Close of Service!

Saying goodbye to my friends and now family in Korop was the toughest thing to do in all of my service. Cockroaches, no problem, illness, whatever, flies and mosquitos, so long. The 600 people living in the village treated me like a daughter, a sister, a friend. Leaving them behind, never knowing what it will be like the day I return, was my biggest challenge. Thankfully there is another super volunteer living and laughing with them. We correspond via email and I hear this year the women's garden was a success and the village has finished a brand new well that I started a few months before my departure. Some food, some money and some clean water and deep rooted friendships. We all gained at least those things.

Unfortunately I have no pictures of the womens garden and my last days in the village, yet. I trusted a bag of mine to the systems of West Africa and well, West Africa Wins Again... Maybe someday my tailored clothes and my 25+ year old Marmot sleeping bag will show up. A friend is sending my pictures. InshaAllah...

Never going to forget my Peace Corps pals. Now I've got a friend in about every state! Guess it's almost time to tour my own country...

Haoua Noma was a vital part to my successful service. Her door was always open, her words always encouraging.

Natalie, Liz and I had somegreat times together in Niger and I'm sure they'll continue here in the land of plenty.

A month at mercy to the roads of West Africa... Matt and I spent hours on buses, sometimes in seats, sometimes on the floor, in open backed trucks, only to be covered in orange dust, but it was all worth it.

A mud mosque in the bustling river town of Mopti, Mali where we began our Dogon trek.

This man makes wooden and wire flour sifters for a living. Looks like he's stocked up and ready for business.

Baobab trees were all over the place in Mali.

A mens meeting place on our way out of the first village.

In the hills they dwell

The wells in Mali are quite a bit different than those in Niger.

Yes, I do hike in skirts! No problem.

A cool little place to sleep in our guide, Yassufs village.

And the view from the sleeping balcony. These are either graineries, burial caverns or dwellings. Yassuf wasn't the greatest english speaker... but it was all beautiful.

The oddest looking bar tender I've ever encountered serving up fresh, warm, sour millet beer. Aaah refreshing!

Oh thank God for Ghanaaaaah

We spent 2 weeks lounging, reading, swimming, body boarding, reading and (I) losing at ping pong. Met a lot of great people from all over the world.

Out of Accra, Ghana to Manhattan. Talk about overwhelming and culture shock. Our first stop was Paddy Reilly's Irish pub where we stopped the music and got a couple free pints of the best tasting Guiness EVER! A wonderful welcome home.

GO YANKEES! GO REDSOX!!! WEEEHEEHEEW I DON'T CARE! Matt bought tickets for us in the right field bleachers which is where the wild ones are.... so much fun!

TRex, gonna getchya. We spent hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Natural History Museum. I could've spent days in those places. We also got to meet up with a few Peace Corps friends too!

Champagne and clean clothes? Yes yes yes! Getting ready for a wild night on the town. We went to a pool party where you could order and be served... while in the pool, amazing. Danced and got some karaoke-ing in there too.

I waited in the lines and hustled to the top of the Empire State building. I just couldn't pass the chance up for the view. Breath-taking.

We packed up again and hit the subway, leaving ourselves a decent amount of time to get to the airport. Oh no, of course the train stopped and remained that way for about 45 minutes while we invoked our Nigerien patience and prayed for an alternative. We ran to our gate and made the very last flight out of New York to Burlington. Thank Allah... Always, think positive cause ya just never know.

Matt, make sure and show your kids this someday...

Hi Yo!!! Lets ROLL!

Hung out in Burlington, Vermont for about a week and a half. So rural, much slower pace of life and got in my first game of frisbee golf, which I plan on continuing here in Oregon this summer. Met Matt's wonderful friends and family. So nice to shake hands and share hugs with names I've heard about for the last two years. Took a road trip with the Grafs up to Montreal, Quebec where Matt attended McGill University. Beautiful city, beautiful campus. Much different than where I spent my 4 years of college. Lucky guy.

Home sweet home! I've missed you Oregon!

My good friend Kudi, Nana's (may she rest in peace) best friend, had a healthy baby boy and the naming ceremony took place two days after we arrived in village!

Mom doing her favorite activity...holding babies!!! She only got peed on once.

