Checking in from Niamey
Sunday morning finds me closeted in my new Peace Corps office where a high speed Internet connection provides access to the world beyond. One might say, "Ah, West Africa! It's all the same!" But Niger is a very special place.
The handover from Director Jim Bullington took place Tuesday evening following my 24-hour trip. I arrived at 5:00 PM on the twice-weekly Air France flight from Paris. Jim left on the midnight return. The plane flies from Niamey to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to deliver and pick up passengers and returns to Niamey for the midnight departure to Paris. Having two flights in and out a week makes some aspects of life simpler.
Thursday I traveled to Hamdalayye, the training site for 22 Peace Corps Volunteers. While Niamey definitely has more paved roads than Lome- a key indicator of development- the vast deserted desert appears instantly on the edge of town. The trainees, who were completing 9 weeks of language and cross-cultural training, had been living in the most simple of mud huts. Classrooms in the training center were also of mud and thatch. The center was perched on a tiny hill, which offered an endless view of the surrounding scrubby desert. The training site is described as a "half way station" to the isolation of their posts.
The Friday evening swearing in ceremony took place in the elegant surrounding of the residence of the U.S. Ambassador. Green grass, a swimming pool, tennis courts all overlooked the mighty Niger River. The trainees had been transported from Hamdalaye in their colorful West African clothing. But their training experience carried over to the new setting when one Trainee/ Volunteer asked me. "Do you know where the Ambassador's latrine might be?"
At the ceremony I awarded a special certificate on one Volunteer who had just completed his third year of service. His arm was bandaged. He worked with the Niamey Zoo, and a young frisky lion had nipped him during his last day on the job.
Following my speech during the ceremony, the handsome Nigerian Health Director for UNICEF, Dr Maoude Hamissou, approached me. "Don't you remember me?" he asked, "I was your student at Georgetown in 1989." And the Peace Corps Associate Director for Health piped in, "Yes, I was working at USAID/ Niger at the time and was responsible for sending him to you." If you ever want to "drop off the face of the earth," don't try it in Niger.
The Chargé at the Embassy had just returned from the north where U.S. military troops have been conducting training operations with the Nigérian army. The U.S. troops observed that 1) the Nigérian army was much better trained than that of Iraq and 2) the children in nearby villages weren't hiding improvised explosive devices.
My favorite time of day remains the early morning, when the air is cool and the calls to prayer, which drift across the city, sound like the cries of wild animals.
The handover from Director Jim Bullington took place Tuesday evening following my 24-hour trip. I arrived at 5:00 PM on the twice-weekly Air France flight from Paris. Jim left on the midnight return. The plane flies from Niamey to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to deliver and pick up passengers and returns to Niamey for the midnight departure to Paris. Having two flights in and out a week makes some aspects of life simpler.
Thursday I traveled to Hamdalayye, the training site for 22 Peace Corps Volunteers. While Niamey definitely has more paved roads than Lome- a key indicator of development- the vast deserted desert appears instantly on the edge of town. The trainees, who were completing 9 weeks of language and cross-cultural training, had been living in the most simple of mud huts. Classrooms in the training center were also of mud and thatch. The center was perched on a tiny hill, which offered an endless view of the surrounding scrubby desert. The training site is described as a "half way station" to the isolation of their posts.
The Friday evening swearing in ceremony took place in the elegant surrounding of the residence of the U.S. Ambassador. Green grass, a swimming pool, tennis courts all overlooked the mighty Niger River. The trainees had been transported from Hamdalaye in their colorful West African clothing. But their training experience carried over to the new setting when one Trainee/ Volunteer asked me. "Do you know where the Ambassador's latrine might be?"
At the ceremony I awarded a special certificate on one Volunteer who had just completed his third year of service. His arm was bandaged. He worked with the Niamey Zoo, and a young frisky lion had nipped him during his last day on the job.
Following my speech during the ceremony, the handsome Nigerian Health Director for UNICEF, Dr Maoude Hamissou, approached me. "Don't you remember me?" he asked, "I was your student at Georgetown in 1989." And the Peace Corps Associate Director for Health piped in, "Yes, I was working at USAID/ Niger at the time and was responsible for sending him to you." If you ever want to "drop off the face of the earth," don't try it in Niger.
The Chargé at the Embassy had just returned from the north where U.S. military troops have been conducting training operations with the Nigérian army. The U.S. troops observed that 1) the Nigérian army was much better trained than that of Iraq and 2) the children in nearby villages weren't hiding improvised explosive devices.
My favorite time of day remains the early morning, when the air is cool and the calls to prayer, which drift across the city, sound like the cries of wild animals.
posted by Adventures in Niamey at 8:30 AM
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