Sahelian Dreams...

are all that's left of the latest mission to Niger. Joel and I arrived in Niger, greeted by a flurry of activity in Niamey. After lots of meetings, greetings, and negotiations with old friends, artisans,and taxi drivers, we hopped on a bus to head home to Garin Maigari.

Ibrihim and Muntari have been taking care of the accounting in my absence, and I'm so thankful to call them partners and friends. Joel was introduced to my village, friends, and Chief, then was off to play soccer with the kids! He adjusted in no time at all...except maybe to the food and 120 degree heat and 90% humidity... ;)
It was amazing to have him there and see him interact with my villagers (none of which speak a word of English by the way). He found a way to communicate and they loved him, telling me over and over that "kin iya zabe", in short, "you know how to pick'em."

Joel passed the novice stage of deep sand moto driving after our first trip out, then we were on the road quite a bit. He got to encounter the Seeds of Hope women's groups working in existing project villages, and the new villages we added on this trip. The excitement, and subsequent yodelling screams of glee were deafening to his virgin ears, but he's now quite an expert at his own rendition. We gave our approval to many goats, enjoyed the babies, praised the savings and loan work the women are doing, and heard many thanks as we walked out of each and every meeting. Many of the groups now have over $200.00 in their savings box that is available to them if and when they need a loan. This availability of money alone has opened up a world of possibilities to these women.

The days were long and hot, but flew by, and soon we were on our way out. Yet again, the dreadful goodbyes. Joel's acquired love for my second home was perfect, but unfortunate in that the goodbyes were that much worse. There were more tears shed this time around than any other. Being that most tears were from women who don't even cry during childbirth, it was a hard goodbye.

There really is no place like home, even if it is a mud hut. But I am excited to introduce Azurfa, my fair trade business venture in cooperation with the silver artisans of Niger, to Minnesota and beyond. We are booking home parties this Fall to showcase the incredible silver work and design of the Taureg silversmiths in the form of rings, pendants, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. With the creation of this entity, and with 10% of all profits going to Seeds of Hope Africa, I hope our next journey will be coming up soon. I think Joel is game too...the Amoebic dysentary wasn't thaaaat bad. ;)

Thank you again for all of the donations, gifts, well wishes and support that so many have given to make Seeds of Hope Africa something real for the women and children of Niger. Keep the goats comin', I promise they will make their way to happy, dirty, and very hot home. (And in Niger, that's not a bad thing!) :)


Allah bada alheri,

Zoulleha

Back to Niger countdown- July 24th is coming soon!

Just a quick update after a very busy spring!

I will be heading back to Niger on July 24th. I'm happy to say that my partner Joel will be joining me on this adventure. We will be in Niger from July 24th to August 21st. He is excited to meet the women of Seeds of Hope Africa or Alkawalin Cigiba Mata as we call them in Niger (Women with a Promise for the Future.)
We'll be working on follow up meetings with current groups, and In sh'Allah, if God wills it, we will also be expanding out to another village bringing our total to 11 villages and over 400 women!
It's truly an amazing gift to be able to bring this work to the women of Niger.
Thank you for your contributions.

Zoulleha

Different perspectives...

Talking about the economy with a few girlfriends the other night, I realized how "split" my personality really is...
One of them was talking about how this generation of kids are going to live a different life than past generations in that their parents can't give them everything they want. She looked at me wide eyed when I responded with a "really...I don't know."
Although I see the impact of the economy all around me, I guess I've spent too much time in a mud hut to think of the situation as life threatening. Yes, our reality here may change, and the luxuries we've enjoyed may be fewer, but ultimately most of us will still have food to eat.
Coming from a place where life is always at stake, hope just seems a bit easier to hang onto I guess. We can survive.

A big Thank You to all of you who have donated in these trying times. You're keeping hope alive around the world. We acknowledge you for your generosity and kindness. The people in Niger send their gratitude. "Mun gode!!!"

With hope,
Zoulleha

Ibrihim and Muntari- Meet the SoHA Nigerien Team

As I was riding through the sand, the motorcycle shifting from side to side, I realized that I couldn't think of two people with whom I would rather share this vision. I was wishing that we would get to the next village and that the motorcycle was bigger to accomodate the three of us, but if I did have to be on a motorcycle with two others, I'm glad it was them.

Ibrihim
Ibrihim is the son of the chief of Garin Maigari. When I moved into Garin Maigari 13 years ago, the chief told him "You take care of her." That was the beginning of our friendship, long conversations over tea, trips to the field, question/answer sessions about life in America, and even advice on women since he was married just two weeks after I moved into the village.