Rabi, Mom and I. Two very strong women in my life :) Outside the Grand Mosque in Niamey.
A warm welcome.
No spitting, Mom and I took a little trip on Garba's camel.

Yeah.......this is the one we're gonna have to take if we'd like a boat ride. Mom clutched to the bow, I bailed and ray steered. No schisto, no no dumping over, no problem.
Still thinking about it? Yes, don't worry it will be fun!!!
Row, row, row your boat!!! Good thing there's no pirhanas in here :)
Sun is shining and the rana (sun) is sweet.
Matt sludges through so we don't have to, and puts our boat back in it's home. What a nice guy.
After a boat ride, garden tour and stop at the new and improving village well, back to the gida for lunch.
Five women from the group in Korop came along and did a tofu making demonstration for the Women's Group in Rawfi.
Had no idea Halilou (far left) would be leaving for Exode in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire before I return from Niamey until I walked out of the village.
Mom shows these two girls coming back from work in the bush their picture.
Time to say goodbye. Pretty sure Ray shook every single hand on the way out :)
... and we depart the same way we arrived, about 3.5 miles from the road where we waited for an hour or more for transport to Konni... "Allah shi kawosu mota" or "May God please bring you a car" everytime anything with an engine that looked remotely decent passed, said Rabi.
It's tradition... a burger and a cold beer after time in the bush.

A morning at the National Museum making batiks to take back home. They are all beautiful scenes from Korop...

When you go, you know.
YESSS!!! A few nights at the Gawaye (pronounced ga-way Ray:) )Looking west out over the National Museum and part of down town.
... adventure, tests of patience, bone jarring bus rides, hot hikes through the bush, wading through muck, shocking, smelly, smoky, beautiful, naming ceremonies, laughs, kids, tea, art, food...i think you get the picture! So proud to be the one to have shown them this place.

Market Views

Buying sheep for Sallah

Christmas Eve chili...in a cauldron over a fire.
Sunset atop my mesa
Sugar cane sales at the Bazaga market

Leather workers. The man on the left is making a Fulan hat.

This old woman sold me some cloves, great in hot cider!

A pile of hot chili peppers

My Momma made it!!! More photos to come.....

Lately

Lately... the rains have come so it's a good time to hike the mesas that surround my post. This is a shot overlooking Rawfi, Matt's village on a cool overcast day.The women in Korap learned how to make bread on their cookstoves. The women's leader from a fellow PCV's village came out and showed us all a good time.
Hanging out at post and also spending time with good American friends.After the storms roll out they bless us with beautiful views of the evening sky. This little boy followed me out to the fields wondering how I made "lightning" come out of my hoto maker.
A shot looking west. Two graneries frame the tree that grows in the burial grounds.
The women's group in Korap found time to come out and hand plow our garden site. They laughed, and danced, young and old all came to help.
Here are the ladies after we finished our plowing.
Chris Burns, Rabiou my Chief, Haoua Petite and myself. Chris and Haoua came out to the village to see just what I've been up to and I'm proud to say...they are excited about it as much as I am. Chief is too.

Rabi and I on our way back from the fields.
Fulan boys make these little reed flutes and have little jam sessions under a giant neem tree

Teaching english to the young men in Korap while they teach me how to make tasty sweet tea. My wimpy uncaloused hands are getting better at holding those HOT cups.
This is Habsou, a sweet little friend of mine in Korap. One of the regular members of the welcoming committee that is always around to greet me after I've been out on the road.

This woman carries a bundle of millet from last years harvest to be beaten off the stock. This process takes about 5 hours and this bundle will feed a family for about a week.

The young men in Korap put up a hangar where we hold our literacy classes. Taking a little break from that now that it is farming season.

Not anymore, but soccer games were taking place a couple of months ago. Here are the fans in the stans.
The girl on the right is now married. Her husband is about 21 and she is about13. Her and her best friend pose before a mountain of pots that all the women in Korap carried to her new home in Fari.

Just a good shot.

GHANA!

Liz, Natalie and I outside our bungalo at Big Milly's in Kokrobite, Ghana. During breakfast we watched the waves roll in and out and soon after we got in the water. My first time swimming in the ocean and I love it! Amazing how that can be true when the water is clean, warm and gentle. Ate lobster till I could eat no more, had fresh pineapple and coconuts and papayas...I could get used to this life.

