Body Health and Heart Health

A few months ago, concurrent with the famine in Niger, my team started three grain aid programs among 3 villages - our connections in and out of town. One of the villages is a Fulani district named Kongu, located about 10 km outside Niamey. I bring 10 sacks of grain each week to the edge of town (Bani Fandu) where the chief of this village lives. And the recipients of that week come to pick up their grain. Each week is a rotating group of 10 families who receive one sack per month at a reduced price from the market.

I decided that while I was seeing greater numbers of people from this village each week, perhaps they would like some teachings on health at the same time. So, I approached the village chief and the President-elect of the grain aid program one Saturday to inquire of their desire for help beyond the grain. They both responded enthusiastically - yes we would like teaching on health!! The chief of the village asked me if it would be teaching on 'body health'. Yes, I responded, teachings on our body health; but also, if you agree, teachings on our 'heart/soul health'. Because we recognize that God has created us whole people with knowledge to help us live healthy and justly. Yes, the chief responded, we want these stories!!

So, thus, I began to prepare some teachings to accompany the grain aid delivery. I chose the teachings on diarrhea, as there are four sections to this teaching and four months left of grain delivery. As well, this is a huge health concern in Niger - children can die quickly from diarrhea as they become dehydrated. The goal of these lessons is to learn:

• to recognize diarrhea
• when and how to treat at home (oral rehydration solution - how to make it)
• when to go to the hospital
• what causes diarrhea
• how to avoid getting diarrhea

The lesson I am currently teaching is to recognize some of the causes and to start identifying the need of water so as not to become dehydrated while sick.

Getting ready to teach - and photos of some attending:

My favourite visual lesson for this teaching is a common object in the Fulani household - jolloru - it is a hollowed out squash gourd with a neck. In this, the Fulani will shake their milk until it makes butter!

I use the jolloru to help demonstrate how important water is to our bodies - when we have diarrhea, we lose all the water that we drink. So, I first pour water into a pot to show them a healthy body - one that holds water. Then I start pouring water into the jolloru - in which I have, unbeknownst to them, chiseled a hole. As the water starts pouring onto the ground, I love to play it up and gasp: "What is happening??". My first week out, first lesson, the chief of the village was sitting next to me. He excidtedly starts chattering and trying to plug the hole with his finger, all the while trying to save the water. He finally grabs it with both hands, tilts it to a level where water is no longer spilling and settles back contentedly and sighs - telling me that I can now go on, the water is no longer spilling!! And I am thinking - WOW! You just demonstrated in a million ways more stronger than I could how important water is to our bodies when we are sick!! I am sure that this group of men will forever picture this visual image when they see a jolloru in their huts!

Here, you can see the chief holding the jolloru:

And again, the same lesson for the women:

Here, the question is "What do you see?".

The photo showing a few ways in which water can become contaminated and the cause of diarrhea. I learned that in their minds, this is only a problem if the water is a standing body of water. . . if it is a river, that which is dirty runs away. So, I show them the child and cow upstream and how the germs are running away from the child and cow - right to where the lady is drawing water.

Following the health teaching, I tell a Bible story - for now, I am telling the story of Noah. What does the story of Noah have to do with diarrhea, you ask?? I tell them:

Well - during the rainy season in Niger, the rain falls and our river and standing water sources become dirty. The dirty water is one source of contamination and thus diarrhea. The rainy season brings problems in our lives. Let me tell you about Noah, who had a problem during the rainy season of his life, and how God helped him!

We have learned as a team working with the Fulani in Niger that the rainbow is a big deal in their lives . . . they are afraid of it. Never in my life have I seen the mention of the word 'rainbow' spark hour long discussions!! For us, we are fascinated as children to colour them and search for them in the sky. They are beautiful - but perhaps they lose some of their intrigue when we learn in science class how light is refracted by raindrops, spreading the sunlight into a spectrum of colours.

Yet for those in the Fulani culture, the rainbow is not a good sign. For the Fulani who are pastoralists, their lives depend on the rain that brings life to their crop. So, when the rainbow appears - they see it as a 'snake in the sky which drinks the rain our crops need'. Yet when we tell them the story of Noah, they all exclaim: "No one has ever told us that the rainbow shows us God's love!'.

So, each week I go to Kongu - bringing grain to help nourish their bodies, medical teachings to help nourish their health, and stories of God to nourish their souls.

Photos courtesy of Ace Cheung.