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.