Monday, December 24, 2007

Christmas Eve (Part 1 of 3)

Been since Halloween since I’ve written in this thing. Sorry about that, but it’s been a pretty hectic last month and a half for me. I haven’t been back to Gaya since before Thanksgiving (Aside from a short stay over right before the bike ride, characterized by being sick, see below). One week of Thanksgiving, one week of bike ride, three weeks of in service training (originally scheduled as two, again, see below) and now about a week for Christmas. All told SIX weeks away from home. I miss it and my friends a lot, but it has been nice to see all my American friends, especially for our holidays.Below I have posts for Thanksgiving and the bike ride, but the reason our training was ‘extended’ deserves its own post, and it’s news not being reported anywhere else in the media world (I’ve looked).



On December 10, a landmine exploded under a bush taxi in the city of Maradi, killing the driver. Later that night, another landmine exploded under a car at the traditional wrestling arena in Tahaoua, again killing the driver. Both cities are in the center of the country, not very close to my home town, but I do know PCVs out that way. The government was quick to blame the MNJ rebels from the North of the country, while the MNJ would deny involvement. The MNJ, consisting of mostly, but not exclusively, ethnic Tuaregs has been plaguing the government for the last six months or so, demanding that resources be equally shared with the Northern regions, not necessarily financially, but with more influential political and military positions for those from the area (One would imagine that the MNJ wants their own in these positions).The hightened tensions started the day before when military aircraft spotted a convoy of vehicles in the desert steps around Agadez. It fired on the convoy, killing six. Turns out later, that they were regular old Tuaregs from Agadez. Actually, not any old regular Tuaregs, but the richest man in Agadez, owner of a big bottled water company and his entourage. Needless to say that accusations were quick to start flying about.



The scariest part about all this was that it happened right before Niger’s independence day and the start of Tabaski, a major Muslim celebration. And of all places, this year’s Independence celebration was to be held in Tahaoua, the site of one of the bombings… coincidence? No one really knows. However, on the MNJ website (http://m-n-j.blogspot.com/), they warned all Nigeriens to stay away from the celebration or be considered human shields for the president and his cronies. This right after denying, in the same paragraph, the landmine attacks and stating that they don’t target civilians (which has been true up till now).


So, who’s to blame? No answers. But the heightened tensions from the last couple weeks have begun to cool down. After the initial explosions, the Peace Corps went on to Stand Fast alert and volunteers were told to stay where they were, avoid crowds, etc. Since we were up at the training site in Hamdalye, we were stuck there. Not a very exciting time, but gave us a chance to make a movie, which will hopefully be posted on YouTube soon, I’ll let y’all now. Now, the stand fast is removed, but we were told to remain “vigilante” and be aware of our surroundings. To me, that’s just good advice to do always.I don’t feel threatened and I don’t think that this is going to escalate into any more widespread violence. But it is a little disconcerting that the problems which had been localized in the North have reared their ugly heads closer to home.


As for joyous events: Today is Christmas eve and I’m spending it and Christmas Day here in Niamey with friends. I did some Christmas shopping for the family yesterday, but they’ll be late arriving in the states. Sorry, but the heightened security tensions kind of threw off everyone’s plans. My current plans are to head to one of our program director's houses tomorrow for some food, caroling, hopefully watch a Christmas Story. I want to wish all my friends and family a merry Christmas, hope it is cold and white, very much the opposite of ours here.






Oh and this little guy says Merry Christmas also... He's not nearly as mean as his big brother who harrased me a couple weeks ago...

Bike Ride (Part 2 of 3)



As I was getting ready to leave Niamey the day after Thanksgiving I got a phone call from one of our program directors asking if I could fill in on the AIDS awareness bike ride they were planning from Gaya to Dosso; they had a volunteer drop out at the last minute. So onto the bike ride I went, though I hadn’t ridden a bike in, oh, six years or so.
Too bad the day before we were to start I came down with a bad case of something. Bacteria, Amoebas, Flu, not sure, but I took some meds slept all day and was ready to go by the next morning.






