The Week That Was

I’m sure far too many of you remember the British TV show called, That Was The Week That Was.  It took an irreverent look at the news of the week.  Well here’s TWTWTW from Sally and Elgin in Niger. 

Our week was a tad different here than it would have been if we were in Edina, MN.  For starters, it was warmer here, and no snow.  Now I have been accused of whining about the Niger heat but the “cool” season we are in now is not that bad.  It still gets into the lower 90’s during the day but it got down to 69 last night.  The lower morning temps plus a morning wind makes our prayer time on the hill sweat free.  So I’ve quit complaining about the heat.  Now the Yahoo headline for Niamey today is “Widespread Dust.”  I can’t remember a weather headline like that for Edina.  So I will whine about the dust in the air.

Last Sunday, Sally and I visited the CURE Hospital.  They had a team in from the US that was doing operations on cleft pallets and clubfeet.  Sally and I just sat in the waiting room and played with the kids.  One little boy had normal back teeth but the front teeth grew vertical rather than horizontal all exposed up to his nose.  Sally brought a bottle for blowing bubbles and I swear this little boy and the other kids that gathered were no different than other kids.  Yet here they were waiting to be evaluated for what must be a series of operations.  We have wonderful grandchildren but I had thoughts about bringing one of these kids home.

Monday we were getting ready for the Yard Sale.  This is a big deal.  Over the years the departing missionaries have left behind furniture and other items that they either didn’t want or expected to claim at a later date.  Actually for many of them it is not stuff that was left “over the years” it is stuff that has been left for years and years.  Much of it is stored in closets and storage containers that are not dust proof, some has even been left outside.  You wouldn’t find any of this in a yard sale at home.  There are non-working refrigerators, ovens, washers, water heaters, old computer monitors, linen, junk, and more junk.  No one wants to get rid of anything because replacing it is so difficult.  Yet it accumulates.  We raided every hiding place on the center for things and now have the world’s largest yard sale.  Who will buy it, I don’t know?  None of it would sell in Edina.

Then on Thursday I talked with Mahamad.  Mahamad is from a village in northern Mali.  Got an education, became a Christian, and now is a Bible translator for his people group.  He wants them to have the Bible, not just in a book, but also on tape, in movies, and face to face.  To do this he needs to do what we used to do in Young Life, “earn the right to be heard.”  Due to drought and dried up wells he learned that people in his home area had to walk 30 kilometers every day to get water, they were spending all day getting water, getting water was their whole life.  So he got a guy who worked here at the center in the past to raise some money for him and built a well.  Talk about changing someone’s life.  He now wants to dig wells, by hand, with resources from Niger or Mali.  It’s his goal in life. 

The road he traveled on all day to get there.

The water carriers get their first local drink.  More Pictures to come.

On a side note…  My daughter, Michele, posted a video that says that it would take $20 billion to solve the worlds water problems.  We spend $450 billion a year on Christmas in the US.  Go figure.

Friday, Sally and I baby sat for the Wrights.  The Wright family is kind of like a combined Holderness/Scheuerman family, all ages, all blond, all full of energy and intelligence, and all engaged in some project or other.  This Friday the parents were going to a school Xmas party so we watched 13 kids from ages 3 to 16.  A ten-year old girl was having a bunch of girls over for a sleep over.  We watched a Narnia movie and the two 3 and 4 year old girls sat on my lap and asked questions.  Between my poor hearing, the movie dialog being in ancient English, and the slight speech impediment of these two girls I couldn’t understand a thing.  For a while I tried to answer their questions but then fell back to alternating between two grunts, Un huh and I don’t know.  We were lucky to be there.  Made me miss my own grandkids though.

Saturday Sally and I joined the Niamey Crash Diet; you don’t actually join it, it joins you.  It is a very effective weight loss program. There are side effects however.  Head aches, stomach cramps, extreme boredom watching the four walls of the salle de bain, and a total lack of energy to such a degree you don’t even go out into the “widespread dust” storm.  Sally is better but I am up typing this blog because I can’t sleep.

We rallied Saturday night to go to the SIL Christmas Party.  28 of us, half Wrights, gathered in one of the conference rooms for games, food, songs, and presents.  It was a very nice evening.  We sang the Twelve Days of Christmas, Niger style.  We don’t have all the words but some of them were…

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

One Black Bag on a Mango Tree

Two beggers begging

Three honking taxis

Four donkeys beaten

Five prayer calls

Six slurping solas

Seven spitting camels

Ten biting mosquitos

Get the idea?

OK, get into teams

What would we do without Minute to Win It?

Well that was the week that was.  Can’t wait for the next and it already is the next one since our Internet went out for a couple of days.  It is now Wednesday and we are both over our Diet Plan.

Have a great week.

For a wake up call go to:    [Advent Conspiracy] Enter the Story 2011.