January 2010: Happy New Year!

I can’t believe that it’s already 2010! On January 10th, I celebrated 18 months in Niger and now, more than ever before, I feel as though my time here is flying by. I can happily say that I get to come home this year! The past couple of months have been incredibly tumultuous and uncertain, but because I am lucky enough to be part of (in my humble opinion) the best program in the Peace Corps, we have all survived and our program may be stronger now than it ever has been.

While times have been trying, there have been many things to celebrate as well, so get ready for one heck of a blog entry…

Kidnappings, Terrorism, and the Survival of Peace Corps’ Most Amazing Program: On November 15, 2009, every volunteer serving in Peace Corps Niger received a text message informing us that there had been an attempted kidnapping of an American Embassy worker in the Tahoua region of Niger. We were instructed to confirm receipt of the message and to consolidate to our regional capitols as quickly as possible.

As though in a daze, I began to pack a bag, and purposefully allowed myself to ignore the fact that I may have been seeing my house, my donkey, and my friends for the last time. I packed an incredibly impractical bag (because I was in such denial) and went straight to my best friend’s house in order to let her know what had happened. All I could really tell any of my villagers at the time was that Peace Corps had told us all to go to our regional capitols and that I hadn’t the slightest idea when or if I would be able to return to my village.

We spent the first three days of consolidation virtually in the dark as embassy staff, Peace Corps Niger, and Peace Corps Washington gathered information and assessed the situation. On November 18th, we were informed that not much in the way of information was known and for that reason, we would be kept consolidated until at least the 25th.

For the majority of my service, there has been the presence of an Al-Qaeda sect known as AQIM (Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) within Niger. The group has filtered down into Niger from neighboring Mali and Algeria. At the end of 2008/beginning of 2009, two Canadians, 4 Europeans, were kidnapped in the northern portion of the Tillaberi region of Niger. AQIM claimed responsibility for the kidnappings and Peace Corps acted swiftly to ensure the safety of volunteers in that area of Niger. Many volunteers were removed from their villages and others who were allowed to stay in their villages were permitted to do so under very strict travel and communication restrictions. The situation soon calmed and it was clear that Peace Corps Niger had taken all the necessary steps in order to protect its volunteers.

All was relatively calm for the coming months, until a wave of kidnappings and attempted kidnappings began to occur in mid- to late-November. The attempted kidnapping of the American Embassy worker raised red flags for two primary reasons: (1) AQIM typically did not target Americans as one of their goals is to obtain money, and America does not conduct hostage negotiations in this type of situation; and (2) the attempted kidnapping happened in a region of Niger that is separate from the northern Tillaberi region, which had already been tagged as a “danger zone.” It was for these reasons that Peace Corps Niger and the American Embassy in Niger acted so promptly to ensure that all volunteers were accounted for and housed safely. As more information became available and all decision makers involved were able to fully asses the situation, it was decided that in order to maintain a successful and safe Peace Corps program in Niger, the Tahoua region and all villages north of Niger’s capitol, Niamey, would be closed. They also decided to transfer all of the trainees that had yet to be sworn in as volunteers in Niger to Madagascar where they would become part of the Peace Corps Madagascar program. Volunteers from the areas that were closed were given the option to return to the U.S. or to be relocated within Niger. The consolidation of all volunteers was lifted on November 25th and volunteers were allowed to return to their villages only if they were willing to abide by new travel and communication restrictions and requirements. All volunteers were also given the option to take “Interrupted Service,” which would allow them to return to the U.S. and do one of two things: (1) re-apply to Peace Corps and be given a new country and assignment; or (2) choose to end their service with the Peace Corps. All actions taken by Peace Corps Niger and the American Embassy were meant to reduce the number of volunteers in Niger in order to lessen the profile of volunteers and to ensure their safety.

