Medicine Man

As we were waiting on the women to show up to literacy class, we took a stroll and ran into the medicine man. I don't remember his name, but he showed us his trade, which he learned from his father.


I have no idea what kind of plant this is, but I'll never forget what he told us about it. Jeanel helped get a new well built, and it is near his house. He told her without the well, he could not grow plants for his medicine. How cool is that? I am not sure exactly how effective his medicine is, but it's great to see tangible effects of a project that was hours and hours of hard work.


Here he is, in the back area where he keeps his medicines.


The medicine (mostly powders) was kept in open bowls. It was vastly different from walking into a pharmacy here in America. In some ways, the simplicity of it appeals to me very much. In other ways, I wonder if I'd get sicker from taking this medicine ...

Everyday living...

When traveling abroad, bathing is something that I often find optional. Shower if and when you can. The showers at the Konni hostel were outside. I'm normally a morning bather, but with the cooler temperatures, it wasn't practical. It was best to wait until the afternoon, when the water had a chance to warm from the sun. Oh, and at the hostel, showering was an out-of-doors experience. It was a first for me. In Girl Scouts, we had a bath house. But not here...just an open shower. Well, it wasn't OPEN. It had the mud walls, but there was no roof. Just look up and see the canopy of trees and look on the walls to see the lizards.


Speaking of, they were EVERYWHERE in the Konni hostel. I was a little startled by seeing them scurry about at first, but eventually got used to it. The most alarming thing was the last day in the hostel, a lizard kept running on the INSIDE of the screen. I said something about him wanting out, and Jeanel told me he lives there. THEN I saw several HUGE lizards on the inside of the walls. "Yeah, they live in the library," she said casually. I'm glad I didn't know that the first 2 or 3 nights I slept there!

Above is lizards on the inside of the sleeping area screen.


This is the inside area of the photo from the lizards. If I remember correctly, the Peace Corps volunteers in Konni built this sleeping space with a roof over it in the last few years. The platforms are for putting a mattress to sleep. Even in the screened areas, sleeping with mosquito nets is common.


And speaking of mosquito nets, this is one of the outdoor sleeping areas.


