African Scenery

These pictures are taken at Park W. The first one is of the area where we camped overnight, on the top of the rocks that were beside the campsite. It was very beautiful, and quite different topography from what we had been driving in to get to it. The setting was absolutely gorgeous, with canvas tents arranged on the perimeter, perfect sand all around, a cookout shelter with tables and lanterns for our supper that they prepared and served us, and a spot for a bonfire at night while stargazing, complete with tea and coffee. The evening we were there was so clear and the stars so bright, it was magnificent. We stayed up as late as we could keep our eyes open, but had to get up early the next morning to catch the first sunlight hours to get back in our vehicle to search for animals. The second picture is of the sunrise as we saw it riding in our truck. It was so beautiful. The kids were all bundled up top of the truck in warm clothes and sleeping bags, and they had the perfect viewing spot. We then went back to the campsite for breakfast, and packed up our bags to continue on for the day. What a great way to spend an evening and morning!

Park W

After the conference was over, we went on to a game reserve outside of Niamey called Park W. It is a very large park, which touches Niger, Burkina Faso, and Benin. The animals in the park are varied, ranging from the very small to the very large elephants and lions. Once we got there, the coveted place to be was on the top of the roof, attempting to spot animals first. We had a great time, eating lunch by the river, watching baboons and crocodiles in the same area on the opposite bank.

George!

Meet George, the new animal that Matthew would love to bring home with him. Unfortunately, I don't believe he would fit on carry-on. This is a tortoise that lives at the American Embassy in Niamey, where we had lunch one day while at the conference. Speedy he is not, but he does love to pose for photos. The Embassy is a lovely setting, and served wonderful Mexican food, which we ate by the pool. The pool was closed for the "cold" season, which I am sad to say is becoming our reality. Long-sleeved shirts are what we wear these days, as the winds have picked up and the temperatures have dropped. However, we continue to see sunshine for which we are thankful. We have been amazed at God's creativity in creation, both the animal kingdom and the diversity of plants and topography here in Niger. One would think that with the country composed of over 80% desert it would look the same from one location to the next, but there are some interesting differences. You can always tell when you are coming to the river or a reservoir, with palm trees (!) around. Scrub brush exists in abundance in some areas the further away from the river you get, but there is still quite a lot of vegetation throughout the area where we've travelled. Since this is the dry season, there are few green crops growing, but where there are, the contrast to the rest of the landscape is startling. The onions around Galmi are now beginning to be harvested, and the vegetables planted a few short weeks ago are growing so quickly. We continue to be on the lookout for new and interesting bugs - both inside and outside! The other morning while pouring a glass of water, I glanced down to see a lizard watching me from his post next to the fridge! An early morning workout ensued!

We're Back!!

We have arrived back into Galmi after a week spent in Niamey, and then some time at the nearest game reserve called Park W. We'll be blogging on more of that later on. For now, we wanted to show you some of the sights by the Niger River from the bridge in Niamey. The boat loads full of pumpkins was a familiar sight by the end of the week, but it never failed to amaze us that the boats never sank under the weight of it all. Alongside the pumpkins, at the shore men would be washing their lettuce and other produce that is currently available prior to taking it to market. The funniest thing I spotted, but we were driving and I had no time to take a picture of it, was a van close by the boats absolutely packed to the roof inside and from front to back (I mean FULL) with pumpkins, leaving barely enough room for the driver! It was quite the sight. The river shore is very colorful and active, with much to see and smell. This is a very enjoyable time of year as the produce is more plentiful and varied than before. We are able to get lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, melons, peppers and of course, onions quite easily. And in Niamey these things are much more readily available than in the outlying villages. One other thing of note - we quickly realized that anyone that has any vehicle trouble must first get to the bridge before they break down! One shares the bridge with donkey carts, buses, motorbikes, pedestrians, women with huge loads on their heads, men in suits and briefcases, and huge trucks with loads so heavy that we are never quite sure how the engines don't blow more often. Traffic jams take a long time to get past, and the bridge is the only option with one lane in both directions.

Dust

Happy New Year . I hope this works as we are just on our way out to the capital of Niamey for a spiritual life conference ,which is the mission in Niger 's yearly conference and social time with misionaries from across the country. It is a 450 kms away in a bush taxi , or a crowded 1995 Toyota minivan with no shocks, air , but lots of natural freshness and about a 50/50chance of a breakdown. We will be blown in by the winds as the weather has been particularily windy and cold for here. The temp was 4C just a bit north of here this week with no humidity in the air and strong winds. The locals just dress a bit warmer,extra shirt,or wrap and complain how cold it is.How canadian is that. The babies often wear next to nothning and sleep in their same mud houses. So windy cool days feel the same to them as the cold ,short ,dark days of January that you get at home. I think home is warmer as you can get out of the wind and weather. If you are interested the Harmattan winds that blow here start about 400kms east by Lake Chad and than build and end up in South America. An interesting picture can be found on the web at www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov ,then click on Natural Hazards , and go to dust and drought section and on the map click on the middle of Africa icon for a great picture and a world perspective. It truly is amazing how God has made this all so interconnected, and we are just now figuring it out. So have a great weekend and congrat to the Canadian Juniors, I am sad that we missed the big game. Jerry

