(email on July 27, 2005)

Hello All - 

It's been a while since I've sent the "mass email" out, so I figure it's time to send one out again.

As some of you may have heard, Niger, which was hit by a poor harvest followed by swarms of locusts in various regions last year, is in a bit of a food crisis.  Not to worry too much for me personally, as I am well-provided for by Uncle Sam.  For the villagers of my village, things are spread a bit thin - food is higher-priced than its been in over 20 years (so I've heard via rumors - 30 000+ fcfa, or more than $60 for a 100kg [220+ lb] bag of millet - which is quite a bit for subsistence-level farmers, as you can imagine) - but they are not starving there as I've heard in news reports from other areas of the country. The hardest hit areas were those that experienced the double-whammy of virtually no harvest coupled with the locust infestation - regions further north than myself, in Ouallam, Tahoua, Dakoro, and along that band.  From what I hear, NGOs are swarming some of the hardest-hit areas and bringing some much-needed, though in some cases too-late, relief.

The best news is the rainy season seems to my untrained eyes to be doing pretty well this year.  This past weekend, I traveled east to see a gaggle of friends in Zinder, and in so doing, passed through a bunch (5 of 7) of the regions of the country, where the millet (THE staple here in Niger, as it can actually grow in this harsh climate) is doing much better than it is doing in my own region of Gotheye.  So that's good.  Admittedly, I passed through a more southern band than the hard-hit areas mentioned above, but the people I talked to who are posted more further north said that the millet was coming along nicely in their areas.  Though I will admit that it was strange to be in a bus today and witness food aid being handed out in a roadside market to presumably-hungry villagers.  For much of my life, that's been such an abstract concept; now it's strikingly immediate.

In my village for much of the time since my In-Service Training, I have been doing the day-to-day work of the people - working in the fields all morning, first planting, then weeding the millet fields - then often resting from tiredness for much of the afternoon.  I have nothing but awe and respect for these Nigeriens that go out in the early morning, weed their fields all day, and don't come back until nearly sunset, especially in the baking heat.  This is the season the men really work hard to provide food for their family, while the women continue to work hard as they have been doing all year long, pounding millet, tending to children, pumping water, planting peanuts, okra, sesame, and other plants, cooking meals, etc, etc, etc...  I can't imagine living fully the life they live, the living hand-to-mouth, or worrying how the price of food might make it impossible to eat regularly - it is humbling to be around people who accept this as their lot, and yet they sally forth every day with more aplomb than I can ever manage to muster when faced with the prospect of even a few hours' weeding.

Most recently, I got back from Zinder, where this past weekend there was a get-together of PCVs (otherwise known as a "party").  I had boatloads of fun, and I even managed to take in a few of the sites.  The market is much more low-key than the mostly-overwhelming Niamey markets, but big enough than I can vanish into the crowd much more than I can do at my local market at Dargol (being the only white person in a 20-km radius makes one a bit conspicuous) without being hassled terribly.  And I got to visit my friend Tiger's village in the bush around Zinder (he is actually a human being, not a physical tiger).  Out there is Hausa-land, so my Zarma - poor as it is - was almost no help.  It was interesting to have those feelings of utter helplessness and incomprehension much like I had upon my arrival in Niger 6+ months ago (holy cow - already a half-year has been ripped away) - and to see how much more OK I am with trying to wing it (one of the best interactions in the market was to grab what I wanted, then pull a coin out of my pocket, hoping it was the right amount - and being right! - with no need for words whatsoever).  So I'm glad I got to see my "anassara" friends again; now only another month-and-a-half until the newest group of PCTs gets sworn-in as PCVs, and my friends will come west to Niamey and we can see each other once more.

Other than that, I'm ready to get back to my village - it feels like its been a long time since I was there, and I'm missing seeing my friends a little bit and itching to see them and speak some Zarma again.

So, I should be in Niamey for another day or so, then hypothetically again in late August (one of my teammates' birthdays [Alicia's] is 26 August, so I might come in to Niamey again then).  I'm working on responding to letters, so if I've received one from you within the past month or so, "Inshallah" ("if God wills it") you should be getting a response within the next month or so.

Keep yourselves healthy, wealthy, and wise, and let me know how your lives are going - just drop a quick note my way.

Note: my first batch of pictures has been received back home in MN - I'm working on my dad to get him to post them online somehow so that all can enjoy them.

If you look at the "Photos" section of the website, there's one up presently of me at my Swear-in, and there may be another soon from Zinder this past weekend.

- Michael

Corps de la Paix
Gotheye, Niger    www.redmanfamily.net/Peace_Corps
West Africa