Nature offers a time-out

The greatest disadvantages with struggling with an essay (or anything that demands your full intellectual attention) is that, in order to keep my energy level up, I spend most of the time nibbling on sometime. Had I been in Niger, I would have been out riding in the mornings or in the afternoons, but in this tight-scheduled country, there's been no time for any kind of extra these past few weeks. But with the essay, finally done with, I decided it was time to celebrate and headed out into the forest for a good run.



Ah...! Swedish landscape in summertime is beautiful and refreshing! And believe it or not, the sun was actually shining for a few moments there!



The pigs were out; although the newborn piglets didn't come close enough for me to catch them with my mobile phone camera. Nonetheless, the two older pigs were happy to be of (photographic) service!


After 30 minutes of running, I was tired! But it felt really, really good and I was reminded, once again, of how much I miss the horses, who take me out on regular time-outs no matter how much work there is to do...

Oh well, better move on to the next task. Cheers!

Ishtar

The Art of Procrastination

Although the essay was in the end entitled "Anticipating the Future of English as a Global Language", I would have - if given the opportunity (and note: we were not) - written something much more exiting (and to which I would be a much more qualified author!), most likely entitled something in line with: "How to Procrastinate a Sociolinguistic Essay".


An art which is superbly demonstrated in picture above, where I, while drinking delicious coffee, am thinking of everything and anything but the sociolinguistic arguments that will bring me closer to the fulfillment of another task. OK, so the picture was taken in Niger showing a slightly slimmer me, but the point still stands. Procrastination is a very enjoyable phenomenon. Much more exiting than the 'phenomenon of a global language' which I have been struggling to explain for the past few days (hence the reason for lack of blog updates!).

I did manage in the end. It took some blood, sweat and tears and not nearly as much procrastination as I could have applied, had my little horses for example been within reach.

Speaking of which, I have now added a little countdown at the bottom of this blog, letting us all know when I can stop dreaming about heading south and actually get to do it. Only 90 days left. Time is ticking!


Cheers to all of you; now I'm off to get some well-deserved sleep!

Ishtar

"There's always tomorrow"

I am still feeling lost without my computer, but "luckily" for me, I am working Monday-Saturday this week, so I haven't had that much time to fret...

My new computer has already arrived and my dad and brother are helping me install all the needed programs (it's incredible how much you need!) while I get to focus on my essay. Which was due last week, so my reaction is probably best described with: "Gaaaaaah!"

If I were in Niger now, I would just shrug my shoulders and listen to people say: "Don't worry, there is always tomorrow!"

But in the Western World, there is never a tomorrow, because the "tomorrows" are always booked in advance. No wonder I miss Niger!!!

Not to talk about my little horsie darlings... :-) Just hugging them is stress therapy...

I wonder if they would write my essay for me as well? Now that would be some marvelous little barb mares!


OK, got to go back to work - enough longing for one day. Just needed to have it said: I am missing my girls to bits right now.

Ishtar

Cash handouts are not helping!

Copyright Eden Foundation 2005

I just read a post today about a journalist in Uganda who was coerced into paying a woman she had interviewed for an article although she felt it went against journalistic work ethics. At first she was reluctant, but her Ugandan colleague seemed to have valid point: ""You're going to get paid for the story, right?" In other words, "You should share."

Now, the question about donating money in Africa is a sensitive point. I know that a lot of people really want to help, and when you arrive as a Westerner in Africa, you are immediately struck by its lack of material wealth. You are almost disgusted by your own fortunate situation. Of course you want to do something and handing out money is the quickest way of settling your own conscience. At least you did something. You gave that person some money. You can go home with a sense of satisfaction.

But what happens then? What happens the next day and the day after that, when there is no one around to hand out that free cash that the receiver didn't have to work for? There is a new trend in the aid world (which is running short of good ideas, it seems) to distribute free cash all over poverty-stricken areas. This is not the time to talk about the politics behind such actions, but if I have learned one thing during the media famine hype of 2005 in Niger, it is that the real aid giants have a clear-cut agenda, and it's not beautiful to watch. Though they are the Holy Cows of our society, it's not so much about helping the poor anymore as it is serving a political or financial purpose.