One of the most challenging parts of this consolidation (besides being stuck in the smallest hostel in country along with 15 other volunteers) was the uncertainty. At times I would sit and reflect upon the fact that my service may be over, with no closure, and without having accomplished all that I had hoped to. These thoughts brought me great sadness. Other times I would consider the fact that there was a possibility I would be home in California for the holidays – a thought that was very appealing. It was a constant emotional rollercoaster and not knowing what the future held made the whole situation that much more draining. But, despite the appeal of being home for the holidays, I knew without a doubt that if given the option to return to my village and complete my service, I would do so.

In the months following these events, the face of Peace Corps Niger has been drastically changed. When in November we were approximately 150 trainees and volunteers in Niger, we are now approximately 75 in number. While I am not really affected by the new rules and regulations in place, Peace Corps Niger is not the program that I joined 18 months ago. We no longer have the freedom to move about as we wish and it often feels as though we are simply waiting for the other shoe to drop. This is not the fault of Peace Corps Niger, it is an unfortunate side-effect of the acts of terrorist groups filtering into Niger from neighboring countries. But despite all of the hardship, we are still an incredibly strong program full of devoted and motivated volunteers and staff. We, volunteers and Peace Corps staff alike, are persevering and continue to achieve great things within Niger. After all is said and done, there are a few things I want you to fully understand: (1) I feel absolutely and completely safe here in Niger, especially when in my village (this is probably the safest I will ever be in my lifetime); (2) the actions that resulted in the events of the last couple of months were not caused by the Nigerien people and should not under any circumstance reflect the people of Niger; (3) the safety of volunteers is of the utmost importance to the Peace Corps and we will always be taken care of.

Book Project Update: As of early December 2009, my book project was fully funded by all of the generous donors in the U.S. I was informed in late December that the check had arrived in Niger and that I could come to pick it up as soon as I was ready. Due to some horribly persistent illnesses, I was forced to wait until now to get the check from the Peace Corps offices.

Knowing that the check was here in Niger, I knew that I had only one more hurdle to jump before the books could be purchased: getting my community’s monetary contribution. I asked my community to contribute 180,000 FCFA (roughly $360.00) in order to purchase the English textbooks. Please keep in mind that this is no easy feat and to the average citizen of Niger, this is a great sum of money. Although the task of acquiring this money was a challenge, I am extremely proud to announce that my community was able to raise ever last bit of that 180,000 FCFA and they did so in record time. This is an amazing accomplishment and I am so very pleased that my community was able to join together to achieve their goal.

Now that all the money is in place, I am happy to announce that all 420 textbooks and teacher’s guides have been purchased! My CES (the middle/high school in my village) will be able to use these textbooks for the remainder of this school year and for many years to come. Not only has the success of this project benefited my village, it has set an excellent example for similar projects in the future. When I initially submitted the proposal for this project, the review board was reluctant to approve it simply because a similar project attempted the year before was virtually a failure and they were afraid my project would meet the same fate. Thank goodness they decided to give this sort of project another chance and approved my proposal.
Thank you to everyone at home who has supported this project whether monetarily or through your encouragement and positive thinking. Without you, I would never have seen this project come to fruition. And, of course, CONGRATULATIONS to the members of my community here in Niger!

Cold Season Gardening: With the help of my baba (father), I have created and planted a cold season garden in my front yard. I have eight plots, each about two yards wide by three yards long. I also have four small circular plots and one small square plot. My baba and I planted tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, garlic, carrots, lettuce, zucchini, cucumbers, American sweet corn, and American snow peas. So far, everything is flourishing, but nothing has borne fruit as of yet. It is still very early in the gardening season, so it may be another month or two before I can report on the actual success of my gardening.

Even though it’s still in its early stages and most of my “gardening work” consists merely of watering twice a day and transplanting when necessary, I am truly enjoying this process and I look forward to being able to reap the benefits of all of my work. I can only assume, but fresh, homegrown vegetables from the garden you worked with your own two hands must taste so much better than anything you can find in the supermarket.

Two of my lettuce and tomato plots.

