Preparing to leave... only to come back... then leave again

First of all, I think it's time to openly acknowledge here what most of you already know.... I'm leaving Niger in just under a month. I'll be leaving Peace Corps Niger to go live with my lovely fiance Kelsey in Kuwait. After much soul searching and rough spots over the last couple months (including watching someone die and thinking 'that could have been me'), I've come to understand that life is short and you have to spend it with the ones you love. Of course, being the obsesive type I am about finsihing something (ever see me play a video game for HOURS until I've beat it? Or write a paper in the same manner?), I've struggled much with leaving here and still not feeling like I'm quitting and leaving without accomplishing anything. Tough couple months of mental tug-a-war.

But in the end, Kelsey means more to me than single handedly developing the educational system of Niger and so I will be bowing out of here all too soon. I did however, plan this all in the mind set that by this time I would have all my projects nicely tied up and all my ducks in a row. Being Niger, I should have know this was a little over-optimistic, even with my original December schedule and its one month grace period:

Projects done end of Jan.
Wrap up Nigerien life (including project over-runs) in Feb.
Off to Kuwait beginging of March.

Then we had the revised schedule after christmas:
Finsih projects by middle of Feb;
Wrap up Nigerien life by mid-March
Kuwait on March 18th

Now I'm glad I pushed back my original departure from March 4th cause my schedule now looks like:

FINISH projects sometime(?)
Get the hell out of Africa on March 18th!

It's been a trying couple of months waiting for people around here to realise as I did that time was quickly slipping away from us. Even telling everyone in December that I would be leaving in March, West African International Time (or WAIT, cute accronym eh?), dictates that people take their time until I bang their head on a table and yell "I'm leaving next week! Are we doing this or not?!?" In which case they say "Of course, it's all going to happen, Incha Allah" Translation: It MAY happen if God deems it should. Translation: No promises. A little frustrating a times if you're trying to work with deadlines. Which, by the way, is rule number one working in Africa - don't expect deadlines to be meet. 2010 World Cup anyone?

But I digress into a rant that I will save for another post about the generalities of Africa and development.... something I've already started writting but am not ready to internet-publish. -Instead I ad-lib at the Cyber Cafe in Gaya; blog improvosation-

So everyone here knows I'm leaving, including Peace Corps staff. Also, everyone is supporting the decision, including Peace Corps staff. Mary, our country director, who has had a mixed bag on volunteer relationships was great; friendly, caring, and helpful when I told her. Thanks Mary! (if you ever read our posts)

Anyway, it's not like this is a surprise around here and so I started trying to wrap this stuff up months ago to differing results. MY student government has gone off extremely well. Last week we had elections in one of the two schools and this week we have them in the other. It's great to see the kids so exctied about something like that. I'll post pictures and video when I run across a better internet connection. So THAT has been great and provided good end of service uplifting moments.

However, these books.... where to begin?

The community contribution part, which is to represent 25% of the total budget, has NOT been met. In planning with people here we put that down as to be met by students at the two targeted schools, each one bringing about a dollar. This didn't happen. Only about a third of the students provided their money. It's a sad statement on where people's priorities lie here that they are unwilling to provide a dollar to improve their child's educational opportunities. I also blame the directors for not making a bigger deal of it. But, beyond the depressingness of that thought, I've found a way to raise the money by taking the books not yet payed for in community funds and offering them to CEGs in the entire commune of Gaya, that's 14 more schools that will recieve an average of 44 books per school, so in the end I'm happier with that utcome than just giving the advantage to two already pretty well funded schools; well funded compared to bush schools around here that is.

The problem has been organizing this, where having my inspector (superintendent) come down with Malaria among the time factor of Niger (WAIT) has taken a couple of precious weeks. The books are ready. They're at my house getting dusty and waiting for money to come in for them. So things should finish up fine, though my schedule now looks like:

Feb 28th leave Gaya for Burkina Film festival, this was my original never to come back to gaya date but....
Mar 12th - 14th back in Gaya cause you have to hold someone's hand to get them to do something and I have to have receipts for the book money
Mar 18th fly out of Niamey.

Kala suru. Have Patience.

Just ranting this all out, mostly so that y'all who were gracious enough to donate know what's going on: It's frustratingly slow, but the books will find their way into needy hands.

So now a note on a practical issue: Don't send any more letters or packages! I won't be here when they arrive. You can get me in Kuwait and I'll get the address for that later.