Fresh coconut! Samuel knocked this one down from a palm right outside our little hut and machete'd it right up for us.

Our little bungalo in Kokrobite.

Watching these boats go out and come back in each day was an event. They constantly look like they will tip into the waves.

The slave castle in Cape Coast. Canons lined the walls, governors and their wives were buried in the courtyard, Africans once brought in their war prisoners and enemies to be traded into slavery. Captives were kept in small cells with a thickness hanging in the air, large dungeons where hundreds of people were crammed into with one or no windows. When storms came through the coast the windows were directed toward the beach so heavy rains washed through the dungeons. Finally those who were left passed through the Door of No Return onto boats headed for South America, Europe and North America. It was a very intense experience to be in a place still full of strong human energy.

The Door of No Return

The door opens to an area where boats still wait, but now they are fishing boats. A woman looks out over the waves as Cape Coast sits in the background. We took a bush taxi from Cape Coast north to Kakum National Park. The highest point of it was 41 meters above the forest floor. The bridges swung and whined, but I held on tight.

Weaver birds make their nests

Winding vines and enormous trees in the rainforest

A giant spider with dinner all wound up and waiting. This web spanned across the trail...

We took an early morning boat out to an island off the coast of Busua. It was very strange to be in a place where we did not understand the language again. Ghana has over 50 different languages. The men who took us out to the island didn't speak English and we don't speak Ewe, but after one wave washed over our boat and I heard words in rapid fire I realized, you don't need to know exactly what is being said to understand what is going on. We made it out and back to land safe with no mates overboard!

Another castle, this one in Dixcove down the coast from Busua.

Pulling fishing nets in at midday. This is quite a process. It takes the young men about one and a half hours to pull an entire net in. Sometimes children and old women join them in their work. At night we could see specks of light among the waves that were attached to nets fishermen left. A light in a bottle.

Having so much fun! I would definitely not like to be stranded on this island, but it was nice to visit. Two coconut palms and battling with birds for washed up crabs is not my idea of fun...
Not the baracuda I had for dinner but a big fish. By the way, baracuda is wonderful if you ever get the chance.

Busy Bee

As of late I have been quite busy getting projects together and keeping them going.

I bought the materials, the Chief picked them up and now my wonderful friends in the village are busy building the well that will help our Women's Garden grow and Community Tree Nursery flourish. I am so proud of them and so thankful for all of their efforts. In Niger it seems that Allah is throwing obstacles in the path constantly. How far will you go? How patient can you be? For me, very.

Mohammadou and Tsule have been doing grueling work, are tired, but keep on pushing.

Idi, the Chiefs son who loved to make fun of my lack of Hausa in the beginning, is a great friend now and wanted to try his skills at picture taking. Good job!?

With a pair of pliers, some wire and that's about it, Tsule gets it done.

Nasirou and Halisou take a break from their own work to come help out with ours.

Chief and Tsule (Rabi's eldest) ponder on what to do next.

Yes, it's dirty water, but we are still digging out the sand at the bottom. It will run clear soon. Chief re-uses a food aid can to scoop it up.
Yahiya and Ali find something to smile about
Idi mixes up gravel, sand and cement to put into the well mould.

Life in the village continues. This little girl is just beginning the scarification process.
For earth day we gathered up Konni kids and planted trees. We also did environment education sessions and handed out treats. The treat process was quite the fiasco. I have never been so thankful for having walls and a giant metal door around our hostel. Madness...

Rabi is learning ABC's and practicing writing her name. Such a great window has been opened.
Fulan's, Hausa's, men, women, boys and girls all step by as they feel and try a hand at reading and writing.
Of course I continue with my body art. This isn't permanent.

A new group of PCV's was just sworn in. Konni is now...a lot. The dynamics have changed and only for the better. This is the crew I live with, lean on and laugh with. So great to have friends all over America! That just means I have plenty more travelling to do.
Suzannah holds Hanatou our guards daughter. She is the sweetest thing and when you're feeling down there's no better cure.
The road still isn't fixed and the rains are about to come. Hundreds of trucks were stuck for hours waiting for a truck to be moved out of the way. A muddy mess will await Natalie, Liz and I when we return from Ghana.