A close-up.

This is the plot we use for transplanting. I have tomatoes, onions, garlic, and bell peppers planted here.

American snow peas. I hope they work!

I know I’ve said this before after cultivating my rainy season crops, but I really hope that I am able to continue to do some smaller scale gardening when I return to the U.S. Living in Niger and eating according to what is in season and what can be cultivated in this harsh climate, I have done a lot of thinking about the eating habits I want to maintain once my service is over. I look forward to using farmer’s markets for my fresh produce, to eating according to what’s in season and not according to what the U.S. is importing from developing nations, and to supporting local farms for dairy.

I plan to continue being a vegetarian once I return home and even have hopes of someday becoming a vegan. Being a vegan can be challenging and requires a person to really consider their diet in order to make sure they are getting all the necessary nutrients. I also believe it is necessary that a person who wishes to be a vegan make the time to prepare their own meals. This doesn’t have to happen every day, but it should happen regularly so as not to get in the habit of eating pre-packaged, processed foods all of the time. With these things in mind, I want to ease into being a vegan and to make sure that the lifestyle I lead is conducive to this kind of diet.

Stay tuned for more news as to how my garden does in the coming months.

My English Club ROCKS!: In December, I finally got my English Club up and running. As usual, there were many obstacles to getting this club underway, namely my health, but we finally started holding our weekly sessions and I can’t begin to tell you just how amazing this experience has been. After only two meetings of the club, I could tell I had an incredible group of students and I walked away feeling as though I will truly have accomplished something of value during my service.

What started out as a list of about ten participants has since expanded and the club now involves 21 extremely intelligent, motivated, and inspiring students from grades 10 – 12. Truthfully, I had only wanted 15 students to participate, as that’s how many students are in the French class in the U.S. that we are corresponding with. But, each meeting brought one or two more students that wanted to participate and being the sucker that I am, I simply couldn’t say no. Needless to say, I now have 21 students and I couldn’t be more pleased with the group.

One of the members of my club and me. I'm actually wearing that exact outfit right now...I need new clothes :)

After about five weeks of hard work, the students finished their first letters to their counterparts in the U.S. and I will be sending them off in the coming days. I cannot wait to see what kinds of conversations will be stimulated through these letters and what kind of cultural exchange and new knowledge results from those conversations. I hope that even though half of the school year has now escaped us that this program is fulfilling to all of the students involved, both Nigerien and American.

Corona Pest Control – At Your Service: After all of the turmoil in the month of November, I decided I needed a little pick-me-up and found that pick-me-up in the form of one fluffy little kitten. The cat that lives at the hostel in my regional capitol is what some may call a “baby-making machine” and gave birth to two male kittens in September. I fell in love with the runt of the litter, a little grey fellow that was the spitting image of his mom. I wasn’t sure if it would be wise to bring yet another animal home, but ultimately it was clear he was meant to come to my village.

My team has a tradition that all kittens born to our hostel cat, Rita (aka Margarita), must be named after an alcoholic beverage. So, our team has had a Sam and an Adams (as in Sam Adams beer), a Scotch, a Gimlet, and a Tinto (Nigerien wine), to name a few. Knowing that there were rules in the naming of my cat, I decided to name him Corona after my favorite beer, the one I dream about…a golden Corona sitting on a table, ice cold and dew soaked, with a perfect slice of green lime propped in the mouth of the bottle…oh, sorry, I got caught up in the moment. Back to the cat. So, his name is Corona or Corey for short.

He's all grown up these days.

"Feed me...now-ish!"

Old crooked foot. Something happened while I was out of town and his left front paw is now permanently crooked. He's ok with it though...says it gives him major street cred.

He was out visiting his donkies. He loves them, even if Mabel bites him and stomps her feet when he comes around.

Getting ready for our evening chores: I water the garden, he eats the bugs. We're quite the team.

