Five Nomads

Greens in the Desert

2012-01-26T21:06:00.000+01:00

This man doesn't look very happy, but he is. He just told me that with the garden that ADRA helped him install is going to help his large family get through the food security crisis that is developing here in Niger. His exact words were that with his garden his family would have 12 months of food coverage between his cereal harvest and his garden.

The average farmer before the project was growing enough food to cover food needs for about half of the year. That meant that he then had to leave home to find work in order to send money back to feed his family. This left women, children and the elderly along in villages with no food stocks.

About the time the food stocks would normally start to run out is when the household gardens really come into play. Some even have extra to sell. When I asked him if he sold any he said, "Every member of my family including the children depend on this garden for food. We eat everything it produces."

I caught this lady by surprise and snapped her photo before she could put on her "photo face." Her children will be well fed, and because of the large size of her garden she actually produced enough to sell. That will provide "extras" like medicine and school supplies. Her big smiles says it all. I think it makes God smile as well. I know I wasn't able to wipe the grin off of my face on the three and a half hour trip back to Niamey.

Preparing for Battle

2012-01-24T10:18:00.000+01:00

Its hard to see disaster coming and feel helpless to do anything about it. Fortunately that is not our case. Despite the fact that most of what we do is help people come up with solutions to their own needs and lend a helping hand there are times when disaster strikes, and we must be prepared to call on outside resources to meet needs.

Niger is is preparing for a humanitarian disaster. Global acute malnutrition is already over 12.3% and headed toward the 15% mark. In human terms that means that the most vulnerable members of society are about to enter into a time of hunger and suffering that few in the developed world can comprehend.

But, like I said we are not helpless, or without resources.

First of all: we are here, on the front lines. We have worked side by side with the affected communities for years, and it is to us that they turn in their time of urgent need. We know the communities, their leaders and their needs.

Secondly: ADRA Niger has developed a reputation that allows us to work hand in hand with the United Nations World Food Program to deliver food directly to the the communities that we already work with.

Thirdly: we are connected with people who care. We are not just another organization, we were sent here because our church has made a decision that compassion for the needy is more than just a strategy, its a responsibility. Over the years many people have honored this commitment with their time, talents, resources and prayers.

What is next for us? Well in preparation for the battle against hunger that we will be fully engaged in in the months to come we are trying pre-position our resources. One main challenge is transport to the rural and inaccessible areas where we serve. Our light trucks and motorcycles work there daily, but when it come to delivering tons of food on site and on time when every other organization is trying to do the same thing it means that we need to be able to call on our own resources.

We need a vehicle of carrying tons of food and supplies in six inch deep sand and through river beds both dry and rushing with flash floods. While new vehicle of this type are beyond our reach we have been able to locate a surplus French military vehicle that we can have on site and ready to serve before the first distributions. I am posting a picture below. Pray for us as we seek to find individuals, churches and other donors who can help us with the $25,000 we need for its purchase and getting it "road" worthy.

Cows for Water

2011-12-13T12:18:00.000+01:00

This man lives over 700 km from the capital. He was driven to come here to Niamey to the office of ADRA Niger because his village has no water. Its a familiar story, with a twist. He came to the capital to try and find some organization that could help. He went from one door to the next explaining that his village has no well. They get their water from a swamp 25 km from where they live. The water is stagnant and does not last all year.

In a desert country where less than 40% of people have access to potable water its a sad but common story. What is unusual about this gentleman is that he came to Niamey to offer his villages most precious commodity in exchange for the water they can't live without: his cattle. This gentleman is a Fulani and his cattle, he would tell you, are like members of his family.

At the death of a venerable bull his family might recount his life history as if eulogizing a family member. It is very hard for a Fulani to part with his cattle. Yet his village is so desperate for water that he came to our office with an offer. He would give 30 bulls to help with the cost of the well. I think we need to find a way to help him and his village. I told him that I was very touched by the need of his village, and that I was going to America soon where I would tell his story.

The truth is I get myself in trouble sometimes. When I see people who are struggling so hard to survive I feel compelled to promise aid even if I have none to offer. If the story of this mans village touches you to help let me know.

Celebrating a new 'Cousin'

2011-10-18T08:02:00.000+01:00

Since Lily considers our beloved 'Y' family, in her mind that means Y's new
grand baby must be another cousin to love!

We are so glad that this little cutie arrived safely!

Even Mags couldn't resist the new baby, though she wasn't too keen on me
taking her picture at the baptize!

World Hand-washing Day 2011

2011-10-17T07:55:00.000+01:00

This weekend, students from ADRA Niger's Dar Es Salaam school participated in a Niamey celebration of World Hand Washing Day. This year's celebration was a grand event, with one of the First Ladies of Niger in attendance, as well as the US Ambassador.

We were very proud that our students were asked to be part of the program. Their contributions included a poem, a song and a skit on the topic of this year's theme: the importance of washing your hands with soap.

Some of our students getting ready to sing!

Reciting a poem about the importance of hand washing.

The First Lady does a hand washing demo.

The US Ambassador, in green, along with lots of other dignitaries.

Niger's Minister of Education Visits ADRA School

2011-10-04T21:31:00.000+01:00

This week ADRA Niger was honored to have two Cabinet Level Ministers visit our Dar Es Salaam school. The Minister of Education made the rounds of several Niamey schools to highlight the state of education in Niger. Since ADRA Niger's schools have been named, "schools of reference" for the country, she visited DES as an example of what quality education can look like in Niger. We are grateful for the hard work of our national staff, and the people that started the schools here, for making our education programs what they are today. We are especially thankful that God is blessing the work of ADRA in Niger and we give Him all the glory.

ADRA Staff Members with Mdme the Minister of Education (right)
and Mdme the Minister of Vocational Training

When Statistics Hit Too Close to Home...

2011-09-28T23:28:00.003+01:00

I'd say it was a coincidence, but since I don't believe in coincidences it must have been God's timing...

Over the weekend, as I was catching up on the news online, I saw that CNN is running a series called, "The Freedom Project: Ending Modern Day Slavery." It caught my attention and I ended up reading several stories, on their website and elsewhere around the web, about modern-day slavery and in particular, child trafficking.

Here are a few things you may not have known:

There are an estimated 27 million slaves worldwide.
80% of them are Women and Children
There are more slaves now, than at ANY other time in human history.
In 2009, slave traders made 8 times MORE than the entire UN Budget.

The statistics are staggering. What is even more compelling are the links between what we consume in the Western world and the slave trade worldwide. Call + Response is a great website that provides all sorts of ways for ordinary people to get involved and make their voices heard on this subject. Even though we live and work in the developing world, in a country where modern day slavery is a reality, reading through these statistics is just so mind blowing that it is hard to wrap your mind around the truth of it, the nitty gritty reality of it.

And then, we got a text message Monday night.

Four little girls from our church family, the daughters of a friend, were kidnapped Monday morning.

We have known these little girls for nearly four years now.

The oldest is growing into a young lady; the youngest was a babe in arms when we met her.

These precious munchkins call us 'Uncle' and 'Auntie.'

We have refereed their fights, held their hands, wiped their noses, kissed their heads...come to love them.

And they were gone without a trace, taken right from their home.

The call went out to our church family to pray. We all prayed, and waited.

Why is it that despite thousands, no -millions, of answered prayers in my life, that sometimes prayer feels like it is not 'enough?' I wanted to be looking for these girls, or sending someone, or calling someone, or doing, something! There are no Amber alerts here. Police are overloaded and under-resourced. It seemed like there was nothing to do. What a reminder that we are powerless without God's presence in our lives! But with Him NOTHING is impossible.

We serve a loving, gracious, and mighty God! We are so grateful that this story has a happy ending!

God performed a miracle! He heard His people praying for these girls and He intervened.

I am not going to post their pictures here, though I will tell you that they have appeared on our blog in the past and you have certainly heard me tell stories about them, if you have been around me much. The details of their story are not mine to tell, but I want to share enough of their story so that you can understand what a miracle God performed.

The were taken from their home by a man who loaded them into a car and then the second day, started driving for the border of Niger and Burkina Faso. They were most certainly going to be sold across the border for any of a number of purposes, each more terrifying than the last. Before he got to the border, he inexplicably stopped the car and dumped them out in a small village. Once out of the car, the eldest was able to gather her sisters and find help.

And suddenly, the issue of child trafficking, isn't a bunch of statistics for me anymore. Child slavery isn't something I read about online or discuss in an academic way. I will forever have a visceral connection to this topic.

These are girlies I have loved, their momma is a sister in Christ.

No more can I just casually talk about whether or not to give up Hershey's chocolate. I can't be indifferent about whether or not child labor is what makes it possible for me to get a 'bargain' at Wal-Mart or buy a t-shirt for $5.

I don't know what might have happened to these girls if God had not intervened, but we do have an idea of what is happening to millions of little girls all over the world, today.

A quote from the Call + Response website really struck me:

"Justice is what Love looks like in public."

Hopefully no one reading this will ever have these statistics brought home to them in the way we did this week, but I want to challenge everyone reading this to do something to bring attention to the cause of justice for the poor and the oppressed. It may be something big or something small. It could be educating yourself about the topic, so you can make informed choices about what you buy and consume. Sign a petition, make a donation, volunteer, find a way to make a difference. You may not know someone who has been affected by modern day slavery, or human trafficking, but every victim is someone's child, sister, brother, niece… and God knows each and every last 27 million of them by name.

Ezek. 16:49, Jer. 5:28, Psalm 12:5, Psalm 140:12, Job 5:8-16

Further Apologies

2011-09-08T22:41:00.000+01:00

If we owed apologies in July (our last post) we definitely need to makes our excuses in September. My best excuse (Jason speaking) is that my better half, and more than half of my brain is not here. She is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Beth stayed behind in the states for some training and meetings in Washington while I took the kids back for school. Then on the way back to us she got stuck in Paris for three days. Doesn't sound so bad, except for she was basically stuck in the hotel airport.

After two weeks back in Niger the kids and I are getting back into the swing of things. One case of malaria so far, but other than that its just the usual adjusting to the climate and the food after what was for me three months out of the country. You can probably imagine the pile of work on my desk. The three months were a large part work, just not here in Niger. Not all unpleasant work for sure. I spent time in Canada, Thailand and Australia working with some great people, so that was pleasant, except for the in flight hours and the time away from my family.

Sydney Harbor

So what does the rest of the year hold for us? Beth will have another trip in October, but other than that mostly lots of time in the office working on proposals that we hope (and pray) will secure the next few years for ADRA Niger in terms of projects. We have a few projects that have come to an end. I would say with quite a few successes (Praise God) and we need to get a few things under way so we can keep the lights on and fuel in the vehicles.

Our ongoing projects have shown some real progress, including what has become our banner agriculture project that we hope to reproduce around the country.

This very happy (i know its hard to tell because its not cultural to smile for pics!) gentleman is demonstrating the trees that were grown in ADRA nurseries and transplanted in his fields to add biomass, fix nitrogen, retain water, and provide wind and water erosion breaks. They both also add to his household food security through edible leaves (moringa on the right), and edible seeds (the acacia on the left).

We have also drilled a couple of wells for other organizations, which is always very rewarding for us to serve others who serve.

Probably the biggest development for us, and this ranks up there for our entire time here, is that our many, many prayers for a full time finance director have been answered. Back in May we were joined by a very competent and experienced gentleman from Cameroon and his family, and he has taken the finances in hand and also held down the fort while we were out of the country. We could not be happier with this development, and happiest of all is Beth who can now turn over the finances to someone else and do what she is passionate about, writing and designing programs and marketing our organization to potential donors so we can continue to serve the people of Niger. Not that she wasn't doing this before, but now she gets to work full time instead of double time!

Lily has reached the big leagues and is officially in primary school, or grand section in her french school. She has afternoon classes two days a week now marking her as a real kindergardener.

Maggie is now in the seventh grade which means that she is upper grades at Sahel, and changes classes and has multiple teachers. It also comes with a few other parks in terms of extracurricular activities like after school Bible studies.

Wes is ecstatic this year that in addition to all of his usual high school classes he is taking metal working, taught by our good friend Paul who is a master welder. He missed school today and I think his only regret was missing metal working class!

Well Niamey is quite a different place than we left three months ago. It is currently raining, which will make tomorrow a muddy day, and potentially steamy as the sun comes out. Soon the rains will stop and we will have a short while to enjoy the green before it dries up and blows away. The good news is that after the end of October we will get a reprieve from the heat until after the beginning of the year.

Pray for us as we have a busy few months ahead, and malaria season is currently on us. And again, sorry for the long neglect! We will do better in the months to come!

With Apologies

2011-07-16T16:32:00.000+01:00

We owe our readers an apology for the dirth of posts these past couple of months. Jason was traveling for over a month and then Beth and the kids came to join him the US for our vacation. We promise posts are coming soon with updates. Here is a vacation pic.

We were able to spend a few days down in North Carolina right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Jason and Wes had some time to pursue their favorite pass-time along with Jason's dad. The views are great and so was the company. They are convinced that the ladies will eventually come around on this particular hobby.

Having fun when the power is out

2011-05-25T11:53:00.000+01:00

No package is ever actually late

2011-05-23T12:18:00.002+01:00

A certain Grammy was upset that the marshmallow peeps did not arrive in time for Easter baskets.

But when you live in Niger, no package is ever really "late."

Packages are loads of fun, regardless of when they arrive. Packages that arrive in a less than timely fashion, just prolong the special occasion festivities or, in some cases, spawn new "traditions."

Like for instance, this year's "Roasting of the Peeps!"

Lucky for us we have a Grammy and a Meme that spoil us rotten with lots of package-goodness!

Mags says they taste like a cross between
a s'more and cotton candy!

The countdown has begun...

2011-05-22T11:52:00.000+01:00

Since Jason left for the US in advance of the rest of us this year,

exactly when we are leaving,

when we will see Daddy again,

when we will go to the airport, and

when we will see our extended family,

are constant topics of conversation with a certain five year-old in this house.

