Painting it Red

Me with my fellow weaver

Perfect Day=West African craft show + cotton candy!

African knock-offs.....got to love 'em!

Escarpment Time!

African What?!?!

This is probably not the best name for a music video but what do you expect coming out of Nigeria?  This really has to be one of the most ridiculous songs I have ever heard but yet I can’t help but dance to it when I hear it.  I predict that in a few years it will take the place of the Electric Slide and Cupid Shuffle at wedding receptions.

SWOPA

During a weekend vacation we were able to travel to Sirigu, Ghana to paint some crafts and enjoy spending time together.  This area was most intriguing in that most of the houses in these villages were painted red, white and black.  This was especially exciting for me since they were all N.C. State colors!  The area that we stayed was called SWOPA which stand for Sirigu Women Organization for Pottery and Art.  It was founded to improve situation for women in the community.  This way woman can help support their families as well and strengthen their position in the community.

As seen in the pictures below there are many motifs in Sirigu painting.  They are usually abstract geometric stylized animal figures and objects.  The coloring materials are from local minerals.  The black symbolizes power, red is the sign of danger, and white is the sign of purity.  The animal figures usually include cows, python, and crocodiles.  Cows are the symbol of wealth, python represents the clan and the crocodile for protection.  Enjoy the photos below and if you are ever in the Upper East region of Ghana then check out the Sirigu Village!

Gangsta's Paradise

Here are just some of the photos that make me laugh about Fulani culture.  They want people to see them as being a serious people group.  This has a lot to do with the pride of being a “Pullo.”  Therefore, rarely do you see people laugh in photos and that happens only when I can be quick on the trigger and catch some candid shots.  Of course they tell me to erase all of the pictures of them laughing!  Enjoy!

Clash of Cultures

So lately during my leisure reading time I have been reading a book on art theory.  I usually read about 30 minutes or so before going to bed.  This week while out in the bush I my friend Tokka visited me and saw my facial expression change as I was reading a sentence about a Van Gogh painting that was sold for 53.9 million dollars.  She was of course was curious about what I was reading so she inquired.  I don’t think I will ever have enough Fulfulde to explain the subjunctive view of art, let alone art theory.  I told her it was something that people make and then put in their houses to look at.  The next day she pointed towards her wall that had 4 plastic covers from cell phones and said, “art, like this?”  I sat there trying to comprehend my view of art verses hers.  Is Van Gogh’s “Irises” comparable to things that we consider trash?  Well, to the Fulani it is.  I am really tempted to show them a Jackson Pollock and see what they have to say about that!  Anyways from my experience in Niger, my interpretation of “art” has definitely been stretched!

A Glimpse into My Life

'H' with the camel that the chief purchased now that planting season is upon us

Beautiful little girl who has finally warmed up to the "anasara"

My friends in a nearby compound where Olivia and Anna currently share the stories

Me with my large Fulani necklace that I purchased at market.  Probably one of my favorite things thus far!

Ramadan

Looking at my personal calendar a few weeks ago, I noticed that Ramadan is scheduled for July 20^th at sunset with the appearance of the new moon.   Ramadan is the ninth month on the Islamic lunar calendar.   According to Guests of the Sheik, which takes place in Iraq, “The mullahs (Muslim religious leaders) in the holy shrines…watch the sky for several days, and when the chief mullah announces that he has indeed seen the crescent moon, however briefly, the beginning of the month is officially declared from the minarets of the mosques.  The news travels quickly by radio, by taxi and horseback throughout the surrounding countryside.” 

Islam teaches that the Qur’an was first revealed to Mohammed during the month of Ramadan.  During this time, there is much fasting; from sunup to sundown they eat and drink nothing, not even swallowing their own spit.  Many devote themselves more fully to the practices of Islam such as offering up more prayers to Allah, reading more of the Qur’an, showing more kindness to one another and increasing their almsgiving.  This month set aside for fasting is designed to generate self-restraint.  “O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as was prescribed to those before you that ye may (learn) self-restraint (Surah 2:183).” (Understanding my Muslim People)

There is one special night called the “Night of Power”.  Muslims are taught to pray as much as possible during this night, for it is extremely commendable.  Islam teaches that this night hundreds of years ago was when Mohammed received his first revelation from Allah.  One the day that the fast ends, Muslims hold a “Breaking the Fast” celebration.  Sweets are prepared and new clothes purchased.  A time of dancing and singing occurs.  I asked many of my friends in the bush about the arrival of Ramadan and you could see the excitement on their faces.  Of course, this broke my heart, seeing how excited they are about something that is so far from the Truth.  It is so sad to think that some of them will never experience true Love and Peace. 

