zot in Niger bush camels

I started training my peer educators for the youth conferences that will be happening in April, May and June. Yesterday we worked on the gender relations session, and it was a lot of fun, though also exhausting for everyone. Skits are often used by NGOs to convey messages, and the scouts are well versed in creating skits, so we played with some skit ideas to illustrate interactions between girls and boys that created tension and interactions that were supportive. I had trouble for a while delving beyond the usual ‘boys think girls are stupid and bad at sports and girls think boys are mean and should give them money’ themes, which are often presented at other sessions of this type. But after a while of asking them to talk about their ideas of the other sex and their interactions, they began to actually open up about the stresses of being expected to provide money (for boys) and the stresses of having to do so much of the work (for girls) and it turned into a good session. I hope we can replicate that at the actual conferences.

The second part of the training involved splitting male and female peer educators into groups and having them do a daily schedule, like a generalized outline of what their day looks like. When they finished, they were to do one for the other sex as well. We didn’t actually get that far because we ran out of time, but we will continue next time. When they are finished we will compare schedules and talk about some of the misconceptions and what they involve, and that is the end of the gender training. After that we will do a session on thinking about future plans and careers, and a session on health, and then it will almost be time for the first conference.

Today I have my first session with my business group, which should be interesting. I am working with kids that are maybe 10 to 12 years old, for half an hour or so twice a week, so I need to scale down my expectations of what we will be able to accomplish. Also, I need to do it all in local language, which is still a difficult thing, especially for specialized topics. Anyway, today we will think up some ideas together and do some brainstorming, and see where that leaves us.

I am running in the mornings again, and though it is touch and go each day whether I make it out of bed or not, I’ve only missed a few days. Last night as I was laying in bed I started dreaming of ultimate frisbee and the feeling of sprinting down the field after a disc, flying through the air to catch it. Its exhilerating and my arms and legs still twitch when I dream of it. I miss ultimate and I miss Aikido, both of which were substantial parts of my life at one point, and both of which I would like to return to in one form or another. To do either well though I might have to give up the other, so we will see what happens when I go back home, which is in more than a year, so no need to ponder too hard.

I don’t really read a lot of books these days. I used to go through a book every few days or so, especially in Guinea, but here I haven’t as much, especially since IST. During IST and after I was caught up with a book of Robert Frost’s poetry, and after that I revisited Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, but beyond that I haven’t been reading much. Part of that is because I have a stack of The Economist that I have been working my through and a book of crosswords when I can’t handle any more of the The Economist’s witty writing style. But those will shortly give out, so we will see if I return to novels. The pendulum is always swinging.

I deal with offers for someone to find me a Nigerienne wife on a nearly daily basis, and you may remember that in Guinea there was a bit of culture shock over my teenage neighbors bathing in front of my house, but I yesterday I ran into the what might have been the most forward proposal so far. I was walking back from work and was greeted by a student, who then, after walking with me for a while, grabbed my hand and then, at the entrance to my concession, asked if she could come into my house. Now that may not seem like a big deal, but we’ve had it drilled into us here that you don’t go into someone’s house if you are of the opposite gender and you are alone, so it was a bit awkward. I wasn’t about to let her come in, but I didn’t have an excuse, so I just said I was tired and going to rest. You can imagine how uncertain it can be, because you don’t want to be rude, and so you can’t assume that she was being out of line, but she probably was, and you certainly can’t let her come in, because then, even if she just wants help with English, because then the whole village will be talking and you lose a lot of credibility. So, just an illustration of the difficulties of navigating the cultural gap.

I’ve had a pretty intense week, with many meetings and launchings and strange encounters. Tomorrow I present my girl’s business club to the primary school (in Zarma). Yesterday I met with a groupement who is partnering with an NGO to distribute sheep, but 18 of their 69 sheep have died of disease, so it isn’t going well. That was, for some reason, in the hottest part of the day, and as soon as it was over I hustled to the mayor’s office to meet with some women from Rotary International who put a library together. Then I had a couple of hours to rest before going out for dinner and having a meeting with the scouts to explain several projects that I want to do. It was crazy, but I feel pretty good about everything. We will see how it works out.

