Monday, January 26, 2009

Across the border

11:51 pm | Edit Post
Never been to Niger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger) before, not really seen much of West Africa since arriving here in December 2000, but needing to check out the MK school in Niamey made it a necessity for us to cross the border for our first time. Heading into the unknown is always a little daunting as I presented documents to the stern faced officials on both sides of the crossing. To my relief we passed through without any problems.

As we drove into the country the terrain seemed familiar as the trees melted away and we entered into the all too familiar Sahellian terrain. Niamey, the capital of Niger, is a relatively short distance from the border, approximately 100km, and took us about an hour and a half along the sealed road. On entering the city one thing that struck all of us was the lack of mopeds. This was a refreshing change to our capital which is full to overflowing with the things. For some reason, can't think why, I thought we stood a better chance of NOT having an accident when heading into town.



Situated next to the Niger river is Sahel Academy ( http://www.sahelacademy.com/ ) which we were all very impressed with. Amelia wanted to start straight away but due to certain factors we did end up bringing her back to Burkina with us. Josh, on the other hand, was more impressed with the dorms where nearly a dozen of the kids from the school board. The kids had the opportunity to spend a night in the dorm and then a day at the school, overall it was a positive experience. We got the distinct feeling that for Josh, the school implied there was going to be some hard work involved. Don't get me wrong, it's not that Joshua isn't able to work hard but, as with many boys his own age, hanging out with his peers is more appealing.




Our stay was relatively short, just three day, but we did manage to see a little of the city and a little of the bush while we were there. We even got to see president Obama's inauguration speech live from the American recreation club which was a real treat.



0 comments
Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Baasi fu wala

3:07 pm | Edit Post
Baasi fu wala. (Translated; no problems at all) is used for many an occasion;  did you pass the night in peace?  Baasi fu wala.  How is you family?  Baasi fu wala.  How was your trip to the capital?  Baasi fu wala.
 
Just yesterday I asked the son of a friend how his younger sister was as I knew she hadn't been at all well.  He informed me without emotion that she had died the day before.  Her parents, from Mali, would spend most of the year in Djibo often calling at our yard looking for help of some kind or another.  Although they owned nothing but the clothes on their backs they always seemed cheerful and friendly.  There daughter was a beautiful little child of about 9 or 10 and it came as a shock that she had died of some illness the previous day and so I called in to pay my respects and say the appropriate words.
 
The ritual greetings of, "did you spend the night in peace", seemed worthless in light of their loss, but it's just what you say here.  "Baasi fu wala" was their response.  I don't think that would have been my response if we had been the ones that had lost a child the day previous.  Fulani culture doesn't give you a choice on how you respond to a tragedy.  Self control must be maintained at all cost, especially in the area of emotion.  To shed a tear in public is extremely shameful.
 
As I looked at the mother she was still smiling, but I could only imagine the pain she must have been experiencing within at the loss of her beautiful little girl.
0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)