The Gibsons online blog

We left the tarmac road with a bit of a jolt and continued to jolt for the next 45 km as we weaved through the severely potholed road, more potholes than road to be honest, in search of some respite  from the bone jolting before we all slipped a disc. 

As we approached the Djibo hills we were met with a welcome sight... Green.  Djibo and the surrounding area seemed to have exchanged its familiar reddish brown shroud for a carpet of green.  If we hadn't seen the all too familiar landmarks we may have thought we had taken a wrong turning.  The rains may have started late this year but for the moment there is rain that I have never seen the likes of before in Djibo.  In the space of just one week Djibo has been visited five times with good downpours, more than the Fulani would normally be expected in a couple of months and one good friend, who is usually a constant pessimist, was being unnaturally optimistic when asked about the forthcoming harvest.

It's not as if they don't need a break.  The year we have been away seems to have been a particularly harsh one with a poor harvest last year and a phenomenally long and intense hot season.  People really suffered during this period and to top it all one of the harsh strains of malaria seems to have ravaged the area filling hospitals and taking its fair share of victims.

In some ways the town seems to have taken on some considerable changes with new buildings going up left right and centre.  Even Djibo Lake is now sporting what looks like will be a rather spectacular hotel overlooking it.  Who knows, maybe you will see Djibo appearing in Lastminute.com in the not too distant future.  In other ways, however, and for most of the people we have come to know and grown to love, life goes on as usual seemingly unaffected by the town's expansion and changes to its skyline.  For those who have no power life seems to just continue with the same constant struggles to survive and with no obvious solutions to their plight.  If only we could bring some kind of Hollywood answer to these peoples situation and circumstances when the hero steps in and fixes everything with a few wise clichés.

 But that's not real life, and so we continue to see how best we can serve in hope of making some modicum of a difference with the ultimate desire to see Jesus transform the seemingly impossible.