Life or something like it

It's hot season once again. Fun. I'm also single once again. Fun. Which is worse? Well, I'm gonna have to say that's a toss up, at least breaking up doesn't give me heat rash. Just heartburn... :)

Anyway, it's not that big of a thing. She needs space to think things over and what better time to get space than when we're already thousands of miles apart? If it's meant to be and a strong enough love is there then things will be fine in the end. Sometimes you have to let the things you love go and see if they will come back. Can't say as I blame her for it, we've not had the easiest relationship and should it work in the end, this will just be another brick building up our foundation.

But hot season.... now, THAT ain't never gonna change. Glad I can pick up and run from it eventually. Been about 110 everyday for a couple of weeks now. Sweating all day long, trouble sleeping at night for soaked sheets. To be honest, the worst is yet to come temperature wise, it's just the humidity in Gaya these days that's killing me, as the temperatures rise that will die down a bit, until the rains come that is, and then.... well each season is special in it's own way let's say.

But really, regardless of everything that seems to be going bad for me right now (and it's been a hard couple of weeks for sure), god, as they say, works in mysterious ways, and I am in a certain sense glad to still be in Niger. It's sure that the projects I would have been close to 'finishing' would have been a last minute PAIN, since even till now I don't have all the community contribution required for the books. Asking for Nigeriens to give money is like pulling crocodile teeth.



I have a chance to now do some more traveling around the country, visiting other volunteers and seeing their villages. In fact, I'm off to my good buddy Josh's village on Sunday for a week-long visit. Tomorrow I'm visiting Mary and cheering on kids in a soccer tournament she organized for her commune. After Easter, it's back to Gaya for a couple weeks, then I hope to travel East for most of the month of May, seeing places where I don't speak the language (hausa), maybe will learn some while out there. Then in June I have a conference in Niamey on closing up our service. After that, well we'll be playing that one by ear, or heart, to see what happens next.

I forgot to bring my long hoped to be publish rant on African development to Niamey with me, so that will have to wait for another day, but I would like to relate a little bit about what I've been up to in this, maybe futile, attempt to help Niger develop.

STUDENT GOVERNMENT-

It's been a smashing success. People have loved it. We had radio coverage of the elections and other school directors have been asking when we can get them tried so they can start governments in their own schools.

And best of all, I didn't even really do that much. I put a lot of effort into the conference in Niamey last year, and had a couple of people from Gaya trained on impletementing student governments. MY counterpart Seidou has been amazing and after a brief hiatus for christmas travels, I came back and within two weeks we had a conference with the directors, teachers, and students' parents from two of our local primary schools. After the two day (two morning) training, the directors took it all on themselvs to organize the elections, even seeking out funding for materials from one of our local NGOs that works on human rights, especially those of women and children, so it fit great with their goals as well.

It has seriously been the highlight of my service to see these schools and my community pull together to accomplish something like that without relying on me or some big international NGO. That's very encouraging and the type of thing that PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) should be focusing on, but it's all too easy to get caught up in 'hey my village needs this, let's find money!' I mean so many things DO require money and we know how to find it better than many Nigeriens, it's just well, money corrupts. But that's my whole thesis, so I'll develop it more later and instead talk about....

I have a giving the pictures here captions to help tell the story of the elections, you may find it interesting.




THE BOOKS

Still waiting on, yep that's right, the devil - MONEY. The community contriubtion side for this project runs like this: 25% has to be provided by the community. And so for this project, the remaining books (after the initial two schools took their earned shares) were divided into 44 book lots, one available to each of the 16 CEGs in the Gaya commune for a total contribution in their price of 40,000CFA, about $80. I figured that's a small price to pay for such a benefit (and it is), but getting people here to value education, especially ENGLISH education to the point of putting up money has been a challenge. Some communities jumped at the chance and had the money to me in a couple days, others just had the 'if god wants it, he'll drop the money from heaven into our director's hands, cause we sure as ain't paying that' attitude. Sad, but true. Some people just don't put any value on education, it's not perceived as having much value when, most likely, you'll end up planting and cutting millet, even merchants who need to read and write, do math, only need a primary level education. What good is English then?

Well, let's see, how about doing business in an English speaking country. Nigeria, Ghana, ever heard of them, they're the two biggest west african economies, you think maybe you would want to have the ability to do business there. How about, going to high school or university? Both REQUIRE you to pass the english part on entrance exams. Well, whatever, doesn't ring a bell for some people.

FRUSTRATION

It's the name of the game as of late. Maybe it's my personal troubles, the heat, or something I ate, but sometimes I just want to burn this whole damn country to the ground. There are so many just uneducated and clueless people. And the food... :(

But then invariably I will have a conversation with someone in zarma and see that light in their eyes go on when I describe something NEW and DIFFERENT to them, and I know that a new connection was just made. Or I see a cute kid, like the beggar kids who hang outside my house. The greet me home like puppies, running up, yelping "ca va", not always welcome, but seeing this one girl smile everytime I see her breaks my heart; to know that there's nothing I can do to change where she is and how, in many ways her life is already laid out for her. It's a smile of such innocence and beauty, how can it exist on a girl who has to beg for food? (though they get fed pretty well since setting up shop outside my house and just across the street from the mosque, helps also to have the good shade from the trees there)



There's always something, even in my most 'I hate Niger' moods to put a smile on my face, unfortunately it's also true that the constant 'Nigerienness' of some people do nothing but wear me down. I refer to the DAILY and REPEATED episodes such as (translated from zarma of course):

Kid: "Hey white man, white man, hey look over here!!! White man!!!!!!"


Man: "Hey, how's the wife?"
Me: "I have no wife, I'm too young"
Man: "Well, I'll bring you a wife. A nice young girl, you know *wink*. She'll help you with all your 'work' *wink* Come on you need a nigerien girl to marry. I'll go get one right now."
Me: "no, really that's fine. Ha ha ha *laughing so he'll stop, joke's done*
Man: "How about I bring her by tonight?"
Me: "Thanks, but that's fine, I have a girl back home, I can only have one"
Man: "Oh, you can have one there AND one here. She'll never know..."
AND so on and so forth....


Me: "How much for the shirt?"
Merchant: "5000CFA" - that's like 20 times the price it should be
Me: "Really, you know I live here, what's the real price."
Man: "That is the price. Ok, how about 2500, you're white you can pay that."
Me: "Nope, goodbye."
I make a point of NEVER buying from these types, just the ones who offer a resonable first price


Director of CEG I, the bad side of Niger: "We need more tables, find us some tables, we need your help."
Me: Thinking 'Yeah and I bet you already got money to fix the ones you have, but spent it on beer and prostitutes', though saying "Yeah, I would if I could, but like I tell you EVER time, I don't have money."
Director: "But you know people who do right....?"

*SIGH*


So Niger is wearing on me, but like I said, there's always a bright spot if you keep your eyes open, mostly the smile of a child or the kindness of a complete stranger on a bus, the things that I love about Niger. Just like in life everywhere else, joy is often hidden in the silver linings of a cloudy situation. Kala Suru.

Enough for now, I don't want to be so negative in my writings, but you go where the flow takes you sometimes.

I'm happy (and incredibly sad) to be here still, and we take life one day at a time, and try to do good things for those we can, and really THAT is a very nigerien sentiment and one we should all be able to take to heart.


Check out my new pictures of Gaya, student government elections on Picasa. Until the next time.

P.S. WILLIAM COBOS - For God's sake leave me your email address next time so I can get back to you! What good is it to start a blog so we can communicate if I can't even write on it or send you an email!!! But I like the name you gave it.