Making a countdown calendar seemed to be the thing to do. We are counting down the days until we leave for vacation, and Lily put her own creative touch on the project. In addition to numbering the days, she drew pictures of all the family she was looking forward to seeing when we arrive in the US. Every other cloud has the face of either a grandparent, a cousin, aunt, uncle, great aunt, etc.

As you can see she was very intent on her work and some of them were pretty good likenesses!!

So now every day we are "one cloud closer" to our trip, and Lily can see just how much longer she has to wait. I am a little overdue in posting this, we don't have quite as many days to go as we did when I took these pictures. As Liliputian says, we are already to the rainbow -so we are about halfway there!

As much as our little one considers herself "African," I am very glad that she maintains such a strong sense of connection with our family and friends in the US. She is definitely a girl of two worlds. She considers Niger home, and doesn't refer to our visits to the US as "going home" like the rest of us do.
She is excited to go back to the home of Grammy, Meme, and Grandpere, aunts, uncles and cousins, but while we are there she will ask when we are going to go home -to Niger,
the land of Ah-vah, Aurelie, Iman, Jedidiah, and Fatima.

In the throes of the most miserable part of hot season, on my get-me-out-of-here days, when I am more enthusiastic about the countdown calendar than even the munchkin… her enthusiasm for both of her worlds is a lesson in contentment for me. She can appreciate the beauty, the fun, the relationships, the gifts, of wherever she finds herself today and it doesn't diminish her enthusiasm for what tomorrow holds. So, counting down the days til vacation with my little squirt, is also a reminder to me to find the joy in my least favorite time of the year here in Niger.

An Ode to Hot Season In Niger

2011-05-17T23:39:00.000+01:00

Mangoes for breakfast and ice cream for dinner,

Forced dehydration can make you feel thinner;

Forget all the crazy that hot season brings;

These are a few of my favorite things.

Icy cold car rides when weather is sapping;

Mangoes and milkshakes and afternoon napping;

Forget crazy temps that can make you see things;

These are a few of my favorite things.

Friends who commiserate with all your whining;

Reasons to laugh when you want to be crying;

Forget all the sweat that leaves big salty rings;

These are a few of my favorite things.

When the sweat pours,

When my head aches,

When I'm far from glad,

I simply remember my favorite things,

And then I don't GO SO MAD....

Dedicated to all my wonderful friends

currently trying to channel their

"Inner Pollyanna"

Happy Sabbath from Niger!

2011-04-29T17:58:00.002+01:00

My girlies cuddled up during worship!

Reasons to love Sabbath in Niger:

Friday night worship
Learning hymns in French
Munchkins that come sit in my lap during the church service
Spending time with our church family
Holding hands and singing at the end of the church
Hearing my kids sing in French
Running the A/C during the day
Watching nature videos when it is too hot to go outside
Saturday night worship in our bedroom where it is slightly cooler
Finding Sabbath rest for mind and body

"Bon Sabbat!" from our house to yours!

Mango Rain

2011-04-26T07:36:00.001+01:00

Last week we had a rain shower one afternoon. During hot season we sometimes get what is called "Mango Rain." It usually amounts to just a few drops on the windshield. Sometimes it evaporates before it hits the ground. It is usually just enough moisture falling from the sky to get everyone excited about potentially getting hit by a raindrop. Just one, not plural.

Niger has had some very unusual weather this year though. We had several rains in October, which is absolutely unheard of normally.

So... the mango rain we had last week was more than a typical spattering of random raindrops. It fell with a force you could hear on the roof! Lily got so excited she ran outside, got damp (not soaked or anything mind you) and then ran back inside to find this umbrella that Maggie and I bought on our "trip" to Paris last year. Maggie decided to play some basketball in the rain, since it brought a small respite from the heat. I got to enjoy watching my girls revel in rain drops!

Inspiration in Our In-box

2011-04-23T19:26:00.000+01:00

A great looking bunch of kids! Look closer to see just how awesome...

We are in the throes of Niger hot season. I'm not going to lie to you; everything is harder during hot season. Nothing ever goes according to plan, or on schedule, and when it is 112 degrees, five days in a row, sometimes your brain refuses to work properly. I will confess that sometimes during hot season it is hard to remember why we do this work. But our God is so good... He extends special grace to us during hot season and sometimes He does it with a little inspiration in our daily emails.

This week we got an email from one of our ADRA colleagues at the headquarters office in Maryland. She came to visit us a few months back on a tour of West African offices. She has the amazing and fun job of visiting ADRA projects in far flung places and then writing about them and telling people in the US what ADRA is up to all over the world.

Recently she went to visit Mt. Vernon in Ohio, to speak at their Festival of Worship. You can imagine her surprise when this good looking group of 5th-8th graders got up to sing and every one of them was wearing a t-shirt with the NIGER flag on it!! She knew we would want to see it and asked for some photos to send to us.

The kids from this conference have been raising money for ADRA projects in Niger. After our friend got finished speaking, the director of education and some of the principals asked if they could delay sending their check so they could raise MORE money!! Umm...yes, of course! AWESOME!

School kids in America, learning about kids halfway across the ocean in Niger and raising money to help them? That is inspiring. Seeing them wear the Niger flag in support of the kids they are raising money for? It made our day -well our week, actually!

So in case, one of these awesome Niger-flag-wearing kids, or one of the amazing grown-ups involved, should stumble across our little blog -know that your enthusiasm for helping kids that you will never meet has been an encouragement to us this week. We have met the kids you will be helping and we thank you in advance on their behalf.

And, if you're interested, check this space occasionally, we will make sure that you can see the difference that your efforts have made in the lives of school kids here in Niger!

One of the perks of parenting TCKs

2011-04-22T12:27:00.000+01:00

We tend to go grocery shopping on Friday, which I don't recommend because it is a totally crazy day to try and get anything accomplished in Niger. It seems that every week, despite our best intentions, things conspire against us and we end up trying to get things for the weekend before the Sabbath comes. Friday afternoon prayer time clogs the streets around the market; businesses have different hours on Friday; traffic seems crazier and busier. Still it is fun to pick out a special thing or two for Sabbath when we are shopping on Fridays.

Now that the two big kids are older, they rarely go with us, as they are big enough to stay home. (I don't blame them, if only they were old enough to drive we might delegate that chore to them! haha) Two weeks ago, the Magster went with us and as we cruised the aisles of the shop that sells more European food stuff, she spied a bag of frozen brussel sprouts. I won't even tell you how much they cost, it was ridiculous, but how often does a kid beg for green vegetables as a special treat? Even if we didn't all love them, it would have been worth it just to see Maggie do a literal, happy-dance, over my throwing brussels sprouts in the cart. So, that was our 'Sabbath Splurge' for the week. That night we brought in the Sabbath with worship and the killing of the fatted sprout. I can't remember the last time brussel sprouts tasted so good.

Jason truly hates shopping here, but he is such a wonderful hubby that he doesn't make me go alone. I am usually the one that does any shopping that entails bargaining though, as it is one of his least favorite things to do. This week however, we decided to divide and conquer and he drew the short straw and ended up buying the fruit and veg' for the weekend while I went for eggs and juice inside. This led to him finding the Sabbath treat for the week -pears! The were $1 a piece, but, at one per kiddo, we didn't do too much damage. I wish you could have seen Maggie's face when she saw pears in the fridge. Dad was a hero! There was another happy dance involved.

It was clear that Lily couldn't remember what a pear was, but she knew if her big sister was this excited that it must be good. We tried to convince her that she had eaten pears before but she wasn't buying it. After retrieving hers from the fridge she declared them "super-juicy" and "deee-licious."

Sometimes I am tempted to bemoan all the things that are hard to find in Niger and things that the kids are "missing out" on because they aren't in the US. The flip-side of that though is something I consider a real benefit -and it's not just about getting them to eat fruits and vegetables. They see people every day that are going without basic necessities. They are learning first hand the difference between what is a real need and something that we want. That is a lesson that is a bargain at any price.

Our neighborhood craft store...

2011-03-28T02:51:00.004+01:00

The Liliputian has become kind of crafting obsessed. It has become a normal occurrence for her to wake me up at 7am on a Sunday morning and ask if we can start making crafts. We have been working on decorating her room, crafts for holidays, and other fun stuff.

This has actually been really good for me (weekend wake-up calls notwithstanding) as it had been too long since I indulged in any of my crafty hobbies. I am remembering now, how relaxing being creative can be for me. The real challenge for being "crafty" in Niger is where to find inspiration, and more importantly, supplies!

We have really gotten into "upcycling" and "refashioning" around here. In part out of necessity, since you can't run to Micheal's or Hobby Lobby, when inspiration strikes. Also because, when you live in a place like Niger, you can't ignore how much trash your household produces. There are quite literally mounds of garbage on nearly every street in Niamey. You really need to think twice before you put something into the trash can. So, Lily and I (and occasionally the big kids when the mood strikes them) have been saving nearly anything usuable from the rubbish heap and turning it into something interesting when we can.

Cereal boxes and other cardboard packaging became a Valentine's Day garland. Cans that once held our dried raspberry stash, have been turned into really cute and functional storage for Lily's room. A former crib bumper pad is now a valance and pillow pad for her new reading nook. We are having a lot of fun finding new uses for "trash" and making lots of treasures. Of course we have a lot of craft supplies that we have brought with us from the US and wonderful family members who send us crafty goodness in care packages. That has really helped us turn our trash into some fun stuff.

All this recycling has also helped me to open my eyes some to see the potential in things and places I usually overlook. For instance, this fabric and notions store (in the picture above) is a place we pass every day. I have never stopped in because I didn't expect to find much there. Lily and I spotted a project online that required some satin scraps and I decided to stop by and see what I could find. I was pleasantly surprised to find several things that we could use for our projects. I also met a very helpful young man that works in the shop, who made extra efforts to find what I needed (hot glue sticks for instance) and charge me a fair price. (He also became very curious about what I was making with only 250cfa worth of satin and I promised to bring him an example.) So not only have we found a new source for our projects, we have made a new friend.

World Water Day 2011

2011-03-27T14:42:00.000+01:00

We threw a party for World Water Day this year at our Dar Es Salaam school. We are a little late posting about it because, although it was loads of fun, it was pretty exhausting.

The theme for World Water Day this year centered on the challenges facing large cities all over the world. Here in Niamey, open sewers, open defecation and inadequate water coverage are things that contribute to poor water quality.

Since this was our first WWD event and since our audience was primarily school children, we stuck to five basic points:

Keeping Water Clean
Washing Your Hands
ADRA's Projects & Water
Water & Health
What Kids Can Do

We set up five stations for the kids to go through. Each one was manned by someone that gave the kids information on each topic and asked them questions, did a demonstration, etc. The last station was a quiz to see how well the kids understood the information from the day and to talk about what kids can do to have a positive impact on water and their community!

The Governor of Niamey came as well as representatives from the Dept of Hydrology. The festivities got started with each one of the dignitaries getting up and saying a few words about the importance of water and the state of water and sanitation in Niger. Jason talked about ADRA Niger's water projects and how we are working with the government to improve access to water and sanitation in the areas where we work.

The Mission President, was there to open the event with prayer, as well as a local imam who also offered a blessing for the event.

In addition to all of the speeches from the grown-ups, we had contributions to the program from many of our students. Some had prepared poems about water and its importance, which they recited with dramatic flair. Several classes wrote skits and performed them for the occasion. I loved watching their skits, as they reflected their unique perspective on urban water challenges. For instance, one skit centered around a household with water access and the persistent demands on the household to provide water for all their neighbors as well.

My favorite was probably the kindergarteners even though I couldn't understand most of what they said. They had diligently memorized all their lines and must have been reminded to speak up -because they shouted, full blast, into the microphone every single word. It was hysterical, but I couldn't actually catch what they were saying.

Two of the youth from the church who did a great job
teaching the kids about why water is important
for good health, both on the inside and the outside.

One of the things that made this event a lot of fun for me was the fact that we co-sponsored the day with the local church. I have been wanting to do something similar for a while, but this was the first time we made it happen. We asked any church members who were interested, to come to a training session that we did last Sunday, then we had a dress rehearsal on Monday night. All of the booths were staffed by church members and ADRA staff members. The church members did a fabulous job engaging the kids and relaying the information in a way that kids could understand.

One of my favorite moments from the day was watching our local pastor quiz the kids on what they had learned from the other booths. You could really tell that he was having a great time and the students were eager to answer his questions and tell him what they had learned. Everyone worked really hard to make the day a success and the day wouldn't have happened without the hard work of our Schools Coordinator, Hassan. Unfortunately he was on the move all day and I didn't get a single good picture of him. He made all of our plans come together!

Pastor Anatche quizzing the students

You can see more pictures of our event here, and more pictures of our event and from events all over the world here, on WWD's Flickr group page.

If you took part in a World Water Day event in your part of the world, we would love to hear about it.
We are already thinking about ways to improve for WWD 2012!

If you didn't, and would like a way to celebrate the abundance of

clean, safe, readily accessible, water

that flows out of your taps and into your home, office, or school, every day...

...then we can provide you with some ideas:

Join with ADRA Niger to help provide safe water and latrines for rural school children in Niger,

OR... choose another water related gift, from ADRA International's Really Useful Gift Catalog.

Lily turns 5...

2011-03-24T16:54:00.000+01:00

... or what is sure to be known forever after as,

"The year Mom gave Lily a black eye on her birthday!"

Our Liliputian turned five last week. I actually started a post on her birthday, but it got shelved. Better late than never, right? Eventually I will get around to posting my New Year's -2010 in review. I guess since March is almost over I will have to come up with a different title for that one.

Birthdays in Niger are a little different than in the US. Most people don't consider them a big deal, lots of Nigerien people I know don't have any idea when their birthday was, some of them only know the year, some don't know that. Because we are so far from extended family and the "comforts of home," I try to make birthdays special. All of our kids have birthdays during hot season in Niger, so that can be a challenge at times and last year, with all the craziness, we didn't have any normal celebrations.