Back to cash distribution (our new Western new contribution to development), what do we really think will happen when people who have gotten accustomed to Westerners distributing free cash (at a slight cost of one's dignity, of course) one day have to stand on their own again? Where is the sustainability in such aid and do we honestly believe that we have done them a favor?

Though I love Africa and Africans with all my heart, I am all against free handouts, unless it is a true crisis that calls for immediate attention. But when is a situation to be classified as such? I used to be a naive Swedish girl enjoying life in Niger and believing that there were lots of organizations out there doing good in the world - including the Holy Cows. I knew there was a difference between long-term and short-term aid, and although the long-term help (requiring loads of time and patience!) was the only way of reaching a sustainable solution, short-term aid served its function where sudden catastrophes had taken place.

For years we worked in silence in the least developed area in the least developed country in the world - seeing real progress amongst our dedicated Eden farmers. Then one day in 2004, the international media kicked off a major aid carousel and Niger's hyped famine was a fact. There have been a lot of talk after this, with the United Nations and the Holy Cow Aid Giants working on their words, trying to ensure that their involvement is not in anyway resembled to a cry wolf. But the fact remains: they barged into a situation that was not a crisis - just the ordinary harsh reality of every day life - called on everybody's attention to assemble resources to feed these poor malnourished children (why mention that they all had malaria, one of the most deadly diseases you can find?) thereby creating a new source of income for families with undernourished children - a temptation that should not even be there. Little did they care that their receivers borrowed one another's children. Little did they care that the nutritional food packages that they distributed to the mothers (aimed for the children) ended up at the market to be sold. It was all about generating a new charity case and what was selling better than the Nigerien children dying at the hospitals?

As for the consequences of these fantastic handouts, I was both shocked and devastated when I listened to the people around me.
"We know that we're not dying of famine and the images they show on television are clearly exaggerated”, people commented as we talked about the media attention compared with real life. “However, the fact remains that we are poor and they are rich - and it is no more than right that the rich should finally take responsibility for our situation and share some of their wealth!"

My heart broke that year. At first, I thought that the Holy Cows did not know what they were doing; that they meant well and that they just didn’t have the knowledge or the patience to sit down and think through whether or not they were doing the country a service or not. But then I started to hear their arrogance, directed both at the national authorities of Niger, the long-term aid organizations (that would be us) and our fellow Nigeriens. I was not impressed and my heart angered when I realized that they did indeed know what they were doing. They knew exactly what they were doing and on their list of priorities, the welfare of the population was obviously not at the top.

I know there is a difference between a Western journalist paying for an article and aid agencies that should know better but that just doesn’t care, but the problematic remains. Though we do not want to admit it because it’s such a great way of settling our bad conscious, free cash donations only kill people’s own motivation to help themselves and make it all the harder for us long-term helpers to achieve sustainable development.

We all know that we can’t adopt the adult population of poverty stricken areas and feed them indefinitely, so if we really do want to help the poor, we need to give them the resources to rise and stand on their own feet. I love Niger and Nigeriens to bits, but I never offer money. When beggars come, I ignore them, unless they are lepers. Towards my friends, I am tough and often have to go against my own emotions, because yes, it would be so much easier to just give them a little, but I know in my heart that it’s not going to help in the long run.

I love my work in Niger, because Eden’s solution is simple but it wouldn’t work without their own motivation and hard work. We work to find a solution that will enhance their life quality according to their own values – and they get to implement it. People often ask us how come we get people to work with us without paying them off (lol, the consequences of this new aid industry: they poor will not cooperate unless you pay them for their troubles!). Well, to answer that, I can only say: Go figure!

For more information about the media carousel of Niger in 2005, read Eden’s article:

“When Endemic Malnutrition is Labeled as Famine”

Ishtar

When technology breaks down...

Copyright Eden Foundation 2007

There are a few times when I wish I lived a simple life in the middle of nowhere, oblivious to all notion of technology, concentrated only on caring for my family and spending time with the people that mattered to me.

