Africa Part One

Well things have FINALLY slowed down a little for us, so I figured I would squeeze it in to do some serious blogging about our trip. There is just TOO much to write to do it all in one go, so I will spilt it up for you in a few parts...and that way you wont get as bored. It has been interesting adjusting to being home because the experience was so wonderful, it is hard to get back into the routines of life here and actually enjoy them. And it doesnt make it any easier that it is SNOWING in Edmonton today. Don't even get me started. arg. Anyways, back to Africa...well I told you a little bit about our adventure getting to Niger in the first place. Such a gong show, but we made it nonetheless. The team kept an EXTREMELY positive attitude, so we were all happy just to arrive. We arrived in Niger late at night, and were greeted at the airport by some local missionaries who took us to our "base" for the 10 days we were in Niger. We slept in a nice "house" in Niger standards. But when I say house, I dont mean anything like a North American house. It is the place where short term teams stay, and they call it "the offices". There are 2 bedrooms, and a main room on each side of the house, with a kitchen in the middle. The air conditioning was only in the main rooms, but we hardly had it on because it gets expensive. We all had fans in our rooms though, but trust me, there wasnt much of a breeze to keep us cool. We slept on these little cots with a small foamie on them when we were at the base. And I slept under a mosquito net that Sara had brought, for safe measure. I like the airy feel. haha. My roomies were Carrie and Sara-good times!! Anyways, we got to sleep in the next morning, and went for lunch at a local missionaries house. She served us an authentic African meal, african style. Boys in one room, girls in the other. We all sit on a mat, and there is one big platter in the middle with rice and meat sauce, and you eat with your right hand. Very messy, but enjoyable. We had to do it a few times on our journeys, so it was good practice for us. At night we helped put on a church service for the local missionaries and their families (approximately 150-200 ppl), and then got home to pack for our trip to the village of Fakaye the next day. We were up at 6 am, and drove for hours, in a truck and a small SUV. Squishy! We were greeted very warmly by the adults and elders of the village, and tons of kids too. They had never seen white people before, so the children were always staring at us. But at the same time, they were very respectful, and would never grab at us or touch us at all. (The adults swat the kids with a stick to discipline them, so I think they like to avoid getting in trouble.) They would all bow every time they saw us and would greet us each individually, it was crazy!
We went to 4 different school rooms and they performed dances for us, and songs, and we did some songs for them too and handed out notebooks, candy, and pencils to them. Later in the afternoon we played games with the children. We had brought our a giant rainbow parachute, bubbles, soccer balls, beach balls, jumping rope, you name it. The kids had so much fun. (So did we) Besides the fact the heat was DRAINING.





















While we were sitting in on one of the classrooms later on in the day, a few of the adults from the village had brought us a gift of live wild guinea hens. (A guinea hen is pretty much like a big chicken) I covered my eyes, without the people noticing because I knew if I looked at them for too long, I wouldnt be able to eat them later!!!
The 2 female school teachers that were a lot of fun, cooked our team the dinner. It took them nearly 3 hours over the hot pots! They made macaroni noodles and the guniea hen in a sauce. I am not sure what parts of the birds were in there, but it was dark by the time we ate, so I couldnt really see what I was eating. It was very humbling to recieve this gift from the village, because they literally have nothing out there. We didnt want to offend anyone, so we all forced ourselves to eat what was given to us. It wasnt horrible though. (But everybody from Capernwray can probably remember that I am quite the picky eater!!!) After dinner we ended up having this random "sing-off" with the 3 school teachers. They would sing an African song, and we would sing a north American song. I dont even know how it started, but we were all laughing and having a good time. Us Canadians sounded awful, and some of the songs we sang were "In the Jungle the Lion Sleeps tonight" and Christmas carols because it was all we knew! haha. :) We were pathetic. Later that evening we were actually able to show the Jesus movie projected on to a sheet in their language (Hausa), which was pretty cool because I dont think any of them had seen a movie before, and it was really amazing that we had it in their language. Everyone there lived in straw huts, and the only form of civilization that I saw was clothing and flashlights. Everything else was quite tribal. The reason we went to this village was because one of the guys on our team, Nathaniel, was a missionary in Niger last year, and he was connected to one of the school teachers who was placed in this village by the government. The teachers were all in their mid-twenties. Thankfully, they could speak French, so we were able to communicate. (not me but those who know how to speak French) The people were amazing in this village. All the young students (ages 5 to 8 I think) even built a straw fence around one of the school teachers huts that we were connected to, so that we could have some privacy while we were there. And then what seemed like one hundred kids would just peak in at us all day through the fence. Or they would just come in and stand along the fence and not say anything.They treated us like royalty, it was completely humbling. And overwhelming. I had so much fun enjoying their culture. NIGHT AND DAY to what we have here. We slept under the stars in tents that night, falling asleep to loud donkeys and goats. It was cooler at night so we were actually able to sleep a little. We also had a make-shift bathroom...which was pretty much a box with a bucket in it and a toilet seat on top. And there was a small straw fence surrounding it. A frog was living in the area by the end and a cockroach in the bucket. Gross I know! The next morning we woke up and the chief had summoned us all to say a final goodbye and take some photos. There were tons of the village people waiting for us...when we got to the other side of the village.











That was the other funny thing. They loved getting their pictures taken, whether they were young or old. There was one teenage guy that was making fun of us with his friends, pretending that a broken flip-flop they had was a camera... and they would all pose for the broken flip flop, and laugh their heads off. So I took a picture of them. haha. And the kids would all crowd in front of you for you to get one shot. At one point I think I was surrounded by 40 children, and I wasnt sure how I was going to get out of the crowd!!

An hour before we left, a few of us girls were sitting in our fenced in area with the female school teachers and the kids kept crowding in. Eventually they all started dancing for us. All the female children. It was such a fun moment. I loved it! So we had a wonderful time in the village. We all have very fond memories of that time.