GOING TO CHURCH

November 16, 2008

So, for the first time in what seems like years, I went church. Well….let’s say that it is a very interesting experience to go to church in a predominantly Muslin country. Surprisingly there are quite a few churches in Zinder where I live, four or five I think, which is quite a lot considering how small the Christian population is. I accompanied a friend of mine who wanted to start a Sunday school pen pal program with the children from the Sunday school class of a friend of her parents in New Mexico. The children sent her letters but since they was so filled with Christian references, she wanted to seek out Christian children for them to correspond with because she felt that was more appropriate.

Well, the first thing we noticed when we entered the church was that the men sat on one side of the church, the children in the middle, and the women on the other side. This was very surprising for me because Christianity does not dictate the separation of the sexes in worship. It was surprising to see that they were performing a Muslim practice in a Christian church. I was definitely not expecting that. The person who I accompanied told me that she went to a Catholic church in Niamey, the capital and it was not separated by gender.

The separation of the sexes just made me start to think about how cultural and religious practices can become so entwined that they are so difficult to untangle. Islam is pervasive in Niger and has been here for a relatively long time. So many Islamic practices have become so “native” and cultural that even people who are not practicing Muslims still seem to adhere to them because they are such as embedded part of the culture. I could see no reason for the separation other than it was such a common practice in Niger mainly linked to the practice of Islam.

Another interesting thing that I noted was the fact that the women were dressed no different than the Muslim women. While I expected them to have on the traditional African head wrap, (it is very customary for women in Africa to wear head wraps irrespective of religion) I did not expect that most of them would still wear the veil, which in Niger is like a large shawl that women wear over their head and shoulders. Many Muslim women will wear it over their traditional head wrap. Others wear the traditional Muslim head dress like we see in the United States, and some wear either a half or a full Hijab, which for lack of a better description I will describe as a large sheet-like head covering.

As for what I experienced today, it confuses me a bit so I will have to pose many questions to one of the congregants who work at the same place that I do. It will be interesting to see what his answers will be.

SO I HAD A GOOD DAY…

November 15, 2008

Cold season is upon us here in Niger so I decided to go to the market with a friend on mine to go shopping in the “dead man” section of the market. Ok, so let me explain what is the “dead man’s section” of the market. Do you know those clothes that you donated to the Salvation Army or to some charity that asked you to donate yours or your children’s clothes to clothes needy Africans? Well, that is the dead man section! The dead man section is composed of all the clothes that Americans don’t want, but instead of them being donated freely to needy folks, they are bought (or somehow obtained) by sellers who retail them in the market. In effect, the “dead man” section of the market is like a giant open air Good Will or swap meet if you will.

Anyway, I only brought with me a light running jacket and a fleece zip us with me to Niger. I was coming to Niger, which is “hot as Sahel” get, it? I was thinking, I don’t need a jacket. Well…..last cold season, (and when I say cold season most of the time it is still warm in the daytime with cooler temperatures at night) there was at least one week when I really wished I had a proper jacket. Although it doesn’t really get that cold, (and I say this by American east coast winter standards) you realize that your body had adjusted to being in a seemingly perpetually warm climate so the slightest bit of cold leaves you shivering. Another thing, during that one week where it will be really cold…and the lowest it might probably get at night will be 40 degrees you will feel as if the cold has gotten into your bones. That is because once you are cold you pretty much stay that way. The houses here are not heated so there is no place to get warmed up. During cold season, my big, old and poorly sealed house is like an icebox. Colder inside than it often is outside.

Anyway….I digress, I meant to talk about my day at the market, which was inspired by my need for a jacket. There is nowhere in the city where I live to by a winter jacket. You can only get them used at “dead man” so there I went. It has been about three months since I have been to the market because generally, it is a place that I dread. One, it is a bit overwhelming and 2. I do not speak the local language (Hausa) that well so I usually have a tough time in the market. Market sellers prefer to bargain in local language (bargaining is also not something that I am always in the mood for) and when you speak French in the market, sellers try to rip you off more because one, it let’s them know that you are a foreigner if it is not obvious, and they also assume that you have money.

Again, I continue to digress….so I went to the market on Saturday 15, 2008 with a friend with the principal goal of buying a jacket. What I did not expect is that I would actually have a good say at the market, a surprisingly very positive experience. The girls that I was with found two pairs of jeans that fit her perfectly well. She is always finding nice fitting jeans at “dead man”, which is sort of funny because she, like most women who are not shaped like a pole generally have a hard time finding jeans that fit well. We started joking that she should buy all of her jeans in “dean man” to take back with her to America. By the way, there are places to buy unworn jeans, jus to let you know. She didn’t even have to bargain really hard with the seller on the price. It was almost too easy and a bit surreal.