It hit me on Lily's b-day that out of the 5 birthdays that she has had - 4 of them have been in Niger. Niger is her home. She loves it here. She misses her cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncles and friends in the US, she talks about them every day, but Niger is where her life happens. She is comfortable here. Birthday snapshots where everyone is sweaty and bedraggled are completely normal to her. Birthday cakes with melting frosting, singing Happy Birthday in more than one language, presents that arrive in the mail after your birthday has past or having your birthday party at 9am before it gets too hot to breathe, are all ordinary birthday traditions in Lily's world.

Because our blog has become a sort of online scrapbook of sorts, and I hope one day the kids will look back at these posts chronicling our family's time in Niger, here is how Liliputian celebrated turning 5...and yes, also how she ended up with a black eye.

Lily started her birthday by waking up to a mosquito net full of balloons. That is one fun tradition we wouldn't have in the US, huh? We made cupcakes to take to her class at school and she wore a birthday crown to school for the day with her favorite polka dot dress. No pictures of the cupcakes, definitely not blog-worthy, but my less than stellar cupcakes were saved by some papers and picks Grammy sent! Whew! Lily thought they were great so that is what counts.

After supper she got to open some presents and she let us play with them too, which was very nice of her. Mom can only do so much baking during hot season, so after dinner (in lieu of cake) we decided to head out to our favorite restaurant for some birthday gelato! I was grabbing the camera and slung it over my shoulder at the same moment she ran up behind me and it smacked her right in the eye.

It was bad, really bad. There was a lot of wailing, and many ice packs. It really hurt; it broke the skin; it started to swell. Daddio tried to talk her into getting ice cream the next day, but it was decided that ice cream might be good medicine for black eyes and it turned out to be true. We had to carry her in with ice pack applied, but after a scoop of her favorite chocolate glace, she was able to leave the restaurant on her own power.

Lily Annelise Brooks, you are an amazing little person. How strange it is now to think that we thought 2 munchkins was all we would ever have and then Jesus gave us you! You are a constant source of merriment around this house, sometimes intentionally, but often times not. Your interesting questions, lovable personality and infinitely quotable quotes light up our lives. You are a princess in the family of God and I love to watch Him speak to your heart. I love to hear you pray and tell Him everything on your mind, even when it makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

"Purple-Monkey-Dishwasher," my little Goober Peanut!

You are a fabulous five!

Lily and some of her besties had a celebration on Friday!
Pizza, ice cream and CRAFTS -3 of her favorite things and three of her favorite girls!

A Few Faces

2011-03-12T00:10:00.001+01:00

All these lovely photos were taken by Matt Herzel from ADRA International

Lily and her Doppelgänger

2011-02-26T09:12:00.003+01:00

Lily has a friend here in Niamey that looks so much like her that lots of people, at various times, have gotten them confused. Since Lily started at Ecole Alliance, they now go to the same pre-school, though they aren't in the same class. This has made for lots of funny situations at school, including asking Lily and Jason why they left Arielle's big brother at home.

When Arielle's family went to Spain over Christmas for a vacation, her mom bought her this adorable flamenco dress, and very thoughtfully picked one up for the Liliputian as well! Lily was beyond thrilled and has been looking forward to going to school in matching dresses with her buddy. The Carnaval at school was a perfect occasion.

I think the suggestion for the day was to come dressed in your "national dress," since the school has kids from at least a dozen countries that attend there. Lily is American, her friend is Canadian, and they both wore dresses from Spain. They're third-culture kids - it's all good!

She calls this dress her "flamingo" dress and struts like a peacock when she is wearing it!

Since so many people get them mixed up, I thought I would post a picture of them from the back, to see how many of you can tell which one is Lily!

Scroll down to see who's who...
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How cute are these munchkins?

I know I am biased, but I think they are pretty adorable!

Lily enjoys having so many lovely friends in Niamey, from so many different countries. We are blessed that our kids, of all ages, have made so many great friendships here in Niger.

Lily's French has advanced so much this year, since she started preschool, that I am thinking she is going to need to find a French speaking playmate for some summer playdates while we are in the US this summer.

She has started speaking what one of my friends calls "Franglais" at home, but she pretty much saves her French-French for French speakers. I would hate to see her French skills go backwards from being away most of the summer. (I know mine certainly do!)

So if you live in Virginia and you have some French speaking friends with munchkins, make sure you let me know!

Best buddies!

Ecole Alliance Carnaval

2011-02-25T22:10:00.000+01:00

Lily's school had a Carnaval (same as carnival, just the French spelling) to celebrate the start of a school holiday (like spring break, minus the spring). They had a drumming group and vendors selling kids books and crafts, a potluck lunch, and presentations in the classrooms.

There are at least a dozen nationalities represented at the school, and that is just the students. The teachers are a mix of Nigeriens and expats as well, and it is a French system school, owned and operated by a Persian family. So this carnaval day celebrates the cultural diversity represented at the school.

Several teachers and moms joined in the dancing!

It was really fun to sit and people-watch, as we waited for things to begin. I loved being in such a big crowd of moms and dads from all around the globe. The gorgeous colors of the vast variety of outfits was a feast for the eyes. The kids were supposed to come to school in "national dress", and a lot of the moms were dressed to the nines as well. I came from the office, so I guess in a sense I was in "American national dress," in that, when I arrived, I realized I was seriously underdressed for the occasion.

Not sure where this little guy is from,
but he was adorable. Complete with
drawn on moustache!

Jason was out of town and so I was sitting by myself listening to conversations swirling all around me in a myriad of different languages:

English -with American, Canadian & British accents,

French -with even more different accents,

Arabic,

Hausa,

Farsi,

Zarma,

Tomasheq,

Spanish

& several I couldn't identify.

Once again I found myself wishing I had the gift of tongues!

Meeting the sweet Miss A was a highlight of morning for me. Since Lily started at Alliance she has made some new friends I've never met. Pictured here is one of her new school buddies whom she talks about non-stop. Lily's French has improved dramatically in the past month and she has started speaking it at home quite a bit. I think her friendship with this lovely little girl may have something to do with that. She came over and tugged on my skirt and said, "Mommy of Lily, can Lily come play at my house?" Of course I said yes, -who could possibly resist those cheeks?

Here is Lily with her teacher. "Maitresse," is what Lily calls her. She is a lovely lady and recently took over the class, when the previous teacher left. Lily has already started using sentences that begin, "Well Mom, Maitresse says...." There is also a teacher's aide in the class. Unfortunately the picture of her didn't turn out. Both of these ladies are always smiling and seem to really enjoy the kids. They have magnetic personalities that have really helped Lily adjust to the school.

She doesn't always want to get up in the mornings and go to school. She isn't a morning person -can't imagine where she got that from...but when she gets to school she can't wait to get inside. I love it when she comes home at lunch time and says, "I had a GREAT day!"

Photo for my bird-watching-momma...

2011-02-16T07:05:00.001+01:00

Sahel's Valentine's Banquet

2011-02-15T08:02:00.000+01:00

Wes and Maggie all gussied up and ready to go to the banquet.

Isn't she just gorgeous?

This handsome guy got a serious haircut the day after this was taken!

The banquet had a Far East theme;
we picked this shirt up in Paris when Mags was sick.

Wesley and his friend, the lovely Miss C.K.!

Joyeuse Saint-Valentin

2011-02-14T12:38:00.000+01:00

A Few Pics

2011-01-27T15:56:00.000+01:00

When I grow up, I want to be a four year old.

2011-01-07T09:44:00.013+01:00

Here we are, a week into 2011, and I have yet to post my "New Year's" blog entry. It is pretty much just for my own edification, but I hope to share it here, anyway...

In the meantime, I wanted to share a significant event in our house that happened this week. It was a fantastic way to start a new year. Our Liliputian decided to ask Jesus to be her Lord and Savior. Anytime someone makes a decision for Christ it is a glorious occasion; although when it is a small child, I imagine the party in heaven is rowdier.

All three of our children started asking deep spiritual questions at the age of four and each one decided to accept Christ at that age as well. Talking with my children about salvation and Jesus coming to live in their hearts, helping them pray for forgiveness and to accept Christ as their Savior, have to be my most cherished mom memories.

They are sacred moments, forever etched on my heart, probably the holiest experiences of my life.

After I prayed with Lily, we kept talking for a while and then she went to go find her Daddy and siblings to tell them the news. A little while later we were out on the porch, coloring, when her questions and conversation turned again to spiritual things. She asked me some more questions about heaven and said that she knew that Jesus wanted all of us to be there. Then she looked up over her shoulder and said, "You want us all to go to heaven with you; don't you Jesus?" and then turned back to her coloring book.

I was a little taken aback at the matter of fact, and sort of off-hand, way she addressed Jesus, as if He was sitting right there with us, a part of our conversation. Why was I surprised that she would address Jesus in that way?

Hadn't she just asked Him to come and live in her heart? Hadn't I just told her that He would always be with her? Of course, He was there. She didn't need to bow her head, or close her eyes, or even stop coloring. Jesus was part of the conversation. She knew He was listening.

Some things I love about Niger...

2011-01-02T11:14:00.022+01:00

I think because Niger doesn't have a large number of trees it makes me appreciate all the more the campuses of our Niamey schools. DES School in particular, where this shot was taken, is lined with big, beautiful trees that make the campus a lovely, inviting, environment for learning and even just visiting.

I love this tree in particular, it shades the area we use for assemblies.

Every time I visit, I think of the people who planted all of these trees and

it makes me want to plant even more trees in Niger. Glad ADRA Niger has 3 tree nurseries!!

Just another one of the Aunties

2010-12-31T07:10:00.001+01:00

Our lovely Niamey Church Family, well most of them anyway

The Sunday before Christmas, we got an early morning phone call to let us know that the whole church was going on an outing that afternoon. Lots of things here are spur of the moment. Fortunately, we are pretty spontaneous types and we had the afternoon free. The whole church family was taking the Pathfinders to the National Musee, which is Niamey's Museum/Zoo. We had visited the Musee before, but visiting with our church family made the whole experience new again.

The Musee has a mix of live animals, cultural and historical exhibits, dinosaur fossils, and artisans in residence. It is right in the center of town and the admission fee is very reasonable. For the entire group, pictured above, the church paid the equivalent of about $20.

You can understand how surprised I was to learn that a large majority of kids in our group had never been to the Musee before.

Now, being from Northern Virginia, used to free access to the Smithsonian and the National Zoo, I have to confess that I have never been terribly impressed with my visits to the Musee. The animal habitats are painfully small and every time I have visited before the cultural exhibits were all locked up tight. I was in for a real treat though on this visit. Visiting the Niamey Musee, with munchkins who had never been to any zoo before, was an absolutely fun experience!

These signs are great! I had to get a picture. Wes says the
picture on the left reminds him of a scary book cover. :)

Our outing started with prayer, and a safety talk. We gathered around one of these rather ominous signs to discuss proper behavior at a zoo. The Brother who gave the talk did a good job at putting enough fear/respect in the kids and admonishing them to be on their best behavior. Then he told each grown-up to grab a little kid for each hand and stay on top of them so no one ended up as hippo chow. Okay, I added that last bit, but that was the general idea.

Grown-up/kid interactions at church have been a sort of cultural mystery to me for the past few years. Among the things that confused me is that families don't sit together for services. It took us well over a year to even figure out which kids went with which parents at church.

Whenever our group is together, whatever adult is the closest is expected to keep in line which ever children are within arm's reach. This is pretty antithetical to our American way of interacting with other people's kids. As a general rule we don't discipline other people's kids, except in cases of emergency, and certainly not right in front of their parents. My lack of understanding of this concept, led to some pretty funny stories mostly about kids going crazy, while I wondered why their parents weren't doing anything about it. Meanwhile I now know they were probably wondering why I was just sitting there letting their kids go nuts. They were thinking, "Is this how adults let kids behave in America?" No doubt they have their own funny stories about me!

Parenting seems to really be a collective effort here with everyone pitching in to make sure kids are safe, well cared for, and loved.

This kiddo is soo cute, and how adorable
is her tiny little head covering?

Kids are disciplined by everyone, but they are also loved on by all "the Taunties" (Aunties). At church, Lily's nose is just as likely to be wiped by one of her Taunties as it is by me. If a munchkin needs to visit the loo, whichever Tauntie is closest takes care of it. The same principle applies to kissing boo-boos, administering hugs and kisses, or a swat on the bum when necessary.

It took me quite some time to figure out that when the kiddos were going ape in Sabbath School, that they were surprised that the "tauntie blanche" was not taking them firmly in hand. The other moms had a vague idea that I didn't really care about their kids. Nothing could have been further from the truth, but I was behind the cultural learning curve on that one.

I will never forget the first time I used my "mom look" on some of my favorite rowdy girlies at church. Not only did they cease and desist hitting each other, but they smiled at me. They listen when I reprimand, even when I do it in English. Thank goodness the largest part of communication is non-verbal.

Even as I became part of the collective disciplinary force, I was still held a little bit at arm's length. Most of them were still pretty shy of me. They have been mostly bewildered by my attempts at affection or anything other than discipline. I was still the "Tauntie Blanche," -"the white auntie" to be respected and listened to, but not really part of the family.

Having spent most of my life loving on kids, this has bothered me more than a little, especially since Lily has really taken to most of the taunties at church.

After our safety talk, when everyone was admonished to grab two little hands and keep them from being eaten by lions, I grabbed the hands of two of the rowdiest little girls in our group -the ones I was personally most worried about actually falling in with the crocodiles. Lily was holding the hand of either her Daddy or one of the big girls, and so I had two hands free.

Pint-sized best friends!

And then a magical thing happened...I had a tauntie breakthrough. As I wandered through the animal exhibits with my two lively and delightful charges, taking great pleasure in watching them experience the zoo for the first time, I was suddenly no longer the "tauntie blanche" I was just another one of the taunties. Getting hugs, big smiles, affectionate pats, enthusiastic laughs, kissing booboos, wiping noses, in addition to breaking up squabbles and making sure no one got their hand bitten off by the baboons, of course.

It was really a moment of pure joy for me.

No longer different, set apart, just another mom...mothering the collective flock.

My two special buddies, who did this tauntie's heart much good on this trip.