Muntari
Muntari is Ibrihim's best friend and therefore became mine as well. He is somewhat of a comedian and when Ibrihim came over at the end of a long day to check in, Muntari was never far behind. Muntari is a true entrepreneur and has acquired a motorcycle, small mud hut "store" in the village, two wives and six kids. (We've had many discussions about birth control and Muntari has assured me that six is enough!)

Ibrihim and Muntari compose our Nigerien SoHA team. They take on the responsibility of checking in on the women's groups in each village and reporting back on their progress. After a long conversation a few days ago, I'm pleased to hear that all is well. Many births, no deaths, and the women are diligently making their monthly deposits into their microfinance savings and loan fund.
Both men passed on the blessings of good fortune from the women and I asked them to pass on my greetings and thanks for their commitment to success of the project.

Muntari said to me, "Zoulleha, na yi mahwelki bisa ga tahiya America", I have dreams of going to America.
I've told them in the past that my dream is to bring them here to visit, meet my family and share this world with them. They understand the challenges of money and time involved and that it will take time to make this dream come true. I'm sure he could hear the longing in my voice when I responded, "Nima Muntare, ina da waccan mahwelki kuma", Me too Muntari, I have that dream too.

Seeds of Hope Africa; Life in a mud hut

Letter to the Editor of the Independent Review;

Waking up to a high pitched little voice yelling "Wayna mai tubshi!", announcing to the village the millet cakes her mother is making and selling, that's how my mornings start. (I can only expect so much from my treasured earplugs.) I stay a few extra moments tucked into my mosquito net, listening to the bustle going on around me and enjoying the cool morning air. As breakfast seekers peer over the millet stalk fence surrounding my yard to see if I'm still sleeping, I quickly close my eyes to savor the last few minutes of tranquility for the day. Once they know I'm awake, the barrage of visitors on their way to the fields and hundreds of curious little eyes eager to watch my every move will descend.

The hut that the chief of the village, my Nigerien father, built me is within his concession/yard. The millet stalk fence surrounding my space is a token separation at best since at any given time I can look up to find each hole in the fence filled with a little face eager to see what Zoulleha is going to do next. I'm excited to say that my latrine is in the process of being constructed and should be done in a couple days. I have just a few weeks left in the village to enjoy this rare luxury in the African bush. There are only two other latrines in my village, one of which was just dug last week. I've been making trips to my friend Muntare's house to use his "facility" when need be.

The Seeds of Hope Africa goat loan meetings have been full of enthusiasm, gratitude, group photos, and irresistible baby goats. We have followed up with the existing women's groups finding that they have taken ownership of the project, solved any challenges that have arisen, and are utterly grateful for the "alheri", goodness, they've received. Many of the groups have taken advantage of the goat loan project caisse, or bank, that each participant contributes to each month. The money is foremost used for goat veterinary needs or replacement in the case of a death, but also for members to borrow for use in income generating activities such as the sale of peanut oil processed from raw peanuts and making/selling millet cakes. The loans are repaid, with interest, and the reserves have grown.

We have named the Seeds of Hope Africa goat loan project Alkawalin Cigaba Mata, a Hausa phrase meaning; women fulfilling the promise of tomorrow.

Ibrihim and Muntare, two close friends from my village, as well as the involved Peace Corps Volunteers, have been instrumental in being our eyes and ears on the ground in my absence. They will be doing meetings every two months with each village and communicating progress reports. The facts that cell phone service is available now, and that Muntare has a motorcycle for transport to each village makes this all possible.

Yesterday, after a less than comfortable ride, three deep on a motorcycle, we arrived at the prospective SoHA villages. We met with the chiefs and gave a brief explanation of the project, then asked the town crier to gather the women. Within an hour, we had the available women gathered on mats under a tree, ready to hear the news. The meetings were met with cheers, blessings, and assurances that they will have the group leaders elected and lists of participants organized by our follow up meeting this coming week. Each group is required to show this initiative in order to receive the funding necessary to buy the goats.

Time is flying by, and sooner than later, I know I will be driving down the lovely, smooth Minnesota roads thinking about these women shouting their blessings and thanks as we get up to leave the village. Each meeting, I share with them that the money for the goats has come from other women, mothers, and families in America who have heard about them and have passed on their hard earned money so that they may live a little better here in Niger. "May God give them goodness and wealth", "May God help them when they need it most", "Give them our thanks", "We thank you", are just a few of the words that follow us as we walk to the motorcycle to pile on and head through the sand to the next destination. So to all of you who have given of yourself to make this all possible, hear those blessings and words of thanks, they are for you.


