Home Again

I have been home for 3 weeks and thought it was about time that I did an update of my last few weeks. After leaving Niger I had a couple of days in England with family. It was hard to be in my grandparents house without my grandmother there but to have a chance to spend time with family and reminisce about her was nice.

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My travels home took me to Germany where I stayed with my mum’s cousin and her family. Then onto Singapore where I was able to catch up with a high school friend.

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Staying with Lucy and Pete and their beautiful girls.

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Camping overnight in the Swiss Alps

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Going to Colmar in France for Lunch.

After my time in Germany I headed to Singapore. This was a new adventure for me as I was truly travelling on my own. My friend was working through the days so I had to entertain my self. I was staying at the SIM guest house and had arranged to share about Sahel during the devotions at the SIM office. After getting on the wrong bus I finally made it and was able to share some photos and prayer needs.

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I took a cable car to Sentosa Island, which became a little alarming as it stopped mid way leaving me hanging over the water for a minute.

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I visited the national orchid garden on a very warm and humid day making me feel all the more ready to get home to an cool Australian winter.

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Last days in Niger

I wanted to write something about the last week at school, but left it too late as now i need to do it with the inconvenience of not being able to use the middle finger on my write hand. I caught my finger in the door while on the way to a farewell lunch for friends. Luckily I didn’t need stiches but I will if I keep bumping it, so have to try and type, pack, wash and eat using only the thumb and forefinger and my left hand! Makes things awkward, but then it could have been worse!

So that last week of school: On Monday we had a half day that was all about the swimming. The elementary school had been having lessons every morning for a week and Monday was the ‘Olympics' with races and fun contests. I had been teaching one of the groups so I also got to get in the water on this rather hot day. 

Practicing at the Olympic pool (that was built just short of 50m!)

 

Competition day at the Rec centre pool.

Tuesday was a day off for the kids, in the evening was the graduation banquet for the grade 12 class. 

 

Wednesday was our last day at school with assembly and kids heading home at midday. It was rather rushed as things normally are with last minute things to be done. Thursday was the Graduation ceremony with all the grade 12’s in their cap and gowns and a reception afterwards. there was a lot of people and lots of running around by the teachers filling up punch bowls and handing out cakes and snacks. It was also a time for saying good bye to friends and students, especially the kids who were in the dorm.

  

My last days now are consisting of packing, I think everything should fit, saying goodbye to friends and to Niger, and last minute shopping. So this may be my last blog before I get home to Australia, depending on how much internet access I have in my travels while visiting friends and family on the way home. So thankyou for reading and I’ll try to not keep you waiting too long for the next one.

Drive Thru in Niger

No we don’t have a local McDonalds that has suddenly opened! but I had a thought for a new blog to write about all the things that we can buy if we want from the car window. At most stop lights, corners, roundabouts and outside shops, there are people trying to get you to buy their wares. The most common are the cell phone recharge cards, they also often have boxes of tissues, chewing gum and various flags! driving around the Petit Marche I have also been surrounded by people selling fruits and vegetables, torches, matches, pain killers, bracelets, bags, swords, movies and candies. Then there are the chances to bless someone from the window with the many beggars that come asking for money. Often we see young children leading older family members around who are blind, there are many people in wheelchairs, designed like bikes with pedals for the hands to propel them forward. We also saw one teenager who had elephantism, his limbs were such enormous sizes that there was no way he would be able to walk. It is definitely often overwhelming to the senses and hard to say no in many cases, you just can’t give or buy from everyone.

This picture is out side the Grande Marche, no multi story car-parks here!!

The Green Chile Rebellion of 1899

  

Last week was a very busy one as we were steaming ahead to the production date for the high school drama class. This semester I have been helping to teach the drama elective class. We had chosen a play about a Chile farm that rebels against the American government as their taxes were raised. The farm declares independence and becomes their own country of New Mexico.

All semester the kids had been working to learn their lines, make props and work together. We played lots of Theatre Sports to get them improvising and into their characters. The 2 production nights were fantastic and was included to the fine arts festival that was on also. There were some stubbled lines but they were able to pick up again and get through, without any prompting from me on the second night. This was the first full size production that I have been involved with and I had such a good time. I am very proud of how well the kids worked. now we just have all the clean up to do!

