More on Life in Niger . . .

Insects

Aside from the geckos in my house, I have also learned to cope with many assorted other insects. By coping, I usually mean killing - mostly the spiders. Those who know me well know that I hate spiders, and moving to Africa has meant that I lost the prime-spider-killer of my life: dad!! Throughout my life, while I lived at home (or when I lived on my own, in my house, if he happened to be around), my dad was willing to kill all and any spiders I found in my room - even at 3 am! So, I have now learned to deal with the spiders on my own. Dealing with spiders on my own usually includes a bit of dancing and squealing upon discovery (especially when they jump) and then a run for a sandal!

Despite the fact that I hate them, I have had a few fascinating species in my house. There were the two spinning spiders in my kitchen that were kinda amusing. I usually saw them if I went into the kitchen at night. As soon as I turned on the light, they would first freeze and then spin around in circles 3-4 times before making a dash for somewhere to hide. Always the circles!! (That was the amusing part.) Although one was on the counter once and he jumped off to find somewhere to hide (that was the not so amusing part!). I was happy, though, knowing that because he always went somewhere to hide, that meant he would never attack me. But I discovered that this spider does have an 'attack mode'. One day, after circling a few times he could find no where to hide - so I seized my chance and ran after him with a sandal. Once he realized I was going after him, he started running at me too! It is extremely difficult trying to judge to distance to kill a spider before he reaches me, while wearing a floor length skirt and trying to ensure the spider does not go underneath! But - success!!

I have also discovered why the 'daddy-long-legs' spiders are called this - I was always a little confused in Canada, sure they had longer legs than their bodies - but now, I completely understand. As you can see by the photo below, they have looooooong legs!! After I snagged this photo - and then killed him - I measured the box he was on and discovered he had a five-inch diameter!

What are some of the other insects in my house?? Crickets, mosquitos, flies are some, but unfortunately, they mostly remain nameless. I was baking the other day and took my flour container down from the shelf and found a bug crawling around on the lid. That small moment reminded me of all the wonderful ladies from my church who held a Tupperware party for me last year so that I could come to Africa with new containers to hold my food and how I have been so thankful for their gift - if not just even a little more so now!!

Rainy season has also brought an assortment of mosquitos and frogs. On the days it rains, I love opening my window and falling asleep to the many frogs singing in the puddles on my street! Though, I do not so much love the mosquitos. The other night as I was falling asleep, I heard a mosquito buzzing in my room and I lay there hoping it was on the other side of the mosquito net from me! It reminded me of a poem I wrote as a teenager working at camp in the summers - laying on the bunk listening to the mosquito and not having mosquito net between us:

the wonderful joys of camp

the calm, quiet of the night

until the ominous sound of the mosquito buzzing

buzzing in your ear

buzzing it seems for the whole world to hear

and then the questions fill your mind

is this a mosquito drifting by

or a short circuit in my brain?

This insect below is a cute little guy I found out in the village - he is sort of fuzzy and much like a turtle in mannerism - when he is scared (ie: touched) he curls up into a little ball and his head, feelers and legs disappear! My friends in Teppe call this bug 'fils de la pluie' - son of the rain - as they live deep underground and only come out during rainy season. My colleague Ace searched it on the internet and found that it is called Angelito - velvet mite.

Wildlife

Another aspect of life in Niger is the wildlife that I have a chance to see. I have been out once more to see the giraffes, and this time we saw a huge herd of about 20 giraffes, including some babies!

my foot next to a giraffe hoof-print:

Team Activities My team had a BBQ out on a plateau overlooking the Niger river, and we were able to see some hippos out on an island in the middle of the river. I had to zoom a fair amount to catch a photo, but hopefully you can see him a bit!

These little boys came out to see if our kids wanted to ride their donkeys.