Agricultural pictures

It's time to blog once again. This may become a bit less frequent as we are having some "issues" with our computer. We have been enjoying the changes we've observed in the crops that are currently being grown in the area around Galmi. The onion fields started out so small, and within 5 weeks, have grown so fast. As you can see from the picture, they have developed an irrigation system here, with a cement drainage system that carries the water to the fields. It reminded Jerry of the system in Alberta from years ago. These onions are very well known here in Niger, as well as in Europe, as they export them all over. The workers dig by hand with some basic tools, and the effort to produce food is tremendous. It makes one very appreciative of the technology available at home, and the abundance of such variety of foods. For example, I was down to some very basic items for fresh fruit and vegetables at Christmas, until a trader came to my door selling some carrots. This was a major treat! There is food available, but one never knows just what that will be until the trader comes to the door and you can see the items being sold. Currently in season, we have carrots, cabbage, potatoes, onions, bananas, and melons. So that is what we use for our cooking, and supplement those things with items out of a tin. Creativity is definitely developed in these moments! My family is certainly learning to appreciate the simple things in life, like those fresh pineapples, and homemade yogurt. It's a beautiful thing!

Christmas in Galmi

Merry Christmas, everyone! It has been an incredible experience celebrating Christmas here in Africa. We feel we can identify much more closely to the way it must have been when Jesus was born by being so close to markets, traders, camels, and donkeys ourselves. The camel caravan you see in the picture was taken on Dec. 24 near our compound. This is something that is quite common to see, although not always so close to our place. The picture of the boys with the trader illustrates just how my family enjoys shopping - the mall comes to them, with no parking problems! They have had lots of fun attempting to barter with the various traders, and have loved looking at all the wares for sale. They are learning that when a trader says they need to buy it right now because he won't be back for a long time, that might mean he's back tomorrow or the next day!

Christmas is a very special time here in Niger for the Christian Church. Each church picks out their "uniform material" - which means that all the women and the men have something made out of the same material specially for Christmas Day. 2 of the churches got together to celebrate, and what a celebration! Lots of singing, lots of rhythm, lots of laughter and joy, with lots of neighborhood children peering in the windows to see what was going on. No room left for them to sit down - it was standing room only. We participated in the event, and had outfits made by a tailor here as well, as you can see from the picture. In order to get the outfit made, one must draw the design (no pattern), take your own measurements, and hand it to the tailor. He then sews the outfit and returns it to you most often as specified. Quite an amazing accomplishment. And this time of year he is especially busy. The evening of Dec. 25 was spent with all the people on the hospital compound, with a potluck supper (what a feast), a program and a gift exchange that brought much laughter, and great exercise trying to get the coveted chocolate bars and hang onto them without someone else snatching them from your hands. It was a wonderful time.

Toms Corner(3)-Well digging

Today I went to a well that was being dug by hand. This well was already 11 meters and going on 12. The well is being funded by SIM so we went out with a lady from the compound named Jeannie. She took us on the main road and then we turned off on into village. We went through the village, and up and over a big hill, down the other side and off onto a road which lead to the well. The well had been dug by the meter which meant that they would dig a meter and then they would pour a cement ring to seal the walls off from collapsing down and ruining the project forever. The 4 workers had been called in to build the well. They all are not from the village in which the well is being dug. The piles of dirt represent every meter that has been dug. The lightest dirt is actually a hard clay which took the workers a long time to dig and get through. To get down to the bottom of the well, you are lowered down in a bucket that two men pull up and down. This well is very hrd work and the cement is all mixed on the ground behind the well. Then, stones are added to harden and make the cement stronger and more firm. They have to dig the well untill they find water.

Thomas

Trip to Madaoua

On Thursday, Dec. 21 we went to a city called Madaoua, which is about 35 km east of Galmi. Along the way, while we were driving, we saw lots of camels, little huts the Africans use as granaries to store grain in, mud huts for homes, and people selling onions. There were big piles of red onions along the roadside in each village we passed through, and you could even smell them without any windows opened in our vehicle! We saw a hobbled donkey (its 2 front legs tied together) crossing the road without any owner around, and it looked like it was trying to make a break for it! When we got there, we played games with the family we went to visit that have been in Niger for 12 years. We also got to see all the animals they own. They have 3 dogs, 2 hedgehogs, 1 parakeet and 2 lovebirds. It was a very fun evening except that it ended too soon! The trip home was interesting because in Africa, it is very dark and the roads have no paint for lines. This makes for a pretty slow drive home, because you need to watch out for donkeys, camels, people, buses and potholes.