 

 

All the things that can happen in one weekend!

Last weekend (May 1st) was a long weekend because of labour day here in Niger. It is amazing all the things that can be packed into one weekend.

Thursday Night:

On Thursday the student council held their Medieval Fair. Kids dressed up, there were ‘rides’, challenges and prizes. I was in charge of the archery (stick bow and arrows!) but it was fun to wander around during a quiet moment and see what else was going on. You had to watch out for the guards though because if someone had nominated you the guards chased you down and put you in the stocks for a few minutes. It was fun watching kids trying to run away from them!! There were some fantastic costumes and many kids completing their prince’s and princess challenges through the night.

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Friday:

Friday morning saw me up earlier than I am normally on a day off (8.30am!!) because of a practice for the play the high school drama class is doing next weekend. It’s called the Great Green Chilli Rebellion of 1899. They are coming along well but it is getting nerve wracking as I am still needing to prompt the kids a lot with their lines and reminding them to PROJECT their voices!! We also got to have some fun in costumes and take pictures of the Chilli farm family that rebel against the U.S. government.

 

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On Friday afternoon the dorm invited me to come with them for an outing at the river. We went to a property that is rented by another school family. They had been out to one of the few villages that keep pigs and had had it roasting all day. The kids went swimming in the river – down stream from the hippos! and we feasted on roast pork. It was so good and there was so much that we all needed to roll home!

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Saturday:

Saturday morning was another early start, although not as early as school! I was going with some friends to see the giraffes again (see previous post). On this trip we saw around 25 giraffes in total. We saw one mother who did not look well and she was limping, with a 10 month old baby. Lori had a great time testing out her 4 wheel drive capabilities, bumping over bushes, ignoring tracks and making her own path through the bush, all the time making sure the guide didn’t get bounced out the back of the truck!

This is still one of my favourite things to do and costs less than $20. Even if I was here for years I don’t think that i would every get bored of going out there and standing in the middle of the bush with these magnificent wild and gentle creatures.

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Saturday night was the school principals birthday. We had a big surprise party organised with all the staff and families at school. A Misou had been organised and a lamb stuffed with couscous had been roasting all day (it was the weekend of roasted meat!!) but unfortunately the lamb was a little skinnier than the pig from Friday and the meat did not quite go as a far! It was a fun night though with ice-cream, balloons and blessing Jeanette in her birthday.

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Sunday, I was ready for a rest and slept in late only to be woken up by my mum calling, which is a nice way to wake up. I spent the day washing clothes, reading and watching movies on the computer, a nice relaxing and lazy day.

Prayer points this week: Please pray for the kids in the play, some of them are very nervous and still stumbling over lines. Please pray as we try to help them be ready for the Friday performance.

Please also be praying for our power situation. The power is cutting off about 5-6 times a day as a breaker switch is becoming overloaded. It is wonderful that the classroom has a nice new AC but we are rarely able to use it as we are often on the generator which can’t cope with AC’s. As such my classroom is often stuffy and hot and the outside temperature of 35’-40’c often feels cooler.

Watch out for next weeks post and I’ll tell you how the school play went!!

Up and Running

I know it has been a while since i wrote on here, but in my defence i have finished my quarterly newsletter that has most things in it. (if you would like a copy email me or leave a comment and I'll get one to you!)

The last 2 weeks we have all felt a little disconnected as the internet system at school had been taken off line by the company we are with. With lots of phone calls and agitations the problem has now been solved and we even have the choice of two providers should one decide to cut out on us again. After 2 weeks though i was rather disappointed that no one had really noticed that I had been missing, other than my parents missing my presence on Skype!

The last month saw me in Maradi, in the east of Niger. It was our Easter school break and i used the change to see some more of the country. There are also a lot more Aussies out that way so it was nice to be in a majority for a while, outnumbering the Americans for a while.