Please lift up my friends in ‘B’ and the surrounding areas as Ramadan is coming.  Pray that they would be discontent with the practices and rituals of Islam and that they would realize their hopelessness.  Ask the Lord of the harvest to direct their eyes to Him and the sacrifice of Christ.  May we trust fully in the Lord to work mightily during the month of Ramadan all across the globe!

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

Isaiah 53: 5-7

Chima & Hadiza

I am so excited to have two volunteers with me here this summer to help sow the Truth among the people of my bush village.  Please lift up Chima (Olivia) and Hadiza (Anna) as they adapt and adjust to this climate and culture.  They have just finished one week of Fulfulde language study and look forward to speaking out in the bush.  To follow their journey this summer please click on the link below.

Hadiza (Anna) & Chima (Olivia)

Volunteer Blog

Chima & Salmu on the way to a baby naming ceremony in 'B'.

Visiting around town.

i am a bush woman...

o   I eat their food drinking chutum (cooked millet, water, and sour milk) and eating gniri (millet and sauce that looks exactly like mucus).

o   I sleep outside with the chief’s wife, daughter, and several grandkids.  Most nights I get no sleep because they throw every body part they have on me.  Therefore, I gradually try to slide out from under them resulting in sleeping on the ground with no mat but lots of ant bites.  If I get to sleep at all, it is around 2 o’clock. Two and a half hours later, at 4:30 am, the chickens, sheep, and goats are our wake up call to start the day. Despite the lack of sleep, my nights in the bush always remind me of God’s promise to Abraham as I look at the abundance of stars in the clear night sky.  It is truly a site to see.

o   Recently I have been able to cut some palm fronds in the bush, dry them out at my friend’s house, and patiently try to make the bowl covers that they sell at market and use to cover their chutum.

o   Apparently I have become the local tailor of “B”.  I took my needle and thread out in the bush to sew up a patch of one of their skirts.  Then the kids started handing me all their skirts and pants to patch up holes that run along the whole seam of their clothes.  Needless to say I kept myself busy that weekend. 

o   I help them draw water from the well, at least until my arms can stand it.  Since there are no wells in America, my hands get red from all the tension with the rope.  The older ladies look at my hands and refuse my assistance at the well, trying to protect my hands from looking and feeling like theirs. 

o   On several occasions I have even had the pleasure of riding a donkey back from the well with the jarkas of water on both sides of me.  Especially on those days I know for a fact that I am not in America anymore.

Barcelona

As my good friend Hannah from Alabama said before we left for vacation, "We're going to paint the town red!"  And that we did!  I had no idea what to expect when traveling to my first European city, but I fell in love once I came out of the metro from the airport.  Maybe it was just the grass and Starbucks sign that made me finally realize I had left the desert for a time.  I could write pages and pages about our travels and excursions but it would not do our time together justice.  You must go and experience for yourself the magic of Barcelona.

The Gaudi artwork was breathtaking.  We traveled to the Picasso Museum and the Museum of Textiles (yes, Hannah sacrificed for me).  We toured the city on a two day bus tour where Hannah, Michelle, and I all were amazed by the wonderful architecture and such a balanced mixture of antique/contemporary styles.   We ate paella beside the Mediterranean Ocean and we "people watched" almost everyday on La Rambla.  I had McDonald's 5 times and couldn't be happier about that.  Once again I say...We fell in love!  Below are some pictures of the three of us.  Pictures of the architecture and beauty of Barcelona will come later.  Enjoy!

Our one day in France.  The train ride of the countryside was beautiful

Us heading towards the "Fountain of Regret" (the tourist booklets call it the Magical Fountain)

Bus tour!!!

Inside "La Sagrada Familia"....the exterior is my favorite

At the Med.!

"There is not a single true work of art that has not in the end added to the inner freedom of each person who has known and loved it."-Albert Camus

"Life has been your art.  You have set yourself to music.  Your days are your sonnets."-Oscar Wilde

a little more of the bush...

Gotta Love the Bush

The following pictures and video are from this past week in my bush village “B”.  I was informed by the ladies when I visited Wednesday to bring some American money and my camera. I also told them I would bring some American coffee for them to try.  When I returned on Thursday I had all my items for show and tell.  The first to show was the American dollar which is the equivalent of 500cfa in money here.  They looked at the picture of George and repeated numerous times, “Barak Obama.”  I repeated numerous times “No.”  I said that Obama was the president now but the first president of America was George Washington.  They asked if George was a man or woman because they didn’t understand why he had so much hair.  I didn’t know how to explain fake hair or wig in Fulfulde so that will be a conversation for another day.