The bike ride is one of the biggest events the Peace Corps here puts on each year. This year we traveled from Gaya to Dosso, 150km, on bike over the course of a week. It really wasn’t very grueling, the most we traveled each day was around 30km and only 15km in the longest single stretch. We stopped at almost every village along the way to put on a show and educate the people about AIDS. It was a great time and I was lucky to even go since first year volunteers aren’t usually invited. Since my language skills weren't quite up to par to act in the skit or conduct meetings I was usually relegated to kid duty, which proved to be quite a handfull. I also became somewhat of the photographer for the ride, taking 500 pictures in a little over a week.


The bike ride was my first real chance to experience “the bush.” Gaya is definitely not what one imagines a Peace Corps experience. Electricity and running water (at least from a pump in the yard) are luxuries here more than the standard living. Part of my journal entry from the time (I’m about as good with my journal as I am with this blog):

“They have a thatch wall/roof school, one room, almost tall enough to stand up in. Not quite. It’s flat here. Much flatter than Gaya and from what I’ve heard this is like the rest of Niger. The village is spread out in clusters of huts here and there. Two wells. Ok, let me talk about the wells for a moment. They’re deep, very deep. Around 75-100 meters deep. Very rocky ground apparently is to blame (or so the villagers say). To draw, a black rubber bucket thing is dropped down on many ropes tied together. The other end, through a pulley, is hooked a couple of tired looking donkeys who seem to pull these buckets all day long. A bushless track runs out in a fan from the well, showing where the ground has been worn bare by the constant tread of hoofs. Women take turns tunning this system. One at the lip of the well, one with the donkey, one to move around buckets of water. Takes a good four minutes to draw a single bucket of 4-5 gallons. Seems like a process that goes on constantly. There’s a pump here, but it’s been broken for years. Same as in the last two villages we passed. Seems up keep here is lacking. No surprise. Like everything in this place, it’s a factor of money. NGOs come in and pay for a pump to be installed, but the long term idea of upkeep, repairs…. That’s lost in the feeling of accomplishment the first buckets cause. Then the NGO is gone, thinking everything is solved. Sustainability is a buzz word around PC and NGOs but the actual sustainability of projects involves more infrastructure and economic building than a single pump, or even a thousand pumps, can provide.”


Think that about sums up the problems we see here; self-sustainable progress is the key. It requires an educated population, if not university smarts, at least educated on what the government needs to do to get them there. And it requires money and investment from outside sources, or a new source of income for Niger. (Pray for an increase in the price of Uranium) Our work here isn't going to change the country, but it can start to help educate the people on what they can do to start that process.




Thanksgiving (Part 3 of 3)




Arrived in Dosso the Monday before Thanksgiving. Spent the week hanging out and buying the things necessary to make our feast that Thursday. And boy what a feast we had. Definitely not lacking on any of the traditional dishes one would get in the states. Pumpkin pie, corn bread, cranberries…. No chutney though…. We even bought a Turkey a couple months ago and left it with the neighbors to keep and fatten. It’s interesting to watch the whole process of cooking the
turkey, from killing to gutting to cooking. I think it even made it taste better. Who knew turkeys didn’t come from the freezer in Safeway?

The only thing I missed was falling asleep watching football after the meal. Well, actually we watched game four of the last world series that night. Hard to get into the game when you know that the Red Socks are going to win.



Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Boo!! Happy Halloween

Up in Dosso for a couple days. Had a meeting yesterday and we're having a Halloween party today, but I'm sans costume. Want to say goodbye to our dear friend Katie, who flew out of country yesterday. We'll miss ya and your accent!


Ok, on with the post I typed up a couple days ago:

Since the last time I posted I’ve come into my own in Gaya a bit more. Ramadan has past. I have made some more friends here. I’ve started playing soccer… excuse me, football. I’ve made headway into the ideas I have for projects and I’m looking forward to developing them.

Ramadan.
So Ramadan ended on the 11th here. So that’s almost two weeks ago now. If the internet weren’t so frustrating slow I could make more posts, really I’m just thankful I have it at all…. But I digress….
The end of Ramadan is celebrated with a giant prayer and then people spend the rest of the day eating. I was supposed to go to the prayer with my neighbor in the morning, but we miss-communicated about time so I was in the shower when he came by and didn’t hear him knock and he left without me. I waited for him on my porch for a while and finally found out he left, so I started to head out to see the prayer. It was so strange but the town was deserted, there wasn’t anybody in sight. I managed to find I think the only motorcycle taxi (kabu-kabu) in town to take me out to the field where the prayer was taking place. Unfortunately as we were headed out we ran head long into the swarm heading back towards town. They absolutely swamped the road. I kept thinking of those pictures you see of people fleeing Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war. It was surreal to see so many people heading in one direction together. It really was the ENTIRE town of Gaya.
Spend the rest of the day walking around and eating found with many many different people. It was only a week after I had arrived here and was a good chance to stretch my language skills.