 

 

This week we have a public holiday and I’m off with some friends to see the giraffes again and heading down the the river for traditional Nigerien Style picnic! Hopefully with the possibility of more rain as hot season is peaking. The new air conditioner in the classroom was eagerly anticipated by the kids who were trying to work in 34’c plus heat. So a nice short post this week, hopefully I'll get around to a longer one soon!

Fingerprints

The fingerprints of God could be seen on my grandma’s life.
His hand was at work in her birth
The forming of her body and soul
The formation of a family.

God’s fingerprints were present in her childhood
In the difficulties of adolescence, war and wanting
And the growth to adulthood,
God was developing his child, my grandma. Fingerprints

The fingerprints of God could be seen on my grandma’s life.
His hand was at work in her birth
The forming of her body and soul
The formation of a family.

God’s fingerprints were present in her childhood
In the difficulties of adolescence, war and wanting
And the growth to adulthood,
God was developing his child, my grandma.

The fingerprints of God were present at the creation of a new family
The birth of two sons and two daughters,
In the trials and joys, smiles and tears,
His presence was known, his love was felt.

His fingerprints were seen in the joy of grandchildren.
The birth of three granddaughters and six grandsons,
Her prayers were heard and her faith was strong.
His fingerprints are on us because of her.

God’s fingerprints were with her till the end.
His child was coming home,
He orchestrated everything to show his love,
His timing, his compassion, his faithfulness.

The fingerprints of God are on us now,
The ones who are left behind,
We remember with fondness the life that He touched,
And the fingerprints that were visible in her every word and action.


By Kathryn Masterson
15th March 2009

Grandmas and Muggings.

This has not been the best week. Last week my grandmother was admitted to hospital with a suspected infection, but which actually turned out to be a brain tumour. She was given days to live. My mum had already book a flight to England from Australia as soon as she was in hospital and was glad to be already going when it became more serious.

This is a photo of Grandma with my mum (the baby) my Auntie Ruth and Uncle Peter.

By last weekend Grandma had fallen asleep and they didn’t expect her to wake up again. Through this whole time I have been marvelling at the way that God has been present. My Mum was able to get there in time. Grandma was never in any pain because of the position to the tumour, I was able to spend a lot more time with them this last year than I have previously by being in Niger. I had Christmas with them for the first time in 13 years. We are also thankful that this didn’t become a long and painful illness. It has been a shock at how sudden it was but at least it was peaceful as she went ‘home’ on Tuesday morning. 

This photo is me and my cousin Emily with Grandma at Ruth's wedding in 2007.

Mum is staying on in England for a while to be around for Grandpa and her sister. The funeral is on Wednesday and it is going to take a while for everyone to get used to the idea of having lost such an amazing lady.

Psalm 139:5 “You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.”

The 2nd part of my week didn’t get any better. I thought that dinner out with friends might be a nice idea after a sad day, which it was, but the getting home wasn’t so nice. We were walking back towards where the taxis all sit at the Petit Marche, after looking in some shacks at wooden masks and silver jewellery, when a man stepped out of the darkness and grabbed my bag that I had hanging around my neck. Of course I held on for while until realising that I was not going to win this fight and gave up feeling it snap behind my neck as he pulled it off. None of us were hurt and I think the guys I was with were more shook up than I was at not being able to do anything to stop it from happening. Thankfully he didn’t get much from me, couple 1000 cfa (about $10) a pen and lip balm and my sunglasses which are going to the most inconvenient to be without but I'll survive, and it was a nice locally made bag too!! The principal at school has grounded me from leaving the school compound for a week and if I have to, I go with someone and am home before dark!! It’s nice to have so many people looking out for me. So now I am signing off after one of the worst weeks in my memory and hoping that the next one is going to be a lot better. Thankyou to everyone who has been praying for me this week and for all the great hugs!

