Sights and Sounds of Niger

You got to hear of my arrival, but not of my actual stay in Niger! I will just share a few pictures and thoughts...
Niger, being closer to the Sahara Desert (Actually the desert is IN Niger), the landscape and animals are more..."desert-like" :)


Camels....



Donkeys...















A village church we attended before our car breaking down...













I stayed in Niamey, with a missionary family: The Persenaire-Hogeterps. They were great hosts. My goal in traveling to Niger was to see what is going on in the area of Christian Education, meet with key leaders in the movement, and discuss possibilities for capacity building.

I visited SIM Education Department (another missionary agency), who, among many things, is assisting kindergarten teachers in creating their own resources for their classrooms.


















Cornerstone is a national organization of Christian teachers looking to apply biblical principles in Education. One of their projects/goals/dreams is to have a model school which provides fully integrated Christian Education.





This is the core group of Cornerstone.





This is Mrs. Halima, the kindergarten teacher. She is enthusiastic and passionate about meeting the needs in her class.


Here are some of the children in her class...


I got to visit giraffes! Just outside of Niamey is the last group of wild giraffes in West Africa. We hired a guide to drive us around, and then got to get a little up close and personal too!




I participated in an appreciative inquiry for a church that had started a school in a village, but has had some problems in continuing the project. This church in Niamey partnered its members with children in a village who then are sponsoring those children to go to school! It was a beautiful picture of how the church in Niger is reaching out.



This is one of the activities of the inquiry. The group was to make a map of the village, plotting physical places, but also trying to highlight relationships between the school and the village.


And, one of my highlights, was the Roundtable follow up meeting. Representatives from schools all over the country, and church stakeholders came together to discuss the way forward for Christian Education. This is what we asked for prayers for. God is faithful, and the conference resulted in good listening and sharing. A committee to look into forming a national association for Christian Schools was set in place. This committee was also mandated to look at the proposal for a Christian teacher training Center in Niger!



This was the group who met....


And a reporting session, where we dialogued about the "sickness" and "remedies" for Christian Education in Niger.


My trip back into Nigeria went like this:
4:30am Leave for bus station
6:00am Bus leaves Niamey for Konni (border town)
11:00am Bus arrives in Konni
11:15am A pastor came to pick me up on his motorcycle. I spent the day with him and his family. I got to sleep under the stars - as it was so hot that night.
7:00am Taxi arrives to take me across the border and into Nigeria to the airport.We spent about an hour at the border.
11:00am Arrived at the Sokoto airport, bought the LAST ticket to Abuja.
2:00pm Flew from Sokoto to Abuja
3:00pm Arrived in Abuja, took a taxi home!

Space for God

So there is this book that I have had on my shelf for years that has come highly recommended by those who have read it. It’s called “Space for God” by Don Postema. It’s basically a book of reflections, study and practice of spirituality and prayer.

I have finally opened it earlier this week. Am excited for all there is to reflect on..

I wanted to share one of the poems I read inside this morning that touched me. I think making space for God, in theory is a great idea. But practically, not so easy.

COVENANT
God
knocks at my door
seeking a home for his son.

Rent is cheap, I say.

I don’t want to rent. I want to buy, says God.

I’m not sure I want to sell,
but you might come in to look around.

I think I will, says God.

I might let you have a room or two.

I like it, says God. I’ll take the two
You might decide to give me more someday.
I can’t wait, says God.

I’d like to give you more,
but it’s a bit difficult. I need some space for me.

I know, says God. I’ll take it. I like what I see.

Hm, maybe I can let you have another room.
I really don’t need that much.

Thanks, says God. I’ll take it. I like what I see.

I’d like to give your the whole house
but I’m not sure....

Think on it, says God. I wouldn’t put you out.
Your house would be mine and my son would live in it.
You’d have more space that you’d ever had before.

I don’t understand at all.

I know, says God, but I can’t tell you about that.
You’ll have to discover it for yourself.
That can only happen if you let me have the whole house.

A bit risky, I say.

Yes, says God, but try me.

I’m not sure---
I’ll let you know.

I can’t wait, says God. I like what I see.

----Margaret Halaska.

Rescuing the Next Generation...Now or Never!

This is the theme banner of the ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) Leadership Conference held in Abuja on April 23,24.

Representatives from ACSI Africa came as conference speakers: Director Samson Makhado (bottom, right) spoke on the essentials of a Christian School, and an overview of Christian Education in the continent of Africa. Teacher and principal Greg Stokell (bottom, left) spoke about biblical worldview as a framework for school leadership, as well as the implications of biblical worldview in the classroom.