This is a picture of the hedgehog our friend Joey caught on the way home from games night. He found him near his doorstep and brought him into his house and put him in a box to keep him. Hedgehogs are really neat because you can let them run around or you can make them curl up into ball. Joey named him Moe and found out later that they aren't always wanting to be played with when he bit him. This hedgehog was almost fully grown which meant that he wasn't used to humans and was very timid. Because of this he would always curl up into a ball and go to sleep in the darkest corner he could find. He let the hedgehog go the next night because he wasn't co-operating that well.

In Madoua, Micheal and Ariana also had two hegdehogs. Their names were Henry and Henry-etta. The first one they found in Henderson's mouth, which is their oldest dog out of the three they own. The younger one, Henry-etta their dad found in a little burrow. The dogs really hate hedgehogs because no matter wht they do, they can't get a good bite at the hedgehog.

The top picture is of the one Joey caught the second is of Henry

School time!

Not only do our boys do their own schoolwork, but they get to go to the Christian school here in Galmi and help on Monday and Friday afternoons. School hours here are a lot different than they are back home. Here they begin their school day at 8 am, and go until 12 noon. The children then go home for siesta break from 1-3 pm, and then come back to school from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Our kids are going from 4-5:30, and are doing 3 different "stations" - English instruction, crafts, and games outside. We have quickly realized that these children love anything to do with balls! They have 1 ball in the whole school and it is in need of repairs. So when we brought 4 balls to play with, they were overjoyed. In the picture above, the game we tried to teach them was frozen tag - the older students caught onto it very quickly. The children quickly run outside and promptly drop their sandals off to run barefoot. The school is from ages 6-11. They are trying to add a new class each year.

Viper Hill tour

We headed up Viper Hill on Sunday afternoon for a look around. It is located just outside the hospital compound, and is named as it is due to the Vipers that tend to come out and lay on the hot rocks in the afternoon sun. Thankfully God was looking out for us (me!) that afternoon so that we saw no snakes. We began the trek up on our own but quickly gained some tour guides! These little boys knew some French, mainly Hausa, and so in our limited way we communicated with them as best we could. The hill is not that high up, but it does give a lovely view of the village below and the outlying area around. It is really a beautiful area with some trees, red rocks and soil all around. The top of the hill is a plateau, and they have begun to dig trenches all along it, as shown in the picture. The boys explained to us that this is to become a garden of sorts - we understood it to mean they would plant vegetables there, and the trenches were for catching rainwater during the rainy season. All the trenches are dug by hand, and as we were looking around, saw in the distance some men doing just that. What very hard work, particularily in the hot African sun. The effort required to grow anything here is amazing. The trees located on our compound are strong and beautiful, but the gardeners have to soak them in so much water daily. We are extremely thankful for all the shade we can get!

Just keep Grinding

These are pictures of us grinding our own meat. This meat is bought from a man on a motorcycle that comes around the compound once week. Grinding meat not only makes you lose your appetite but also is hard work. It is hard work because one person has to push the meat down with spatula and the other person has to turn the crank to push and grind the meat.To grind 4 kg's it takes about 45-1 hour. This really showed us how hard the people before us had to work to get a meal on the table. After we were done all the meat, another person from the compound came by and told us that she was the owner of a electric meat grinder!

Building with Bricks

The pictures show how homes are made here in Galmi. The bricks are fashioned by hand, and laid in the sun to dry. It reminds me of the way the Israelites must have made their homes thousands of years ago. Each brick is quite heavy. The homes in the village are all made out of these bricks, with mud as the mortar. Apparently the heavy rains in rainy season do not damage the homes much because it comes down so quickly and the homes have drainage pipes built into the tops of the roofs. It is in the extended slow rain that comes down and soaks into the brick that causes quite a lot of damage. Everything built here is done by hand, and watching the men build a new addition at the hospital shows just what hard manual labour is. The afternoons here in their cold season have been getting up to 90 F so digging foundations and pouring cement becomes a very long afternoon of work.

At work and play

The African people are amazing to watch. They have so much fortitude. The boys playing soccer run barefoot hardly without flinching when they run over rocks and thorns, and the women carry extremely heavy loads on their heads while carrying a baby on their back. It is simply the African way of life. Quite humbling to see. There seems to be an acceptance of the hardships they face, and they carry themselves with such dignity. The women especially walk so gracefully, having to balance so much on their heads without a hand to steady or balance it. The children seem to always have a ready smile on their face, and they will come up as we go walking and put their hands into ours. They are very well-behaved, for the most part, and from very early on have learned how to care for one another. Even in church, the older children help take care of the babies and younger ones, without much prompting (from what we could see).