Boy, am I a bad storyteller. Anyway…I did find a jacket, really cute little thing. I told the girl that I was with to bargain the price for me because she is a much better bargainer. Well, turns out it wasn’t necessary, the seller agreed to a price that was even less than I was willing to pay. Wow! Needless to say bargaining was a breeze that day and no one pissed us off by trying to take advantage of us. I wish that all of my excursions to the market could be that way. I left feeling a sense of renewed enthusiasm for market shopping.

Il Fait Chaud! (It’s Getting Hot in Here!)

Yes everyone, the heat has arrived! Welcome to hot season in Niger. It has been a while since I posted but I have been busy doing everything and nothing (well, not nothing). I am in the planning and organization phase for several projects that, incha allah (god willing) will launch in the summer.

Work

One is a Population Education Campaign, which basically is an educational campaign that uses practical and hands-on activities to make the connections between population growth (Niger has the fastest growing population in the world) and economic and environmental resources. The campaign also addresses how the status of women impacts birth rates.

The campaign will be launched in the formal education sector (secondary schools) and non-formally through community workshops. I am in the process of creating two training manuals, one to train teachers to use the population education lesson plans and another to train the peer educators who will lead the community workshop. The campaign is geared primarily towards youth so that they think critically about these factors and when the time comes to start having families, they can make intelligent decisions about family size.

We are also planning to have a “Make family planning cool” concert in the summer right after the school year ends. It will be a rap/song competition on themes on family planning and aids. Prizes will be awarded for the top three performances. This concert will sort of serve as a kick-off for the campaign that will follow. We are hoping to get a pretty good turn out. We will have raffle prizes and the like as incentives to get people to come out. I think that it will be great. It will be a lot of work though, it is never easy to plan anything in Niger so we will see how many gray hairs in get in the process.

Play

Not much going on there. I went to Niamey (the capital) for week recently. I had a pretty good time. Went to several functions; clubs, restaurants, parties… I spend a lot of time in house by myself (my friends are always standing me up when we make plans to go out) it is a good thing I painted by walls red so that they are bright and cheery. J I recently planted a garden, well, the person who used to guard my house is also a gardener and he planted them and has been coming to take care of it. I don’t know a thing about gardening and I have been having a hard time keeping the plants on my terrace alive. As long as Abdulai keeps coming to check on the garden I think that it will be ok. I just have to keep the stupid birds out of it. Otherwise, things are good. Just trying to bear the heat and hoping to sweat of some of the pounds that I put on. Well, I am signing off for now. I am sweating profusely as I type this post.

Sai anjima.

Il Fait Chaud! (It’s Getting Hot in Here!)

Yes everyone, the heat has arrived! Welcome to hot season in Niger. It has been a while since I posted but I have been busy doing everything and nothing (well, not nothing). I am in the planning and organization phase for several projects that, incha allah (god willing) will launch in the summer.

Work

One is a Population Education Campaign, which basically is an educational campaign that uses practical and hands-on activities to make the connections between population growth (Niger has the fastest growing population in the world) and economic and environmental resources. The campaign also addresses how the status of women impacts birth rates.

The campaign will be launched in the formal education sector (secondary schools) and non-formally through community workshops. I am in the process of creating two training manuals, one to train teachers to use the population education lesson plans and another to train the peer educators who will lead the community workshop. The campaign is geared primarily towards youth so that they think critically about these factors and when the time comes to start having families, they can make intelligent decisions about family size.

We are also planning to have a “Make family planning cool” concert in the summer right after the school year ends. It will be a rap/song competition on themes on family planning and aids. Prizes will be awarded for the top three performances. This concert will sort of serve as a kick-off for the campaign that will follow. We are hoping to get a pretty good turn out. We will have raffle prizes and the like as incentives to get people to come out. I think that it will be great. It will be a lot of work though, it is never easy to plan anything in Niger so we will see how many gray hairs in get in the process.

Play

Not much going on there. I went to Niamey (the capital) for week recently. I had a pretty good time. Went to several functions; clubs, restaurants, parties… I spend a lot of time in house by myself (my friends are always standing me up when we make plans to go out) it is a good thing I painted by walls red so that they are bright and cheery. J I recently planted a garden, well, the person who used to guard my house is also a gardener and he planted them and has been coming to take care of it. I don’t know a thing about gardening and I have been having a hard time keeping the plants on my terrace alive. As long as Abdulai keeps coming to check on the garden I think that it will be ok. I just have to keep the stupid birds out of it. Otherwise, things are good. Just trying to bear the heat and hoping to sweat of some of the pounds that I put on. Well, I am signing off for now. I am sweating profusely as I type this post.

