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
1 Comments:
It is with gratitude for your magnanimous commitment to the rule of law and good governance as well as to the sustainability of Mother Earth and the well-being of all its children - also in Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, the Republic of Niger in particular here - that i turn to you.
The ways in which 'Peace Corps' helps the needies, protects the environment, the fauna and flora, while promoting solidarity and harmonious development through the advocacy of rational and humane attitude/relationships with nature and natural resources, are truly an example to emulate.
Dear Ms. Louise Krumm,
It is absolutely clear now, that the greatest threat to mankind and Earth itself comes from overpopulation, which is growing at an exponential rate - as underlined in a recent UN Study: Slower Population Growth To Help Environment, UN Study concluded (18 November 2009): http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j74yWpJ1atBwCsu78IVj2VOABDzg
The efforts to preserve the crucial balance between the needs of Human societies and the imperatives of the environment in your country and in certain parts of Africa and the rest of our world are certainly commendable, but still more should be done. The current situation requires that and quite urgently.
Furthermore, the taboo hanging above the topic of human reproduction must be lifted in all countries.
We have to fully understand the crucial role played by overpopulation in the current, deplorable state of Earth global affairs and acknowledge that we, Humans, and the ways we go about life put too much stress on Earth - specially with the knowledge, that the petroleum age is reaching its logical end, as studies show here: http://www.energiekrise.de/ (ASPO = Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas; in German language)
Do please endorse us, Milady, and most importantly, do strongly advocate a rational, democratic and scientific birth control, at home, in Niger and elsewhere abroad; add your influential voice to ours, help us promote a humane and just solution to this tragedy!
Our major petition calling for such a world wide birth control is to be found at our campaign site, here : http://www.futureofmankind.co.uk/Billy_Meier/Special:Petition
With gratitude for the Honour of your Service and sincere Respect,
Adam
www.thecircleforhumanity.net
The Netherlands.
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