In a few days, just about half of Peace Corps Niger will be newly-arrived trainees...My stage will soon be some of the longest-serving volunteers in the country as our sister stage hits the exits. We will be the elders, the ones providing the same kind of advice and helping hands that we received up until just recently from our sister stage. The other day, we were sitting there, gathered around our regional leader, asking endless questions about our soon to be villages with an unbound energy and togetherness that cannot be mustered without intense surroundings. Just last week it was our stage, together with some of our sister stage on the cusp of their peace corps service, handing the torch to the next year's generation. The excitement again was infectious, the chemistry surpassing anything that summer camp counselors or dorm hall RAs could hope to generate (even though training often resembles these locales) - and making us 'old folks' a bit nostalgic. So here we are, with my cluster jumping from five to nine volunteers (six of them being new people with four new posts) and my region taking in 11 volunteers out of a total of 22 with the country totals roughly totalling the same percentage.
Funny how life repeats the same cycles, you could have said the same thing about high school or college: freshman become seniors, friends move away, and responsibility is thrust upon individuals who feel unprepared to take it on. I felt this way last week as I visited two new posts, onstensibly to represent the face of Peace Corps to the community about to receive (for the first time EVER) a young American into their village for two years. I had to explain our work to village dignataries, learn about the work of government agencies within the district, fend off those wishing to leach all kinds of goodies off the rich Westerner, all with a mosquito net, a bedsheet, a bar of soap, a half-full water nalgene and a change of clothes. Here I was, living off the generosity of villagers I had never met, in the middle of a hunger season of unprecendented magnitude. Here in the south of the country, further south than my post, in a town next to a valley with stands of sugar cane, rice patties and banana trees, was a municipal staff dealing with national directives to give three sacks of rice (enough for 21 people) to villages of hundreds people spread far off the main dirt road on sand paths torn up by rain. The municipal staff is full of interim political officers from Niamey, here until this fall's elections, knowing and caring little for their temporary surroundings: how is this supposed to work? While this may create difficulties in knowing what kind of support to expect from Niger's infrastructure, it also presents an opportunity to work directly with a community, often more efficient in getting projects of the ground.
A recent project of such variety was the Doutchi girl's 'tourney' completed last week. The five volunteers of the Dogondoutchi cluster organized and carried girl's conferences in each of our villages' middle schools. This involved meeting in three different towns throughout the country stretching back to March (with planning prior to that), ensuring that farm girls in the bush have their parents' permission and are reminded of the date and time of the event, getting community members to speak with (NOT to) the girls about topics almost never breached in this culture (self-esteem, women's health, nutrition, study skills, career planning), organizing our own activities and presentations in a culturally-sensitive and exciting format, and here's the kicker: taking care of the six of ourselves over the course of ten days in houses and nerves not meant for more than a couple people. The planning was almost as engergy-intensive as the tourney itself, but it paid off in the end as almost every village had a near 100% turnout in the middle of rainy season (only one village had a reduced turnout by rain - but we managed a small conference in the downpour). All in all, I was impressed by the whole thing: the girls who walked in and out from bush villages the same day, the role models from each village who showed girls what kind of opportunities they have if they push through these crucial formative years, the cooks for making such quantities of food on such short notice, and everybody for rolling with the punches - modifying plans on the fly and dealing with unforgiving circumstances. This has been my first major collaborative project, I hope more are down the pipe, especially if they are so effective as this one.
Until next time,
Thomas
Funny how life repeats the same cycles, you could have said the same thing about high school or college: freshman become seniors, friends move away, and responsibility is thrust upon individuals who feel unprepared to take it on. I felt this way last week as I visited two new posts, onstensibly to represent the face of Peace Corps to the community about to receive (for the first time EVER) a young American into their village for two years. I had to explain our work to village dignataries, learn about the work of government agencies within the district, fend off those wishing to leach all kinds of goodies off the rich Westerner, all with a mosquito net, a bedsheet, a bar of soap, a half-full water nalgene and a change of clothes. Here I was, living off the generosity of villagers I had never met, in the middle of a hunger season of unprecendented magnitude. Here in the south of the country, further south than my post, in a town next to a valley with stands of sugar cane, rice patties and banana trees, was a municipal staff dealing with national directives to give three sacks of rice (enough for 21 people) to villages of hundreds people spread far off the main dirt road on sand paths torn up by rain. The municipal staff is full of interim political officers from Niamey, here until this fall's elections, knowing and caring little for their temporary surroundings: how is this supposed to work? While this may create difficulties in knowing what kind of support to expect from Niger's infrastructure, it also presents an opportunity to work directly with a community, often more efficient in getting projects of the ground.
A recent project of such variety was the Doutchi girl's 'tourney' completed last week. The five volunteers of the Dogondoutchi cluster organized and carried girl's conferences in each of our villages' middle schools. This involved meeting in three different towns throughout the country stretching back to March (with planning prior to that), ensuring that farm girls in the bush have their parents' permission and are reminded of the date and time of the event, getting community members to speak with (NOT to) the girls about topics almost never breached in this culture (self-esteem, women's health, nutrition, study skills, career planning), organizing our own activities and presentations in a culturally-sensitive and exciting format, and here's the kicker: taking care of the six of ourselves over the course of ten days in houses and nerves not meant for more than a couple people. The planning was almost as engergy-intensive as the tourney itself, but it paid off in the end as almost every village had a near 100% turnout in the middle of rainy season (only one village had a reduced turnout by rain - but we managed a small conference in the downpour). All in all, I was impressed by the whole thing: the girls who walked in and out from bush villages the same day, the role models from each village who showed girls what kind of opportunities they have if they push through these crucial formative years, the cooks for making such quantities of food on such short notice, and everybody for rolling with the punches - modifying plans on the fly and dealing with unforgiving circumstances. This has been my first major collaborative project, I hope more are down the pipe, especially if they are so effective as this one.
Until next time,
Thomas
Just found your Face Book blogs and they are fascinating. My husband and I are invitees to Niger and will depart for staging on October 18. We are excited as well as a bit taken back by the conditions in Niger. We are an older couple so know the challenges will be different for us but we are also tough and not quitters. I will be a community health agent, Dave will be in agriculture/forestry----if he can get trees to grown in Niger, that would be an accomplishment, right???? Any hints on staying healthy now that you have had almost every disease??? Have you had malaria??? Does it get cold enough during winter to need a sleeping bag or will purchase of a local blanket or two be enough???? Packing is the issue right now! Thanks for your great, informative blogs. We will continue to follow them. Maybe we'll actually get to meet you later in the year! Judy and Dave Smith
ReplyDeleteHi Judy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, take heart! While Niger can be a tough country and the growing pains may be quite intense, it does pay off in the end. I have not had malaria, though I have had a number of different gastro-intestinal issues they get a lot easier to handle as your body grows to handle them. You could bring a sleeping bag for the cold season, but I did just find with a blanket I picked up here. You can definitely plant trees here, you just have to water them really well as they are germinating and as seedlings. If you have any more questions feel free to ask, you could email me at tleonard333@gmail.com