Righteousness for the Oppressed

The difference and reality of life in Africa has hit home hard this week.

A few posts ago, I wrote the story of the Chief Crowning and a Fulani village which participated in the cultural presentations. This village is part of a larger village in the bush; however, a group (~ 200 people) have lived on the outskirts of Niamey for well over 4 years. The mayor of Niamey has recently decided that these (and other groupings of) huts can no longer be within city limits. He is parcelling out their land to sell - and these people are too poor to purchase the land and can certainly not build the required mud/brick houses if they do.

The village appealed for a delay of the move, scheduled for the end of June, until after harvest when the stray to build new huts would be cheaper. This delay was denied. On Monday, the government decided it was taking too long for these people to move (aside from 'my' 200 people, there would be at least 1000+ people in the area). The mayor arrived with bulldozers and tractors and destroyed all the remaining huts; the inhabitants were not allowed to enter and retrieve their belongings beforehand.

On Tuesday morning, I arrived in the village to meet with my friend Adam and his family. I saw his village in disrepair, he was waiting for me on a mat where his hut used to be. Others were gathering their belongs and others sitting on the ground in front of what little they could recuperate - abject and despondant.

Culturally, it was interesting to view the process of this request for aid. The request itself was not even spoken, but was more of a presentation. For almost an hour, I listed to stories of various workers from my team (and others) who walked in relationship with their village. How they had helped in previous crises and how visiting teams (medical and eye glass) have provided training and assistance in their village. It left no doubt in my mind that they were 'requesting' aid; yet, as I drove up to their village the hour before, there had been no doubt in my mind of doing what I could to help. I just had to figure out how.

Though I took a course on crisis aid for refugees last year, I had not anticpated the wealth of emotion that would come in walking alongside a displaced people. During the course last year, I prayed that Niger would never have a crisis like Darfur in which I would need to practice that which I was learning. Yet now, though on a much smaller scale, I am now working with people displaced within their own country. In fact, it is a crisis so 'small' that it has not registered on the 'scale' of larger aid groups and it is myself and a few other missionaries who are responding. My mind is now reeling with what I learned - how to evaluate their primary needs: food security, safe drinking water, health, emotions. And, my heart is broken, having absorbed - to some extent - their suffering; and in trying to comprehend such oppression.

On Tuesday I was able to provide help to Adam's family to begin transporting enough to build one hut in the village with the promise to return today to help move more. When I arrived this morning, I learned that the police had returned just after I left on Tuesday and used the bulldozers to gather the straw and belongings remaining on the ground into piles and set them on fire.

Today I made several trips out to the village area with straw, pots, buckets and some of Adam's family. In the face of such huge loss and oppression, it feels like what I did today was such a small drop in the bucket; yet, they were so grateful for my coming to their aid and said that what I was able to do has made a huge difference in their lives.

In having to move to the village in the desert, they have lost their source of drinkable water. They have also lost their source of food - in Niamey, they sold the milk from their cows daily in order to purchase that which they needed to eat. As the village is 10 km from Niamey, this is no longer possible. And the fields have just been planted with harvest yet 3 months away.

Yet, despite their situation, God is also working in their hearts. On Tuesday, Adam told me that some in the village were saying that God does not love them; yet Adam has stood strong to declare that He does still love them. As I left, this family asked me to pray for them and then thanked me for my help and my prayers. As we left, Adam said that his father thanked me for my help and that it shows that God has not forgotten them. He (the father) is trusting God for their food and proclaims God will not forget them - He created them and will not leave them hungry on the land.

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Psalm 103:6

Please join me in prayer that God will work in this situation to bring righteousness to this village who is oppressed. As these people walk in the coming days through their emotions and trauma, their new home and their situation, that they will turn to our Father, His love and salvation.