Here at the internet with one of my buddies. Sad to be wrapping everything up, saying goodbye to people. A couple of times I've started to get really sad. This would've happened eventually, but leaving six months early, while not a LOT of time, means I'm leaving alone while my friends continue on until September. That makes it hard, sying goodbye here in Gaya AND to my American Peace Corps friends, some who I won't see in person again. But all life requires sacrifices and for Kelsey I can gladly miss a couple goodbyes.

Now if I can just get things wrapped up with work.

Sorry Mo about this being another work post, but it has some other stuff in it as well.

Next time: Philosophic wanderings on Africa, the Big Man complex, and Development.

Incha Allah

Three stories

So talking to The Mo a couple weeks ago she told me I need to write more about the people in Niger, that my earlier posts were far more interesting than work this work that. I can understand that, I've grown quite accustomed to life here and what used to strike me as odd, funny, or just plain wrong now seems familiar and in its place. So without further ado here are three stories of people in Niger, the first is supposed to be funny, the second is sad, and last is about the two sides of Niger.

1) My first saturday back in Gaya after this last trip found me sleeping in and enjoying the cool morning. It's been almost cold here at night and in the mornings till about 10 or 11. What I consider cool though is definately a relative term since I see people here in parkas and a Seattle-ite would be wearing shorts and a tee-shirt.

So I'm sleeping in.... I sleep outside on the front porch. I like sleeping outside, but it's especially nice this time of year when I can get that 'I would be cold but for this warm blanket feeling,' very luch a rarity around these parts. It's maybe 830, definately LATE as a Nigerien day goes. I'm not asleep, not quite awake yet when I look up and see a NIgerien boy looking at me from the space between my concession wall and the side of my house. Does this surprise me? Not at all. Initial thoughts: oh he's gonna think I'm so lazy still in bed a 830.

Now it's no surprise since this little passage that runs behind my house was for quite a while when I first moved in a sort of highway for children and my neighbors who were interested in the Anasara. IT's been closed for a while though and so my mind slowly clicks into zarma mode and I can ask how he got in. "I climbed the wall." It's a seven foot wall, that's some effort. What does he want "Have you seen our ball? We kicked it over the wall." No I haven't. I show him out, me just wearing a pair of shorts and the women across the way get a good laugh at my pale shade as I let him out through the front gate.

9 O'clock and I'm up, I'm drinking coffee and a ball sails over and almost lands in my cup. That was quite the hang time, but I guess I finally found it. This time he comes to the front gate instead of scaling the wall.

Moral of the story: waking up to strange children in your concession staring at you is not weird. Sleeping in to 830 is.

2) I take the bus from Niamey to Gaya. It takes about 6 hours. It used to be just 4 but the road has become so bad between Gaya and Dosso as to be almost impassable but at a snail's pace. It's 230 and we're getting on the bus. As my name is called and I make my way through the mob trying to push it's way on I notice that all the seats are taken. What's left are the 'seats' that folddown in between the real seats in the aisle. Usually they're broken, but that's ok cause you end up sitting on other people's stuff anyway - there's not much of a trunk and lots of bagage.

A woman tells me to take the one in the very front, but the driver says no it's for another person. No skin off my nose I start heading to the back. This woman though is somehow offended and her and the driver get into it. Long argument short the driver refuses to drive us if this woman is in the bus. Maybe ten or fifteen minutes pass with this inpass until another driver agrees to take us.

Finally on the road, I'm well engrossed in The Economist from some months back (but NEW by our standards!!!) when I look up as people around me start yelling. We had started to pass a bigger bus, ours being of the 30 person 'short-bus' variety, on the left and suddenly this big behemoth of a bus starts veering into our lane. It's inevitable and I watch as brakes squeel and then BOOM the front windshield seems to explode as we take a good angled crash into the bus's left side just under the driver's window. Lucky for us all the bus had safety glass for a windshield and it's just dust and things from the dash that fly back, but it's still quite a shock. The bigger bus pushes us across the median and into the oncoming lanes of traffic. My heart jumped into my throat as I thought of a head on collision. But lucky for us there was no traffic and we come to a rest, for the most part unscathed.

That doesn't stop the pandamonium that broke lose as soon as me struck the other bus though. Children screaming, woman pushing to get out, people jumping out the window. I tried to apeal for calm "We're ok, we're ok" I'm saying, "we've stopped" and finally as the driver and others say the same people calm down and start to file out through the driver's door. I let others go by. I want to collect my things, and myself, a bit before getting out.