Of Santa Claus and Barbies

2010-12-30T02:58:00.014+01:00

No doubt, someone reading this will disagree with me, but I feel quite certain that God has a sense of humor. If ever I doubted it, living with the four year-old we currently have in residence has cemented the notion firmly in place. She is "full of vim and vigor," as my momma would say, but she also has a certain way of turning a phrase and sense of timing that I know had to have been put there by the Lord for the benefit of my health. (Prov 17:22)

Photos courtesy of my friend Chantelle

Being a parent, and/or living/working with children teaches you so many things, humility, patience, how to get chewing gum out of someone's hair, play-doh out of carpet, etc...but seriously, God uses my kids to teach me so many lessons. Even after being a parent for nearly 16 years, (yikes!), I find that sometimes I am still surprised at the way God uses my kids to teach me things about myself.

We have never taught our kids to believe in Santa Claus, probably because of what my mom explained to me as a kid about why she chose (to my grandparent's chagrin) to tell us that Santa was pretend. She said that she was afraid, that when we grew older and learned the truth about Santa, we would also wonder if Jesus was pretend as well. Now, if you have taught your kids to believe in Santa, please believe I am not making any sort of pronouncement about that, I have no opinions about what anybody else teaches their kids, this has just been our tradition. Starting with Wesley this was our way, and the kids were always fine with it, that is until this year and that little munchkin, the Liliputian.

You see last year Lily spent the weeks leading up to Christmas in the hospital, first on this continent and then in Virginia. I don't know if you have ever had a kid in a children's hospital around Christmastime, but people really go overboard to make sick kids feel like they aren't missing out for the holidays. Everywhere we went, x-ray, labs, the OR, people spoiled her rotten with all sorts of treats and gifts. When the charge nurse came in one day to tell her that Santa was coming to visit our floor that day, and bring presents, Lily was really non-plussed. She was sort of like "ok, sure...and mom why doesn't this grown-up know Santa is pretend?" When "Santa" arrived, Lily was fast asleep and we didn't wake her because she was so ill. I was expecting Santa to drop off a candy cane, maybe a book. I was totally unprepared for the huge pile of gifts that he deposited on sleeping Lily's bed. It was two shopping bags worth of toys. Well, ever since then, Lily has been on the fence about whether Santa is real or not, no matter what I say.

Photos courtesy of my friend Chantelle

This was really sort of starting to bug me, as Christmas drew closer this year and I sort of had a "thanks a LOT," kind of feeling when I thought about the effect those presents had on what I was trying to teach my kiddo. We had many conversations this year that went sort of like this, "Mom, I think Santa IS real. He brought me all those presents at the hospital..." "Lily, we talked about this, that was a nice man that dressed up to visit kids in the hospital, but it wasn't Santa. Santa is pretend, remember the video we watched about where the story of Santa came from?" "Yeah, but I don't know mom, maybe he will come down our paper fireplace and bring presents." "You will have presents but they are ones that Mommy and Daddy bought." One day I got sort of upset, because she wondered out loud if maybe Santa was real and Jesus was pretend. So much for my great plan, huh?

Then we had another, unrelated -I thought, conversation about Jesus.

Okay, another disclaimer, I am not a fan of Barbies. Again, I have no problem with other people giving their kids Barbies, I have no opinions on what other people do, I just am not a fan and we have never had them in our house. With Mags this was not a problem. When the subject of Barbies came up, I said, "We don't do Barbies." We avoided the Barbie aisle in the toy store, and after a while Mags would say to people, "Sorry, I don't do Barbies." And that was the end of that. Lily however is an entirely different kid. She has no Barbies and does not have TV or see commercials about Barbies. Somehow she is obsessed with Barbies and responds to my standard, "We don't do Barbies,"line by saying, "Well, I do. I LOVE Barbies." But, we didn't actually have any Barbies.

We recently had a conversation that went like this: "Mommy, I need a Barbie." "I'm sorry, we don't do Barbies in our house and you have lots of other dolls.""But, I want one." "I'm sorry we don't have Barbies." "Mommy, I talked to Jesus about it and HE says I can have a Barbie." I reply, trying not to smile, "Well, if Jesus wants you to have a Barbie I am sure He will tell me about it." You've heard of famous last words?

Photos courtesy of my friend Chantelle

Flash forward to Lily's last week of school before Christmas. There was a party at her school, but we didn't hear about it and had to work late at the office. I got an email from a friend that was there, sending me the pictures that are in this post. I thought I recognized Santa and I wondered if Lily had too, and what sort of interesting conversation we would have when I got home.

When we arrived home, before we could even get out of the truck, she came running pell mell out of the front door, both hands raised high, waving in the air. She was breathless,

"Mommy, Mommy, today-Santa-came-to-school, ~gasp~
but-it-was-Elsie-Mae's-daddy dressed up, ~gasp~
and-Momma-he-gave-me-a-BARBIE ~gasp~
and-you-can't-take-it-away, ~gasp~

cuz-I-asked-Jesus-to-bring-me-one!!!"

Well, what could I say to that?
I think it was something like, "Wow, that was nice."

I wish I could say that I was pleased that my kiddo was so ecstatic and happy. But I wasn't, I was kinda peeved, truth be told. Santa and Barbie were really starting to annoy the fool out of me. But then I heard something, that still small voice reminding me that it isn't about me and what I am trying to teach my kiddos. It isn't totally up to me. Sometimes I take myself too seriously, sometimes I actually forget that God has ways of speaking to my kids that have nothing to do with me and my plans for their development. He reveals himself to them in ways that are a mystery to me. He makes Himself known to them, let's them know that He loves them and cares for them, that He listens and answers their prayers.

....And sometimes, just for laughs, He uses Santa and Barbie to do it.

Christmas Shoes

2010-12-29T00:53:00.010+01:00

Sometimes our job can be really tough. Living and working in West Africa has a lot of challenges. Working, thriving, and making a difference, in the least developed country in the world, can sometimes seem like an overwhelming task.

But then...there are other times that it is a heavenly experience. There are times so filled with joy that all seems right in the world for a moment and you suddenly forget what it was that made working here so hard. Because it is worth it. It is worth it everyday that we can humble ourselves and allow our lives to be used in some small way in God's service. In the work that He is doing in this holy place.

It really is -I don't need convincing.

And yet...sometimes I don't feel it. We get discouraged. We get tired. We get lonely. We allow ourselves to work in our own strength. Sometimes we even let the devil steal our joy. But not for long.

Because there are days...sometimes far apart, sometimes arriving like a shower of blessing...days so beautiful and holy. So filled with God's spirit and goodness and JOY -that they refresh our souls and invigorate our spirits and our calling. Sometimes you can feel them coming on, a moving of the spirit in our home or office or church family. Sometimes they are fulfilled in a moment of the ordinary that is infused with kindness, or purpose, or clarity. But for me...for me, they usually come wrapped in the joy of others. When I have a chance to see something God has allowed us to do, to be a part of in our feeble way, that has brought joy into the life of someone in need --it feeds my soul. It reminds me why God has called us to this place. He has called us here to serve those in need, but, fortunately for us, we are also here so He can work in us.

The week before Christmas we had the opportunity to distribute shoes to the children who attend ADRA Niger's three primary schools. We had been the recipients of half a container of shoes brought to Niger for distribution. When they arrived, they all turned out to be men's shoes in huge sizes. As the majority of the people ADRA Niger works with are women and children, we had a bit of a dilemma. But God had a plan. Our staff was able to get permission from the customs office to trade many of the shoes for kid's shoes, which we have distributed in various sites where we have programs. Jason posted about one of those distributions a while back.

During our World Toilet Day festivities, we both noted that at one of our schools, the one that is located in one of the poorest areas in the city, a large percentage of the children were attending school without any shoes whatsoever. After a meeting with our staff it was decided to use the remaining shoes to distribute to kids in need at ADRA Niger's primary schools.

Giving shoes to kids that don't have any, some of whom have never had any, that is a holy experience. Witnessing the joy on these kids faces at receiving a pair of shoes, any shoes, not a name brand, (some only glorified flip-flops), seeing them so ecstatic, it feeds the soul. It was a Christmas morning experience. You would have thought the ADRA staff was giving out ipods or Xboxes.

I find myself thinking about what St. Francis of Assisi believed about serving those less fortunate than ourselves. He said that the poor are sacramental. He took quite literally the words of Jesus that when you do something for "the least of these," you are doing it for Jesus Himself...that Jesus shows up when you help the poor.

What a privilege it is to be surrounded by the presence of Jesus in such a tangible way in the place where we live and work! How much have I missed by not embracing that privilege every moment, of every day, that I have spent here in Niger?

How can I help but be grateful that God accepts my meager contribution to the work He is doing in this place? How can I be discouraged or disheartened when He has allowed me, a little country girl from Wildcat Corner, to travel halfway around the world to serve Him, in a place where I can "see" Him on every corner.

Forgive my philosophical ramblings, I am going to stop now, and I will leave you with just a few more pictures of Jesus, where we saw Him last week...

Let's talk turkey

2010-12-28T09:35:00.002+01:00

As our munchkins would be happy to tell you, we have been spending waaay too much time in the office lately and have promised our kids that we will try to take some time off this week. Chicken pox and house-hunting have altered our plans for how we will spend the week somewhat, but we are going to stay away from the office as much as possible.

I am also going to take the opportunity to try and catch the blog up, as we have fallen way behind in posting the goings on around chez Nomad.

For instance, Jason's latest foray into animal husbandry, has yet to make an appearance here. After an unsuccessful hunt for a turkey at Thanksgiving, Jason decided to buy this pair and see if we can grow our own Thanksgiving turkey for next year. Turkeys are surprisingly personable and would really like to come inside and be part of the family. Maybe they think we would be less likely to eat them if we got to know them. I want to name them "Bonnie and Clyde", but perhaps "Butterball and Perdue" would be a better choice.

Our Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T11:34:00.000+01:00

Lots of people wonder what our Christmas is like so far away from "home." I thought I would post some pictures and give you an idea of how we spent our Christmas.

There are lots of things we miss about Christmas in the US when we are living in another country, but Niger is home for us now. Lots of you know how crazy our lives were last year, with our family divided on two continents for the holidays. This year we discovered that last year's experiences gave us a new perspective that has made the important parts of Christmas, giving of yourself, spending time together, and sharing the love of Christ with others, even more precious to us as a family. That is a gift that, despite the trials involved, we would never want to return.

Christmas Eve dinner with "family." Ah-vah came to have supper with us
and after worship, we introduced her to the game Snorta!

We spent Christmas Eve getting ready for the festivities and I spent most of the day in the kitchen. Being from a huge family, one of the things I miss is large, noisy, boisterous family gatherings. I was thinking of my extended family getting together at Aunt MA's house and missing them, but we had a family gathering of our own. Our beloved Y, who we don't see often these days, came to share Christmas Eve with us and we had a really special time with her, eating, laughing, singing, & playing games.

She is still wearing that gorgeous smile. I think
we did good this year. Though she only comes out
of her reading trance for water and apples and
to giddily download new books of course!
Also, cutest Christmas pjs I have ever bought!!

Since Christmas Eve was also the start of the Sabbath, we hadn't left the bike assembling and what not until the wee hours. What a blessing! We just put stuff under the tree and actually went to bed at a sane hour, a nice change indeed! Christmas morning came early as we had to finish our family Christmas in time for church. The kids had a fabulous time opening their presents and we enjoyed just lounging around together in our Christmas pjs. The big kids got one present each, because with teenager-dom, they have grown more expensive tastes. That makes the mom nervous, because what if it isn't just the right thing? As you can see from these pictures I think we hit a slam-dunk this year! Whew!

Thanks to lots of lovely extended family, the big kiddos had other stuff to open too -all of which made us feel loved and spoiled!

Seeing this picture I suddenly had a flash of him going
off to college! When did he get so old? ..sniff, sniff...

The Liliputian is both an enthusiastic giver and an ecstatic receiver. I think I had forgotten how much fun it is to have a four year old in the house for Christmas. She was absolutely giddy with excitement and it was infectious, even to her teenaged brother.

As usual for our pint sized nomad, she provided us with lots of quotable quotes and laughs. About her new "big girl bike," she proclaimed, "She's a BEAUTY, Momma!" She screamed and did the happy dance with the appearance of Jessie and Bullseye from Toy Story and entertained us with her best cowgirl Yodel. She pronounced her new penguin flashlight from Great Aunt MA, "an extremely thoughtful gift" and the bear from Great Uncle D, "my very own Lotso, which I will NOT leave out in the rain."

She rode her bike in circles in the house and then ventured out to the porch trading her Nigerian hat for a proper helmet. She did put the hat back on for church.

Pretty soon it was time for everyone to don their new Christmas duds and head out to church. It was Christmas and 13th Sabbath, so our two Niamey groups met together and there were lots of presentations by the Sabbath School kids and young people. Our crew also contributed a Christmas carol for special music. Sometime around the start of the sermon, Lily came over to me and told me she was itchy. She is just like me and plagued by mosquitos if there are any within a mile of her and so I rubbed the place and sent her back to her seat. She was back again in short order and told me she didn't feel well. Upon further inspection it appeared Lily had gotten a little something extra for Christmas -Chicken Pox! She has had the vaccine so I don't expect it to be too severe, but it was an unexpected surprise to be sure!

Lily and her church friends, who she loves to sit with during the service.
Unfortunately this was just before we discovered she had chicken pox.
Please keep the church kids' health in your prayers!

Another unexpected surprise came from our landlord, who arrived on Christmas Eve with the news that she is raising our rent by a huge percentage or we have to move by the end of the year. We do not want to move, especially so quickly. So we would appreciate your prayers for the situation.

Eviction notices, chicken pox, it made no difference. We had a wonderful Christmas in Niger this year. We have been so blessed by the Lord in 2010 and we are rejoicing in time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the grace that His sacrifice afforded us, His goodness to us throughout the year, our precious family near and far, and the opportunity to continue to serve Him in whatever capacity He asks. We have had a marvelous holiday and pray that you and yours have as well. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Nomads!

2010-12-25T17:01:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas from Niger!

May your day be filled with the love of

our Savior and King!