Psalm 121: 1-3 “I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip,he who watches over you will not slumber:

My New Normal

I have taken the idea for this blog from a new friend who just arrived in Niamey from America a month ago. I thought that this was such a good idea and wondered why I hadn’t done it already. So here is a list of things that I now find part of my everyday life and seem very normal to me now, but would have been quite strange when I first arrived. (Thankyou to Lori as I have stolen some of her ideas)


=Sharing the road with donkeys and camels
=Dodging goats and sheep on the road
=Driving on very bumpy dirt roads (only the main roads are paved)
=Greeting everyone I see with "Bonjour" or "Bonsoir" or Fofo (Zarma for hello)
=Having to go through 4-5 different greetings when you meet someone before you do business; how is your family? How is your work? How is your health? How is your house? etc.
=Having to buy fruit and veg outside on the street and be surrounded by 4-5 other men trying to sell you more potatoes or bananas.

=Saying ‘non merci’ over and over but still they don’t seem to understand that you don’t want to buy a 4 foot sword sword.
=Having to wash my veg with bleach water before eating any of it
=Rinsing all of my dishes in bleach after washing them.
=Watching movies and TV shows on my laptop with earphones because the fans are turned up to high in an effort to keep cool.
=Realising that a movie that came out 3-4 years ago is new to most of the kids.
=It’s the height of the week when someone comes in from America with a new DVD.
=Making calls home through my laptop via Skype
=Being able to do video calls home that don’t cost me a thing. (Good ol' Skype!!)
=The best tasting bread is baguette (loaf bread too sweet)
=Ice-cream, costing over AU$10 a tub – so don’t bother!
=My feet are always dusty and dry and need to be washed again before going to bed as pick up more dust around the house!
=Have to use moisturiser on my feet every couple of days as they get so dry.
=Lip balm is even more important than in Oz as my lips dry out so quickly.
=Houses are surrounded by high walls and have guards in front of the gate
=Cows, goats and sheep "grazing" in trash dumps on the side of the road.
=Speed bumps made from compacted dirt that needs to be replaced every few months as it wears down.
=Lizards everywhere!!
=Trying to work out what an item is on the supermarket shelf by deciphering the French.
=People carrying rolled up rugs, buckets of fruit or veg, clothing, electrical appliances, sewing machines, and other things their heads.
=Guys selling mobile phone recharge cards at stop lights
=Stop lights that don’t usually work
=If I want cheaper yogurt, I make it myself
=On a roundabout, the cars/bikes/motorcycles coming in have the right away (mostly but there are 2 roundabouts where you have right of way once you are on, you just need to remember which ones so you don’t crash!)
=You don't get pulled over for speeding, but for not using your blinker.
=Taxis are everywhere and are used more like buses and have certain routes they follow and cram as many people as the comfortably can into them
=Church services are performed in at least 2 different languages and usually last 2-3 hours minimum
=Lines on the road don’t mean much and driving instructors actually teach them to drive straddling the line on a double lane road.
=Dust so think in the air that you can look at the sun without hurting your eyes, and I feel like I haven’t seen the real sky at day time for months.
=Call to worship can be heard from nearby mosques as I get up.
=As can the lions roaring from the zoo across the river
=Driving by groups of men kneeling to pray
=Mosquito repellent is a must have
=Coke comes in glass bottles with caps that need to be pulled off, the bottles are collected and swapped for new ones (well recycled ones – they get refilled and often look very well used)
=I go clothes shopping at a tailor, I choose the fabric and design the outfit and take it to him and 3-4 days later I have a new outfit, complete with matching head wrap.
=The sound of fans whirring accompanies me wherever I go.
=Cockroaches that seem to like my house so much they have moved in.
=Having less than 10 kids in my class (how will I cope with 28 again?!)
=Power that goes off fairly regularly
=Having a lady come and clean my house and wash my clothes once a week – I am very thankful of Linley.

There are many more things that have become part of normal life for me in Niger and I feel very blessed to be able to experience them and will miss all the things I do and see when I return home in 3 months.

Small Blessings and Favourite things.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been savouring some long missed blessings. We are very blessed being in Niger as most of what we want can be found, often for a price, but we can still get it, like cheese and yogurt, ham and chocolate. But sometimes there are things that we, I especially, crave that can’t be found. This last month I have been blessed in many ways, 1st it was strawberry season. There is a man who works on the school grounds who has a small plot of land and for about 1 ½ months we can get strawberries, so now I have 1 ½ kilos in my freezer and enjoyed another ½ kilo in one sitting – sharing them of course!