I looked back then out our back window and saw a crowd gathering in the road where we jumped the median. I saw the crowd and on the ground between the feet of on lookers I see a pair of legs bruised and broken. I thought of lumpy mashed potatoes and I knew right away that the owner of those legs hadn't a chance as we came across the road onto her side. I hope she never saw us coming. The blink of an eye and that was that.

I got out. I stood there. I texted Kelsey to tell her I loved her, I'm ok. I asked who she was. She was just a girl on her, maybe 14 or 15 on her way to set up the place where her and her mother sell fried millet balls or some such snack. The coast was clear on her side of the street and now it's just her body being scooped up and taken away to the hospital in the first passing car and her scattered stuff being gathered together by those standing there, a sad collection of her head scarf, flip-flops, cooking pot and broken stool with small spatters of blood that wouldn't be very obvious if I hadn't know to look for them.

People are upset, but there's no police, no ambulance, with her removed, it's just two banged up busses. People move on quickly here, death is still all too familiar. Makes you think how quick something like that could happen. I cross the street just like her many times a day in Niamey.

But it's not a quick enough moving on for the woman who caused the argument with the driver. She's berated and yelled at that this is her fault, she should have just let it go. She yells back and soon I think nobody remembers what happened because of the accident, they're just concerned about who caused it.

3) A Tale of Two Nigers

So this story has a lot to do with my work (sorry Mom) but at the same time I think it speaks a lot as to some characterstics of Niger and development in Africa.

I spent yesterday morning and this morning as well speaking to the students in our CEGs, that's middle school, about the need for them to bring in their money for the English textbooks. I had a great time talking to the kids at both schools, they really open up and enjoy it when someone stands before them and doesn't just talk AT them; but engages. However, between the two schools there's a big difference in the directors that I'd like to talk about and that highlights the two paths laid out before Niger.

CEG I-
The director is shady. I think that's the most apt description. He's unkempt, smokes in his office, oversees crumbling old school complex where broken tables litter the area. He tries to speak over anyone who is talking and just keeps getting louder and LOUDER till the other person gives up. I have no doubt he would skim off the top of any project aimed at helping his students. How do I know? Every time I suggest something to him the first question is always "What's in it for me?" He tells students that Niger is the most uneducated and backwards country in the world; well he litterly yells it at them. The fact is itself debatable, but non the less why rub it in the faces of students, making them feel ashamed of their country. Excuse the french, but he's all around an ass-hole and I hate having to work with him.
Now take as counterpoint the director of CEG II. He's great. He's always clean cut, wearing nice suits you could only buy in Niamey or elsewhere, talks TO the kids not AT them, doesn't yell or belittle them or try to intimidate them into accepting his autority. He's funny, inviting, and eager to do all he can to improve the status of his newly (2006) constructed school, which is well keep and clean. Three more cement classes to come next year to replace some of the temporary milet stock ones!
CEG I is what holds Niger back; corrupt, suffering from mismanagement and major Big Man complex, no thought for up keep, just ask the next white person to buy you new stuff when what you have, and don't take of, breaks.
CEG II is the bright future possible, where Nigerians take the responsibility for their own destiny and foreigners are just a source of help, but not relied upon. It's the totally welcoming part of the culture I love.
Talking to the Inspector (superintendant) here this afternoon about that dicotomy confirmed that even Nigerians can see their country in these two lights. He doesn't trust the director at CEG I either, told me without a doubt he would steal, but that he's not the only one, it's a cultural thing. They're raised thinking it's ok to take a small piece of the pie. There's a struggle going on in Africa right now over its identity. As my inspector said, Africa is a a place of Big Men and strong central powers where people are, if not happy, very willing to give power to others and just keep their heads down. One cannot see democracy here as they do in the US. We talked much about how there is definately a struggle to find new indetities for Africans and african society which balances the old and new; a balance between strong protectors, benefactors, and even oppressors, and the new wave of people demanding more freedom and rights and democracy. It's not an easy thing to do. See: Kenya, Zimbabwe... but also Ghana where democracy scored big this year. I want to expand on this idea in another post, to describe more the concept of Big Men and the willingness to give away power to strong central governments, even ruthless ones, but for now I have to go. I've written enough for now and have a friend visiting who just told me he's arrived in Gaya.

Assalam Alaykum

For Real This Time

No website glitches, I've talked to a real person who oversees the funding process and my project is now FULLY FUNDED and I should have a check in about three weeks (As the money works its way through the maze of Peace Corps Headquarters in DC). I'm in Niamey right now, in transit to Gaya tomorrow, and using my time here get quotes from book stores and confirm they can get their hands on 900 books.

