Teaching in Niger

Spring Cleaning

kpfenning — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 17:48:14 +0000

There is nothing like a good dust storm as motivation for spring cleaning. Most nights we leave windows open to cool the house down. Normally we wake up when storms begin and can shut the windows before the dirt comes. Last night we didn’t wake up until the dust had passed and the rain was pouring down. This is what we woke up to (pictures below). The evening before, I had swept the floor clean and there was not one speck of dust on the counter. The dirt not only covered the floor and counters but all furniture, curtains, walls … everything. Now my home is sparkling clean. By tomorrow it will need dusting again. Thankfully, the normal amount of daily dust is not this thick.

photos from another dust storm-

Into Dust

kpfenning — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 09:09:15 +0000

Over the summer vacation there are numerous jobs to be done around Sahel Academy. Others and I have been working hard to prepare a building for a new workshop. During our cleaning of this building we stumbled upon something astounding. As you know, termites are a real problem. Any wood left out quickly becomes covered by termite tracks. In fact, the termites build their tracks up trees as well. Well, in the building was a box made of cardboard that was sitting on the floor. On the opposite side of the room was a barrel, also made of some type of reinforced cardboard. The termites had formed their tracks long ago, and proceeded to eat the cardboard. What had been a box and a barrel was now just the excrement of the termites. When touched, both the box and the barrel disintegrated into dust!!

Things are not as they appear. There is no real cardboard here.

Rainy Season

kpfenning — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:15:39 +0000

Rain, it begins with weather so still not even a leaf stirs. The extreme stillness is out-of-place and grabs your attention. Then a cool, moist wind begins. In less than five minutes gusts whip tree branches around. Shortly after an orange cloud sweeps through coating everything in dirt. At times this orange cloud is so thick that the houses across the road are mere visions of themselves. Then the rain bursts forth in full downpour.

Ah, Rain!

We’ve made it

kpfenning — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:28:58 +0000

Tests are finished, grades are in, desks are cleaned out, and seniors have graduated. We have completed our first year of teaching at Sahel Academy.

From;

teaching history to teaching drama,

grading tests to grading talent show prospects

playing sports to playing games,

spirit week to spiritual emphasis week

-this was one packed year.

vocal talent

kpfenning — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 18:11:21 +0000

Third culture kids have numerous talents. One that they like to use, whether talented or not, is their voice. What do they sing about you ask? Well, here are two humorous topics.

Rain; we could see the sky full of thick dark rain clouds. We could feel the cooler wind whipping through the trees. We could hear; well, the sound was -odd. So we checked it out. We found all of the male dorm students standing in the ball field – shirtless. They were jumping around in a group and emanating strange sounds. “What are you doing?”, we asked. “A rain dance”, they replied. “And when is this rain supposed to come?”, we asked. “Any time between now and the next six months”, they replied. “OOOK, well that’s general enough”, we replied as we left them to their song. Later the winds died and the clouds moved on. Not a drop of rain touched the ground.

Electricity; (slightly exaggerated for emphasis but only slightly). One dark night I sat writing a letter by candle light. With not even the hint of a breeze the heat was stifling. I tried to move as little as possible to keep from breaking out into a sweat. Sweating while letter writing? Yep, it was that hot. As I inched my hand across the page a sound assaulted my ears. This was not any normal sound of the night. This sound was coming from my three-year old. It was loud. It was passionate. It was off-key! Her ”song” carried quite the heart-felt message. “Nigelec come on. Nigelec come OOOONNNN. Nigelec. Nigeeeleeeccc. Nigelec come ooon.”, she belted. Her message was to the power company. Obviously she didn’t like the compounding heat that comes with a lack of electricity.

Dinner Anyone ?

kpfenning — Sun, 08 May 2011 12:23:24 +0000

On our way home from a quiet afternoon walk we heard loud exclamations coming from up ahead. Two of the locals hollered to get the attention of a fellow worker. Their words were not understandable to us but their excited voices and body language spoke volumes. something was going on. Their friend dropped what he was doing and hurried over to where they huddled around a stack of cinderblocks. We decided to check it out. As we neared one of them began to search around. Then he proceeded to pick up some sticks. Sticks did not impress us and we questioned what on earth he was doing. Then as he handed the sticks out and the three of them cautiously took up stances it came to us. They were arming themselves! What for, we wondered? Was it a big snake or something else? Through their excitement they were still speaking too quickly for us to pick out helpful words. Armed and ready the one man cautiously approached the blocks and began to stuff clothing in the holes to block them. We watched for a while wondering why and how it was supposed to help. Finally, we realized that he was cutting of escape routes for some animal. Then they cautiously approached one of the blocks and returned to a stance ready for attack or defense. One of the two men shifted the block and another began pounding his stick at something. We heard a few animal noises; it was definitely not a snake. From our position the block was interrupting our view of the attack. Then triumphantly, by its tail, he lifted up an unreasonably large bush rat. Mmmm, yummy.