This is where I slept for a night or two. I was in one of the side little buildings, but still required a mosquito net. Surprisingly, it was chilly ... bordering on COLD at night in Niger. I borrowed a pair of flannel pajamas from Jeanel. I enjoy sleeping outside, but after my first night of doing so (which resulted in a nasty sore throat), I slept inside for the rest of the trip.

~~~Now, in Jeanel's village~~~


The his is the main room, with her kitchen area. To the left is the gas stove top she has. According to Jeanel, most of her village cooks on outdoor fires, so having indoor cooking as an option is a luxury.


When I was quizzing Jeanel about her village and living there, the one thing she said she could not live without was her water filter. It's not the most eye-appealing thing, but it kept us from getting really sick from the water. To help filter the water a little more, she uses a cloth to strain the water from the well when her "water girl" brings the water in the evening.


And lastly (for now, anyhow) is cleanup. Washing dishes is done with room temperature water, and some soap. Not an elaborate process, but was done with the last rays of light in Jeanel's house.

In the spirit of photoJOURNALism

Ok, so if you have delicate eyes, just skip ahead to the next post about food, ok?

Being a pretty cushy American, I have to admit I was a little obsessed with toilets when I traveled to Africa. On my pilgrimage through Rome in 2000, I documented my feet to tell the story. This time, it was documenting bathrooms (but not while they're in use!) Oh, and I didn't catch every john, just enough to give you a feel for the variety.


Paris had interesting bathrooms in the airport. There was sort of a mural on the front of the doors. And to make it a serene experience (I guess...), there were bird/wildlife sounds playing over the speakers in the bathroom.


I was excited to see a "toilet" sign when I was in the airport in Niamey. There was not a shred of toilet paper in the joint, but I came with my own! And flushing toilets in that country is different. There is a nob you pull UP for it to flush.


So, when we arrived at the hostel in Konni, there were no flushable toilets to be found. Just the good, trusty old latrines. But these were quite different from the latrines I experienced as a Girl Scout. Try no seat! Um ... interesting. It's amazing how quickly you learn to adjust to these differences!


Imagine my joy to find indoor plumbing at our hotel in Agadez, especially after the latrines! The shower was right next to the toilet and didn't have a curtain, but I didn't care! I was in luxury! (Did you notice the PINK toilet paper on the far left?)


After the cushy hotel, it was back to latrines in Jeanel's village. I didn't whine too much because she informed me her villagers have to hoof it to the bush to take care of business, so I felt quite like a queen with the cement latrine right next to her house!

The wooden stool is for bucket baths. You warm water, put it in a bucket, and then lather up with soap/shampoo while you sit on the stool. THEN you use a cup to rinse off. An interesting experience...and a first for me.


This is the cover for Jeanel's latrine. I'm sorry if it seem a bit graphic to anyone, but I really thought she was clever, using the lid of the largest pot to cover up the hole. Now, the lid is unusable now, but I imagine it's a worthwhile sacrifice.

Food, glorious food!

SO, lots of people keep asking me what I ate on the trip. My dad was concerned I'd lose weight. Um, not so much.


Per Jeanel's request, I took an extra suitcase with FOOD! (to be fair, there were some photographs and Christmas gifts as well). In all, I'd guess I took about 30 pounds of food with me, ranging from items like cheese (the kind that didn't require refrigeration until opening) to pre-cooked bacon (Muslim country, so there isn't a lot of pork in the country!)


Anyhow, a special treat included mini cherry cheesecakes in graham cracker crusts! One thing that I wondered about was milk. It didn't occur to me that they would use evaporated milk for cooking!


The first night at the hostel in Konni, Cathy cooked a tofu and veggie pizza. It was spectacular! Crust and sauce from scratch, with market fresh veggies!

Most of these are at the hostel in Konni. At the hostel, there is a gas stove and oven. In Jeanel's village, we just had gas burners.


But Jeanel and I also ate like we were in college…with Jiffy Pop (popcorn) for a pre-meal snack!


It wasn’t all junk, though. In Agadez, we went to a nice restaurant that had steak. Now it wasn’t the Kansas Angus beef, but it WAS good (I think the fact that it was cooked in BUTTER helped a LOT). Across the table are Cathy, another volunteer, and her friend Patricia.

Religious differences

I've just returned from Midnight Mass at the Cathedral downtown. Wow, what a difference from the Catholic faith and outward expression in Africa! (but of course it would be different there than here, since Islam/Muslim is the major religion in Niger)



My first Sunday in Konni, we made it to the Catholic Mission. It is run by a group of priests called the "White Fathers". It's only a name, they're not necessarily white-skinned. They live in a group, with at least three priests/brothers.



Hugo, who spoke some English, showed us the chapel, which was small and simple.






The interior was not adorned with precious medals, but items important to the people of Niger, such as milo and millet (two major crops for the region). And the tabernacle (top photo) was simple, much like the houses of the people, not the gold we see in churches and cathedrals here in America.



Hugo, right, shares a drink with Jeanel. These priests were fantastic! We just showed up, unannounced on a Sunday morning. They were returning from a neighboring village and insisted we stay for a few drinks. THEN they insisted we stay for lunch. THEN they offered that we could use their flushable toilets! I thought I was in heaven!



This is the whole gang (well, them minus me). Hugo is on the left. I'm not sure about the fellow next to him. Then Jeanel. Then Victor. Then the guy from Rwanda, who lived through the genocide. We didn't have much time to chat with these fellows about their histories, but they were so vast. The guy from Rwanda probably has STORIES to tell about growing up in a war-torn country. One of the other priests is from Denmark (Hugo) and another from the Congo (I think...)

It's amazing to see these men, some from poor African countries themselves, who go to Niger to serve the people there.

The White Fathers have a school for women. Another morning, Patricia and I went there with Victor. Unfortunately, I didn't have all of my camera gear with me, so there are not photos of the experience. But they teach women to read and write, as well as have skills classes, like sewing and embroidery.

Their work is amazing and inspiring, and I have to admit, they're my new favorite foreign charity.

Agadez, part 3 (Fatima's home)

Our final evening in Agadez was spent at Fatima’s house. She is a wonderfully generous woman that Jeanel and I met on the streets in Old Agadez. We were wandering through the residential area of the old city and Jeanel struck up a conversation with Fatima. One thing led to another and we were invited to her house for tea.



