About the Niamey, Niger Project

Niger is located in West Africa and 80 percent of its land is in the Sahara Desert. Most of the country is desert plains and sand dunes, droughts are frequent. The climate is one of the hottest in the world. Its estimated population of 11 million are 98% Muslim. Niger is ranked 172 out of 173 countries in the United Nations Developemnt Program's Human Development index, and only 13.6% of its population is literate (6.6% of women). The Reformed Church in America partners with the Evangelical Church of Niger. Their focus in the region is to help with community development, theological training, literacy, medicine, and agriculture. The Mission project for this winter is to build a guest house to assist the Evangelical church's programs. It will give them a facility to house people who come in from the countryside for training in evangelism, leadership and other minstry skills. Bruce and Laurie Hawley are the missionaries responsible for the project and will be working closely with Kay and Sue. More information is available on the Reformed Church website at http://www.rca.org/.

Kay and Sue will be in Niamey from January 26, 2009- February 10, 2009.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Monday afternoon

It is another hot day, but there is a nice breeze. I spent a portion of the morning grocery shopping with Susan. What an experience...2 different white man grocery stores and then to the Petite Marche. All through the stalls with a young boy as our porter, bargaining for apples , bananas, peppers, onions, tomatoes, oranges, eggs, garlic... We walked through the meat market, I can't even begin to describe the sights and smells. Men pounding , slicing, butchering meat parts everywhere.... some still with tongues others still with tails...and flies, flies, flies!!! Then we went to a fabric stall where I did buy a native dress. Susan said it is a blessing because it provides income for them.

We have now met Chako, he is the project supervisor. His sister, Hazara is our cook. They have returned from their father's funeral and life around here is resuming as normal. (She sweeps the entire house floor with a handmade whisk broom and her baby Rahal on her back). It looks like the water filtration system will be up a running soon, yeah!

I hope all is well with everyone.

Kay
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2 comments:

  1. debij2/02/2009

    Kay,

    Your blog URL was in the church bulletin on Sunday. It is amazing to follow your progress.

    Just so you know, the Woman's Retreat went very well. The weather was good so there were no driving problems. Linda gave us a great "Tour around the World". The service at the end was quite lovely - some was based on Scott's Iona service. At the end, Maggie had us sing a song in Latin as a round - quite an experience for us non-Senior choir types.

    We said thanks for you and sent prayers your way. You and Sue are such a blessing!

    Debi Jensen

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  2. Unknown2/03/2009

    Kay,

    It's difficult to imagine the conditions you are living in, especially as I watch the snow come down through my window at work and sitting here enjoying my PB&J and tea. You and Sue are in our thoughts and prayers every day. I know you are making a difference in the lives of the people there and in ours by sharing your stories. Keep cool and if I ever need hole dug, I know who to call. Peace, Lucy

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