Friends.
Everyone here wants to be a friend of mine. I’m following in the wake of a very popular and friendly guy and so that puts some pressure on me to act just the same. Problem is, everyone remembers Jerry as he was after being here for two years, I’m just starting so the language issue, for one, is kind of a dampening factor. But really it is starting to come along. One of my better new acquaintances here is Lega, or Ibrahim (seems to have two working names). When I first met him, he was charging 50CFA around 10 cents) for kids to take his little motor scooter down a football field length and back. They were lined up for this 30 seconds of entertainment. Lega is kind of typical of Nigeriennes of his age. He doesn’t have a very steady income. Sometimes he works as a Kabu-kabu, has plans to buy motorcycles from Nigeria and sell them here. Left school early, at the primary level. Has lots of free time on his hands so he comes around pretty frequently.
Really though, I am starting to get to know more and more people. It takes ten minutes just to walk down the block because I have to stop to talk to almost everyone on it. People really do get offended if you don’t stop to say hello and chat for a minute or two. It’s hard to have that head down and go way of getting from point A to B that many Americans have. I’m learning to leave early or plan on getting where I want to go later than I expect.

So things are going well here, but this has definitely been a hard week. The novelity of this place is starting to wear off and the first wave of homesickness has sunk in. Much of it has to do with the fact that whatever work I do here, I know that it cannot change this entire country. I can’t even improve this entire town. I can’t just dig a well. So many problems here are structural and I have no way to fix that. But I can make some small progress and I just keep looking towards my project ideas and hope that they’ll come about. It’s also hard to be far from my family and friends and especially Kelsey. It’s hard to be away from [American] football and cold beer and couches, 7-11s, Teriyaki, Indian food… there are so many things that are great about the US. But really that’s one of the reasons I’m here. I knew theoretically before that the whole world is not like the US. Now I have seen some of that and it makes me miss what I had. But it also makes me appreciate what I had more. Anyone who is reading this back home should take a moment to just think about how vastly different lives on this planet can be. Leisurely/hard. Rich/poor. Hot/cold. Not everyone will know first hand, but it’s too easy for us to become sheltered from the realities that face other people around the world. Enough preaching for today. As this week has gone along the homesick feeling has diminished some and tomorrow I will be seeing the rest of the people in my region for a meeting, so that should improve even more.

The above picture is from our old Gaya hostel. Is it a sign that this saying has broken? Kind of poetic I thought. Why don't politicians say things like this anymore?



Thought ya’ll might like this next part, from my journal, dated 10/15

“Holly night of the praying mantis that wouldn’t go away! I noticed a mantis on the curtain inside today so I grabbed my camera to snag a couple of shots. Low and behold it ended up attacking me, I guess it is camera shy. By attack, it really just flew around frantically. So after a bit I shooed it outside and went to putting new music on my MP3 player (sitting in the dark I should add). Out of nowhere something big hits the back of my head (not the first time a giant bug has done that in this country, by the way). I scramble around for light with something clinging to my head. Guess who? Round 2…. Fight.
Tried to get him outside again, only to have him fly off and hide in one of my open trunks. Eventually get him on a plastic sack and outside where he promptly flies off. On the way back in I’m distracted by a spider spinning up a fly in its web, something I’ve been following the progress of on and off today. I’m amazed it can take so long. Well, I’m watching this for a minute when something smacks into my arm and flies off. Then it comes back and lands on my chest. Face to face with the enemy I panic and flick him off. He lands on one of the pillars on the porch and watches as I practically run insides and shut the door. Devil bug, all I wanted was to take your picture. Wonder if he’s still out there. Who knew those bastards even flew anyway?”

He did not come back. I think he took his victory and left.