He’s been a great addition to the farm and as the time has passed he has gotten more and more brave and has really started to earn his keep around the place. He’s an outdoor cat, who’s allowed in the house from time to time to snuggle with me and hang out. He sleeps in a little blue bucket at night on a pair of raggedy boxers with an old t-shirt draped over the bucket in order to hold in the heat. He’s still a pretty little guy, but he’s starting to hunt and I think he’s truly found his calling: pest control.

One night, I came home from my best friend’s house, stuck my key in the lock, and glanced down at the ground. There was a hoard of little black ants piled on top of something, but I couldn’t decipher what it was that I was looking at. Corey came over to greet me and promptly noticed what it was I was checking out. As he sniffed and pawed at the mystery object, the ants scattered, and to my surprise, there sat a single, solitary hind leg. It was a leg that had formerly belonged to the rat that I now noticed resided in the gut of my cat. Corey looked like a snake does after swallowing a mouse whole, with a giant lump sitting in his belly. I’m not sure he even chewed his meal. He promptly scarfed the leg down after realizing that I had taken notice of his accomplishment. He was so happy that night and oh so proud of himself.

Corey likes to accompany me to the latrine at night, and while this may seem gross or inappropriate, he simply escorts me and then proceeds to play around in the leaves and fallen branches behind the latrine. At first his accompanying me was bothersome because he would be rustling in the leaves and being the bug-sensitive, jumpy person that I am, I would always get nervous and wonder whether Corey was the cause of this or that noise or whether there were killer attack cockroaches on they’re way to get me. But, one night, as I approached the latrine, I noticed one such attack cockroach perched atop my latrine cover. I always hate when those cockroaches just sit there goading me because I always end up looking a fool as I jump about trying to stomp the little critter to death. But, on this particular night, my escort was with me and I simply scooped him up, put him down right next to the cockroach and as soon as it spooked and began to run, Corey pounced and had a nice little late night snack. With Corey’s timely and successful capture of the cockroach, I was able to go about my business in peace.

Corey’s other specialty is grasshopper and cricket control. Grasshoppers love my garden and are responsible for the destruction of many a plant. But with Corey around to prowl the yard, the pesky grasshoppers and annoying crickets are kept in check. Each morning and evening when I water the garden, Corey comes out into the yard with me and it seems as though he’s munching on something new each time I glance in his direction.

Corey’s not a spoiled cat, at least not by me, but I cannot say the same for my baba. He loves Corey, which is unusual for Nigeriens, and he always talks to him when he sees him and if I leave my village for a few days, he comes over and brings Corey over to his house. My baba shoots and kills lizards with a slingshot, no easy task, and then tosses them over the wall into my yard for Corey to eat. There are days when Corey gets two to three lizards and he doesn’t even have to lift a paw. At least I know that even if I’m not around, he’ll be looked after.

Penny’s Here!!!: Ladies and gentlemen, I am very proud to announce the birth of Miss Penny on the evening of January 2nd, 2010.

I left the house as usual at around 6:30pm in order to head over to my best friend’s house for dinner. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and I honestly can’t even remember whether I said goodbye to Mabel that evening. Not more than an hour later, my baba showed up at my friend’s house asking for me. I had no idea what to expect, although I’ll admit I expected to hear my house had been broken into or something equally as horrible and absurd. To my surprise and delight, my baba announced with a big grin that Mabel had given birth.

My baba had been at the house putting hay atop Mabel’s shade hangar when he noticed a sort of black splotch on the ground. He shined his flashlight on the splotch and was startled to find a not-so-tiny baby donkey lying on the ground. Mabel had given birth quickly, I’m assuming without complication, and totally on her own. By the time I arrived at the house, baby Penny was up and walking, still somewhat covered in gunk, and quite disoriented. She kept wanting to walk in the opposite direction of Mabel and was already ridiculously stubborn after only two hours of life. I finally herded her back in the direction of her mom and then kept a respectful distance so that Mabel could properly bond with the little one.