This month SIM Niger is undergoing a country review and there is a team in from all over the world who is looking into all of our ministries, missionaries and places we are working and asking the questions “what are we doing and where are we going?” There was one man who came from Switzerland as part of the team and on the night that my prayer group had to meet with him he brought chocolate with him, but not just any kind, the best, Lindt. YUM. I was very thankful that night, although we had to keep putting them in the fridge as after 5 minutes they were melting.

One person that I am extremely thankful for is Nancy. Nancy lives next door to me and has a car! She and I often go out shopping together and eat out. Nancy also has a thing for Pepsi. Pepsi is very hard to get in Niger, a Coca-Cola country, and is usually very expensive when you can find it. So when Nancy heard that one of the supermarkets had cheap Pepsi cans (AU$1 is cheap) off we went. Another rare thing is to find any kind of diet fizzy drinks. So when I saw Pepsi Light on the shelf I was excited. After drinking highly sugary Coke I was glad to have some diet pop (and so would my dentist!!).


Another thing that I have enjoyed thanks to Nancy is her frangipanis. She has a beautiful tree out side of her house that has flowers and is the same colour as one that I have at home in Australia. I have been practicing my photography with the flowers and just love the colour, especially as they remind me of home.

When I was in Ouaga (pronounced wogga) last month Nancy and I enjoyed the chance of going to some bigger supermarkets and as they have a larger population and more Americans than Niamey, certain things are cheaper and easier to find. I found real orange juice. The stuff here is just like cordial and not very nice so I bought 3 bottles and am rationing them to last me till I leave to go home.

But even more than all the things that I can buy and enjoy I am truly thankful for the friends I have here. With Megan leaving my house is very quiet and I am glad for the times that I can spend with good friends. Lori has become a new good friend, having arrived in January and filling the spot to teach the grade 1/2 class. We have been doing lots together and I’m feeling like a pro being able to show her around and introduce her to new places. We have also started swimming twice a week after school, which in itself is beautiful especially as it’s getting hotter, and have discovered a love of period drama and romantic movies!

Rachel and Sjoerd are also great friends. Rachel is English and with not too many Australians around it is nice to have something on common with someone and to hear a different accent other than American. They are going on furlough in a couple of weeks and I will miss having them around to talk to and hang out with.

Ouagodougou

One of my wishes for while I am here in Africa, was that I would get to see more of the continent and country other than just the city of Niamey. I was able to fulfil part of that wish this month when I was able to accompany the school softball teams to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. Burkina borders Niger in the South west, it is a landlocked country bordered by Niger, Mali, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Cote D’Ivorie. There were about 12 teams playing all from Niger or Burkina.

We travelled to Ouaga in 3 school vans with 6 adults and 21 students. It is approximately 400km from Niamey to Ouaga and took us about 6-7hours including time at each border for visa checks. The girls were in a guest house directly across the road from the international school where the tournament was going to be held. The final of the competitive division came down to the Sahel Suns, one of our teams, and another Niger team, the Nomads. 4 of who were fathers of the boys on the Sahel Suns team. The sons beat the fathers, and for the second time, as this was the same 2 teams that were in the final of the Niger softball tournament in October.

In between watching the 2 school teams play I was able to enjoy the pool that was on campus. I even worked out that I could swim then sit with my book and look through the fence and watch the games from the opposite side of the field. There was even the chance to do some shopping and see a bit of the city, which feels like more of a city than Niamey does, with a lot more motorbikes but better organised roads and traffic lights that work. The artisan village was fantastic with lots of very skilled people and I felt very privileged to be able to watch and find out how some of their art was created.

One thing that surprised me about Ouaga was that there was more of a Christian influence. In the supermarket there was Christian worship music playing over the P.A. (you wouldn’t find that even in England or Australia), and there were noticeably more big churches. The Christian population in Niger is less than 5% in Burkina it is closer to 10% but the difference is noticeable. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and now I have another stamp in my passport.