July and August...in Niger

I have been heading out to the neighboring Fulani village a lot recently. The Fulani are an ethnic group in Niger who normally live in small encampments out in the bush, far from a major road or town. They are semi-nomadic, herding sheep, goats, and cattle and selling milk and butter. There is a family out in the bush which I have befriended and I spend my time there just visiting with them and learning a bit of Fulfulde, their dialect. I recently began learning how to stitch the calabash covers which Fulani women make and sell. They use thin strands of palm fronds, some dyed red and black, and weave decorative designs to form a lid for the calabash which they use to store milk and grains.

Since it is rainy season I have been receiving eggs from my villagers on a regular basis which has been amazing. I have been making crepes, fried eggs, hard-boiled eggs, and omelets almost daily; a nice supplement to my limited Nigerien diet.

I began studying French not long ago and that’s been difficult but I’m slowly progressing. I have also begun teaching a couple villagers English so I tutor them every night after dinner. It’s amazing to think that there are grown adults who do not know how to read at all, even some who can’t read a digital clock. I guess for those who only farmed from the time they were children, it’s not so out of the ordinary.

The men are now out in the fields on a daily basis, usually from around 7am to 5pm, farming and weeding their fields. I have gone out on a couple of occasions, once to help thin the millet and once to actually farm. Both days I was out in the fields the entire day and I quickly realized how hard the work is, not to mention the extreme heat. I have such an appreciation for the effort that they have, especially during Ramadan when they are fasting the entire time that they are out in the fields. They planted two types of millet, one which is ready for harvest in three months and another which takes six months. The quick-harvest millet should be harvested very soon if the rains continue to be frequent. Once they begin to harvest, my villagers will be able to breathe easily again as they won’t have to worry about not having food from day to day.

I have been at the training site near the capital for the past couple of weeks helping to prepare the new group of education, health and decentralization trainees for life at post. It has been a lot of fun hanging out with this new group since they are so full of energy and ready to get out into the fields and work. It has been a refresher for me not only because I am eating amazing food on a daily basis (although the newbies probably think differently about the meals) but also because I have become really motivated again after hearing them get excited about post. It is also neat to see things from the flip side as I was in their shoes only one year ago. I can’t wait to head back to the bush and get some more projects under way.

I guess that about sums up my life for the past little while. Hope all is well back in the states and you all aren’t too sweaty and hot. Just remember no matter how hot you get, it’s just a little bit hotter and a whole lot sweatier out this way! Keep in touch.

Niger, kala suuru...

A few weeks ago I was greeting some villagers in their concession when I noticed a young mother holding a severely malnourished child. It was her son who is around 14 months old who has a severe form of malnutrition called kwashiorkor. I counseled the mother on the importance and urgency of taking the child to the health center but in the meantime making oral rehydration solution to stop the child’s diarrhea and a healthy weaning porridge to give the child much needed nutrients.
After a couple of days the mother had made neither so I had a meeting with the family and decided that I would escort the mother and child to the health clinic. That morning, another villager had the woman and child get on the back of his bicycle and I rode mine the 11km to the health hut in a neighboring village. I went in to see the doctor along with the mother but as soon as he saw the child he said that there was nothing he could do for him, that the child needed to be referred to a larger health facility that worked specifically with malnourishment.
The next step was another family meeting where I explained to the parents and grandparents that if they did not take the child to the Dosso hospital immediately than he would surely die. They gathered enough money for the bush taxi ride and the mother, grandfather and child left the next day.
For Nigeriens who live out in the bush, a hospital is something completely foreign to them. They normally give birth in the village and get their medicine from a traditional healer.
A week after they had left for Dosso, I traveled there to check up on the child. The mother was still very nervous and wary about being at the hospital and said that her son had not recovered at all. This was not the case as her son had completely stopped throwing up and having diarrhea. The hospital staff provided medicine for the child, food for the family and a place to sleep, all free of charge. I was able to get a doctor to come and explain to the mother the importance of being at the hospital for the child’s sake, even if it took six months for the child to recover which is normally the recovery time for severely malnourished children. I basically told the mother that the child would most certainly die, and soon, if she did not stay at the hospital. I headed back to the village but promised to return in a week to check up on the child again.
Six days later I was hanging out in the village when someone told me that Rabi, the mother, had returned with her child. I was completely distraught and could not believe that after only 13 days they returned to the village when the doctor told them that they would need to stay for several months. Once again I had a family meeting where the grandfather told me that they tried but the baby wasn’t recovering so they ended up going to a traditional healer. They received a certain tree bark which they were supposed to pound into a powder, mix it with water and have the child drink it and bathe with it; this was supposed to cure the child’s malady.
So it goes in the village and in Niger, but I have to have patience and effort and continue to encourage the mother to make healthy porridges for the child; not the recommended solution but better than millet alone. All I can do is hope and pray for the best for Issufu, the poor little boy.

