TOP 12

top twelve things people say to me daily:


What they say:
1. Bata jin Hausa! -She doesn't hear Hausa (Hausa)
2. Fofo! Comment tu t’appelles? -Hey (Zarma) What’s your name (French)
3. Ina zahi? -How’s the heat? (Hausa)
4.Ça va?- How’s it going? (French)
5.Bonjour! Cadeau?- Good Day! Gift? (French)
6.Bonsoir! Cadeau?- Good Evening! Gift? (French)
7.Nasara! Nasara! Cadeau?- Foreigner! Foreigner! (Hausa) Gift? (French)
8.Ina mijinki?- Where’s your husband? (Hausa)
9.Kina da aure?- Are you married? (Hausa)
10.Dommi ba ki da namiji?- Why don’t you have a man? (Hausa)
11.Zani Amerika tare da ki- I’m going to America together with you (Hausa)
12.Zamu da aure, ki da ni- We are going to marry, you and me. (Hausa)

My reply:
1.Ina jin Hausa kadan kadan yanzu, sai hankuri! I hear Hausa a little right now, have patience!

2.Fofo, Bani jin Français.- Hey, I don’t hear French.
3.Akwai.- There is.
4.Ça va bien, Ça va? -It goes well. How’s it going?
5.Bonjour, babu cadeau -Good day, there is no gift.
6.Bonsoir, babu cadeau. -Good Evening, there is no gift.
7.Babu cadeau -There is no gift.
8.Bani da namiji- I don’t have a husband
9.Bani da aure yanzu.- I’m not married now
10.Saboda ina da aiki sosai- Because I have a lot of work.
11.A’a, babu tuwo cikin Amerika.- No, there’s no (pounded millet) in America
12.To, ba ni rakumi hamsin- Ok, give me 50 camels.


I also have a story to tell you...
Today I went to the tofu lady to buy some tofu, and she isn't very nice, so it's always a fun experience. Today it was even better because she was just setting up when I got there and she was just taking her time and these two little Hausa boys came up next to me and started chatting in Hausa. I was buying tofu for a couple other people at the hostel as well, so the first comment was "tana saye arbain!" (she's buying 200 CFA worth!), and then the other little boy said "namiji ne ko mace ce?" which means..."is it a boy or is it a girl??" So, I sadly turned and looked at him and said "Ni mace ce" or "I'm a girl"... So, pretty much they couldn't tell if I was a guy or a girl and they thought I was a huge pig!
So, if you're a girl and ever visiting Niger, especially in the bush, wear a skirt and earrings and don't wear a baseball cap, because it throws them off.

6 months in

Hey everyone! I just celebrated my 23rd birthday in Africa, which is crazy to think about. I had fun because I got to see a lot of my friends because I am in Niamey for the week. I'm here getting shots and going to a Peer Support Training where they're teaching a couple of people from each team in country how to support/be there for people who need to talk. After that I'll be back to Maradi for a meeting with a woman from the US who is working with Seeds of Africa, they are giving goats to women with malnourished children. I'm hoping to get them to come to my village to help some of my local women. After that I am finishing up my proposals for some paint so I can do some murals, and a proposal for a water chateau so that my villagers have access to uncontaminated drinking water. I am really excited to finally be working, time goes by a lot more quickly when you have something to do, I have a CHA training in Maradi from February 12th-17th, so I will be traveling a lot in the next month. Well, I'll write more later.

Some kids from my village

kids from my house

IST

Hello everyone!! I'm in Niamey right now getting ready for In Service Training. I am excited to see all of my stagemates and have fun doing more American type things like going out to restaurants and shopping!! I have a few things to talk about today that I haven't had a chance to comment on in the last month because I haven't had access to the internet.
A few weeks ago a couple of volunteers and I were just finished with a radio show and waiting for a bush taxi at the tasha. We were all 4 sitting on the edge of a prayer ring, which consists of a few cement bricks stacked about 3 high in a rectangle. The volunteers I was with were Allie, Will and Lachlan. We were just sitting and talking when a man walked up to us and addressed the guys in french/hausa and started telling them that he was sorry, but "the women" had to move, it was ok for the boys to sit where they were, but Allie and I would have to get up and sit somewhere else. I asked him if it was ok if we just sat in front of the bricks instead of on them, but he said no, and we all just awkwardly sat there not knowing what to do. Eventually Allie and I got up and so did Will and Lachlan and we walked across the street and sat against a building. That was the first time I felt discrimination at all for being a woman. For the most part, being a foreigner in Niger puts us in a different category and no one really treats us different than the guys. It was a crazy experience that I think I needed to realize what women here actually go through. I have never felt like I was less than anyone else, and I still don't, but I realize that women here are shown every day that they aren't able to do the things men are, and I guess it's shown me very blatantly what I need to work on here in my village. Thanks for listening!!

First weeks at Post

October 20, 2007





I finally got my mail, one card from August 2nd.


I've been in my town for 17 days and its still weird. I don't know >1/2 of what anyone is saying to me. I live in a fenced area the size of a normal yard in town. There are about 10 houses (including mine) and about 30 people. I have 3 "moms", Amina, Tini & Hawa and 1 dad, Mati and a ton of little kids and babies that I don't know who goes with whom. I also live with goats, sheep and a loud cow, a mom chicken with a limp and her 20+chicks and a rooster that goes from 5:30a-7. There are about a thousand lizards in my concession who love to eat the trees my "uncle" Ali keeps planting for me. Now I cover it with my wash bucket when I leave my concession.


For the most part my days follow this pattern:

• Wake up from prayer call 4am



• wake up from rooster & women pounding(millet into flour) 5:30a



• Get out of bed because people keep knocking and asking how I slept 6:30/7 make oatmeal (or eat granola bar now, thanks!)



• read some English books 7-8a



• Sit on mat in family's yard and talk to little kids or boy who's trying to learn English or go to doctor and sit and talk to the doctor and nurse who are trying to learn English 8:30-11/12



• Come home eat,read,relax 12-2p



• Go to my new Hausa tutor's house 2-?



• Come home talk to family a bit go wash and relax and in bed by 7:30p.

The people in Niger never sleep and the women pound from 5:30-11P. The sun goes down around 7P & I lay in bed a lot but don't sleep much.

I walked to my market town alone last week & it was very scary. 2 hours wandering in sand and millet, but I got there. Once harvest season ends & the millet is gone, it will be all sand and way harder.

I generally walk to market but get an amalanke (ox cart) back because it is very hard & far and hot!

I talked on the radio in Mayahi with Allie Lachlan & Will about diarrhea & how to make salt/sugar/water to help the kids and it was scary. Men told us we sounded like little kids talking, but since I hate people hearing me, I was proud of myself. I would have never even talked on the radio in English, before.

I've only cried twice so far. The 2nd day here & today because I miss you all & your letters and packages were so nice.

Swearing In and Celebrating

Katie, Elizabeth and Me before swear in
Swear in at the Ambassadors house