Come to think of it, maybe I shouldn’t say he but she. Doesn’t a female praying mantis eat it’s mate after the act? This one definitely seemed a little, um… feisty.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Part 1: Life as of Late







I’m going to make this post in two parts. Part one: What I’ve been up to since the last time I posted… a month ago maybe? A little less perhaps, but now that I’m “home” in Gaya access to the internet will be a little more consistent, provided the electricity doesn’t go, as it is prone to do. Part Two: The education system in Niger and Me.
Warning: this could take a while, get comfortable
Part One:
I’m officially a Peace Corps Volunteer.

I’ve even taken the oath all US government employees have to, and yes, I suppose I will defend the constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic, but I don’t see any major threats arising from Niger. Last Wednesday was a big day for Peace Corps Niger. We celebrated the 45 consecutive, uninterrupted year of service, which makes us one of, if not the, longest running programs. We also celebrated the swearing in of 40 new volunteers, yours truly included. The party was at the ambassador’s house. Sw-an-ky. I’m telling you, don’t do the Peace Corps, join the Foreign Service and become a big wig, get a big house and a yard and guards with machine guns….


The Director of Peace Corps was here, as in the head from DC. Both ceremonies involved many speeches, but at least at swear in, three of my fellow volunteers were speaking, one each in French, Hausa and Zarma, they were quite impressive. Oh, jumping pictures were the idea de jour. The one on the left is my closest group of friends here and the one on right is my fellow Dosso/Gaya region new volunteers. And because Mom and Dad will want a more constrained picture me and the training director. (dig the purple Bubu I had made….)
That was last week and since then I’ve moved down to my new home in Gaya. I’m actually writing this on my laptop sitting on my porch at night listening to the singing on the mosque loud speaker, which is conveniently right across the street and aimed straight at my house. They went all night last night, and I imagine they will again tonight. It’s Ramadan and I think they keep it up till people get up to eat around 4:30. Sometimes, as now, they let kids on it and they sing along together. Last night they were singing along, maybe twenty kids or so and the power went out. I could tell it came back on when they all started cheering and soon they were back at it.
Rule of Ramadan: No eating or drinking from sun up till sundown. This means eating at 4:30 or 5 in the morning and not again till 7pm. I think it’s ok to eat before or right after morning prayer and then the fast is broken before the last prayer of the day, followed by a big meal after the prayer. This is not an easy thing to do. I tried it for a day here and as usual got my light headed spells from when I don’t eat. Especially hard is not drinking water when it’s 100 plus degrees outside. Exception to the rule: People who need to eat or would die/greatly harm themselves (elderly, sick, pregnant/nursing women) and children under 12ish. Oh, and me. I just say I’m not strong enough, though I’m thinking I may try next year, but no promises.
Reward: Big party coming up in ten days. I can’t wait.
First thing I tackled with the new place was to get the yard straightened out. Spend a hot afternoon in the sun with a friend here weeding my concession. He’s fasting so I felt terrible that he was working so much, but we both made it sans a water break for about two hours (I chugged near a gallon after he left). Step two, Martha Stewart my water tap with a new drainage basin. Mom, you’d be proud of me. Step three, make a trash burning pit. Step four, and the one I’m really excited about, start a garden. So far it’s just dirt, water, and donkey crap all mixed together. A friend told me to get it mixed and the soil soft, wait for whatever is in the donkey dung to sprout, weed it and then I’m good to go. Any suggestions from any green thumbs out there?
So far I must say that this is pretty much what I imagined it would be last week before we left. I’m stumbling through every conversation, but I’m making my way with a combination of Zarma and French. I’ve made some new friends. Inherited many as well; the volunteer here before me was an extremely popular guy and everyone says they were his friend, I think I have some big shoes to fill. Things are coming along.
Today, the neighborhood kids discovered that I have moved in. The other three days I’ve been out of the house most of the day at the Inspection (where I work) and getting things straight with the electric company, seeing the town, what not. I think I had half the neighborhood over here at one point. Some I like, some are just pains in the ass. I made the mistake of giving candy to the neighbor’s kids yesterday, so today everyone was asking me for candy. Told them I ran out. Really I’m saving it because it is such a treat here. I think I’ll pass it out after Ramadan is over.
More to come. After these pictures.
New Water Basin Family Portrait from Hamdy A picture