We are giving thanks as a family for the Lord's

rich blessings on us and we are especially

thankful for each one of you.

Wishing you grace, mercy and peace for the holidays,

Love,

Jason, Beth, Wes, Maggie & Lily

Fudge!

2010-12-15T12:18:00.001+01:00

"Twinkle, twinkle little star..be the shining star you are!"

2010-12-12T21:43:00.094+01:00

The highlight of our weekend was definitely the elementary school performances of "Twinkle and the All-Star Angel Band." Maggie played the part of Gladys, the leader of the cherub choir, who is trying to convince Gabriel that her cherub choir should be allowed to perform a "dramatic presentation" for heaven's Christmas celebration.

All of the elementary students took part. It was a wonderful show and got us all in the Christmas spirit! The kids all sang beautifully! The angel choir did indeed sound angelic! They had great pronunciation and wonderful volume. There is a lot of musical talent at Sahel Academy and the kids had obviously been working hard. The school has a marvelous music teacher and lots of other very talented staff that make these programs a real treat.

The play was full of fun songs that we all have been humming for weeks now since Maggie added them to our itunes library so she could practice at home. The "cherubs" were primarily first and second graders, with a few older additions for some of the solos. They were all absolutely adorable! The kindergarteners acted out the Christmas story and were precious.

If you have read down this far, you are probably a family member, or a close friend, so you won't be nauseated by me gushing about my Maggie-Moo! If you read this blog for news about our family-goings-on, you will expect this sort of thing. If you don't, and have stumbled here by accident, consider yourself warned: mom-bragging to follow.

Our Margaretta was absolutely "splenderific!"

She had a lot of lines to memorize and a solo. Her lines were full of puns and words like, "spenderific" and "splendiferous." She was expressive and funny and generally great. God has blessed her with a lovely voice and I get such a thrill from hearing her sing. She practiced in the evenings and soon had her little sister singing the part too. Her song was singing to "Twinkle" encouraging her to be herself and use the talents God gave her. It was a lovely song, and we have all been humming it for weeks at random moments. Although when Lily sings it, the lyrics are a tad different. "Sparkle, glimmer, glisten, shimmer, sparkle and glow," becomes, in the words of Lily, "Sparkle...clever...listen...shiver...sparkle and blow." I digress.

Maggie did an amazing job! Her solo was lovely and I was so proud of her. (I am her mother, I can say that, right?) If she reads this, she will kill me, so I will just add some more pictures of my talented girl.

Candlelight Carol Service at NEWS

2010-12-05T22:56:00.001+01:00

What a really lovely way to start off the Christmas season! The Niamey English Worship Service (NEWS) had their annual Candlelight Carol Service tonight. Both of the big kids were involved, Wes participated in one of the scripture readings and Maggie's class did one of the carols in sign language. It was blissfully cool and a wonderful time was had by all.

Here are a few of my favorite photos of the night. (Unfortunately, I was too far away to get any useable shots of Wes and Mags up front.)

Caroling, caroling, in the sand...

2010-12-04T22:06:00.001+01:00

We decided that Saturday night was a good time to break out the Christmas tree and build the traditional cardboard fireplace (pictures to come). It can be a challenge for us to get in the Christmas spirit when the temperature outside is near 100 degrees, but we get there eventually.

As we were putting up the tree this year though, we got some help in finding our "Christmas Joy." We had Christmas carolers come to our door!! What a fabulous surprise!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T09:38:00.002+01:00

"Mama, I don't think I can open my eye...""

2010-11-24T20:41:00.000+01:00

"I think maybe there is a HOLE in my smo-gee-too-net."

Umm...yes, let's go find the benadryl.

World Toilet Day at the ADRA Niger Schools

2010-11-23T11:06:00.000+01:00

This post should have appeared on World Toilet Day.
Due to "technical difficulties," you are seeing it here after some delay.
Hopefully you all had a marvelous WTDay and took a moment to be duly thankful for your access to adequate "facilities."

Jason asks the kids who ate too
much mutton for Tabaski.

The World Toilet Day

festivities held at ADRA Niger's Niamey schools,

Dar-es-Salaam & Foulan Koira.

World Toilet Day happened to fall just two days after Tabaski this year. So our festivities started with two questions:

Did you eat a lot of meat for Tabaski?

How many of you have a belly ache or stomach trouble today?

Both questions were met with a roar of affirmation!

As we were making our preparations for the World Toilet Day assemblies at the two schools, the school coordinator informed us that many children are absent in the days after Tabaski, due to stomach ills. Their stomachs are not used to being so full or digesting so much protein and children often get ill after the holiday. The kids got a kick out of Jason dramatically ask them these questions. It got so many laughs I told him I had to post a picture of his "stomach ache face."

However, we soon got down to the business of talking about the theme for the day and recognizing the students who were taking home the prizes for their work to illustrate the importance of proper hygiene and toilet use.

The school nurse reviewing the health principles with the kids.

The school nurse has been doing extra teaching sessions in the classrooms this month on the themes of the importance of using latrines instead of going outside and taking the opportunity to reinforce proper hand-washing.

I was reminded that most of these kids don't have a toilet at home, during his very frank talk with the kids during the assembly. There have been times at the ADRA schools when parents have been called to come help clean up the grounds, because kids who aren't used to using the latrines have found a corner behind a building to relieve themselves.

The potential for the impact that World Toilet Day could have here in Niger really hit me as I stood in the assemblies and listened to Jason talk to the kids. He asked them about their holiday. If you read Jason's post on Tabaski, you have read that families do whatever they can to make sure they have a ram for the holiday, including sometimes, going into debt or sharing with neighbors. The cost can be $100-$150. A family could build a low-cost latrine for less than $40 and it could literally save the lives of their children.

As I looked around at the masses of kids, and thought about the difference that access to toilets could make in these kids lives, I realized that World Toilet Day is something we have to make sure is big in Niger. Moms and Dads, uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters and cousins, need to know that building toilets -and using them- can prevent thousands of unnecessary childhood illnesses and deaths!! We must get the word out and we are starting with kids, but next year we will be making sure that more grown-ups in Niger hear the message too.

This lovely young lady won a backpack!

Of course some of the fun of the day was handing out the prizes! Backpacks and colored pencils for the younger kids and calculators for the older kids. The prizes didn't necessarily go to the best artists, but to the kids who best represented their understanding of the themes of World Toilet Day.

The prizes were appreciated, but the biggest cheer of the day came when it was announced that, when the Dar Es Salaam students return to campus on Monday, there will be piped water to all three sections of the school for drinking and hand washing. Thanks to a donation from a private donor, this will solve a long standing challenge on this campus.

We have been encouraged to the staff response to this kind of activity and to their enthusiasm for getting the message of the need for better sanitation in Niger out to the kids and the community at large. Plans are already under way for a bigger and better World Toilet Day in 2011.

If you want to know more about World Toilet Day click here.

If you would like to get involved in ADRA Niger's efforts to make toilets available to school

children in Niger and increase the enrollment of girls in school -click here.

Field Day 2010

2010-11-20T13:10:00.000+01:00

Maggie beat all of the girls, and all of the boys in the "softball throw."

Wes is looking in very good form for the discuss.

Field day is an annual event for Sahel Academy and they go to the national stadium. This year it was not as hot as last year, but both of the kids got sunburned. That probably also added to the exhaustion as I think they both slept about 20 of the next 24 hours.

Happy Tabaski!

2010-11-20T11:10:00.002+01:00

The first to cook is what we call the "bits and bobs."

Tabaski is the annual holiday that is celebrated with such enthusiasm that we think of it as Nigerien Christmas. It is the annual celebration of Abraham's sacrifice of Ishmael. You read correctly. The Quranic version of this event has Ishmael, not Isaac being sacrificed. Think about it, and I think you will understand why.

Tabaski, like other holidays in the Islamic religion, is dated based on the lunar calendar so it varies in relation to the international calendar, but for the past two years it has fallen around American Thanksgiving. It is a time for celebration, but also contrition. The sacrifice of at least one ram for all who are financially able is obligatory. It is a time to ask Allah to forgive and pardon sins. It is also a time to ask forgiveness of anyone we many have sinned against. Mass text messages circulate asking for the forgiveness of any sins committed, and usually including a prayer that Allah will forgive and grant entry to Paradise. It is a time ripe for many conversations.

Many households roast several sheep and often neighbors go together, and set up one large bon fire with sheep all around it. Each sheep is effectively crucified on two cross pieces stretching them out so that they can slow cook. The city is a total haze of smoke. It is not a good day for asthmatics.

A picture from last years celebration. These guys were really proud.

A very important part of the holiday is to have enough to share with neighbors, and the poor in your community. Our neighbor at the office brought us an entire quarter of a sheep. It was the most generous Tabaski gift we have ever received, and we were at a bit of a loss as to what to do with it as we are not big smoked mutton eaters. We, in the end, re-gifted it to some friends that could make better use of it, and they were very excited at this huge gift. I wish I had taken a picture, it was truly massive. Perhaps the must humorous thing was that after spending two days unrefrigerated while we contemplated what to do with it, until our employees came back to work, (we had to work both days), it started to get a little gamey because I had covered it with two plastic bags and sat it in our pantry. I came home to find that Lily's babysitter had put it outside in a tree to "sun cure" it, and she declared that after a day in that heat that it would be both dry and sterile. Not too sure, but she took it home with great pleasure, so I guess she was convinced!

A very interesting aspect of Tabaski is that it actually poses a health problem for children. The ADRA schools have very high absentee rates the days after the holiday. Can you guess why? What would happen to you if you almost never got meat and then in one day you ate a year's supply? Yes, massive diarrhea. In a country where it is hot and dry this is not a laughing matter. Diarrhea is a leading killer of children in Africa, and particularly here in Niger.

It was a good opportunity to pass on the messages of World Toilet Day at our schools. Check out our blog on our celebration of WTD at the ADRA schools here.

Funny Food

2010-11-12T21:00:00.000+01:00

One of the funny aspects of life in the developing world is all of the products that are sent here that would probably never be sold elsewhere. Some of it is not cool. Its junk or toxic or just a scam. Some of it is hilarious because the writing on the package says bizarre things. Sometimes its just funny pseudo-english (known as engrish, look it up). Other times its just word associations that come out sounding wrong to us. Here are a couple of examples.

I am not sure what custard has to do with Maryland, or Sugar cubes with St Louis,
but I am pretty sure that is not the place of fabrication.

DuDu milk takes the cake.
I think Lily was a little offended, she said,
"We do not deserve DuDu!"

Lots of Toilets for Tuesday

2010-11-09T19:13:00.002+01:00

Toilet Tuesday is back with apologies for the missed week. Water borne disease is not the only killer in Africa and malaria had its way with us last week, along with a car accident and various other small dramas. Hence I (Jason) will be filling in. Sorry if the post lacks its usual panache.

Previous "Toilet Tuesday" posts are here and here.

Couldn't resist snapping a

picture of the door to the

loo at the place where

Lily had her hair done.

So let's say you are now (as a result of World Toilet Day) very aware that for the health of your family you need a latrine. But let's also say for the sake of argument, that you don't live in a place where you can go to the local Home Depot, or Lowe's, or whatever your local hardware supplier may be and buy a lovely porcelain throne. In fact, if you could buy a toilet, there would be no running water, or septic system, to connect it to because you live in Sub-Saharan Africa where 28% of the population has no access to improved sanitation, or maybe Niger where less than 10% have access.

You would have a few options and today on Toilet Tuesday we will explore a few of them. The disposal of excreta is not a new problem, but as populations increase and people become more aware of the risks of coming into contact with poo there has been a proliferation of new ideas for the disposal of said poo. You just can't get away from it, so what do you do with the doo?

Here are a few types of latrines, many of which are being pioneered in the developing world, where the ever present challenge of lack of resources is a problem.

I will be cutting and pasting liberally from other sites with credit given whenever possible. These are clipped directly from Tearfund's website:

Single pit sealed lid A single pit is dug. A lid is provided so that the squat hole can be covered up after the latrine is used. This reduces odour and stops flies from entering the latrine.

Single pit ventilated A single pit is dug. A vertical ventilation pipe is installed which takes away the smell. Wind blowing across the top of the pipe sucks air out of the pit while fresh air flows into the pit through the squat hole, which must be left uncovered. To control flies, the shelter must be kept dark and the ventilation pipe should have mesh fitted over the top.

Twin pit ventilated Two pits are dug next to each other. The shelter is built partly over both pits. One pit is used at a time. Once a pit is full, it is sealed. The pipe is moved to the other pit and the other squat hole is opened. After one year, the full pit can be safely emptied and the contents used as manure.

Pour flush single pit direct A single pit is dug and the shelter is built above it. A waterseal pan is used in place of the squatting slab. Each time the latrine is used, water is poured into the pan to flush it. The water acts as a barrier between the pit and the shelter. This stops smells entering the shelter and flies entering the pit.

Pour flush single pit offset A single pit is dug and the shelter is built a small distance away (‘offset’). A waterseal pan and pipe is installed. More water is needed to flush because the excreta has further to travel to the pit, but the advantage of an offset pit over a direct pit is that the latrine can be located in a house and the pit is outside so that it is accessible for emptying. This is similar to the latrines that ADRA Niger will be building for rural schools in Niger.

Pour flush twin pit This is the same as the pour flush single pit latrine, but there are two offset pits so that once one pit is full, excreta can be diverted to the other pit. After one year the full pit can be emptied and used again while the other is sealed and the contents allowed to decompose. The latrine is therefore permanent.

Ecological sanitation Ecological sanitation (eco-san) involves using the contents of the latrine for agriculture, after it has been treated to ensure it is not harmful to health. There are various types of eco-san including:

Composting latrine The pit is watertight and ash or vegetable matter is added after using the latrine. After some months the mixture becomes good soil fertiliser. It is important fully to control the moisture content and chemical balance.
Urine-diversion latrine (not pictured) When the latrine is used, urine is diverted into a separate container. After one week it can be used to fertilise crops. Faeces drop into either a container for transfer to a composting point, or into the pit where it dries out for at least six months before being used as fertiliser.