Home Sweet Home

In preparation for my arrival I had to come home with some type of body art to show off. This henna was put on, washed off and gone over with acid. After a few minutes it appeared on my skin and stayed for a good 3 weeks.















It was really great to see good friends. Before I decided to take the trip home I thought, "I am just going to travel West Africa because I have been in America for soooo long already." Well, after a year it was a relief to land in the northwest. No matter where I go in this world it is important to me to remember where my home really is.














Danny torturing his poor little Gracey with a shovelful of snow.




















Me and Dan, so photogenic it hurts.















What can I say, she is my sunshine!















A cross country ski trip with Dad and Dan...nice on the way in, icy on the way out, but coffee and pie made everything better.

Road Trip...via donkey cart?

Daoui, our fourteen year old donkey cart driver works hard putting Beckam (because he kicks) back where he belongs. Poor kid worked from sunup till moon rise. He didn't complain a bit just fell asleep at the wheel once and went on strike twice!







Daoui beats the donkeys, or puts the pedal to the metal, as an empty market truck passes by.










A Fulan herder pausing in his work to ponder what exactly is weird about this situation. All of it!










No it isn't Gatorade. This water has been filtered three times and is all we had for morning. A harsh change from the sweet, foamy camel milk that we were treated to the night before.











This is the girl that sold the horse at auction and worked very hard at getting all of us to Niamey in one piece during the two weeks we were on the road. Natalie loves Lola!













Cristen Bates, a member of our Konni Tourney Team, had a hard time keeping Lola on the road. The horse liked to wonder off into the bush with the girl and when we heard Cristen cursing and hollering we knew they weren't too far off to worry about.










Our orignial team included White Chocolate. This poor donkey, so weak, so young and so naive to the wild roads was not going to make it to Niamey. I was included in a trade for a real donkey 3 times, but finally we found one and I didn't have to marry a Nigerien.

Pay attention to this important message kids!
















Cristen, Daoui, Alkasoum, Natalie and I were so close to our final destination. Little did we know there would be two more flat tires, one more collapsed donkey and two more walks by moonlight to go. After 16 days on the road and 250 miles we made it to Niamey just after midnight.

Cure Salee

The village of Ingal is approximately 140 kilometers south of Agadez. In the past, once a year clans of Tuaregs would gather in this area to discuss the business of life. Tribal issues would be settled here, trade secrets would be discussed and since Tuaregs marry their cousins and only saw each other this one time each year marriages would be arranged. The Wadabe tribe began to come to this place as well since they had items for trade. The main reason Tuaregs began meeting in Ingal is because the soil and grass around it has a very high salt content which was great for their cows and camels to feed on. The tradition has continued only it has taken on a festival air. There were not a lot of other tourists attending besides ourselves which was very nice.

This Taureg man is a model of success for his people. A strong camel and enough wealth to dress them both up.

The Wadabe men all line up to give a presentation of their mating dance. It takes hours for them to prepare their clothing and makeup. They line up and one by one, chanting and step forward opening their eyes really wide and flashing huge grins at the crowd of women before them. One of the women will choose the man who gets her attention and from that point they are "married". If the women decides at the next Cure Salee she wants a different man, so be it. Good for women's choice, bad for the potential spread of disease.

The crowd. Men on camels surrounded the center of activities.

A festival to get dressed up for.

Wadabe women singing.

Matt and I taking a shot with some Taureg women. I feel so loved!

A lot of important people were coming to this event including Mme. Ambassador who I played volleyball with a few months ago, so security was a must.








The Peace Corps camera crew on top of the Land Cruiser.

Camels on parade. Here there are only two, but most of the time there were up to 30.

Two Taureg men taking in the sights.

The man in the center danced around the area while sawing a machete across his abdomen and tongue. No blood, dull machete? Just a guess, but it was magical.

Obla dee Obla daa...life is goin on!

Rain equals a mucky mess. Waiting at the Bada Gishiri market for my friend Ben.













Give me your shirt! Give me your hat! Give me your sunglasses! Okay, and I'll take a photo too. People can be so nutty sometimes, which is great since I enjoy a good laugh.