This evening also gave us a beautiful sunset and we had a wonderful time singing around the campfire together as well:

Cultural Activities

September is the month of Ramadan - where Muslims around the world fast during the day as a spiritual discipline, meant to remind them of their dependency on Allah and to deepen their empathy towards the poor and hungry. The fast is observed from sunrise to sunset, and during the day the Muslim abstains from eating, drinking (difficult I am sure at this time of the year, the other day it was 43 degrees + humidity!), and the more strict adherents will not swallow their saliva. (Walking in the marketplace has become an act of even more diligence to ensure that I do not walk in the trajectory of someone's spit!)

The evenings however, are a celebration for the Muslims - where they gather with friends, family and neighbors to eat and drink. The stores close early now, so that the workers can go eat and some restaurants are offering a Ramadan special: soup, salad, main dish & coffee for 4,500 francs (~ $11 cdn). The celebrations on my street last until at least 11pm. And the preparations often start well in advance.

The other afternoon, when I was coming home I noticed my guard and his friends cooking a millet stalk over their fire - this, I found out was their Ramadan treat for later that night. I was curious and asked Aklinine if the millet popped, similar to popcorn. As we were speaking, we could hear the grain kernels starting to pop and we went outside to watch the process. His friends offered me a bite to taste and then bowl of what they had already popped (though it was mostly just cooked, not popped like popcorn). I was told the proper way to eat this was in a bowl with milk and sugar - and it was quite tasty! It was so generous of them to share their small treat with me and they were pleased that I wanted to take their pictures to show my family and friends about this part of life in Niger:

Sekko Distribution

Since the bull-dozing and setting of fire to the huts in the Fulani village of Bani Fandou last month, I have been walking alongside these people in their sorrow and shock. Myself and a colleague visited the new village region of Kongou several times to do a needs assessment and formulate a proposal:

What were the primary needs as addressed by the village chief?

If we were to address each need: how and the costs thereof.

Are there any unaddressed needs that could arise as a result of the deplacement?

The decision was made to help the village by purchasing sekko - these are the straw mats with which the villagers build their huts. As harvest is still 2 months away, the straw from last year's harvest is beyond the current means of the villagers.

harvest price (October): 1,000 cfa = $2.50 / straw mat

current price (July): 2,500 cfa = $6.25 / straw mat

As each hut requires 6-10 straw mats, this puts the average price of a hut at 25,000 francs ($65).

A list was compiled of those who lost their huts and we provided funds to the village chief's son to purchase the straw mats and transportation of the mats out to the village. My colleague and I then went to the village on the day of the distribution with some more mats to help out. We were able to provide 180 mats in total!

In this photo is my newly arrived, and more newly liberated from customs, Toyota truck. Thank you to all who contributed to my vehicle fund allowing me to purchase a vehicle that is built for travelling to villages and built for transporting the aid which my team brings!

As the distribution unfolded, we noticed the group of men discussing amongst themselves and eventually the chief's son Adam translated the consensus: we had calculated enough mats to give out 6 per family head, but as the piles of mats grew smaller as we piled the mats for each person, the men were growing concerned there would not be enough. We assured them that we had done the mathematical calculations correct, however they decided to restart the distribution at 4 mats per family head. My colleague was concerned that perhaps those who received would leave and at the end the extra remaining was a way in which they could give more to the chief.

However, we discovered once the distribution was complete that 10 more families had shown up that had been missed on the initial compilation of lists. In a desire to provide these family heads with straw mats, those on the recipient list agreed to take fewer mats in order that all could have some.

It was amazing to see their generosity of spirit despite all each have personally lost!

Recipients:

Village Boys:

These boys kept posing for the camera every few minutes, often pulling others into the frame just to have another picture taken. They would run in front of me demanding 'photo' (as far as I can tell, the only French word they know) and then crowd around me excitedly to see themselves and giggle over the viewfinder!

Another photo of the boys posing with another 'victim' - apparently unwilling - however, once I showed them the picture, the young man gathered around just as excitedly to smile at his picture too! (I actually have a such few photos of men, from various villages, all who have walked up and demanded a photo and all who have posed in the same way - I guess they are big on the serious look!)

Playtime: On the way back into town, we passed several large electrical poles and each one was filled with children swinging from the bottom rung on a scrap of fabric, laughing and giggling and enjoying the sunshine!