Next was coffee time, or should I say a disgrace to the American coffee drinker.  I had my coffee apparatus with me that I bought from Great Outdoor and started to take it out.  They asked what it was and said that they could put the coffee in their ashai teapot.  I told them coffee wasn’t made the same as tea.  They finally understood and let me make it.  I pressed the ground coffee after the hot water was added and tasted it to see how much sugar I needed to put in there.  I added about a tablespoon and was completely satisfied with the taste.  I handed the finished coffee to one of my friends and she spit it out saying it was not good.  Another girl tasted it and said the same thing.  They then proceeded to pour the entire cup of sugar into the coffee which was only 2 oz of coffee.  After that they all drank the coffee and said it was so good.  I told them that they don’t like coffee, they like sugar. 

While we drank coffee and tea in the afternoon they made me promise to send them pictures of my wedding and my innde (baby naming ceremony) when I return to America in a year and a half.  I told them I would but that it might be a while before I marry and have kids.  They were confused and tried to solve my “problem” by trying to give me one of their husbands.  Oh how life is so different here.

"T" making ashai for me.

My favorite little one!

The Troublemaker

Fulbe Culture 101

Below are descriptions of baby naming ceremonies and the marriage ceremonies of Fulani culture. These were dictated to me by the King of the local Fulani in my area of ‘GR’. I hope you will enjoy learning about this culture as much as I have and will continue to lift up the Fulani.

Innde (Baby Naming)

A baby naming takes place 7 days after the baby is born. In the morning the parents of the man and woman come together. The woman’s parents come with a male goat. An Islamic leader comes and the parents provide money for this religious leader. The mother of the child spends time cleaning the house along with the help of her family. As soon as the husband’s family arrives, the religious leader sacrifices the goat and prays so that Allah will know the child’s name. He returns to the group after he has killed the sacrifice. A group of men hired by the parents yell the name of the child and expect money from people in return for this. The women make an excited sound in the back of their throat.


The women spend time cooking gniiri ( millet paste and sauce) and they feed everyone that comes. The women and men eat separately around a common bowl and specifically according to age groups. The elder men and visitors eat first. After everyone eats, the elder men rest until 7 at night.


The men then go back to the sacrifice and split the animal in half, crossing sticks across the body. The fire is placed in the middle of the upright animal to cook. Once it is cooked they remove the meat and cut into three parts. The first part goes to the woman who gave birth, the second to the father’s family, and the third to the old men who know the “way of the Fulbe.” After everyone finishes eating the meat they greet the mother, baby and family. The women bring skirts, headscarves, soap, jewelry and oil to the mother. For the first and possibly second child, a dance usually takes place where a drummer is hired. The woman is supposed to receive 40 days of rest after she gives birth.


A big Fulani custom for a baby naming is the shaving of the child’s head with the addition of milk in the water. This is considered the first right of passage to being a Fulani.



Kowgal (Marriage):

If a boy wants to marry a girl in Fulani culture, they will meet under a tree in the bush in the middle of the night. If the boy has no shame or embarrassment then he will come earlier that afternoon to tell the girl to meet him at night. If she likes him, she will bring him a gift such as fabric or a ring. After the boy asks to be married to her she gives him the gift and they separate and go home. The boy will then proceed to ask her father for her hand and he gives money, not more than $100 as set by the government. The father tells the boy to have patience before tying the marriage so that there is time to tell the extended families.


The night before the wedding the boy and his friends go out and cut the tendon behind the knee of a cow so that the cow cannot stand. They then sacrifice the cow. Everyone comes except the boy and girl to eat the sacrificed cow. When the meat is gone the parents of the boy and girl decide it is time to tie the marriage.


During the day of the wedding, the girl is in her house during the ceremony. She has her hair braided and hyena put on. The man is in his house as well. The two families come together for the ceremony, without the bride and groom, and they accept each other with the exchange of money.


The girl can take a couple of days or months before going to the husband’s home. The woman will spend this time buying all the household products she will need from the money that the boy paid for her. The boy’s family will provide clothing and jewelry for the girl.


The boy’s family will bring the girl to him the night of the marriage ceremony and the next morning the girl will run back to her home. She spends some time at her parents’ house until his family comes to get her. This is the proof of their love. The girl typically runs away 3 times before staying. Once she stays she helps her mother-in-law with cooking for the family group.

Language #2

Oh how I wish I grew up hearing more than one language. I knew language learning would be difficult but I didn’t know in what ways. My Hausa language learning was for a month with a local principle, and therefore he knew how to teach. Fulfulde study is a bit different and a little more vexing. My teacher is a medical worker and is not used to explaining grammar or things like sentence structure. Regardless of the frustration, the days come and go where I must speak to survive.