Let the games begin!

Soccer in Africa does not need a common language to begin - as soon as the soccer ball comes out on the airstrip, it seems to send an invisible signal to any children in the area. Today they came from the field beside the airstrip, and in between playing soccer, they would have to go back to herd their goats and cows. This was all done in either flip-flops or barefoot. And the soccer field is made of gravel, large rocks and thorn bushes! These kids are so resilient. They can run like the wind without getting very tired; when a flip-flop is kicked off, it is ignored as they run to get the ball first, and no matter the size of child, they all play. It has been so much fun watching our kids get in the mix, and giving the high-fives to boys that they can communicate with only in sign language - big smiles, lots of laughs, and sweat pouring down their faces.

Mark's African Adventure

We have seen a few of these cuddly guys in our house. The gardener has also found some under some rocks. My mom found one walking across the floor by the dinning room table.They have a really strong sting from their tail, so you don't want to get stung by one! They are pretty shy and stay under rocks and dark places.

I've been enjoying looking at all the new things, like new bugs, new towns and villages that the Africans live in, and I like all the different kinds of animals that are around. So far, I've helped by taking the clean clothes down from the line outside, shining the light on the path at night while we walk so that we can see snakes before they see us, and eating all my mom's cookies. Friday we are starting to go to a Christian school in the village to help with English classes, crafts and games. We are going to do this every Monday and Friday afternoon. On Tues and Thurs. afternoon, we are going to play soccer outside our home with any of the village children that are interested. After that, we usually jump in the pool quickly to cool down before supper. That's all for now!

Chameleon Time

On Wednesday December 13th, we found a Chameleon. Dr. Rob found it crossing the road when he was coming home to have lunch. The Chameleon is really cool because it can change colours(light and dark green, spotted, yellowish, and brownish). Also it can see in all directions with it's two eyes. We saw it eat a Praying Mantis. Sometimes he hisses at us because he is tired or scared.

A Day in the Life...

While this may look and sound like all we are doing is play, actually our kids are having to put their noses to the grindstone and get their school work done, also. The picture at the bottom is of the school house that is here on the Galmi compound, used by other missionary children over the years. Currently we are it, although I believe another family is on its way here, and has children school age. We not only do the school work brought from home, but we are currently taking Hausa language classes for 1 hour per day, for 2 weeks. There is a lady here at Galmi that has lived in Niger for 50 years, and is fluent in Hausa who is taking the time to teach us all. We are learning the basic greetings, the customs of the Hausa people, and some very simple phrases to enable us to communicate with the people here. Niger is a country that values taking the time to greet one another, and the greetings can go on for a long time. Not only does one enquire after the other's well-being, but also the well-being of the family, how the "cold" is affecting them (we are here in cold season - it only reaches around 32 C in the day and hits a low of about 20 C at night), how the work is going, and so on. The only trouble is that the national people speak this language very quickly, so we have got the one phrase down pat to give when all else fails - "Lahiya" (which means "fine"). The soccer you see above was played on the airstrip that is very close to our house. The dust you
see in the background is the Harmattan winds blowing the Sahara desert right onto our doorstep. These past two days have been very dusty. In fact, the dust was so bad that the compound lost its internet connection for a period of time. The wind seems to be the worst in the morning, and by evening it has calmed down somewhat. But these past 2 days the dust remains in the air constantly. This is apparently what happens in their cool season, which lasts until the end of Feb. Except for this, the weather has been beautiful, and the sky has been very sunny and clear.

On Sunday we went to the local church here and all our kids joined the Sunday School, which just happened to be practicing for their Christmas program. So our children are now part of the Christmas program here in Niger! And can these Nigerien children ever sing! All they need is a drum and the music begins. It was a wonderful thing to see our kids interacting with the local children. And they were not shy to help our boys get the movements and words down! The choir conductor just happens to be one of the fellows that works with Jerry at the dental clinic. He also writes much of the music that is used for the children's choir. The first practice the kids had was under a tree in the shade in a yard just down from the church - what a great sight! So as you are getting ready for your Christmas programs in the beautiful snowy weather, we will be doing the same thing here, except we don't require parkas this year! 

Our House

These are some pictures of our house. Our house is in the Galmi hospital compound. This compound is to the right of the hospital where Dr. Rob works. Dr. Janzen is in a dental clinic closer to our house, right on the side of the hospital. His dental clinic is about 50 meters away from our school house and so he visits often. Back to our house. This house is farely spacey and has more than enough room. I will briefly describe the layout to you. When you walk in the front door, pictured above, you come into a living/family room. Then it leads to a table and on your left is the kitchen. You can also tun to the right, into a hallway,pictured above which leads to first room,Matthew and Marks room. Next the is the Bathroom and then Thomas' room. At the end of the Hallway is the Parents room. And that is a brief overlay of our house.