Soon I hope to post some project plans, and maybe keep a running list of projects that I am running up on this blog. I have taken to making fairly detailed plans, because if you assume things will happen without setting dates, they won’t. Even though the dates are certain to change, it helps to have targets. Also, they make everyone feel like things are happening during the slow times.

What else? My Zarma must be improving, because people have shifted from saying I don’t understand it to making fun of how I pronounce things. It doesn’t bother me, I can’t help laughing when they speak in English, and it isn’t at all malevolent. I haven’t seen my cat in over a day. She could be out ranging or she could have met an unfortunate end that is all too common here. I don’t think I will get another one if she has died though, it will have been the second cat I’ve lost, and it is just too difficult to be responsible for them.

Its funny what one phrase can do. I have been pretty happy with my life, but the other day one of my friends told me that I don’t walk around in the village and greet people like the old volunteer, and suddenly I was back to feeling like I wasn’t being a good volunteer. But I’ve managed to shrug that off. There’s only so much that you can adapt, and you have to find a balance that works for you and for your community, and that involves compromise. Plus my walking around to greet people is increasing as I develop more friends in village, though I don’t go out during the hot part of the day much.

Anyway, I am headed to Niamey on Sunday to write up some stuff and do a bunch of errands, so I should post again on Monday.

I’ve said this before, but Peace Corps life is full of some amazing ups and some very difficult lows. Today, in fact this whole week, but especially today, has been one of those amazing ups. To start with, yesterday I talked to the Director of the primary school and floated several ideas that he backed enthusiastically. Then I ran into the kindergarten teacher, who also runs the newly constructed (in the vice mayor’s office) library courtesy of the rotary club (thanks also for bringing me fruit!), who was also positive on another small project I want to do.

Then today I met with my counterpart and we detailed out a whole series of projects that go far beyond the youth projects that I have been planning. I left feeling pretty good, but then I managed to actually have a whole conversation in Zarma, and elevated my day to near-super status.

As a result I actually feel a little over extended, but I think with work I can make everything happen. Here is the list of projects we hope to make happen in the next six months.

• Youth Entrepreneur Groups: Two groups, one for primary girls and one for middle school, each meeting twice a week to learn how to start and run a small business.  At the end of school they can submit a business plan to seek funding, which is then repaid over the summer while the business operates.
• Youth Conferences: A set of six conferences, three for girls and three for boys, focusing on addressing gender roles and exploring career possibilities.  The conferences will be in different villages and taught by peer educators.
• Kids Reading Club: A weekly reading and discussion group for young children.
• Computer Trainings: A series of two day workshops on different Office topics and targeted at the staff of the mayor’s office.
• Commune Web Site: Development of a web site for my commune, as well as instruction on the maintenance and updating of the site, particularly for tourism.
• Producers Cooperatives: Formation and instruction of producers cooperatives designed to pool resources, raise profits, and teach business skills.

Each of these projects will need a lot of planning time, not to mention preparation of material, the meetings and sessions themselves, and everything else that goes with creating a new project (and in a different language).  I think, if staggered correctly, all of these should be possible without too much of a time crunch.  Of course, this is West Africa, where things happening as planned is the exception more than the norm, but I don’t think having nothing to do will be a problem for a while.

On another note, I had a temporary falling out with a friend after he said, “I am going to f**k this girl.”  He was referring to a girl that had stopped by to say hi and didn’t understand English, which made it an unoffensive thing to him.  Since he is supposed to be an upstanding youth, I was surprised to hear him say something like that.  It would have been less bad somehow if he wasn’t make fun of her while she was there.  Anyway, I didn’t react well and told everyone to leave.

I suppose it is partly my fault, I am generally open and encouraging of talk about who people like or think is attractive, about ideas of love and marriage and children, and all of those ‘edgy’ things.  This may have given him the idea that it is okay to be crass and disrespectful of women around me.  But since he doesn’t see it as being disrespectful anyway, further conversations about it have not been easy.  Anyway, there’s a little bit of cultural exchange for you.