Starting in two weeks, I will be thrown into the bush during the weekends. I hope that this will challenge me and motivate me to learn the language as efficiently and quickly as possible. Once I have a solid foundation of the language I can begin memorizing “stories” in Fulfulde and start ministry. M & R worked in my bush village for a month when they first arrived on the field 5 years ago. However, the people kept expecting something of monetary value from them, so they finally decided to transfer their ministry elsewhere. Please lift up that the Father has softened hearts over the years and that He will dissatisfy the current condition of their hearts.


The picture below is of the chief of the village in which I will be living during language study and my new house. I hope that even with my limited language skills right now, that I can form strong bonds with the women in “B”. I look forward to sharing wonderful testimonies of my time with the Sokoto Fulani in the bush. Let this new phase of the journey begin!

With the chief and his wife in front of my new house!

Village "B"

My language helpers

Daily pounding of millet



What a Wonderful Dialogue

Loosely translated dialogue of one of my most recent bush outings with M (Weyti).



Random Fulani Man (RFM): Weyti, you should give her (referring to me) to be my wife.
M: You already have one wife don’t you?
RFM: Yes, she will be my second wife.
M: She doesn’t want to be a second wife. She wants to be the only wife.
RFM: Ok, give her to me.
M: Do you have 300 cattle?
RFM: No.
M: Well she is worth 300 cattle.
RFM: She is worth too much.
M: She has an education, a house, she knows English and a little bit of Hausa. She is worth 300 cattle.
RFM: Yes, but she doesn’t know Fulfulde.
M: Ahh, she starts Fulfulde study on Monday so then she will be worth 500 cattle. Do you have 500 cattle?
RFM: No.
M: Then her father will refuse the marriage.


Dear Dad, if you were ever wondering how much your precious daughters are worth, I found out….500 cattle.

Etsy

Many of you have probably realized by now that the country that I currently live in is very special. We have termed it, “The Middle of Nowhere (insert country name here)”. Therefore when Christmas time came up I had a hard time figuring out what to get people. Other than not being able to buy anything here, I had only known the field personnel for only 2 months. I was looking through my art book one night under the section that I have labeled “etsy” to find some ideas. I have always wanted an etsy account to sell my handmade items whether it be household items, textile wall art, or hand printed cards. Therefore I decided to dabble into my dreams during Christmas time. The following pictures are of placemats I made for M & R, hand dyed head wraps for the yarinya’s and trivets that I made for J. Enjoy and you should all check out etsy.com for the most creative handcrafted items.



By the way, this blog post was specifically for you Rachel Miller Gallo! Love you and thanks for your continual encouragement and support of my crazy ideas!

Placemats

Trivets anyone?!?!

Bleach Dyeing

Let's Catch Up!

In a nut shell these are the highlights of the past month…

o I made my first friend in the town that I live in and she happens to crochet and knit.
o I found the yarn store and have checked out most of the fabric shops along the main road.
o I had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas day filled with hot chocolate (thanks sis!), watching the Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Lady Vanishes, Just Dance 3 on Wii thanks to M &R, presents from field personnel and my wonderful family on the Weaver side (thanks Lucy, Susanne, and Becky!), 3 new outfits to get tailored, and a full crate of Fanta! It is so true, Life is Good!
o I thought eating sardines in the Philippines for breakfast was bad. Worse than that is eating incredibly large grasshoppers for snack. The taste wasn’t too bad because they add oil, onion, and yaji (pepper and ginger spice) but the crunchiness isn’t that satisfying. Unfortunately I had gum in my mouth during this time and didn’t have anywhere to put it. The worst was chewing my gum after I had finished the grasshopper and realizing that there were a few legs stuck in my gum. Needless to say I took my gum out as soon as appropriate.
o Apparently some man in the market asked M & R if he could buy me as a wife from them. He was 55. I just think it ironic that I never even got asked on a date in college and all I had to do was fly across the ocean to get proposed to!
o I have officially begun Fulfulde language study. Apparently Fulfulde is the third most difficult language to learn so you can ask me how excited I am in about 5 months.
o Out of all the teeny tiny African babies I have held here, this week I held the first one who relieved herself on me. Of course while she was doing this, she was looking right at me and smiling. You can’t be upset, the kids are too adorable!
o Just for Fun: My favorite musical & dance number… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tciT9bmCMq8. Just had to share this because it makes me happy. I know it will make my friend Melanie Mahoney happy as well because it has Mr. Gene Kelley and his “attributes” of steel.