Part 2: Education

Part Two: The Education System in Niger
This is a tricky subject to write about. There are good things going on, but…. Well, I’m getting ahead of myself here. Let’s start from the beginning.
Like most everything else, Niger inherited its education system from the French. Education is free and the first six years are compulsory. There are two ministries which oversee the system, one each for the primary and secondary levels. Primary consisting of the first six years of school. Primary schools are pretty well represented throughout the country, but are by no means everywhere where they need to be. Secondary education includes college (middle school) and lycee (high school), as well as the university in Niamey. Secondary schools, especially the lycees, are clustered in the larger towns and cities.
Between each stage of school (i.e. primary to college, college to lycee, lycee to university) there are tests. Students failing the test do not advance and must repeat the school year. However, the catch is that you can only repeat once, then you’re out of school. No pressure for those tests eh? The stats are pretty sad, something like 28% of children who start school finish. Only 9% of boys and 6% of girls attend the lycee (high school) level. Literacy in Niger is also somewhere in the basement region, 30% for men and 11% for women. Clearly there is a lot of work that needs to be done.
Two major problems affecting education rates: One, this is a poor country with little capital to invest, and two, cultural attitudes toward education, especially of women, though this is also a factor of economic stress. Let me start with the first point.As I said earlier, education is free and compulsory in Niger. Both of these points should be taken in perspective though. First off, going into a school building, having a seat and your name in a grade book is free, but school supplies like pencils, paper, even text books in many places have to be supplied by the family of the student. When you’re living harvest to harvest, finding the money to pay for these non-essentials can be near impossible. Furthermore, and this plays into the cultural perception point, if a family can find the money they may often only have enough to send some of their children to school, which translates into boys first, because boys stay in the family and need to contribute, but a girl is out and married soon, besides what type of education do you need to raise kids and do housework? Well, you need to help raise kids and do chores at home instead of going to a school.
As for the compulsory point, it’s one thing for a parent to not send their child to school if the village has a primary school. Almost half the boys and a third of the girls attend primary school, or at least some of it. This is due to the fact that these schools can often be found out in the bush. By the time these students reach the college level (middle school), they may have to travel many miles to find a school. For example, Gaya has three public colleges and two private. There are the only colleges for this region. That means it can be 70km from home to the college here or Dosso, the next nearest town with schools. Furthermore, the roads here are not very easy to travel. There is no public transportation. Bush taxis are the only option and they are slow and unreliable. There is no way to commute from home to school. This is true not only for college and lycee, but in many places the closest primary school may be 10km or so. Remember this is a country bigger than California and Texas together. There is a lot of ground to cover out here.
These faults in the system are economically related. I’m not saying people don’t care about these kids, but it’s a fact that education is becoming even more fiscally challenging. Text books and school supplies were supplied to children not five years ago, but with the state of the Nigerienne economy the government had to cut back. They are in a process of dencentralisation now, which further intensifies economic minimalism for the education system and has led to a dramatic rise in the number of private schools which offer a better education, but for much much more money. Much like in the US, there has become a duel system of education; one for those who can pay or happen to live in an area with schools and one for those who can’t pay or live without access to good schools.
This all seems pretty negative I know (and I haven’t even talked about teachers who teach without having graduated college and have a few weeks of job training….), however, there are some bright spots. The enrollment of girls is up. So are the literacy rates. In fact if you compare literacy of adults to children, you would see something like nearly ten percentage points more in the youth side (25% to 36% I think… all these stats are from old UNICEF sources dated to 2003 or so). The government is really pursuing the increase in female education. Each inspection is funded to have a position just for promoting girls education. But, all the factors above play into that.
So what can I do? Well, I’m not going to change the world. I want to start a program or programs to help children obtain school supplies. There are some NGOs in town I’m going to talk to. Maybe I can get them hooked up with NGOs in the US. Second, and this is the major accomplishment I would like to pursue over the next two years, I would like to start something like a boarding house for kids (maybe just young girls) from the bush who would like to continue their education but geographic and economic factors make that impossible. Find a place in Gaya, team with an NGO who will run it after I’m gone and find a continuing source of funding….. I’m not saying this is gonna be my thing for sure but it’s a thought, my best thought at the moment. Ok, enough for now, I’m sure ya’ll hear about that as it progresses.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Gaya and the French

