Niger Vocational Training Centre

Here at our Niger “Girls at Risk” Vocational Sewing school we are thrilled to be hosting a short term team this week from Rockpointe Alliance church. Currently they are hard at work with the girls. There are 6 women who came to work side by side with a group of 12 girls for the whole week. That means each woman has 2 girls “under her wing” for individual support and help the whole time. They don’t get that kind of help during the year on such a personal level! We are making some awesome placemat and napkin sets which I am loving already! I want to buy them all myself! But the girls are also learning about straight seams, seam allowance, ironing and pinning their fabric. These are all valuable lessons that will help them in this year to come! There are also 3 men who are working with Paul to re-lacquer some desks, paint the blackboards, install some new lighting and other odd jobs to get the school ready to go for a full school year October 1st!

So here are some pictures from our first few days to give you a taste of what we are up to here in Niamey. For more pictures, check out my Facebook album!

I am a fan of these little pin cushions they made!

Paul and Jim and Bennett hard at work with the lacquer.

Sorry this Part two is a little late getting out!

Here is a second batch of messages that came from the girls during our last few classes when they were reflecting over this past year at the school!

Two of the top girls in my afternoon class- Halima and Rachida- both strongly felt the same message.

They want to take what they have learned and teach it to others!

Now THAT is a great thing to hear! And we do hope to see them doing that!

And a big “MERCI!” from their hearts to yours!

Friday July 1st we had our year end party at the Girls at Risk school here in Niger. The Wednesday before that we had our last class and we took a lot of time playing games like Bingo and also focusing on the things we are thankful for! We looked at a large World map and talked about all the people who support this school and who pray for the girls and for their families and health and success.

The class broke into their small groups and each group got some paint and large rolls of paper. They had two assignments. One was to draw a mural with pictures of all the kinds of things they had learned this past year at the school. Then they presented to the class all the different things they learned. Some of the drawings were pretty funny! Here is one group showing Math, literacy, clothing they learned to sew, some skits on mosquito nets and clean food preparation, dancing in a circle and some other stuff.

Here is a group from the afternoon class explaining their poster. They have our colourful tree logo, the classroom, sewing machine, clothing, anti malaria, mosquito nets, and some other skits along with their names. They were proud to show how much they had learned!

I also made an appearance on most of their posters. Don’t I look great here teaching math!

Then their second assignment was to come up with one phrase that they wanted to express to all their supporters. They discussed as a group what they would want to tell their supporters, what was most important to them. I then took these phrases and wrote them on poster board for them and took pictures with their thoughts.

Check out these photos. Please take to heart that they are speaking to YOU! These are the things they want to tell you, the things they are thankful for and the way YOU have changed their lives with your support. There are quite a few pics so I am going to do two posts about this!

Enjoy. Be blessed!

Today was the year end party here at the Niger "Girls at Risk” school. We purposefully left the entire party planning up to the girls themselves. They each saved 1000 cfa (about $2.50) to add to a communal savings, made a meal plan, went to the market, arranged groups of girls to do every job from sweeping, peeling food, chopping onions and washing dishes. They all showed up dressed up beautifully and all day long it was so fun.

Rabi wearing a beautifully sewn Indian-inspired wrap outfit. She was radiant! (and did a little dance when I told her so! Now that wasn’t the super shy Rabi I met just 10 months ago!)

They made a great meal of turkey with spicy red sauce, lots of onions and bread. I was surprised there was so much meat (and basically no veggies) but they were all in full on party mode (aka lots of meat!). It is so rare for them to get lots of meat here.

Each group had a job to do, and really everything went perfectly! I just showed up with cookies and juice!

Each group of girls gathered around a shared platter and dived in. Most plates were completely devoured and licked clean!

As always, it was a joy to watch the girls interact and be with their friends. Sometimes, especially with the Zarma girls who talk so loud and aggressive, I am not sure if fights are going on, but at the end there is always lots of laughter and smiles. I can speak Tamasheq, but Zarma is still outside my reach!

Rafiyatou taking a picture of me taking a picture of her. I love this girl! She is so full of spunk and joy!

Paul and I are both busy these days and the kids are off school, so we both brought a “child to work”. Paul was welding at the airport and Bennett loved watching planes take off and land. Arielle came with me and was doted on by all the girls. They sat with her, played with her, even tried to teach her to crochet! She came home one very happy, but very tired little girl! (And for those of you who know Arielle personally it will not surprise you to know she smiled all day, but refused to say a single word to anyone!)

What a day to cap off such a wonderful year. Since it was Canada Day we took this picture to show us celebrating Canada Day in style!

I really felt like a proud Mama to this big group of special young women. I am going to miss them over the summer! We have three weeks of “special projects” coming up in August and September with some of these girls and then full session starts up again October 1st! We made it through year one, and what a wonderful year!

Even though their year is done, stay tuned for a few more blogs I have on the back burner for you!

I wanted to just write all of you a quick update on Aichatou. She went into the hospital last Wednesday night, but due to scheduling issues, she didn’t actually have the surgery until Saturday morning. I was there many days visiting and she held up well ! I think the quiet, comfy bed and fans were a nice change of pace actually!
I say “surgery” but in fact they did not have to cut anything. Using a variety of non-invasive tools they were able to expand her nasal passage and do something to keep it open. Sorry my lack of medical knowledge robs you of a more precise update!
She had a tube in her nose and it looked quite painful for a few days, but they released her yesterday and she is doing well.

Her family has already noticed the difference. She used to snore like a freight train, and now she sleeps so quiet they can hardly believe it! She think her voice has changed a bit, but have you ever listened to yourself with your nose pinched? She is hearing her own true voice for the first time in a long time!

So many thanks for your prayers. I continue to learn a lot through the ministry of taxi to the ill and family, and visitation. I spent many good hours chatting with Aichatou and her visitors. Great language and culture practice indeed!