It's definitely a relief to know that the US side of the money is no longer a question, now if I could just get my students to bring in their contribution (like 75 cents a piece), but that's always a factor of parents seeing the money as a waste because it's for school or as a benefit because it's for school. Too much of the old, "What's school good for?" mentality hangs around with the older people. That's changing though and this donation should help to motivate even more young people to continue their education and to think it important to education their own children.

Paris for the holidays was great. Cold, but nice to be cold really after two years of HOT.

Though it's late, in celebration of being back in Africa, here's a quick pictorial rundown of my Tabaski (Eid in Arabic), the Muslim feast in memory of when Abraham (Ibrahim) was going to sacrifice his son because God told him to and then God stayed his hand at the last moment, proving Abraham(Ibrahim)'s devotion. To celebrate Muslims kill and feast on sheep (in place of Abraham's son). It's a straight up story from the bible. And I bet some of you never knew that Islam and Christianity had so much in common. This year, the celebration fell on the 10 of December.

Anyway, on a more worldly level, it's always an interesting process for me here to see food go from "baaa!!!" to "yum" in just a few short hours. Last year's thanksgiving turkey for example, but this year I bought a goat, name of Billy, and we had him for Tabaski (And for days afterward as well, sheep meat makes good sandwiches). Due to the graphic nature, viewer discretion is advised.


Meet Billy, he's your average male goat of indetermiable age. I bought him for 20000CFA, or 40 bucks.


Don't look Billy!!! (You're next)


Goodbye, God Bless, Irikoy ma Halesi, Asalam Alaykum....


A small cut, and air blown into it, helps to seperate the skin from the muscles


Then the skin's taken off and can become a prayer rug if it's in good shape


Then the insides are taken out. But don't worry, we'll eat this too!


Yum! Guts, Liver, Lungs, and Heart, my favorites!



Billy gets himself stretched and ready for cooking


Head and hoofs.... which will ALSO be eaten, but are cooked directly in the flame for that charred flavor.


At this point Billy started to smell really good. I was getting hungry!


And, after two hours of cooking, we're ready to eat!

Family Album (though since I'm terrible at names and only know two of them I won't try, but these are my buddy Ousmanne's kids)










Ousmanne and his lizard he's fattening up (to, ofcourse, eat)


Well that's about it for now. Off to see some people about some books.

Oh, and I added more christmas pictures to my Picasa page if you're interested.

Merry Christmas!!

Was nice to use Skype to chat with family for christmas. Missing the white christmas there makes me sad and long to see snow. It's been 2 years!!!!! What I wouldn't give to go snowboarding.

Also have been pestering people on facebook (in a nice way) to donate to my book project. Almost there, only $1000 left and 4 days to go! If you are still thinking about donating please do so sooner than later, would like to see that total down to 0 before the 1st.


Thanks to all of you who have already donated and I wish you the best of new years wishes!!

Also wanted to post some of my favorite pictures of the last couple days:

Peace Corps Website ERROR

Earlier today the Peace Corps website told me that my project was fully funded. That was an error. There is still around $1600 left to be raised. But we've definately been making a dent in the total. Thanks for all the help thus far and lend me your thoughts, hopes, and prayers to get the rest of this money in. Thanks!!!!

FULLY FUNDED!!!

Wednessday the remaining balance on my project was $3689. Friday it had dropped to $1689. And now, Sunday, it has dropped to $0. We raised almost $4000 in a week. Thank you all for donating!

I want to especially thank my family; parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles for starting this ball rolling way back in the early fall. Thanks to the Snohomish Lions club. Thanks to friends who donated and facebook for facilitating that. Thanks to Om Musa for posting the project on his website about all things Nigerien. $4000 in a week is pretty impressive and I'm amazed to see that come in. I think a lot of that can be credited to the American sense of good will that manifests itself around christmas time. Wonder if Santa Claus donated anything....

So, my dad asked for some pictures of our place here in Paris. Here's the website I found it on originally, which has photos, floor plan, and map of the area.

Will have more pictures and stuff to say about Paris as soon as we actually get out some more.

a Return, a Conference, a Bike Ride, and an Exit

So I haven't been exactly on top of uploading this blog... surprise anybody? Didn't think so. BUT, it has been a very active last two months. Last time I wrote I was taking a little airline inflicted sabatical near the Charles De Gaule airport in Paris and now I find myself back in Paris to pass the Christmas vacation with Kelsey. Funny how life runs in little circles.


