



Anything else? I painted the door on my house lavender. My villagers are jealous and even want their door painted too. See new pictures I've posted. So, as soon as my stomach returns back to a normal state I'm getting out of Niamey and back to the life au village.

Another day in their life??

Well it's been a tough couple of days. When I came to Babagade just over a year ago my first morning I walked out my door and there was a baby naming ceremony, (ie baptism) in full swing. My neighbor, Ramatou, was the mom of a new baby, Umu. Since little Umu was born the same time I got to the village I often followed her growing up over the past year. We even celebrated her first birthday a few weeks ago.

This past week Tuesday afternoon as I was leaving my house another friend told me that i should go to see Ramatou as her daughter is sick. I don't think there was anything anyone could have told me to prepare me as I walked into her house for what I was about to see: Ramatou was holding Umu in her lap as Umu's eyes were rolling around and she was constantly moaning. As I choked back tears, Ramatou let me know that Umu had only been sick since the Tuesday before. Within 2 hours, Umu had died. Ramatou, probably in her late 30's, has given birth to 9 children, now only 5 are living.

The funeral was equally shocking. The men took the body almost immediately to bury in the cemetery. The women sat in the house and grieved while the men sat in a group outside. They grieved through the night and the next morning, but by 10 am or so it was back to life as usual. Not a single person shed a tear, including Ramatou. In fact, the women of my village told me that if Ramatou would have cried other villagers would have insulted her. Is that really fair, a women isn't allowed to cry over her own child's death? It was by far one of the saddest sights seeing a suffering child, but nearly equally shocking the way death is just another day in their life.

back to da bush

After being in Niger for a while, my sense of compassion became oddly dulled.... dirty, naked, hungry children, began to seem sort of normal, and the filth and frustration of the poorest country in the world seemed less shocking. Returning from America allowed me to see it with the eyes of the first world, again. The compassion in my heart grew in my first week as I saw the children's torn clothing( or none at all), their malnourished distended bellies, and their toys consisting of dead rats and cow dung as play-doh. Instead of seeing my friends, my home, I could see Niger for what it is: one of the poorest countries in the world. Seeing the poverty with fresh eyes had reinspired me and gave my projects a new importance.

Unfortunately...sometimes, I wonder if this place can possibly change. I received such a warm welcome when I returned from America, and I was excited to work on my projects. So just a few days after being back I tried to round up the men to do work with the gum arabic trees. After an hour, only 4 men came. What? In a village of over 1000 people there are only 4 capable men? The other men, all sitting around idly, even had the audacity to ask where the money is that I brought for them from America because "America has money."

So if "the developing world" continue to bring them food aid, water pumps, health care, etc. will they ever change and work for themselves or just keep on waiting?

Aside from my frustrations, it's been a great couple of weeks back in the village. I didn't sleep much, since everyone in the entire village came to greet me. Additionally, shortly after I got back my next door neighbor got married (bride: age 15, husband: age 30+?). The celebration brought lots of people from the area to my village, as well as three nights of blaring crazy music and 3 days of random people wanting to see my house. And what do you do at a Nigerien wedding? You eat! Dance! Give money!! Women sit around gossiping and every few minutes more food gets passed around. For 3 days. It was fun, and everyone was happy. With a new bride and groom they decorate the house and give them furniture, dishes, and hang cloth on the wall. The new bride even got a chandelier!





My projects have picked up, so I've been busy planting Moringa with the women, tapping gum arabic trees with the men, and working with the school for GLOBE (environmental education). About 2 weeks ago I figured out that only 1 out of 12 girls in the 6th grade class can read/write. The literacy reports say that about 15% of girls in Niger can read. But in the bush, i wouldnt be surprised if that number was more like 1-2%, as I don't know a single older woman in my village that is literate. What to do? I'm trying to organize a literacy group with the school girls. Sadly, they just don't have the time to come, since the parents make them stay home to get the housework done. I'm trying to figure out incentives to have them show up at my house....any ideas?

I also saw a piece of wildlife....

....a crocodile!! look closely

I'm in Niamey for a couple days to load up on project supplies then back to the bush on weds....