This is on the way into the house. There were several rooms, so I’m not sure if it was a family area, with each sub-family group having a separate living space or not.



Fatima, left, shows Jeanel the embroidery work she does to raise money. In addition to making blankets, pillow cases and sheets, she makes hats (like she’s wearing in the first photo). In the lower part of the left-hand side of the frame you’ll see the tea pot and glasses.



During our chat, the light was amazing outside, so I ventured out with some of the neighboring kids. They wanted to clown around for the camera, and since I don’t speak Hausa, I couldn’t tell them to be serious. Oh well.



More boys horsing around, throwing hand gestures that I have no clue what they mean...



It was really interesting because the boys wanted to be all “macho.” The drive to be manly is something we see here in America, but I wasn’t aware it existed in these other cultures. It was pretty funny, because the boys are probably 9 or 10 and were doing their best to give me serious (almost mean looking) expressions.



I’m not sure who this girl is, but I really dig this portrait, with her head scarf on.



This is the same girl, only inside the house area. The girls were more agreeable for portraits (maybe because they were older). They didn' insist on looking right into the camera, which I liked. I was not able to verbally communicate with them, but was grateful that they understood by my pointing that I wanted them to look in a certain direction.



This is Fatima’s 17-year-old daughter in the home. In the city, a lot of the structures are built with the mud or mud brick, as the rural houses are, but city homes have the beautiful tapestries draped over the walls. I think the beautiful, lace-like wall covering makes these photos more interesting.

Agadez, part 2 (the market)

After our adventure at the Grand Mosquée, we ventured to the market. It's one of the largest animal markets in Niger. I was free to take all the photos I wanted, which was a nice change of pace after trying to photograph in the streets of Agadez. Either people wanted money from you if you took their picture or yelled at you for something. I received a particularly badtonguee thrashing after photographing an interesting looking building with NO people in it. A man came down the street, yelling like I'd done something very bad. HUH? There were NO people in the photo. Evidently he didn't like me photographing his Mosquée. Lesson learned.

ANYHOW, this girl was really sweet and I made some nice photos of her.Thehe kids all carry stuff on their heads, as do the women in Niger. It ranges from goods to sell to water to food. Jeanel tells me they have developed strong neck muscles to do this with skill, but I'm perplexed because their necks don't LOOK thick or muscular to me. Hmm....



There were oogles of animals everywhere for sale. It's getting close to Eid al-Adha (Festival of Sacrifice) (I think this is the correct holiday....). People were looking for goats to feast on for the festivities.



This is a little more abstract, but I like it. Just shooting from the hip in the food section of the market....



One of the biggest changes for me was seeing litter EVERYWHERE. It was so strange to just throw your trash down once you were done with it. There was NO PLACE to put trash in the public parts of the country. A strange adjustment for me, to go from only throwing apple stems out of a car window to tossing plastic bags out of a bus window.



In the space of the chief of the market, there was this bulletin board with a funny photo on it. It made me giggle, so I photographed it.



This is how I looked at the market. My friend, Jeanel, took this photo of me inside the house of the market chief (or whatever he's called). The head scarf phenomenon puzzled me while I was here in the states, but after being in the wind of Agadez for about 10 seconds, I began to see how practical it was!

That's it for now. I've decided to embrace the fact that I'm suffering from jet lag in a MAJOR way. I've been wide awake since 2 a.m. and finally decided to quit tossing and turning in bed and be productive. Perhaps I'll have the energy later today (after a nap) to update a little more!

Agadez, part 1 (the Grand Mosquée)

This is the Grand Mosquée in Agadez, but let me backtrack a little....

The third day in Niger, we hopped on a bus for a 6.5 hour ride from Konni to Agadez (for an idea of where in the heck that is in Niger, please check out the map in the post below). It was a LONG ride, with a wind storm in the desert making it almost impossible to see. Dust EVERYWHERE. Our bags from under the bus were barely recognizable when we retrieved them.

The fourth day in the country, we went to the Grand Mosquée. It was pretty impressive. Much of the architecture in the countrinvolveses mud bricks. This place was NO exception. It's been there since the early 16th century, with the "minaret's distinctive structure" dating from 1844, according to lonelyplanet.com.

We climbed up the structure. The ceilings were LOW and we kept bumping our heads.



That's the stairs we climbed (and possibly my favorite photo from the trip!)



This is the little squares that let in light so you can see where you're going as you climb up the Mosquée. We had to leave our sandals at the door, so my soft, American feet took a beating from tsandamd that covered the steps as we climbed to the top.



The view from the top was great!



It was all sorts of windy, so our guide from the hotel huddled down, out of the wind. He was great, and helped keep the children who kept asking us for money away, as well as the incredibly persistent street peddlers who wanted us to buy anything from necklaces to CDs.



This is on the climb back down.Thethe fellows who collected the money before we were allowed to go up.

Africa slideshow!

This was my first glimpse of Niger, West Africa, where I spent the last 10 days. I arrived back in Kansas tonight after traveling for 24 solid hours (more if you count the 2.5 hours of checkin at the airport in Africa).

I'm SO GLAD to be home for Christmas! Not to mention to running water that doesn't need to be filtered and toilets. Ah, the luxuries we have in this country.

To view the slideshow, please ***CLICK HERE***!

So, I spent 10 days in Niger, West Africa. It's one of the poorest countries in the world, and many people keep asking me why the heck I'd willingly spend a vacation there. It wasn't for a mission trip or anything like that. My college roommate and very good friend, Jeanel, is a volunteer in the Peace Corps and she lives there. She lives in a village of 1,000 to 1,500 people. It's amazing to see how the bulk of the population there lives!

I'm really tired and want to get some sleep, so please check back over the next few days to see some of the photos and hear the stories of the people!

Oh, I dug up a few quick maps from the internet to give you an idea of where the country is. The northern part of it is where the Sahara is located.



Niamey is the capital, which is where I flew in and out of. Jeanel's region is around Konni and we traveled up to Agadez, but that's for another post...