We fellowshipped and worshipped together,















learned and prayed together,




This teacher (above)is taking part in an exercise demonstrating an alternative teaching method, using different coloured hats to get students to express ideas from a variety of perspectives. Most classes in Nigeria are limited to a concept being presented by the teacher writing a note on the board, and the students copying it. Demonstrating and having teachers practice alternative strategies encourages them to see that these can be applied in their own classrooms as well.
The topic here was abortion. When someone wears the yellow hat, they are allowed to express what people might consider to be "advantages" to abortion. Wearing a different coloured hat gives students opportunities to share "facts", "disadvantages", "opinions", "what the Bible has to say", etc...


Here are various members of the steering committee who put this initiative into action...



Mrs. Yakubu (left) is a proprietress of a primary and a secondary school. Mrs. Mokuolo (right) is the proprietress of a primary school. They both reside in Abuja. They are very interested in exploring ways to have meaningful Christian Education in their schools.



Rex (above) is what we call a "teacher candidate". This means someone who is looking for a job. He has been visiting the Daniel Center and showing interest in this movement of Christian Education. He went and delivered invitations to schools, and is sitting on the Steering Committee for Christian Education in Abuja. And, believe it or not, the day before the conference, he was offered a teaching position! God is good!

Note: The pictures of me are on someone else's camera... So you will have to wait until I am back in Nigeria to share some of those!

A Roadside Adventure

Many people say that travelling by road in Africa is an adventure. I don't always pray for adventure on the road, usually its for protection and a safe journey. We certainly prayed this prayer as we left Abuja, Nigeria at 5am on Saturday morning. Final destination: Niamey, Niger Republic. This is usually a 2 day journey. The first leg would take us from Abuja to Sokoto (via Kontagora, Niger State) is a LONG journey - about 10 hours. The roads are generally good, except for one road that is paved with potholes for over 100 kms. Then the plan was to spend the night in Sokoto, drive the last hour to the border in the morning, cross, and meet our missionary host who would take us the final 5 hours on to Niamey.
God had a different plan in mind. Let me tell you what ACTUALLY happened...

Our trip to Kontagora state was good. We arrived before noon to pick up the rest of our passengers, and greet our fellow missionaries at Warari Bible School. On we pressed to Sokoto...

We were supposed to stay in Sokoto...but after checking a couple places they said that most places were full because it was weekend. They suggested we press on to the border town (Illela) that there was accomodation there. There wasn't. They said there was accomodation on the other side in Niger. So we pressed on. It was dark by the time we left the border and then had to find a place. It was kind of shady, but they were willing to let us pay in naira (that is Nigerian currency. The currency in Niger is CFA), and we didn't know anywhere else to go anyways. The doors to the room locked, and I'd brought my own sheet, net, and towel, so I was fine.

In the morning we left in a hurry because we finally got ahold of Henry, our missionary colleague, who was picking us up...he actually was staying in a nicer place 2 minutes away!! (We couldn't get ahold of him that night).

Here is a picture of some scenery along the way...



On the way, we stopped at a village church for service, and to see the Christian school there. This is a two room school started by the pastor of this village.





About 30 minutes later, our engine cut out. We were in the middle of nowhere.





Desert... The next town was about 25 kms away. It seemed that the radiator had sprung a leak, that would not even hold water for us to go bit at a time (nor did we even have enough water to do so).

Ok, so you are not going to believe this, but not 15 minutes later, a missionary Henry knows (SIM director) drives by!!!! In a pickup. And he stops.






















He's got a tow rope, and is willing to tow us on to the next town! He finds us a mechanic and then continues on his journey. So we wait in Dogun Doutchi (the name of the town) for a few hours while they fix the radiator. It is SCORCHING hot...all we do is sweat, and sweat.

And make friends with a few children and adults who are watching us with interest.





No water is cold enough to bring relief...This missionary group (SIM) that we met actually has a house in the town that he offers to let us sleep in should it get to late to travel on. Our time limit was 4pm. We don't have any money in the right currency remaining. We search all over town for someone who will change dollars. Noone. We finally find someone who will change naira. We pay off the mechanic. At 4:05 the truck is ready and we continue on (Still 3 more hours till Niamey). Yipee!