Consider joining with ADRA Niger and host a "World Toilet Day" event

at your school or church!

If you would like to help provide latrines & sanitation education
for rural school children in Niger, then you may want to look here.

Some people just keep getting better with age...

2010-11-05T09:29:00.000+01:00

Photo Courtesy of Matt Herzel

...Lucky girl that I am, I'm married to one of them.

Happy Birthday Babe!

I Love the Smell of Dust in the Morning!

2010-11-04T09:00:00.010+01:00

Early morning haze...
Massive quantities of dust hanging in the air...
Grit between your teeth...
"Cool-er" Mornings!!
Gotta Love November in Niger!

New 'do

2010-11-01T22:35:00.012+01:00

Liliputian has wanted to go and get braids for ages and it seems like something always comes up when we plan to take her over to have them done.

A while back one of her buddies had it done and Lily has been jones-ing to have it done ever since. It takes quite a bit of time, even for someone with as little hair as the munchkin, and I had my doubts as to whether she would sit still long enough to have it finished.

She is a girlie girl, all about hairdos, dresses, sparkle and bling, and so she was willing to do whatever it took to get her new 'do. She didn't realize it would be somewhat painful, however, and she did have momentary second thoughts.

One look in the mirror though, and she was all in!

Beads of all sorts,
-this may be the real draw
for Lily!

"C", one of the hairdressers at Cou Cou Chou, worked on her head for an hour and a half, though that did include a brief stop for lunch, hers -not ours. haha She was very kind and it was fun to hear Lily speaking French to the ladies in the shop when she thought we weren't listening.

After having them in for 24 hours, I think her favorite part is the sound they make when she twirls, that and the beads of course. This is my kid who when left to her own devices (dangerous!) comes out of the storage room wearing Christmas ornaments around her wrists and neck. So... having hearts, butterflies, teddy bears, blocks, letters, dragonflies, locks and keys, dangling from her head is right up her alley.

PS... Please keep our little nomad in your prayers. She has come down with malaria since these shots were taken and is battling high fevers. This seems to be a particularly bad year for malaria here in Niger; your prayers are important to us. Thanks!

Children's Sabbath

2010-10-23T13:47:00.000+01:00

I am probably going to get in trouble for this, but I was so proud of the great job Beth did preaching for Children's Sabbath at church that I had to post at least one picture before she saw them. She will no doubt delete the rest!

After one of the hardest work weeks, of an already hard year, she was scheduled to preach this Sabbath. She was never actually asked, just put on the schedule. She did great and it was one of the first times I have seen the women of our little church engaged. It was a two way translation. She preached in English. I translated into French, and H translated into Hausa.

Reminds me of "The Surprise Package Company"

2010-10-22T09:55:00.003+01:00

School kids in the UK with their shoeboxes -Courtesy of ADRA UK

When I was little, my mom read us "Uncle Arthur's Bedtime Stories" -I am pretty sure that some of you know what I am talking about and, like me, have read them to your own kids. For those of you unfamiliar, these are all true stories and like all collections of stories for and about children, there are many tales of children disobeying their parents and learning a lesson from it or learning a lesson from mistakes someone else made.

However, my favorites to read to my own kids and to tell for children's stories, VBS, Sabbath School classes, etc, have always been the stories where kids got it right, the ones where kids were the shining example of goodness, kindness, bravery and thoughtfulness. Kids often exceed our expectations for them and I love it when that happens!

So, my favorite Uncle Arthur's tale was about "The Surprise Package Company," a story of a brother and a sister who were bored and looking for some way to spend their time. After abandoning the idea of becoming pirates, they decided to have a different sort of adventure. They planned to anonymously help and surprise people who needed encouragement or a helping hand. They called themselves "The Surprise Package Company," deciding to give thoughtful gifts and do deeds of kindness for different people in their lives: a sick classmate, a housebound neighbor and their own mother. The left little calling cards behind with their surprises. The children in the story got a lot of joy out planning the surprises and brought happiness to the people they blessed. I always loved that story because these were kids that took the initiative to bless someone else and also of course because it involved "surprises" and you may know that j'adore surprises!

We recently received these pictures in our inbox, and I immediately thought of that story. These pictures were sent from our friends at ADRA UK. They have a shoebox campaign every year and this year the shoeboxes are going to, you guessed it, Niger. About 7,000 surprise packages will soon be on their way to kids in Niger, through the generosity and care of ADRA UK's donors. From the photo above I am guessing that a lot of those donors are KIDS.

Surprise packages? Kids helping other kids?

People bringing joy to kids they don't know and will probably never meet this side of heaven?

Can you say FUN? I can't wait!

So many surprise packages they are blocking some unfortunate person's desk! -Courtesy of ADRA UK

What happens when Dad gets bored...

2010-10-20T10:50:00.001+01:00

Who knows why neither of them could
wear a shirt during this event.

We should have gotten a "before" but this is the
very handsome "after."

Where would you go?

2010-10-19T22:00:00.002+01:00

"Toilet Tuesdays" continues...

If you didn't catch the blog last Tuesday, read here.

When I first learned about World Toilet Day, this photo, below, really caught my attention. It is a picture of a campaign called "Sanitation Is Dignity,"put on by the German Toilet Association.

Photo via World Toilet Day website: http://www.worldtoilet.org/wtd/plan07.asp

It is in French, so let me translate, it says, "Where would you hide?"

Here is description of the campaign from the German Toilet Association's website:

The exhibition shows 35 life-size, stand-up illustrations of people defecating in public, as they try to hide behind everyday objects such as flower pots, bags or umbrellas in order to maintain their dignity. The 35 brightly coloured display are difficult to miss. The question "where would you hide?" encourages passers-by to come closer and find out why the figures are hiding. And only when you get close up do you get an idea of the serious nature of the topic: 2.5 billion people in the world live without access to adequate sanitation.

In 2008, the GTA, brought this campaign to Central Park in New York City and the one of the NY Times op-ed writers did a piece on the experience of visiting the site. You can read it here.

"Where would you hide?"

Most of us, that's me and whoever reads this blog, started using a toilet before we even have conscious memories. We don't remember ever not having access to a toilet. Apart from the occasional "roughing it" camping trip someone talked us into, we may never be in a situation where we don't have access to toilets, sinks and other basic needs for proper sanitation.

It is hard to imagine life without what we consider "the basics." The concept of having to hunt around to find some place to defecate out in the open is a completely horrifying idea. This exhibition by the GTA forces us to imagine what life would be like without facilities that preserve our privacy, dignity, and our health.

UNICEF estimates that 1.8 million people a year die from a cause related to a lack of proper sanitation and the majority of these are children.

It is not a coincidence that the parts of the world where access to improved sanitation is problematic are also the parts of the world where children under five die at an alarming rate. Many organizations believe that the majority of illness in the world is caused by fecal matter.

A gross thought I know, but every one on this planet, all 7 billion of us, have to eat and defecate. Approximately one-third of us don't have access to toilets; that is a lot of fecal matter!!

Diarrheal disease kills more children in Africa than are killed by malaria. Five times as many children in the developing world die from diarrhea than HIV/AIDS, but raising money to prevent diarrhea is not nearly as popular.

5,000 kids a day die from diarrhea. There are lots of reasons why, lots of factors that contribute to that statistic. Kids that are malnourished don't have the bodily resources to fight the disease. Access to healthcare and treatments is limited in many places. Many parents lack the knowledge to treat diarrhea effectively at home. There are lots of variables, but -and it is a BIG BUT, if we can increase the number of people with access to toilets and decrease the number of people that have to relieve themselves in the open, we can lower the numbers of kids getting sick in the first place!!

So, it is "Toilet Tuesday," the next time you walk into the restroom, perhaps you have a choice of several in your home or place of business, think about what you would do, where you would go, where you might hide, if there was no toilet for miles around

...and remember the billions of people that have no choice.

Image via German Toilet Association website

More than 2.5 Billion people worldwide are
without access to a toilet or latrine.

That's billion, with a "B."

Consider joining with ADRA Niger and host a

"World Toilet Day" event at your school or church!

If you would like to help provide latrines & sanitation education for rural school children in Niger, then you may want to look here.

Save a Life - Use Soap!

2010-10-15T17:02:00.000+01:00

An ADRA Niger staff member helps
a child learn to use the
"tippy-tap" system to
wash his hands with soap.

Happy Global Handwashing Day!

Using soap when you wash your hands cuts the occurrence of respiratory infections by 25% and GI infections by about half!

This one thing can literally save thousands of lives here in Niger.

Unfortunately, we heard about this too late to plan event for our schools in Niger this year, but you can bet I am working on it for next year. I am already brainstorming about how we will incorporate Global Handwashing Day into our rural school sanitation project for next year.

Have a great day...and wash your hands!!

A different kind of pumpkin patch

2010-10-13T23:15:00.000+01:00

These are technically squash, not pumpkins, but I will take things that remind me of fall on the east coast,
wherever I can find them. They make great pumpkin bread and ok pumpkin pies.
They are grown down river and brought to Niamey on the large pirogues (think big canoe) you can see in the background. One of the boat drivers told us that a large boat can carry around 5,000 of these in one trip.
He offered to sell me a "lot" of 50, but I settled on just two.The are where the pumpkins are floating is normally planted in rice this time of year but this whole area has been flooded due to the heavy rains and record breaking river levels.

Introducing..."Toilet Tuesdays"

2010-10-12T19:43:00.001+01:00

Have you ever heard of "World Toilet Day"?

Probably not.

If you are my "facebook friend" you may have, I discovered the World Toilet Organization (WTO -not to be confused with the World Trade Organization) last year while doing some research for a water and sanitation proposal and re-posted some of their interesting online posts.

This year ADRA Niger will be holding our first annual World Toilet Day event at each of our three schools(and hopefully one of our neighborhood public schools as well). Over the next few weeks our staff will be working in the schools to do additional teaching on hygiene and sanitation. In addition, we will be running a poster contest in each school to promote awareness of the need for toilets in Niger and the risks that open defecation poses to the entire community.

November 19th -World Toilet Day

We will have a celebration, name the winners of the contest,

and will hopefully do "the Big Squat."

Ok, so I know that this blog is primarily our family blog, a place where we keep far flung friends and relatives updated on family happenings and some ADRA stuff gets posted too, because ADRA is a big part of our family...and some of you may wish that I hadn't just used the words "open-defecation." Yes, that means what you think it means -defecating out in the open, on the ground.

Image courtesy of amazon.com

I know it is not cool to talk about bodily functions unless you are a 4th-grade boy.

I saw a book on the topic once when Wesley was little. It was called "Everyone Poops" -I didn't buy it. I mean in most societies we don't talk about bodily functions in polite company and I didn't think little boys needed more reasons to talk about it.

But here's the thing...we need to talk about this.

Every culture is different, but in the US we have a million different euphemisms for talking about urinating or defecating without actually talking about it. Many of them are polite:

Using the "restroom" or the "ladies room" or the "bathroom"

Make a "pit stop" or a "rest stop"

Visiting the "loo" or the "john"

Inspecting the "facilities"

When we lived in Azerbaijan, it was impolite to even say you had to visit the bathroom. It took us a while to figure out why so many ADRA employees said they were going out to smoke when we were pretty sure they weren't smokers.

Here in Niger, when Jason is on a road trip and someone needs to relieve themselves, the guys will say they need to get out and "check the tires."

We make up euphemisms in the first place because taking care of some of our most basic bodily needs, urination and defecation, are inherently private acts.

In the "Western World" most of us take our bathrooms, our toilets, our loos, for granted. Of course, one must have a bathroom in one's house. Of course there is at least one toilet, connected to a working sewer or septic system in your home. In our schools, businesses and places of worship, we expect there to be many toilets, not just one. Of course, there will be facilities to relieve oneself in privacy and dignity and a place to wash your hands afterward.

But, what if there wasn't?

What if your home didn't have a single toilet?

What if your school had not a single bathroom?

What if your no one in your entire neighborhood had a toilet?

In Niger, less than 10% of the population has access to "improved sanitation" -that's development worker lingo for: a toilet. Not a toilet strictly in the sense of what you and I imagine, that includes access to any sort of latrine. Fewer than 1 in 10 people have any sort of toilet that they can use. Think about that... Think about it again...

Worldwide, diarrheal disease is the #1 cause of illness and Death.

The main cause of diarrhea? Poor Sanitation.

From now until November 19th, every Tuesday I am going to be blogging about World Toilet Day and the global need for sanitation --and of course how that affects our little corner of the world, Niger. "Toilet Tuesdays," I am going to call it. So if you are squeamish, or uncomfortable, skip the blog on Tuesdays for about a month or so.

But I hope you won't.

5,000 kids a day, all around the world, DIE from diarrhea. They die.

That is something we should ~~talk about~~, shout about -because it is totally preventable. But that will be for next week.

For now I am going to ask you to check out the website for World Toilet Day aka WTD. Think about joining with us. Plan an event for WTD for your school, church, Pathfinder group or your family! And of course, if you would like to link your event with what ADRA Niger is doing -that would be FANTASTIC!! Email me or leave a comment on this post and I can give you some great ideas.

Also, anyone who stages a WTD event after reading this blog will not only have my admiration, but will also receive a very cool gift from me, (not from ADRA Niger, but from me personally) and it will be cool -I promise.

Click here, to go to ADRA's "Really Useful Gift Catalog" and read a little about ADRA Niger's project to bring school bathrooms to rural school kids in Niger.

Plan your own World Toilet Day event and along the way you could sponsor toilets for kids in Niger with nowhere to "go."

Next week..."Where would you go?"

Baby!

2010-10-10T12:26:00.000+01:00

This would be Lily in a state of complete bliss.

On Sabbath, after church, we had the great pleasure of going to the bapteme of "Y"'s brand new granddaughter. Since Y has been more than a babysitter to Lily, more like an adopted grandma, the Liliputian pretty much considers this little one to be another of her cousins!

