During the dental clinic in the Fulani village, my job was going to be interpreting Fulfulde - the dental questions to the patients and their answers to the dentist. For the week before the clinic, I diligently studied the new words. Some words I already knew, but now needed to apply them in a new setting, some words were completely new to my studies - words that I don't need for everyday conversation . . .I had no idea that dental vocabulary was so specific:
- open - ombu
- open your mouth - ombu hunduuko ma
- bite - ngaatu
- tooth - nyiiye
- freezing . . . well, we don't have a word for 'freezing' in Fulfulde, so we went with needle of numbing medication - kural jaaɗinol
- cavity - gawure
- close - maaɓu
- pull out this tooth - ittan nyiire nde
I also saw the benefit of my many hours memorizing various pronouns and demonstrative words: 'which, this one, that one' and was able to finally use them in 'real' life:
- which tooth hurts?
- which tooth hurts the most?
- this one or that one? (as the dentist tapped teeth)
I was somewhat concerned over my abilities to translate . . . with all this new vocabulary, I didn't want to be the cause of having the wrong teeth pulled! I was also concerned over one specific new word:
- spit - tuttu
because this word is very close to:
- vomit - tuutu
The difference in pronunciation is so slight, I was hoping that context would help them decide which they were to do, should I say it wrong!
(I am happy to report that no one 'vomited' on command - all spit - and no wrong teeth were pulled!!)
The second week, I headed out to the village with the team to visit the Fulani village of Teppe. As the dental team required an actual building to work in (to help limit the amount of dust blowing around) we set up camp in Makalondi - a small town across the highway from Teppe, the town where we work. As we worked Monday afternoon to unload the equipment and set up the tent and cots sleeping area, the temperature soared to
Yes, +47 degrees - record breaking temperatures for the start of cold season!! . . . . Hot for us who live here year round - doubly so for the visiting team from Edmonton!
Following the set-up of our camp, we headed into the market of Makalondi - Monday is market day!
Tuesday morning, the clinic opened for business.
We saw about 24 people and saw many teeth in various stages of decay. Most teeth were pulled, the odd time it was recommended that they spend more time brushing their teeth to keep it from getting worse. The Nigerien toothbrush - the stick of wood in this photo - which they chew on throughout the day:
There was not much business in the afternoon - perhaps they were too busy in the field (still harvesting) or they were too nervous/afraid to come and see the dentist. Today brought another record-breaking temperature for cold season:
As there were no patients, the team spent the afternoon in various positions:
Noting of course those who are on internship or apprenticing (thus, those with 'homework') and those seasoned enough to know when to take a siesta! Where was I? - wandering around taking pictures . . . not quite diligent enough to study in the heat, but not seasoned enough to take advantage of the siesta time. At one point, though, the heat was enough that I sought the shade of another building and spent some time with the Teppe villagers to practice conversational Fulfulde!
Tuesday night heralded a soccer match ('foot' as they call it here in French) - our team and a few village adults versus the village children. It was an intense match!
Language wise - I learned some new phrases, great examples of the visual pictures of this people group! One young man told me: 'nyiire nawaata joonin amma nde den ummeke, no naawa sanne sanne' - literally translated: 'it does not hurt now, but when the tooth stands up it hurts much much'. After the third go round, I decided that I had indeed heard him correctly, and though I understood all the words, the meaning was lost to me. So, I called over my colleague Lisa and she determined that he meant 'when the pain rises' - ummeke. The next day, I heard the opposite of this phrase: 'degom degom no naawa sanne sanne, amma joonin nda fukkeke'. Because I had heard the phrase the day before, I was able to see this visual picture: 'sometimes it hurts a lot, but right now the pain is laying down'.
We headed back to Niamey on Wednesday afternoon and the dental team provided 2 days of clinic in town - for our employees and family and for various missions organizations and their employees.
During this clinic, I was promoted! I still provided some interpretation - French to English now . . . which meant cramming new vocabulary again. It was weird to realize that I knew some words in my first and third languages, but not in my second! (Mainly 'spit' - such specialized vocabulary for these dentists! I had no idea that my language study was lacking well-roundedness!) But this time . . . I also became 'holder of instruments'.
The time spent in the Fulani village area was amazing - 48 receiving medical care that they could never afford otherwise, receiving relief from pain. One person reported that they did not eat lately because their teeth hurt so much, but now the evening before - after their tooth was pulled - they had been able to eat food again.
In the short time here, we were able to witness of God's love to these people - demonstrating His love in a tangible way. Continuing to till the ground for the seed of God's truth. While we were in the village, our new intern - Peter - shared a verse:
Finish your outdoor work and get your fields ready; after that, build your house. ~ Proverbs 24:27
It speaks to the truth of our compassion ministry here . . . we could build a church building, but there would be no one to come. So instead - we are now doing our 'outdoor' work and preparing the fields. . . preparing to build God's church in the hearts of these people.
Thank you SEAC - Jon, Alicia, Damien, Sheldon & Shane for joining with us in our work of preparing the fields for the harvest!!
Random Photos:
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