Not 40kms down the road, the truck engine cuts out again.
This time we are in a little village. No missionaries drive past this time. But the villagers are finding us a rather curious sight. Henry can speak Hausa, so we are fine to communicate the problem. While there, we meet a guy who speaks English and spent a number of years in Nigeria. He goes off to find a mechanic for us. By about 6pm, the mechanic arrives ad gets to work. The radiator split in the exact same place as before.



This mechanic we were not too sure about. He is fixing the radiator with super glue, then a layer of ash. Then super glue and cotton, then super glue and ash, then soap and charcoal! During this time, I have made friends with all the village children who are having a blast as I take pictures of them and show them on my digital camera.





A duststorm comes and goes. The chief of the village comes to greets us and tells us if it is too late to travel on that we can sleep in the mosque! He also offers his house/hut. By 8:30pm we are on the road again. We have paid this mechanic the rest of our CFA currency. We stop every 40 kms to make sure there is no leak. We make it to the next town that has accomodation, and spend 30 minutes driving around trying to find any.

By 10pm we have a place (nicer than the night before) and crash.

This morning, we get up and search all over town for a place to change money so we can pay our hotel bill. We go to 4 different places, including banks and they are not willing to trade dollars. We finally meet an "Alhaji Mohammed" in a hardware store who trades - at a good rate at that too! We pay our bill, and are on the road again!

Thank God...no more wahala (this is a Hausa word for "trouble"). We finally arrive in Niamey 11:30am...

God is good. He kept us safe and together, using the most unexpected people in the most unexpected places. I pray my next 3 weeks will not be quite so packed with adventures!!!

For the Love of Children - Teacher Seminar

These past weeks, I had the privilege of participating in a teacher's seminar organized by a group of teachers/parents passionate about Christian Education.



The seminars were led by Ko Spyksma, a volunteer from British Columbia. God has blessed her with the gift to relate well with her students (in this case her students were Nigerian teachers).



Here Ko is demonstrating how a lesson can be interesting with limited resources...such as using garbage!



This was our classroom for the week...



The seminar encouraged teachers to see their jobs as callings from God. They were challenged to see God's CREATION as the foundation for curriculum. They were challenged to see their children as image bearers of God, and love them accordingly. They were challenged to think, and to make their students think beyond rote memorization "knowledge".



The teachers learned that they can learn from each other, and so can their students...






They got to draw, an unusual practice in Nigerian classrooms. Here the teachers drew collaboratively to illustrate different creation principles. Can you figure out what this one might be??



















And finally, a VERY important part of seminars in Nigeria...the CERTIFICATE!




















My biggest prayer now would be that teachers would take what they have learned and actually bring about transformation in their classrooms, and in the lives of the children! Anna is one of such teachers:

A Peek into A School

In the past few weeks I have visited a number of schools, and hope to add a few reflections. Today, I will leave you with some pictures and short videos. I hope you enjoy! The first clip is of a marching band that was referred to in my March prayer letter. The children in most school meet before classes start for morning assembly. The students line up according to their classes and once the meeting is over, they march according to their grades into their classes to start the day. Today, the march was done as the children sang, "Oh When the Saints Go Marching In".

(Unfortunately, I am having problems, uploading the video. Hopefully it will come shortly.)

Here are the marching band participants..



This girl is busy writing out her numbers from 1 to...100 (or maybe more) in her math notebook. Each child has a notebook for each subject area. A good amount of time is spent copying questions and notes from the board and then answering them.



Here is a student with the teacher assistant sitting behind him. The bulletin board in the background has the children's names posted with the title "I am Royal" posted underneath.



Children are waiting for the rest of their class to finish their lunches so that they can continue with their lessons.

Welcome to my home...for now...

Hello all...well, I am here in Abuja, and thought I would give you a bit of a picture of my life here for now.
This is the Daniel Center. This center is a meeting place for people from all walks of life who come together to dialogue about Biblical worldview and how it affects every aspect of life: church, home and family, politics, workplace, and EDUCATION (that's where I come in). The ground level is the Center, and my apartment is upstairs, where I am staying temporarily.




Here is a picture of some of the staff at the Daniel Center. Kasimu (standing,left) is one of our security men. Martha (center) is our admin. assistant. David (right) is the security guard from next door. They are sitting outside of our compound.



Come on in...Welcome to the Daniel Center!



This is the entrance to my office, where I have put up a display of some of the books donated.



Upstairs, I am blessed to have a cook/cleaner assisting me. His name is Elisha...he makes DELICIOUS meals!




Here are some dear friends of mine. Fedora (left), Deve (center), and Daishaun (right) are posing with their news bibs from "Grandma Canada" (that would be my mom!)