The next day, I began to feel Mabel out and to see just how much she was willing to tolerate when it came to people, me in particular, touching the baby. Before long, Mabel and I came to a silent understanding that I had no intention of hurting the baby and she came to trust me with Penny in no time. As for Penny, she was skeptical of me at first, but she’s a huge sucker and she fell for me within a day. By day two, Penny was coming to me when called, would nuzzle me and rub against my legs, and would do figure eights between my legs. Since day one, she has been a very healthy little girl and Mabel has been an excellent mother, allowing Penny to nurse consistently and encouraging her to be adventurous. Like most babies, Penny was born with no teeth, but it’s been just over a week and she’s already got some big ol’ toofers coming in. I like grabbing her lips and checking to see the progress of those teeth…soon enough she’ll start using those teeth, so I have to take advantage of this time while I have it.

Penny often gets what my friends Tara and Lucio like to call “the zoomies” and starts charging around the yard. She was sprinting by her second day of life. In fact, one night at about two o’clock in the morning, I was startled awake by an unusual clip-clopping noise. In my half-sleeping state, I thought for sure someone had come into my concession and was up to no good. I froze in my bed and listened, trying desperately to figure out what was going on. Thankfully I figured it out quickly and realized that little Penny was sprinting around the house and the sound of her hooves hitting the hard soil was echoing off my cement walls. She hasn’t stopped sprinting since and gets faster by the day.

Because Penny hasn’t known anything different in her short life, she thinks people are fantastic! She just loves people. She doesn’t care if they’re adults or children, Nigerien or American, dressed to impress or in their raggedy work clothes, she’ll greet anyone who comes into my yard and she’ll even rub all over them and get ‘em nice and dirty. Her latest thing is whining. She hasn’t started braying yet, but if she sees me and wants to say hi or is frustrated that I’m not paying enough attention to her, she trots to me whining the whole way. Her little noises are super cute. She’s such a love and she has really been a joy to have.

Soon enough she’s going to hit her pre-pubescent, pre-teen stage and I know she and I will have our disagreements. She’s going to start trying to eat my garden, she’s going to trample my garden (which she’s already started to do) during her momentary spells of “the zoomies,” and she’s just generally going to start testing the limits. But, until that time arrives, I’m going to enjoy her sweetness and running my hands through her fuzzy baby donkey hair.

Jacco and John Henry Are Big Brothers: On November 14, 2009, the day before all volunteers in Niger were consolidated to their respective regional capitols, Jacco and John Henry became big brothers. Their mother gave birth to another set of twins: one boy, Jonas, and one girl, Eva.

Eva and Jonas were born somewhat small, but were healthy and strong. Unfortunately, their mom is an older goat and developed some health issues after giving birth. That being said, Eva and Jonas weren’t able to nurse regularly and therefore are not growing as quickly as they should be. Their mom has since regained her health, but the effects of the illness on her milk production were severe. But, Eva and Jonas are resilient and have figured out how to make do with what they have.

Jonas is white and brown and similar to his mother in markings. Eva, I must assume, looks like her father because she is black with white splotches and not a single one of my other goats is colored in such a way. They are a very mellow pair and they pretty much stay out of trouble. Because they were born right before all of the turmoil of late-November, I haven’t really gotten to know the two of them, but they’re still very special to me.

So, with the birth of Eva, Jonas, and Penny, and the addition of Corey to the menagerie, that brings the animal count to: six goats, two donkeys, and a cat. Not too shabby J

***Unfortunately, hours after writing this entry, I found out that little Jonas had died. He wasn’t getting enough nourishment since his mom had been so sick and wasn’t producing enough milk. Poor little man.***

Shout Outs: This entry’s shout out is going to my Opa and Tante Han. They have been incredibly supportive of m throughout the past 18 months and have told me on many occasions just how proud they are of my accomplishments. They put together a wonderful Christmas care-package for me and battled with phone card companies just so that they could call and hear my voice. Thank you both for everything – I love you very much!