A Beautiful Sound

kpfenning — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:25:36 +0000

No matter where we are in the city, each day, five times a day, we can hear the call to prayer. I don’t notice it all five times but I do hear it at some point or another, every day. Even my daughter has commented on it and asked, “what is that sound”. Yesterday, April 24th was different. Throughout the city we heard not rote chant in a language not understood by those speaking it, but loudly proclaimed praise in a native tongue. We did not hear the sound of a duty done to please a god, but heard joyful singing, thanks, and praise to THE GOD. April 24th we heard a beautiful sound.

Gas Guzzlers

kpfenning — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:00:49 +0000

Maradi, our destination awaited us. The drive was to take place over paved, dirt, and potholed roads. Our means of transportation was a 30 seater chartered bus. We westerners, with our love of space, would consider it a squishy 24 seater bus. Still, undaunted, we packed in and settled down for our estimated ten-hour drive. Five minutes after departing our trip came to an abrupt halt.

“I need to fill the bus up with gas. I haven’t been paid yet. I have no money for the gas,” our bus driver proclaimed after pulling into a gas station. “You haven’t been paid!” exclaimed our leader, “I don’t have the money! No one paid you yet?…. Well, how much does it cost?”

After some phone calls we took up a collection (to be reimbursed later), and ten minutes later continued on our way.

Explanatory notes:

The trip was for “Orientation to Niger” for all new workers. It went well.

We squished 27 people into the bus, with all of our luggage.

It was really an eleven hour drive.

Persistance = The African Salesman

kpfenning — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:27:30 +0000

It was a regular hot dry dusty day for an outing. The purpose of this outing was grocery shopping. The locals spotted my friend and I as we drove up in the Jeep. Before we even parked one of the souvenir sales men began working his way over to us. He appeared to be in his early thirties. He wore regular pants and a t-shirt. I didn’t make it three feet from the vehicle before this first sales man reached me. “Bonjour,” he said. Then he held out his hand, from which dangled a handcrafted african necklace. ”I am not interested today. Thank you,” I stumbled out in French. ”But it is very nice,” he replied, “Don’t you like it”. “Yes, it is nice but not today,” I answered as I made my way to my first stop. Half way there a second sales man joined us. This salesman’s skin wrinkled with age. He wore traditional West African garb complete with a head turban. The second man held out a handmade leather box and rambled too quickly in French for me to understand. “Not today. Thank you,” I managed. He nodded his head and watched as I passed. Finally, I reached my destination.

: local soft drink store

While I bought a case of soft drinks both salesmen patiently waited to the side. Then, as I took the soft drinks to the car, the first salesman tried again. “How much? What is your price? It is for you. It will look very nice,” He attempted. ”Yes, but I am not buying it today,” I said and then smiled and turned to cross the street to the fruit stand. They both followed and as I picked out produce a third salesman, middle-aged and heavyset for Niger, pedaled up in a hand petal bicycle. He, dressed in pants and a button down shirt, offered wire trinkets that someone handmade. I heard them murmuring amongst one another while I finished paying for my produce. When I turned to wait for my friend to finish her purchase the third man spoke up, ”Bonjour”. “Bonjour, I replied in French, “How are you?”. “Good, thank you,” he said. “Would you like one of these,” He asked as he offered a miniature wire bicycle. ”No thank you, not today,” I answered. He looked over to the other two men. They shook their heads and said something beyond my limited knowledge of French. The third man tried again, “Are you sure you don’t want one.” “No not today”, I answered again. “Are you Canadian,” he asked. “No, I am American,” I answered. “OOOhhhhh,” they responded in unison. As if they had reached a new understanding. My friend finished her purchase. As we returned across the street to the vehicle, I said goodbye to the men. The youngest salesman alone followed and, while I climbed into the car, he said with a knowing smile and excellent english, ”I love you”.

Hmmm, shopping in Niger, it is never a boring experience.

Update

kpfenning — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 16:30:21 +0000

Hey All! We are doing well. It has been awhile since we have updated our blog. Our Christmas break went well and was relaxing. We are now in our third back at school. Charity is teaching an Art elective on Thursday afternoons and I am teaching 7/8 grade world history, continuing to teach 11/12 world history, and also a writing elective. This means that there has been extra stress as I try to plan the lessons. However, overall it has been a wonderful beginning to the new semester! We will be keeping you updated more often as we get into a routine again. Please keep us in your prayers as Niger’s presidential elections are on Monday (January 31).