An Update

During our first night in Niamey, we were greeted by beggars wanting money.  Cameron, our supervisor, told us that many of these beggars see their begging as giving others opportunity to give their tithes to Allah, as that is one of the required five pillars of Islam.  She said that some mothers will even mutilate their children so that they can be more effective beggars and, thus, help more people be obedient to Allah.

While in Niamey, we were also able to go fabric shopping for our first African outfits!  There were so many styles and designs of fabrics, it was overwhelming!  Within the next few days, we are hoping to go to the tailor and get our outfits actually made!

Today, Saturday, June 9, we went to village “B” to see our hut, set up some supplies – like our water filter and cots – and meet some of the people we’ll be working with.  We meet the chief, who will serve as our fatherly protector while we are here this summer.  We were able to meet most of the kids and women at the compounds.  We didn’t see a lot of men because they are out planting in preparation for the rainy season.  The women and children gave us Fulani names.  Anna is “Hadiza” and I (Olivia) am “Chima”.  These are both names of older women in the village.  One of the women let us go into her hut and gave us “chutum” which is a drink made from millet, sour milk, and water.