Sincerely,

Zoulleha



Angela Kieffer
Seeds of Hope Africa
PO Box 50482
Minneapolis, MN 55405
ph# 651-285-4727

www.seedsofhopeafrica.org

To the world you may be one person,
But to one person you may be the world.

To the field with Sayaba

As Ibrihim and Muntari head off in the morning to the market to buy the goats, I trek to the field with Sayaba, Ibrihim's wife of 12 years. She is a fiesty young woman who speaks her mind and enjoys joking around, often at my expense. I love her and find a familiarity in the rare connection she shares with her husband. She is, and has been, his only wife which is not common in this Muslim culture.
Ibrihim and Sayaba got married just 2 weeks after I arrived in Garin Maigari as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I distinctly remember not liking her in the beginning. As I struggled to learn Hausa, her loud brash comments often landed heavily upon me. But over the years, I have learned much about Sayaba, and the Hausa women as a whole. Although they are suppressed and clearly expected to live subordinate to their husbands, they carry pride in their children and their ability to be the women of the house. They joke with each other, laugh loudly at their shortcomings, and quietly support each other in times of need. Most clearly stated, they tell it how it is.
I have learned a lot from these women; learned to laugh at myself and much to their delight, have learned to laugh with them. Sayaba has taken to calling me "Jagwara" which means "divorced woman". And I, in turn, call her "Uwargida" or "first wife", insinuating that I will marry Ibrihim and live as her co-wife. Traditionally, the first wife rules over the second wife and has the ability to delegate household duties to her. In this concept lies the joke as we list off the facts that I can't pound millet, prepare hura (millet porridge)or tuwo (millet pate), and of course, I've voiced my opinion that 2 kids would be plenty.
As we pull up peanut plants and lay them out to dry, we laugh together and move on to discuss serious issues including birth control, domestic abuse, and girl's education. Over the last 12 years, Sayaba has become a wife, a mother of three, and has grown up and figured out a lot about being a woman. And as I listen to her talk, ask her questions and discuss possible solutions to these issues, I realize that so have I.

Zoulleha
(Written 10/10/2008 from the village of Garin Maigari)

Goats Galore!!!

Happy to say that the goat buying is underway! Unfortunately, my presence at the market would artificially inflate the goat prices, so I patiently wait at the village for the new arrivals to be herded home.

The meetings have gone well and we have selected three new villages to begin goat loans as well as doubling the project size in Garin Maigari. The women have been ecstatic about the opportunity and have shown this not only through their words of gratitude, but through their actions.

In the village of Gaden Iyya, we arrived to find the women gathering and getting ready for our second meeting. Following our protocal, we had had the initial informational meeting where all the women gather to get an understanding of how the project works and we announce that our next meeting will be in 3 days to evaluate their ability to participate and sustain the goat loan project.
As they had been advised, these women had selected a president, secretary, and treasurer for each group along with the amount that they would each be depositing into the SoHA savings and loan bank each month. They proudly brought out their notebooks showing us their lists, adding that they had in fact already made their first monthly deposit. Sannu da kokari! Greetings on your effort!
In a culture where women are not allowed to take initiative in most areas of their lives, they have shown that they are able and ready to take the initiative to not only benefit, but make this work sustainable.

As is customary in their culture, each women's group chooses a male representative to oversee the market affairs of buying the goats as well as herding them home to the village. We need to visit 3 different markets to fill our quota and make sure all are getting the best (and sometimes already pregnant) goats. Along with our SoHA representatives, Ibrihim and Muntari, the group reps arrive at the market,choose the best goats, bargain with the owners and decide on a price. When they have selected and bought all the goats, they slowly herd them to the kungiya's (womens group president's) concession where all the women will gather to claim their treasure.

The women are excited as young messengers run from hut to hut passing along the news that the goats have arrived. The group presidents arrive first with the project notebook to follow the list and hand out the animals to women as they arrive.
I greet the women, wish them luck, and answer the myriad of blessings bestowed on me and all who have donated to make this possible with a simple "Amin", over and over again.

It's nearly dark and all the goats have made their way to their new homes when Ibrihim, Muntare and I reconvene. I congratulate them on a job well done, talk about any challenges they may have faced, and go over the plans for the coming market day. As I head to my hut for my bucket bath under the moonlight and dinner, I again smile at the beauty of all of the people coming together to help make life better for a woman and her family in Niger, one goat at a time, and I say a few blessings of my own.

Zoulleha
(Written October 16th, 2008 in the village of Garin Maigari)