Sai anjima.

Checking in

Entry date: January 2, 2008

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, another year has passed and another year of history has been made. All in all, I will say that 2007 has been a productive year. It has been a year of changes and adjustments but that’s life, replete with changes and adjustments. The good thing is that I have handled all of the changes and adjustments well.

On December 3rd I traveled to Niamey (the capital) to attend a training 30 km outside of Niamey for two weeks. Two weeks turned into little over three weeks because of a few incidents of violence that occurred that kept me from traveling back to my post. Well, everything has blown over and everything is back on track. I sincerely hope that it stays that way!

Two days before Christmas I was finally able to travel back to Zinder. Christmas was quite and nice. I had a very nice Christmas ever supper and Christmas day brunch with my Swedish neighbors and then a nice Christmas dinner with the folks in my program. It was pretty stress free because there was no pressure of gift giving.

New Years Eve was pretty cool too. We went to this sketchy bar and had ourselves a great time. For me, a little bit of drinking and a whole lot of dancing always makes for a good time. And so it was. There were a few people who did not understand the look but don’t touch concept so I had to set them straight.

I have been busy writing grant proposals to fund some of the independent projects that I am planning. I am working with the Zinder youth center and the Anerican Cultural Center to have a month-long celebration of black history month here. There is a lot of interest in it and the plans a moving along nicely. The American Ambassador (who is a black woman) will be visiting the youth center and partaking in some of the activities. I have a lot to do before the end o teh the month so until next time. I hope everything goes well! Incha Allah!(God Willing).

Stay tuned for more notes from Niger……

Giving thanks

Entry date: November 27, 2007

Giving Thanks………………..

So, thanksgiving went well here. I hope that all of yours went well also. We had a turkey and pumpkin pie and all the thanksgiving fare. It was very pleasant. I made a sweet potato pudding that didn’t turn out so well but I know what to do the next time I make it to avoid the disaster of a pudding that this one turned out to be. There is no black Friday here in Niger so instead of going to the mall like everyone in America did the day after thanksgiving; I had to settle for going to the market to buy fabric to upholster my futon. Yeah!

I spent most of the day Saturday working in garden planting trees and flowers. I am not the best at watering my plants so I hope that they grow. I will be away in Niamey for two weeks starting this weekend so I hope that they are not all dead when I return. I planted some basil and I am really excited for it to grow. I have started making my own herb flavored yogurt cream spread for which fresh basil is the key ingredient. It is really good, if I may say so myself. I am also getting pretty good at making yogurt. Each time I make it, it taste’s better and better.

Falling, falling, falling……….…….

I had my first experience falling off a horse on Sunday. No worries, I am fine. No injuries at all. The horse was not galloping at the time and I was wearing a helmet. It was my own fault why I fell. I lost my footing in one of the stirrups and I was leaning over to get my foot back in when I fell off. Besides that, we had a really good ride out into the bush. I practiced a bit of galloping. I need to work on my form though.

I have finally resigned myself to getting my own horse. It might be a bit expensive but it is a rare opportunity that I think that I might regret after if I do not do it. I do not have many other opportunities to own a horse so I really should do this. If it starts to get too expensive to feed I will just have to sell it. If I don’t get it then I would always think about what would have been if I had. I do not like regrets so I am getting the horse. It will be my Christmas gift to myself. Merry Christmas to me!

Calling all ladies……………….

I attended a traditional wrestling match organized by one of the NGOs in town on Sunday. Once I got there, I was painfully aware on being female because at that point I was the only woman there, besides a few small girls. I really did contemplate leaving, but I decided that I took the time to come all the way and I was invited by the organizers so I should at least stick around for a bit to see one of the matches. I was still weighing my decision to leave when the host sent someone to come fetch me to sit with him in the guest section. Once I was seated over there and chitchatting with them I didn’t feel so weird anymore. However, I need to speak to the organizer about promoting some gender inclusion in this traditionally male sporting event the next time they organize one. I suppose that they could at least make the effort to invite more women to attend. If they invite me to another tournament I will tell them that I will not attend unless they invite some more women. We’ll see how that goes….

Stay tuned for more notes from Niger……