Greetings from Niger! A'gashekku!
What's cuter than the three Nigerien children, one of whom is picking her nose? Not much.
My apologies for the long hiatus of blog posts. There no outlet for the internet in the Birni N'Konni area, so it's rare I get to a place where I can get online.
It's been getting cold here lately, to the tune of the upper 90s during midday. While that may not sound cold to some, it's 10 to 15 degrees cooler than hot-season. The temperature is dropping at nightfall, however. Down to the upper 60s at night, which is a real relief. So the mornings and evenings are getting comfortable. For about 7 months you don't need a blanket to sleep outside, but we're back into the much-missed stretch where you do.
I've been sick for a little while due to a strange toxoplasmosis infection. Apparently I got it from cat poo, at least that the most likely scenario. What am I doing eat cat poo you may ask? Well, I would argue it was unintentional. I've got a couple of cats. And, I'm thinking the fur to hand to mouth (while eating with my hands) scenario is the most likely. Who knows? Regardless, I've gotten better and my energy is back. I never had mono, but I'm told the symptoms are very similar - fatigue and a weakened immune system. I was pretty much stationary for a week when it was at its worse. Here's to a healthy future!
(The trail to Yelewa, a village neighboring Rafi - taken in March '06. Van Gogh?)
In the most beautiful Nigerien village of Rafi I've been slowly getting back to work. There are 6 women's groups in the village that I've been meeting with on a monthly basis. Basically, I've expressed interest to work with them and we've been sharing ideas on stuff we could work on together in the future. C old-season is just about upon us here in Niger and that's the time to garden. The women's groups have expressed a desire to create one cooperative garden, so I'm in the process of finding resources (such as seeds, tools, money, etc.) to help them out. Gardens are a great development project here as they introduce much needed vegetables (and their nutrients) to their diets. And the vegetables can also be brought to local markets for sale. So, hopefully our garden comes together this season.
There's also a need for additional wells in my village, and I'm in the process of developing a proposal to send to Washington in an effort to get one constructed. In a village of approximately 2,500 people there are only two wells. And even these wells could use repairs. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of cash on hand here in PC Niger, so we do most (or perhaps all) of the fund-raising ourselves. Peace Corps has a program in place that I will be applying to that would allow me to request tax-deductible donations. You'll be sure to hear about it if it's accepted.
I've been involved in a lot of radio shows recently. The Peace Corps Volunteers in the Konni area take turns going to a local radio station to do hour long educational shows in Hausa. There a lot of fun, they reach a lot of people, and we get to play any music we want. Recently I did a show with a friend of mine on planting maringa (a small tree with edible, nutritional leaves) alongside onions. You can plant the trees on the same plots as onions since their roots are deeper than the onion plants and therefore don't compete for water. Thus when you're watering your onions, the maringa plants get the leftovers. Niger is one of the biggest onion producers in West Africa and the Konni area is "onion country". So, while we fumbled over our Hausa I shared my iPod with the listening audience... A Tribe Called Quest, Gnarls Barkley, Daft Punk, Black Eyed Peas, and Dusty Springfield hit the Konni air-waves (for perhaps the first time ever). A slight change of speed from the Nigerian and Cote d'Ivorienne anthems.
ON TO THE PHOTOS!
This was taken inside my concession during my very first visit to Rafi. As you can see the walls surrounding my yard weren't finished (nor was my latrine at the time). They're over my head now. The woman on the the left is on of the women's leaders in town. And the woman on the right is the village chief's third wife (my neighbor). The front door to my hut is just in front of the mortar and pestle on the left-side of the photo. And my red-iron window is open right next to that.
These four young girls are students at the local grade school. They were on their lunch break and swept out my concession. My charge: a photo.
This is the landscape outside of my village during dry-season. All of this land is teaming with millet, sorghum, beans, and peanuts during wet-season.
Say hello to Trina Blanchette, volunteer extraordinaire. She was a Peace Corps Volunteer on my team in Konni, but has since completed her service and is now back in the U.S. This is her hut in Batodi, north of Konni just off of the road to Tahoua and Agadez. It's pretty similar to my set-up. We made some damn good oatmeal cookies in that white oven.
Alright. I'm off to watch some Champion's League football (soccer) at a local Niamey bar. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everybody. We'll be roasting our own turkey in Maradi come Thanksgiving, so feel no pity for me. There's an AIDS bike-ride from Maradi to Galmey (check it out on a map) that I'm going on right after Turkey Day. I'll the Peace Corps bike mechanic for the ride, which should be a trip considering how inept I am with bicycles.
TAKE CARE EVERYONE. I MISS YOU ALL,
Matt