She was so excited to get there and see "Ahvah" (that is what she calls Y) and the baby. When she saw her she squealed with delight and jumped into her arms. Y must have been exhausted; she has been taking care of her daughter-in-law and was the hostess of the party, but she swooped Lily up and let her tag along while she was coordinating the rest of the food prep. Of course, the main attraction was "Ahvah's baby." She was thrilled to get to hold her and really didn't want to give Maggie and me a turn.

(My apologies again to the lovely mommy of this baby; Lily thinks you are great, but she will probably always think of your baby as "Ahvah's baby.")

For those of you who know this beautiful baby's momma, but are no longer residing in Sunny-Niger (yes, Fab 5, I'm talking to you) I asked for permission to post photos of this sweet little girl, to make sure you got to see her, but forgot to ask if I could post her name. Email me if you haven't heard already -it's lovely.

For the majority of you reading this who have no idea what the previous paragraph was about, Y's daughter-in-law is an American who happens to be a friend of our colleagues from AHI, who have recently left Niger. This lucky little baby has one American parent, one Nigerien parent and, fittingly, she has two names as well.

We really had a nice afternoon. We enjoyed being able to catch up with Y and just chat. Of course, getting to hold the new baby was a bonus and eventually Lily relented and Maggie & I got a turn too!

We met some new people and relaxed on mats and cushions. When it was time to eat, Y insisted that we move to another room off the main one that had mattresses in it. I felt conspicuous moving to another room, but Y said the crowd was giving her a headache and it was too hot in the main room. Since she joined us to sit around and talk after awhile, I didn't feel quite as bad.

The rice and sauce was very good and Maggie & Lily enjoyed the Touareg millet specialty, whose name I cannot remember, possibly because I can't eat it. Think grits made out of millet instead of corn, but made with meat/fat ground into it and lots of salt. Maggie and Lily really like it and Lily kept putting huge spoonfuls of it in her mouth.Y gave us spoons, but normally this would be eaten with your hands and it is served on a big communal platter.

Y's family is a very nice group and there were babies everywhere. Lots of little ones all over the place. When Lily could finally be disentangled from Y, she just worked the crowd, going from baby to baby, holding each of them for as long as they would let her. We managed to keep her away from this one, so she could finish sleeping.

First day of school...for us, anyway

2010-10-07T19:41:00.000+01:00

We are a month late, but Lily started preschool today. We went to visit yesterday, not knowing for sure if there was a space for her or not. We met some of the lovely teachers and two sweet little girls immediately took Lily by the hand and showed her around the playground equipment. She was sold five minutes into the visit; the teacher agreed to expand her class by one additional short person; and next thing you know, we have all three kiddos in school!

The munchkin is now enrolled in Ecole Alliance, a French school that is run by a Persian family. According to their brochure, there are 25 countries represented at the school and we know several expat families that send their kids there. They have a bi-lingual Pre-K class (English/French), but Lily is in the all French class. She seems fine with it and we are hopeful that her French will really take off.

Of course, in true Brooks fashion, our car died on the way to school this morning, but we were within walking distance, so we hoofed it and arrived late...but with the kiddo's enthusiasm still in tact.

In case you are wondering why the change in our decision to enroll L in preschool.... We recently lost our beloved "Y" as a member of our household. She is still a friend and we see her whenever we can, but she is no longer able to care for our munchkin during the day. After nearly three years of her graceful, lovely presence in the house and her loving care of our littlest nomad, we knew we couldn't replace her, so we are giving preschool a try.

Home Delivery

2010-10-05T18:01:00.000+01:00

For two dollars, give or take, this man rode his bike all the way across town with a table which we bought on his head. I am pretty sure that for any amount of money I could not ride across the street, much less the city of Niamey with its interesting driving, with anything more than a hat on my head, let alone a table. Home delivery with a smile, all in less than 30 minutes. Domino's Pizza are you listening?

The Dilemma of Photographing the Vulnerable

2010-09-25T12:02:00.002+01:00

I am not much of photographer. It may be in part because I hate to look like a tourist, and I also feel like I am missing the action. Photographing people in a moment of vulnerability poses a particular dilemma. Our policy is not to take away from the sense of dignity, or privacy of any person. This leaves you with a couple of options, one is photograph large groups of people, and in this way not single out any person, or show too much detail. The other option is take pictures of people who want their picture taken. This inevitably leads to a less than natural shot. Having the occasion to photograph ADRA Niger's food distribution sites over the last few months has posed an interesting challenge. It is very important to show that people are in fact suffering, and in need of help. It is also important not to portray them in a way that is exploitative. I usually try to think, "If I were in this situation would I want someone to take my picture." I certainly would not want a picture of myself posted somewhere when I was extremely ill or distraught.

Often I go to a site and take two hundred pictures. Then back at the office I go through the pictures and have the job of culling those that do not meet the criteria. Those pictures make me sad. Then there are pictures that make me smile, things that I missed while I was trying to get the shot, but the camera caught. It is often an expression. Here are a couple of pictures that made me smile:

These ladies were in line and called me over to take their picture.
They squished together so tight I was worried for the babies on their backs!

I think she may have actually been showing me her shoes in retrospect,
but insensitive male that I am I managed to not get them in the picture.

These ladies had just gotten their rations and were about to head out,
probably all to the same nomad settlement. They called me over to take their picture,
but they wanted me to wait until they had put it all on their heads.

This future "miss Niger" gave me the best smile of the day.

In the pictures above there was no dilemma because each person or group wanted their picture taken. This in itself is a good sign. Four months ago there were few of these cases. People were unhealthy and looking very downtrodden. They didn't trust us, because they didn't know us. The area where we are distributing is not one of the areas where we usually work. Now when we go to the sites the people know and trust us. The have benefitted from the food that we have distributed and know that in each case they have not been mistreated, or asked for anything in return. So now, not only do people cheer and call to us when we drive through villages, "ADRA, ADRA" chanted still chokes me up every time, but they call me over to take their picture. It is almost as if to say, "Look at us now, look how much happier and healthier we and our children are." Often elderly women will come and do a little two step dance and bend at the knees to "honor me." Then they will clasp their hands and bless me as they walk off. I am always too enchanted to get a picture of that one!

My favorite was the two little girls. The one was obviously flashing her most beautiful smile, and the other refusing to either be coquettish or play to the camera, she just stood there in front of me until I got out the camera and took her picture. Then she calmly walked away appearing unimpressed. I though it was great because it was totally on her terms, and I was just a bystander who she deigned to allow to take her picture. I don't know what the chances of finder her among the 60,000 beneficiaries we are serving in that area, but it would be fun to go back and give her a copy of the picture.

Harvest in Madaoua

2010-09-23T19:58:00.000+01:00

Rain is a good thing.

2010-09-19T21:17:00.008+01:00

We seem to be having some late rains this year in Niger, though by the time this post actually goes up, it is possible we will have seen our last rain shower for the year.

Because we take our vacations in the summer, while the kids are off from school, we have never actually been in Niger for the month of July or the beginning of August. So we have always missed the majority of the rainy season. I will never forget the first time we came back and saw the "greening" of Niger, we couldn't believe it!

Anyway, it seems like most of the rain we have experienced in Niger, for these last three years, comes during the night. When it rains during the day it always feels like an occasion and the kids love to be out in it! Lily gets absolutely giddy and says things like,

"Oh, I absolutely LOVE the rain!" -in her best Eloise-voice.

While the kids were busy getting drenched the other day I snapped these pictures of how they like to spend a rainy day in Niamey!

One of the good things about living in Niger
is that it never takes you very long to
warm up no matter how soaking wet you get!

Proof that they DO share my genetic material...

2010-09-18T08:14:00.003+01:00

When I somehow managed to give birth to three children with hair as straight as sticks, everyone in my family wondered aloud how this could have possibly happened. Since I went immediately from being "bald as a cue-ball" to being mistaken for a Shirley Temple look-alike, I was skeptical of my hairdresser who said for years, "Wait until they become teenagers, just wait for it...you'll have at least one curly headed kid!"

Well who knows if it will only last as long as the post rainy season humidity hangs on,

but suddenly we have curls popping up on every head at once.

One teen, one preteen, and one teenager-trapped-in-a-four-year-old-body,

suddenly they all look like they are related to their Momma!

Poor things, but fortunately none of them has my "Franny B. Kranny" look.

I have to admit it is pretty fun nonetheless to look around the dinner table and see all the unruly swirls popping out all over, especially on an afternoon like today when it was threatening rain.

Makes me think of my Daddy actually.

I sure am missing him this week and I can just see his big thick fingers pulling on my girlie's curls like he used to do to mine and hear what he would have to say about my suddenly curly headed brood and some of their "Huffstickler genes" making an appearance,

well......right after he told Wes he needed a haircut of course. :)

Lucky for Wes-man his Momma doesn't share Pops' opinions
and thinks that boys with long curly hair are handsome.
You should have seen Wes's Daddy when I met him!

One of these things does not belong

2010-09-17T20:26:00.000+01:00

Help us name our new pet. He or maybe she? is a sulcatas tortoise. In 20 years it could weigh over 100 lbs. It will probably outlive anyone reading this. Got any name suggestions?

ADRA Niger Feeds 56,000 People a Month

2010-09-14T22:43:00.000+01:00

In the month of July ADRA Niger Fed 56,000 people. About 25,000 of those were children at risk of becoming severely malnourished.

Due to the challenges of the rainy season many hundreds of tons of grains and beans were delivered to remote villages and nomad encampments by ox and donkey cart.

Street Meat

2010-09-04T20:32:00.000+01:00

For all of you back in the land of health inspectors and mandatory food labels that have heard me talk about "street meat" and who just couldn't picture what a sheep cooked over bed springs on the side of a dusty road looks like, here it is in all of its hacked-to-bits and wrapped in the outer layer of a cement sack glory. L and M devoured it before W got a single bite, much to his chagrin. I usually reserve this delicacy for road trips and to be honest this city sheep was apparently skin and bones in comparison to what we get in rural areas. It may also be that my driver is better at making sure we get the choice bits.

Supplementary School Feeding at the FK ADRA School in Niamey

2010-08-28T10:43:00.000+01:00

Classroom/ Temporary Warehouse for SSF

Kitchen Prep

7 oven pits, 210 liters of capacity

Open the Gates, through the "turnstiles"

This little guy brought his own bowl and it got a little overfilled. You can see how careful his being.

Tippy-Taps from our friends at GDA

Happy, healthy kids will be ready for school in October.

A Few Shots of Summer

2010-08-20T21:25:00.003+01:00

Now that we are back home in Niger we have a few minutes to look at our pics from this summer. Here are a few highlights that haven't already been posted.

Last minute Photo Op at Dulles

Busch Gardens

The best wife ever got us an upgrade on the rental car for $10

Wes motorcycle shopping with my dad.

My dad buying the bike of my dreams.

More Busch Gardens

I think she is worried about hitting someone

A last view of that gorgeous long hair.

Getting to preach in English on a subject that I am very passionate about.

Carls and Garcias

Grammy's, 3rd annual, "Cousins' Campout"

2010-07-29T11:59:00.000+01:00

We are soaking up our family time and haven't been online much, and that includes blogging.

Two more weeks of vacation and then our lives will be back to normal!

Fredericksburg SDA Church

2010-07-18T04:15:00.002+01:00

Relief from Relief Work?

2010-06-30T22:03:00.001+01:00

Emergency, Disaster, Crisis. All of these words describe food and fodder shortages in Niger right now. They also describe our lives since ADRA Niger started trying to respond to these situations and bring assistance through both short term relief projects and long term food security projects that, "teach people how to fish."

The good and bad news is that in a little over 24 hours (as I write this Wed afternoon) we are getting on a plane for ADRA meetings in the US and then some R&R with family. The two big kids are already there.

We are looking forward to seeing friends and family and if we survive the next 24 hours we will have no choice but to leave the work we can't carry with us behind. I am sure you noticed the caveat. We have already planned one suitcase for carrying work! G is pictured below in one of our field warehouses. He will be holding down the fort while we are gone. ADRA is daily complimented on his good work in the field on behalf of his countrymen.

"I have to go play in the dirt now!"

2010-06-22T12:03:00.012+01:00

The kid comes out of her room wearing some interesting getups. This one is: a Sabbath dress, armadillo hat, soccer headband and an exercise band used as a scarf. Definitely not one of her crazier get-ups, but it cracked jb up -she was wearing it with such confidence.

Her Daddio snapped this picture and she said,

"Sorry Dad, no more pictures.

I have to go play in the dirt now."

Right, because that is clearly what she is dressed up for

-playing in the red Niger sand.

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T13:30:00.000+01:00

We acknowledge a little bias exists in the Nomad household, but we are pretty sure we have the very best husband/Dad, on any continent, right here in our very own house!

So I am not Jim, I know, I know. Did you know it is considerably harder to make Father's Day breakfast with only a four year-old to help -as opposed to the very helpful, and talented, 11 and 14 year old pancake makers that usually hang out in this house? (We managed without them, but are missing them terribly and not just in the kitchen!)

JB is an amazing husband and an awesome dad!

Thanks for being the kind of dad who:

gets up with kids in the middle of the night.

has never been afraid of dirty diapers, vomit, or anything else.

has a great sense of humor, and is quick to share a laugh.

helps with guitar lessons, tennis lessons or French lessons.

loves his family & likes to spend time with them more than anything.

lives with integrity, kindness and compassion for others.

sets a Godly example for his family to follow.

We have other "Dads" in our lives, and we want to wish them all a "Happy Father's Day!" as well.

Happy Father's Day to Dad/Grandpere! We think you are an amazing guy and you add so much to our lives. Thanks for your wise counsel, support, encouragement and "standing in the gap" for us in prayer everyday without fail.
L wants to also say thanks for "fight legs." :)

We wish we could celebrate with you today, but since we can't we hope you enjoy the company of our "mini-mes."

I also want to use this space to wish a "Happy Father's Day" to my brothers who are the wonderful fathers of my beautiful nephews and niece. You have both become wonderful dads.

Father's Day has become bittersweet for me since we lost our larger-than-life Dad, five years ago. I still think about him every day and I am looking forward to the day Jesus comes back again and I can see my Dad and introduce him to a certain Liliputian that seems to have a lot of her "Pops" in her.