As far as places to live and work for the next two years go this is quite a nice spot. I was down here visiting the town for a couple of days to get a feel of how life will be. This afternoon I head back North for another week of preparation before we swear in and all that good jazz. My house is amazing, I have two bedrooms, a livening room, a kitchen, and a spare room… more space than I could possibly know what to do with, especially considering any amenities I buy will most likely not be coming home with me when I leave. A huge change from some the places I saw when we dropped off other volunteers in their posts out in the bush. They end up in villages of 500-1000 people and live in huts, like we have right now. None of their houses we done yet.
Gaya itself is a nice spot. I’ve been told there has been some trouble with robbery and they don’t send female volunteers do here anymore after a couple incidents a few years ago, but I’ve met quite a few extremely nice people here so far. I have a group lined up to play soccer with when I get back. I inherited a friend from the volunteer before me, a Nigerian (as in Nigeria), who owns a motorcycle shop around the corner and, get this, speaks ENGLISH!!! Just being able to talk to him has made it easier these last two days of going it alone.


So let me tell you a story about our trip down and the crazy French jerk we met:
To get down to Gaya we took the Falmey road which runs closer to the river than the paved road by some 50-60km. It is the only way to access many of the villages some of the other volunteers were headed for. It’s dirt and pretty rough in spots, potholes are everywhere. Things are going along fine when we come across a big CAT doing some roadwork 40km or so from Gaya. By roadwork, I mean it’s smashing a tree to splinters as we rolled up… why? I have no idea. It’s taking up the whole road so they wave us around it down by the river. We don’t make it but 15 feet before we’re swallowed up to the wheel well in the mud. Our driver, Seini, tells a worker to go get a rope to help pull us out with their pickup. Off he goes. Ten minutes later a Land Rover comes roaring up. Out comes this fifty something, French, John Travolta Saturday Night Fever wannabe. Receding hair line, scrap of a vest with no shirt on underneath to show off bushels of matted chest hair. Four teeth. He starts yelling at all the workers to hurry up and finish, they’re leaving. Seini explains the situations and says they should help pulls us out. The French mann turns on him, yelling that this is French money at work and that he’s not going to spend any of it helping Americans. After all we started to war in Iraq and now we have to live with the consequences. (Stuck in the mud in Niger = Iraq war….. right). Seini doesn’t miss a beat and points out that it appears to be the French behind the current problems in the North.
An aside about this: It is fairly obvious that after Araba, the French energy powerhouse, lost out to some other companies in the government grants on uranium mines, they started helping some disenfranchised groups, with grievances towards Niamey, by supplying them with trucks, and who knows, maybe even the weapons themselves, and if not the weapons, certainly the cash that bought them.

Continuing on: Seini makes the point that the French are trying to meddle here a start problems. After some choices yelling (with lots of spittle sprinkled in for good measure) Frenchy hustles his men into the trucks and roars off. I have a couple other choice words to describe the man, but I’ll save them for the sake of grandparents who may be reading this.
Lucky for us, there were a bunch of people from one of the near by towns out watching the big machine work. Not two minutes after the bastard left we have all the village kids running to get rocks and the men at work digging out the tiring. It took a hour or so, but with a lot pushing and many dirty hands and feet we got out. Nigeriennes are great about taking care of other people. If you’re in trouble in this country everyone will drop everything they’re doing to help.
Turns out the guy works for the mining operation in the area. The only reason they’re working on the roads is to help themselves exploit the resources more, the money from which is going to line fat French pockets, not the help anyone here. And their road work leaves much to be desired. America has done more for this country than France ever has, and he refused to help us? His thinking: Peace Corps = US Government = War in Iraq = The war France was to weak to Stop (Showing it’s decline in International Importance) = Pissed off that I’m stuck working in the mines in Niger instead of a typical French job where I can take two hours for lunch… oh, and I’m probably a little unstable as well…

Ok, rant over. Just pisses me off. I was never for the war and again here I have to live with it, as do Americans everywhere. And, by the way, I have nothing against most French, in fact I have quite a few friends there, but this man…. And sometimes the French government….