The new mosque in Ben's village. A palace compared to the small, uninteresting one in Korap.











My good friend and teammate Ben Grace from Portland, Oregon visiting with some of the men in his village of Foloa.











I don't know what it is, but I love the trees here. They are especially pretty right before sunset in silhouettes. This is a Gao tree. Women here collect the leaves and use them in their sauce. There are days when I want to be a kid again and climb all of these trees, but the last thing I need here is to have a broken limb...ha haaahaaaaa







The fancy cook stoves of Niger. This woman is frying lumps of millet dough, which aren't too bad with soup on the side.











Fhanke, yummmy!













Cristen Bates, one of my teammates and a health volunteer here in Niger, carries her little friend through a very large entry way. This is the doorway for when the camels come home.















Can I sit on top? Waiting for a car, not this one though, as I head back to Korap after a long weekend of visiting teammates in their villages.
These are the long distance bush taxis. Just recently I got the um, pleasure of riding in one for 10 hours!!! From Konni to the bush I usually take a flat bed, open backed truck to my stop.







Looking westward, the walk to Korap from the road is only about 3 miles and right now, beautiful. Lush trees and tall millet. Mesas to remind me of home.










Millet millet millet! Can a girl ever get enough? I am short and this stuff is about 10 feet high. In mid September it will be harvested and stored in grain bins. This years crop, just a single one, will have to last families till the end of next years harvest.














After the rains... One of many instances wading through the road. It's pretty fun here most of the time, but sometimes it can be a real pain. Thankfully this is not the worst of what I've been going through.

Since this is a puddle there are no snails waiting to crawl into my skin, but there are cute little frogs that hop out of the way just in time.





Just to the west of Korap a grove of Eucalyptis trees is a sign that I am almost home. They smell so good and it is a nice little spot to rest at.
















Looking to the northwest, my friend Matt's village is just beyond that mesa. I am standing in the middle of the ever growing river that comes with the rains. This is all sand now, but really flows after a big storm.















...And wonderful people to greet me and welcome me home. This is "Gramma Iggy". She is a strong, fiesty old woman who checks on me everyday, speaks slow, clear Hausa I can understand and does a great job at chasing away the little kids with millet stalks and dropping in to see if I am okay with unexpected visitors. My protector, my angel. My maternal Grandmothers African sister.





Zoueba, Iggy's grand daughter, begins dinner preparations as the setting sun shines on her.












Fulan women weaving lids for calabashes of milk they pile on top of their heads on market day.


















The grasses are collected from the bush and dyed in a cauldron. During the day, after work is finished the women spend hours on intricate designs.
















Haoua looking angelic in the afternoon light...


















The joys of torturing the Chiefs son Billyaminou. He runs screaming everytime he sees me, but this time I got him. I am such a danger. All the tickling and threats of taking him back to America.








I am carrying water now! Me and my friend/teammate Joan just arriving from the well. Pull the water and put the bucket on my head all by myself. Hardly even spilled this time.

Friends and Niamey

Liz and Jason in the magic bus as we prepare to be installed at our posts.













Natalie and I happy to be on the Konni team.














Morning brunch at one of the PC staff members house. Sunday mornings the Accountant serves up magnificent things that have no relation to egg sandwiches or Nescafe. Aaaaaah luxuries.










Enjoying brunch that includes actual table wear and no, that is not Vodka it is ice water.















The youngest Karate class in Niamey. The older classes train by carrying these guys on their backs as they run up and down the street near the stadium. So proud.

Dakar, Senegal

Rest and relaxation


















Time to give the sheep a bath













Fetishes anyone?













Mosque downtown


















Monument by the sea














The place to play and enjoy sunshine world wide













Happy, but there is no way I'm getting in that water. The ocean was beautiful unless you turned around to see the sewage canal leaking into it. Umm no thanks.
























A walk to the sea side gave a hazy view of the city.













Poolside is a nice place to be...












The eyes had me. Saw this little boy outside a talors shop and couldn't resist.

















A very impressive bank













Public transportation














The Grande Mosque by the sea


















The quieter streets of Dakar













The industrial view from my room. A comfy bed, air conditioning and the best continental breakfast of my life.

Into the Bush I Go

One of my favorite shots... this is in Rafi, Matt's village.


