Hey guys, I know it’s been a good while. I’ve been in my village for the better part of two months I think…it’s hard to keep track of time when you’re in the bush. I have been here for over a year now which is hard to believe! Just wanted to update you all on life in Niger…

I spend a few days in the village before heading down to Gaya for my 23rd birthday! Not the first birthday spent out of country but the first in Africa. At least I was able to spend it with some friends. Nothing crazy of course but I enjoyed myself. When you’ve been here for a while you really come to appreciate the blessings in your life, and another year is something to be grateful for.

Village life has had its ups and downs lately. I have recently spent time out of the school trying to finish up all of the painting before the school year begins. I was able to paint all of the windowsills as well as the doorframe. I also painted the exterior of all of the school windows (which are metal) as well as the door a royal blue so now it can be seen from a long way off. It looks great!

An NGO (non-governmental organization) sponsored by UNICEF and USAID came through my village recently to give out food aid to mothers with children aged 6-36 months. I was asked to be the liaison between the villagers and the NGO. The NGO was extremely unprepared for the distribution. Half of the volunteers were speaking to my village women in French, which of course they did not understand a bit. They had not separated the oil, sugar or flour into separate bags beforehand so it was not until after dark when they were actually ready to begin the distribution: one liter of palm oil, one kilo of sugar and 1/3 of a sack of an enriched corn/bean flour mixture per child. Somehow I was given the responsibility of holding the empty bags while they poured the oil into them. About 15 minutes in, a bag burst and an entire liter of oil spilled down my arm, shirt and pants all the way to my feet, but all I could do was grab another bag and keep on going. They rushed through the distribution and then left my village around 11pm, as soon as it was finished. The biggest problem was the fact that they never explained what the women were supposed to do with the food. In reality it was supposed to be used to make a nutritious weaning porridge for young children. The next day I had most of the women coming to ask me what to do with the flour since they had no clue that the flour, sugar and oil were to be used together to make a porridge. In effect, it was the children who suffered as the adults ate the sugar, oil and even flour. I did my best to teach my villagers to make a porridge but I saw many of them eating and feeding their kids the dry flour. It was a perfect example to me of how a potential life saving distribution of aid can be detrimental if the recipients are not educated in advance. “Kala suuru” or “have patience,” as they always say here.

On a positive note, I finally planted a rainy season garden and a few trees in my concession. I planted all sorts of vegetables including tomato, cucumber, basil, corn, hibiscus, beans, pumpkin and lima beans. I built a short fence around my garden in order to keep out goats, chickens and guinea fowls along with curious children. Most of the seeds have sprouted and are doing well. The eggplant that I planted last cold season has begun to bear fruit and I have already eaten a few!

Rainy season is going great and the millet and corn is growing taller and bigger everyday, which the villagers are very grateful for. It has been great for me too as the day after the rains are usually overcast and not hot and the nights are cool and comfortable. More to come very soon…take care, best wishes from Niger.