We miss them already.

2010-06-14T10:27:00.002+01:00

No babysitter + big kids off from school + bubbles = Fun!

W was the one who picked up the camera and, after looking at some of these,

I think he might be developing an eye for photography. More shots here.

A first for the Nomads

2010-06-11T21:02:00.074+01:00

Last night, we had a first in the Nomad household.

Some of us got on a plane and the rest of us stayed behind... Nope, that wasn't it.

We had a departure that was wrapped in way more drama than necessary? Nope that wasn't it either.

We are soon to be a family divided up a more than one continent...definitely not the first time, not even the first time this year.

Our milestone was, in fact, the first time the Nomad kids flew across an ocean (or anywhere for that matter) as "unaccompanied minors." (No, not all of them, the Liliputian is still with the 'rents. We aren't that crazy, yet.) Yes, W & M flew back to the US to start their vacation early and spend some quality time with the grandparents. Jb & I can't leave Niger until later in the summer, but there was no reason the big kids couldn't head back now.

They are looking forward to seeing all their family & friends, drinking gallons of milk, watching lots of American TV, going to the library, Potomac camp-meeting, eating grapes, eating at Chik-Fil-A (a lot) and I am sure a ton of other things they will be happy to tell you if you ask them.

If you live on that side of the ocean and happen to see my rugrats, do me a favor and give them a big hug from their momma. I miss them already.

We owe a HUGE "thank you" to Grammy, Meme & Grandpere for taking care of the kiddos and doing things like picking them up from the airport in rush-hour traffic on a Friday (sorry Meme and Grandpere) or making the long trek up to drop M off at camp (thanks Grammy).

Two Dust Storms In One Day

2010-06-09T23:10:00.034+01:00

What do you do when you have two massive dust storms in one day? Well, if you are the Nomads, you go out on the roof --after crazily running around shutting doors and windows, of course!

Dust storms are an interesting part of life in Niger. It is actually pretty hard to describe them accurately, but I think this picture I took, of J standing on the roof, gives you a fairly good idea. (without actually getting sand in your teeth) That shot is SOOTC (straight-out-of-the-camera) I didn't mess with it in iPhoto to get it that color. That really was the color of the sky.

This was the second dust storm of the day and we were hoping it would bring with it some serious rain. Alas, it wasn't to be, not even enough to get our driveway wet. A few drops, mostly just huge piles of sand on our porch, but it did significantly lower the temperature after it was all over, and we went for a walk around the neighborhood to soak in the lovely cool air.

A dust storm is one of those times when you see the awesome forces of nature in action and just watch in awe.

If you are looking for us on a Sunday afternoon...

2010-06-06T16:26:00.003+01:00

...the pool is a pretty good bet.

The combination of the pool, and some of the best fast food in Niamey, makes the American Rec Center at the embassy school, a pretty popular place. Over the last month, one or both of the grown-ups in this family has had to work on Sunday, just about every week. This was the first time in a while that found all 5 of us together at the pool. place. We were glad to be all together having some fun, being goofy, and of course having quesadillas & milkshakes for lunch!

It is hard to get a good picture of her in the water, but L is turning into as much of a water-bug as her big sister. She has been working on learning to swim for a while now, essentially on her own, with a few tips from the big people. She amazed everyone this week when she swam from the halfway point in the pool to the side, all by herself. She has a ways to go before she can catch up with the amazing Miss M, but she is working on it. W & M kept us entertained with their diving antics, which you can see here. All in all, a pretty good way to spend a Sunday afternoon in Niamey.

Liliputian-isms

2010-05-23T16:01:00.006+01:00

**I have been trying to format this post, unsuccessfully, for far too long today and have finally given up. Please excuse the crazy alignment and don't even ask me why the text is appearing in different colors. -b

If you know me very well, you know I come from a rather large extended family that seems to always have at least one little person running around at family gatherings and having their antics repeated by parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, you get the idea. Everyone loves to repeat these funny stories of what the latest munchkin has come up with. Someone always says, "You should really be writing this down somewhere!"

Kids are really a lot of fun to have around. No matter how crazy they may make you on occasion, there is no doubt about the fact that life in our house is much more interesting and fun, because of the offspring. Each kid brings something special to the table; they each have their own unique personalities and perspective on the world. I could go on for ages about W and M, and the laughs and fun they bring into my life. But they are old enough to read this blog and want to throttle me for it...so I won't.

L on the other hand is not, and she is also far away from extended family and lifelong family friends at a time when she is coming into her own and producing a lot of amusing anecdotes along the way. I often say that four is one of those "golden" ages because it seems that is when so many kids start to come into their own both verbally and personality-wise.

L is turning into quite a character, no doubt, in part, because she is learning three languages at once. (No, I am sure it has nothing to do with my side of the gene pool.) She comes up with some of the craziest stuff and most of the time we have no idea where it came from -sometimes even what she is talking about! She has a real sense of comedic timing as well, and often hilarity ensues.

Sometimes they are really just too good and I have to share them with someone and I end up posting them to my facebook account. Several people have said they are so funny they should be their own blog. I'm not sure about that, (you may have noticed I am having a hard time keeping up with one blog lately) but it did occur to me that there are lots of our friends and family that don't do the whole fb thing and might want to have some "Liliputian-stories" to tell at the next family gathering. :)

We tell your stories around the Nomad dinner table to keep you close to us, and you can do the same with the L-putian most of you haven't had a chance to get to know too well yet.

Without further ado, I will share some of our recent "Liliputianisms" as we have taken to calling them.

L: "Momma, do you have a head-ech?"
Me: Nodding yes, and wondering how-on-Earth the kid acquired a southern accent in Niger
L: "Well, what you need when you have those pains in your head is some good courage."

I smile and she cocks heads to one side, squints her eyes up at me, and adds "All-tho-oough, you know, I'm not REALLY a doctor."

While sitting at the dinner table, rest of us just minding our own business:

"Sometimes I just don't think and my brains just bang around against my bones."

Maybe that is what has been causing my "head-echs" all these years.

While I am trying to take my morning shower she pops her head in the bathroom:

L:"Mom, will he have powers...super-powers?"
Me: "Will who have superpowers?"
L: "The guy I am going to marry."

Me: "Only if you hold out for a guy just like your Daddy, baby."

Piped up from the backseat of the car to express both hurt feelings and a great sense of aggravation with her big brother:

"W is really making my heart itch!"

I can't remember exactly who was the culprit when I took this pic, but her heart was definitely itching.

A favorite line adapted from a movie, said at the most hilarious times, complete with hand motions and mimicry: "I got my EYE, I got my EYE, I got my EYE on YOU!"

Me: "L, will you please go get Daddy for me?"

L: Shouts over her shoulder instead of getting up, "Daddy! Da-addy! Mommy wants you. Don't worry, you're not in trouble; she just wants to ask you some-thin'!"

(And no, I know what you are thinking. We do not have one of those households where the Daddy "gets in trouble." The Daddy is in charge around here. :)

Y, our babysitter, has recently begun speaking primarily Tamasheq to L. We also have another lady in the house on a daily basis now and they speak Djerma to each other. L is also still learning French. Recently L responded to one of Y's questions in French and Y prompted her for the same response in Tamasheq, and L replied, "I don't remember, here, let me ask the bear."

"Eeww, mine smells like grasshoppers!" She was sniffing her own arm and, no, we haven't the foggiest idea why, or where that came from. Her big brother's response was almost as funny, "Grasshoppers, really? Why not crickets?"

Another completely random declaration when we were all just sitting around minding our own business:

"Elmo is truly a great person!"

Everyone sitting on our bed getting ready for worship. L crawls into my lap looks up at me sweetly, and says:

"Mom, one day can I have big boobs?"

Usually the crew manages to hold it together but all four of the tall people in the room pretty much lost it after that and there was nothing but raucous laughter for quite sometime after that one.

A frequent catch phrase is "I put my love in you!" We all love this one. This can be said tenderly and sweetly, and it is very dear. (It is also used as a sort of threat to her sibs like, how-dare-you-deny-my-request because "I put my love in you!!!") The other day she walked up to me out of the blue and said:

"Mommy, Me and Jesus changed loves, cuz I put my love in Him and He put His love in me!"

Heart-Melter

Last Sabbath on our way out to the plateau:

"Can we just go to Mexico?"

Umm, what?

L: To the grumpy deliveryman trying hard to ignore her greetings:

"Monsieur, Monsieur! Ca-va?"

Undeterred by his ambivalence, she left and went to put on sunglasses and a bright pink hat

(she was previously only wearing her panties -it is like 100+ degrees inside, people).

She came back, stood right in front of him and said,

"Monsieur, Monsieur! C'est Moi!!!"
Did I mention she had never seen this guy before in her life?

As we were leaving the house to go to church:

L: Waving enthusiastically and shouting at our guard, Asa, "Au revoir Asta! Au revoir Asta!"

JB: "L, that is ASA, not ASTA. As-TA lives in Hagerstown."

L: "Oh boy, I hope he wasn't actually listening."

During a particularly bumpy ride in the car recently:

"Oh dear, Oh dear! Why, oh why, did we leave home this day?"

(Imagine the voice of Piglet from Winnie-the-Pooh!)

She keeps us on our toes and in stitches, just like her big brother and big sister. We are thankful for every minute we have with them and so grateful that God blessed us with kids that are well suited for this grand adventure to which He has called us. Hope this post put a smile on your face, and the L-putian looks forward to making personal appearances this summer.

Blanket Feeding 2010

2010-05-21T15:54:00.003+01:00

Its hard to photograph what feeding 23,000 children a month looks like. Especially with my limited photography skills.

Here are a few up close shots.

Registration is done by the thumb print of the person picking up the ration. The children were registered in a massive sign up campaign financed by Unicef. The person picking up the ration presents a ration card given at the time of sign up.

The buckets are for the oil ration. Each beneficiary receives CSB (corn soy blend) oil and sugar which is then made into a gruel. Blanket is a nutritional feeding, meaning that it is to keep children from becoming malnourished and sick during a period during which high food prices make it very likely. Due to last years poor harvest about 5.2 million people in Niger are severely to moderately vulnerable to food insecurity during this time of the year when food stocks have run out and harvest is 4-5 months away.

Often it is a sibling who comes to pick up a child's ration.

Registration of mothers by thumb print. About 14% of women in Niger can read so this is a faster way of registration.

This child is suffering from long term effects of poor nutrition. Though she is outside the beneficiary age category (6-23 months) we know that she will benefit with her younger siblings.

Blanket feeding is a joint project between ADRA Niger, Unicef and WFP. ADRA is serving the Madaoua region,
of Tahoua, with 23,000 rations a month.

Stay tuned for our plans to serve
120,000 meals a month, to Niamey school children!

Go Fly a Kite

2010-05-16T12:40:00.005+01:00

This Sabbath afternoon activity always makes us think of Grammy...

Made me laugh when I edited this photo and realized what shirt he was wearing.

Even little Miss L got a turn flying the kite.

Of course the activity wasn't without its mishaps -poor Daddio.

He's such a good sport!

Lots of room to ride the bikes and find some jumps:

Sorry M that there is no photographic evidence of your aerial feats, but I saw them I know they were awesome!

Five Nomads

Greens in the Desert

Preparing for Battle

Cows for Water

Celebrating a new 'Cousin'

World Hand-washing Day 2011

Niger's Minister of Education Visits ADRA School

When Statistics Hit Too Close to Home...

Further Apologies

With Apologies

Having fun when the power is out

No package is ever actually late

The countdown has begun...

An Ode to Hot Season In Niger

Happy Sabbath from Niger!

Mango Rain

Inspiration in Our In-box

One of the perks of parenting TCKs

Our neighborhood craft store...

World Water Day 2011

Lily turns 5...

A Few Faces

Lily and her Doppelgänger

Ecole Alliance Carnaval

Photo for my bird-watching-momma...

Sahel's Valentine's Banquet

Joyeuse Saint-Valentin

A Few Pics

When I grow up, I want to be a four year old.

Some things I love about Niger...

Just another one of the Aunties

Of Santa Claus and Barbies

Christmas Shoes

Let's talk turkey

Our Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas from the Nomads!

Fudge!

"Twinkle, twinkle little star..be the shining star you are!"

Candlelight Carol Service at NEWS

Caroling, caroling, in the sand...

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Mama, I don't think I can open my eye...""

World Toilet Day at the ADRA Niger Schools

Field Day 2010

Happy Tabaski!

Funny Food

Lots of Toilets for Tuesday

Some people just keep getting better with age...

I Love the Smell of Dust in the Morning!

New 'do

Children's Sabbath

Reminds me of "The Surprise Package Company"

What happens when Dad gets bored...

Where would you go?

Save a Life - Use Soap!

A different kind of pumpkin patch

Introducing..."Toilet Tuesdays"

Baby!

First day of school...for us, anyway

Home Delivery

The Dilemma of Photographing the Vulnerable

Harvest in Madaoua

Rain is a good thing.

Proof that they DO share my genetic material...

One of these things does not belong

ADRA Niger Feeds 56,000 People a Month

Street Meat

Supplementary School Feeding at the FK ADRA School in Niamey

A Few Shots of Summer

Grammy's, 3rd annual, "Cousins' Campout"

Fredericksburg SDA Church

Relief from Relief Work?

"I have to go play in the dirt now!"

Happy Father's Day!

We miss them already.

A first for the Nomads

Two Dust Storms In One Day

If you are looking for us on a Sunday afternoon...

Liliputian-isms

L: "Momma, do you have a head-ech?"Me: Nodding yes, and wondering how-on-Earth the kid acquired a southern accent in NigerL: "Well, what you need when you have those pains in your head is some good courage."

L: "Momma, do you have a head-ech?"
Me: Nodding yes, and wondering how-on-Earth the kid acquired a southern accent in Niger
L: "Well, what you need when you have those pains in your head is some good courage."

L:"Mom, will he have powers...super-powers?"
Me: "Will who have superpowers?"
L: "The guy I am going to marry."

"Monsieur, Monsieur! C'est Moi!!!"
Did I mention she had never seen this guy before in her life?