Here's a picture of one of the kittens that we have at the hostel in Dosso. They're about a month old now... so cute and a good note to end this post one. Another good thing about Gaya is there is an internet café I can use to update this blog and check e-mail, etc. (though they just broke the server so I'm posting from Niamey, hopefully it'll be back up when I return) OH!!! I have a new address, check out the sidebar. Packages or letters can be sent directly here from now on. Next time I plan on writing about the Education system here and my role in it, for those of you wondering what exactly I will be doing…. Which includes myself most of the time as
well.
Kala Tonton.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Cyber cafe time

In Niamey for a tour and some internet time.

Just a quick note. Added some pictures.

So right now, we`re still in the process of learning our languages. I am learning Zarma and French right now if I haven`t mentioned that yet. Not gonna post much cause I just did last week and if I`ve learned on thing about Africa so far it`s that nothing changes in a week!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Had to make these Three Post Quick...




We're on a flat tire repair break in Niamey. On my way to Say. Wrote these up earlier and now they're out of order, but you can figure it out.





Enjoy





First Impressions of Africa:

- The people are incredibly friendly. This is a place where greetings can last longer than the conversation. There are six different initial greetings in Zarma for specific times of the day. And you’re ALWAYS asked about your health, family, job, everything.
- It’s not unmanageably hot… yet. It is after all rainy season. I’m glad I have my drum corps experience. It has definitely helped me get used to the heat and humidity. I hear that dry season is the worst, though I have almost a full year to acclimate myself.
- It’s beautiful. My pictures can’t do it justice, but I will try my best.

As always, my best to everyone. My love especially to Kelsey for putting up with having me only through these journal entries for the next two years. ß There’s your first shout out hunny!

Would love some mail, so drop me a line.



July 28, 2007 –
“I don’t plan to write every night, but couldn’t sleep. We had rain tonight. We were watching a performance by some Wadabi (The same ethnic group I watched on TV with Grandpa before I left). Suddenly the wind picked up and the temperature chilled a little. Wind built and built and then, bang, rain. Buckets of the stuff. So now we have FROGS. The world has suddenly come alive. It’s humid too. It feels like the Earth is breathing.
It’s so bright I’m writing this by moonlight. Africa has the biggest, most beautiful sky. Big Sky country has nothing. Montana, pisha. It’s like being in a giant snow globe.”

July 29, 2007 –
“Moved in with Siddo Seyni today…Our concession is rather large with guite a few rooms around it, and of course our little private concession and hut.
Dinner was awkward as no one but us and one of the language teachers ate.”
--- this is the way of things, at the time I was worried they might not have food, but they eat plenty feel, just never with us. ---
“My roommate Johnathan snores. Great. Well, the town is still alive and noisey anyway. I think African towns are much livelier because they live for the most part outside in their concession. More social, interactive, less privacy.”
--- Turns out John isn’t a big snorer after all ---

August 4, 2007 –
“At home now. Lots of rain. Came just minutes after getting here. It’s still amazing to see a storm front racing across the land with a wall of sand in front of the rain, like some giant bulldozer. As usual it hit hard. Wind, rain, thunder. Had to close the hut door (made of corrugated tin roofing) when the wind shifted and started blowing rain straight in. It’s open now. I can write this by the last of our daylight. Wind has died down but the thunder and rain will continue a while. As the storm came I was watching it with Habibu and Sulay and then shooed them into Biba’s house as the wind came up and scatter coals and ash from Biba’s cooking fire all over the concession before the coming rain finished it off.
Funny thing about rain, it’s a life giver and taker. Without the rain, Niger would starve. It has happened before and will probably again. Not this year. Yet, the rain can bring disease, flooding, and even destroy the very crops it nourishes. What gives can take. Our “backyard” is completely flooded, as is most of the rest of the concession I fear. Glad our hut is well made. Bone dry in here except for where the rain came in through the door. I can imagine our latrine has flooded out, not uncommon in this rain I’m sure. That lake must be full of bacteria and disease. What a wonder it is to just have a complete sanitation system. There are no garbage men in Niger. There are no sewers. There is trash and latrines and disease and no alternatives without major development.”

Dymystification



Heading to Say South of Niamey for our “Demystification” trip; our first chance to head out to see the general area where we will eventually be stationed.