So what is it that has been keeping me busy these last two months? Well let me tell you:

First, I came back to finish the preparations and hold the student government conference I had been working on for almost a year. After writing the grant in February I finally, after many set backs, found funding through the American Cultural Center. Problem was they couldn't fund MY project, only a project put on by a local group, so I teamed up with my inspection in Gaya and used their name heavily. Made it an issue when I finally received the check for 3,000,000 CFA made out to the inspection so had to scrabble around to find out the correct way to get authority to cash it. That hurdle done, we prepared for the start of the conference.

Things were going fine until the second night as I was going to be I had a sudden feeling of dread thinking back to a conversation I had had with my 'supervisor' at the Peace Corps over the hotel rooms we would rent for participants. Somehow, two months after this conversation, I suddenly knew we had miscommunicated on hotel room prices. She meant 13000CFA a night PER PERSON and I meant PER ROOM.Straight away next morning I went to her to ask about it and sure enough, I had mis-budgeted the hotel rooms by HALF!!! Instead of the 800,000 I was to pay I had to find 1,600,000 with a budget already a third spent. Holy Sh!t, I thought, I'm gonna have to end up paying this myslef. Well, after a little skimming from budgeted areas here and there, cutting out a planned school visit, and asking the 10 volunteers to give up their transport re-imbursement we cut the gap to 3000CFA and I was glad to cover that amount just to have the disater behind me.

All and all the conference went well and other volunteers have since held their elections or are planning them. Their Nigerien counterparts are now excited and informed about student governments and I hope that this means that soon students in Niger will have a bigger role and voice in their own education.
As far as my own elections, they're scheduled for January. Incha Allah.

Second item that I had one the plate was the 2008 AIDS Bike Ride out in the far East of Niger. The bike ride is a yearly tradition organized and paid for by volunteers. We pick a region, usually along a 150km route, and then hope on bikes and ride from village to village informing people about AIDS, how it's caused, and how they can protect themselves. It's a good time as many of the villages are small and to have 30 white people roll up on bikes and start dancing around (we have a stereo mounted on a land cruiser to announce our presence and get the party started) creates quite a stir from the usual sleepy village life. It's also a different experience for me since we really get out into the bush, away from all creature comforts, even the limited ones you have in a place like Gaya. Bucket baths were not a daily occurence, but more like an every other day thing so we were pretty dirty, hot, and sweaty, but [most people] were having a good time.
Being out in Zinder toward the far end of Niger I was deep into Hausa Land and my Zarma was almost completely useless. Well at least I learned a little Hausa, but not enough to feel confident at all.
We hit something like 17 villages in five days and hopefully made an impression and taught some people about the dangers of AIDS in an area where men will usually go on 'exode' to find work in Nigeria or Benin, often consorting with a prostitute or two on pay day, before sending money back home. It's an important message to get out in a place where people are all too woefully un-aware and un-educated. It's a miracle Niger has been realitvely untouched by the AIDS crisis in Africa.

The only other 'work' thing I have been up to is starting to collect the money for the text book project I'm running. Which, by the way, I have a deadline for donations (imposed by a impatient Peace Corps headquarters). I have to have all my donations by January 1st. So PLEASE, this is the season of giving. I ask you all to donate 10 dollars to purchase a book for a student in Gaya as a way of spreading the good faith and will towards men to those who could really use it. Thank you to all the people who have already donated, we've raised $3000 so far, but the remains another $3000. Whatever I bring in will be used to buy books, even if the full goal is not met. And actually at the moment a strong dollar is helping me get closer to the total goal, but there remains a big gap. I'm gonna make an appeal on Facebook, but please pass the word on to your friends, families, wealthy employers, etc. Thanks!!


So now I'm back in Paris. Still 'working' by blogging about Niger and appealing for donations, but really, just enjoying being with my Kelsey and eating good food. Sure, I'm FREEZING though. It's a little colder than the 100 degree temperatures I left in Niger.

We rented an apartment in the Montmarte neighborhood of Paris, up a little north of Sacre Coeur. It's a nice place, just the right size for two people, on a quiet street, but close to pretty much anything you could want. We haven't gone to see the 'sights' yet, as we've both done the eiffel tower, the louvre and such, instead we've devoted the last couple days to exploring the neighborhood a little bit, cooking up good food (eggplant parmasan, yum) in the apartment's kitchen and getting to know each other again.

Still need to pick up a christmas tree though. Will post pictures of Paris in a later post, but wanted to let you all know the new Niger news now and will post a Paris photo piece later. For now, check out my bike ride album on Picasa and the other one on Facebook. Also there's a new album of camping photos on Picasa as well.





Remember my project as you think of your year-end donations and charity! Thanks!