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