A "school" about an hours walk from my village.
Basically a shelter from the sun, one chalkboard and one book in each subject that the teacher uses. The kids are lucky if they even have a pencil and paper to take notes on.










Tabizo. She looks a little frightening here, but now she is a really good friend of mine. Nigeriens have a thing about smilng for the camera. After the photo she did have a big grin on her face.


















Me and my Chief's first wife, Liba getting ready to go to a naming ceremony in a nearby village.

















At the ceremony we ate millet and sauce and I got sick, but it was good fun to hang out with all those women and hold that cute baby.












The roosters begin to crow at 5, the call for prayer is at 6 and shortly after that the women begin work of pounding the days grain to food. One of the rare mornings I've woken up with the sun and got this great shot of it rising.








My friend Moumoune and the fattest baby in Niger


















My good friend Issiaka and I. He decided to bring over part of his harvest festival costume. In September when the crops are ready and fears of hunger subside we will celebrate with dancing, drumming and singing out in the bush.















Where are we going Chief? Oh, to see a road being built. Hundreds of men, women and children from surrounding villages worked to construct this new road. Women and children carried pots of rocks and dirt on their heads while the men cleared trees and layed it all down. Don't forget it was about 100 degrees out this day.








The neighborhood kids in front of my house. Mohamadou in the middle with the jean shirt has become a regular. Helping me with my tree nursery and taking naps in a quiet concession during the afternoon break.








My sweet little friend Fatima.













I was on a donkey one minute and on this camel the next. Nothing like a nice little ride before a game of evening soccer. My friend Issiaka learned the ways of a digital camera for this shot.










Some of the women at the well.













More mud on my roof since during the first rain I ended up sleeping at my neighbor Rabi's house. Nice and dry inside now.
















In my little hut with Halima, the Hausa women's leader













Still hot season and looking to the west. Beyond those hills is my friend Matt's village.

















Fulani girls preparing a house for the soft flooring of desert sand.













Fulani girls coming to see the new village attraction.












Rabi my best village friend who is so good about looking out for me in the middle with the Jordan shirt. Don't know what I'd do without her help and patience and encouragment.










Here is my Chief Rabiou (middle) and two other villagers as they take me on a tour of the cold season gardens. Millet is front and center.











During the months of January through April villagers do construction work when they are not out in their gardens. This family is building an additional home in their concession. The foundation is being layed, they will stack one chunk of clay on top of the next until they are satisfied with the height. From that point the roof, which has been woven together is put on the walls. After these tasks are completed friends of the wife will come over and pound mud into the floor and finally put a layer of sand over the top. An example of the finished product is in the background. Home Sweet Home.



Abdou and Issiaka, two good friends and the beginning of our tree nursery. During the hot season, villagers had a lot of time on their hands. I taught these two how to play Gin Rumy and they taught me how to be a good goalie during our evening soccer games.





Fulanis make up about one third of my village. These women are preparing millet. First it is pounded to loosen the case around the grain, then it is washed and rinsed several times. This water goes to the animals. The millet is then pounded and sifted into flour. It doesn't take me too long to do now, but these are professionals. They show their skills by clapping numerous times in between pounds.






From the age of about 5 young boys head into the bush to help their fathers with the farming. These boys are irrigating the family's cold season gardening. Between the months of October and February villagers grow tomatos, cabbage, carrots, onions, eggplant, green onions and melons.




My first week at post I spent a lot of time taking portraits. Hard to imagine it could be so special since we get them from the time we are born. Zouera here has put on her best and has an amazing smile that this world needs to see. She is about 12 years old and will be getting married in the next 3 to 4 years.







Making bricks! The men are finishing up my concession wall. They gather mud, sand, millet bran and mix it all up with water. After a couple of days the put the mud into a wooden mold and leave the bricks to dry for a week or so. Then, it's mud on top of mud to complete the wall. A very messy, smelly job.





One afternoon I took a walk out into the bush with my neighbor Rabi. She had to gather firewood for the evenings meal and yes, I have ridden a camel. They snort and growl and spit and are very testy.




A whole month in Karop and I survived. Hitting the dusty trail in the evening to go spend time in Rafi, Matt's place about 5 K away.