A lot has happened in the two plus weeks since the last time I was able to write here, which was the last day I was in the US. Since arriving in Niger, via Paris, two weeks ago we’ve been taking language and culture classes at the Peace Corps training compound in Hamdallaye. We’ve been moved in with host families. I’m living with Siddo Seyni and his family, consisting of his two wives, Biba and Zalika, and the kids (from oldest to youngest) Bubakar, Aissa, Mimuna, Habibu, Tinamu, and Sakina. There are two older children, both married and in Niamey. Siddo is a farmer and that means him and Bubakar work a lot this time of year when the rains make everything grow at an amazing rate. Since I’ve arrived the land has gone from mostly brown with sparse greenery to a (nearly) lush land of green, but get too close and it’s obvious that the sand lurks everywhere.

To get everyone caught up with my first impressions and all, I’m gonna relay some parts of entries I made in my journal (Thanks Chass!!!!).

July 27, 2007 –
“It is rainy season. It’s cool and humid tonight, a thin layer of clouds blurs the moon and creates a light show of the constant lightening that flares on the horizon. We sleep outside under mosquito nets. I hope the rain holds off, but from what I’ve heard so far the season has not yet produced the much needed rain yet.
I’m in Africa. Wow. It’s still so surreal. I hear children laughing, clapping, and playing in the village down the hill. No drums or dancers around a roaring fire. Guess the real Africa isn’t like that.”
---I was wrong, the real Africa really loves to dance, but we wouldn’t get our first taste for another couple days when we had a culture fair in the compound. ---

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Orientation

Philadelphia, Pensylvania July 23-26

The city of brotherly love and all that. Came in on Monday, the 23rd, around 10 --- My plane was late cause, get this, they had a leaky coffee pot. No kidding.

The last couple days have been very busy between our orientation activities and last minute runs to get sun block and passport photos (CVS has a great deal of 16 pictures for $7.99 if your looking). Sorry Mehran no pictures of that wall. Our orientation was mostly about team building -- for those of you who know Preston Howard, we actually built a machine. Can you believe that?!?! Someone else out there does that kind of stuff!

Didn't actually learn anything about Niger or what I would be doing, but I do know that I should be aware of my surroundings and what the Peace Corps three goals are:

* Provide trained men and women to those countries needing and requesting them
* Promote a better understanding of Americans in foreign countries
* Promote a better understaing of those in foreign cultures in Americans

I must say that those goals match pretty well with the goals that brought me to the Peace Corps in the first place.

And if you're wondering, I am doing this so that I can help people out (of course), so that I can do something to repair what I feel is a tarnished image that much of the world now holds for Americans after our recent "endevours" around the world, and so that I may do something that I feel will help me grow into the person I am meant to become.

We all need a little adversity in our lives, and this is a way I can add that while at the same time doing some good. I think it is important to understand how the other half of the world experiences life so that I can have a much broader world view.

Funny anecdote from training:
An optimist views the glass as half full, a pessimist views it as half empty, and a Peace Corps volunteer sees that he can take a bath in that water.

This will be the last post for a couple weeks. I am told there is no internet access at our training site so until I get some time in Niamey I will not have a chance to write or read any electronic mail.

BUT! I now have a physical mail address (see sidebar). Feel free to write!!!

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Sannu!

Welcome! to my first attempt at a blog. I'll be posting here about the experiences I will be having in Niger over the coming two years of work with the Peace Corps. I'm not extremely internet friendly but I do have a myspace page ( http://www.myspace.com/jjkelley83) and a facebook page if you're so inclined, though I probably won't be checking them all that often.

Let's start off with some brief facts about Niger:

It's about 3 times the size of California, consisting of roughly 4/5 desert or semi-desert land in the North and 1/5 of arable land in the South of the Country.

Niger is a stable and mostly safe place to live, though very poor. Average yearly income is only $200 US.

They speak French in Niger among the local languages, of which Huasa and Zarma are the two most dominant (Sannu is Hello in Hausa).

Check out the wikipedia site on Niger: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger
The CIA world fact book: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ng.html

I'm flying out of Seattle on July 23, 2007 so expect more updates once I reach the country.

Wish me luck, stay in touch.