Today was one such day. For the past two days, I've been concentrated on my studies, working on a linguistic essay about how a global language comes forth and what the consequences are for all non-native speakers. My alarm went off far too early this morning and I got out of bed, eager to resume my line of thoughts, only to find that my computer had broken down some time during the night and would just not be turned on again.

I have no idea what happened - in fact, I really don't care. A two year old (expensive!) Acer computer suddenly dies and my life is supposedly threatened since I rely on my digital data to about a 100%. No, I did not stress myself up because life is just too short, but yes, I did wish that I was a very poor person living in a remote area who did not have to rely on any technical equipment that despite its grand potential gives up on life without any cause whatsoever and causes you far more stress than it is supposed to relieve you from. Now these are the days when I wish that I had grown up as a little child in a sea of sand, spending my days playing with home-made toys, picking Eden fruits in the fields and taking life at face value.

Copyright Eden Foundation 2007

I know I am fortunate to have any material wealth at all and should not complain. I know that computers are very useful tools (I would not be able to blog without one, for starters...) and that you should never rely on them even though you inevitably do. I know that money can be re-earned, a new computer purchased at the cost of time, perseverance and other planned purchases (I know, something has got to go...). I am also aware of the fact that despite all the time that is consumed trying to figure out these little machines, they do have a purpose and that I would never deliberately choose a life without technology as long as those purposes remained important enough.

I do wish though - from time to time - that I was unaware of all our society's great technological advances and that I lived in a simple world, oblivious of their existence. But now that would be one nice little utopian society, wouldn't it? A true garden of Eden...

Ishtar

Only in Niger!

Now, I don't usually tell people to go and check out another site, but there's an article on the Tam-Tam Info (news site about Niger in French) that talks about transportation problems in the capital, Niamey. People have a hard time finding a cab, it seems.

After twenty years in Niger, I really thought that I had seen it all; chicken sticking their heads out of the window, goats and sheep hanging down from lorry roofs, cows pack both inside and on top of tiny little mini-buses and so on... But this... This beats it all.

For those of you who aren't into French and just want to have a look at the picture, click here. The picture doesn't have a title, but they might want to consider calling it "No Room Left in Nigerien Cabs after the VIP Take Their Seat."

Now talk about luxurious animal transportation!! Looks like the Western World has something to learn from the Least Developed Country after all...

Ishtar

Links to this post by other bloggers:
1. Szavannah Blog

Teaching

Photo by Anette Bengtsson

Yesterday, I finally took my Language Survey English B distance course exam, that I have been postponing for nearly a year. I should have passed this course in January 2006, but I missed it because I fell of my horse and had a major concussion. Since then, I have embarked on the same course three times, and was about to drop off again when my mother's cancer was rediscovered a few days ago. I knew something had to go, but my father advised me not to drop the course. "You need to finish it," he said. "If you don't do it now, you never will."

It wasn't until the day before the exam, when I actually got the time to sit down and study, that I realized how glad I was to be finishing it off. I'm too tired after my concussion to have a million balls rolling at the same time. Now all that remains before the course B is closed in my book is to finish a 2500-word long essay about the Impacts of a Global Language. We only had six topics to choose from and last year I made the mistake of picking the one about Language Death, which proved to be too deep a subject for my battered brain to focus on. I think Globalism suits me much better! The essay deadline is on Sunday (and I have only just started) but after that, there are just a few finishing touches left and I'm done!

My grandmother asked me a few weeks ago, "So are you graduating this summer?" Ah, no, far from it, but at least I will have put an end to two years of language studies that I have done by distance while working as a volunteer in Niger. Though I am slightly tempted to get started with one of the C courses, I will not embark on any language journey this year, because I'll be moving out of the country and settling in Niger, which is a big step considering the fact that I have been such a free bird these past few years (splitting my year in two and spending half a year on each continent). I may want to pick up the teaching thread later on in my life, but the thing is that I don't need a full education to teach in Niger. Everything you say and do is an inspiration to others, and just taking time with the children gives the adults something to think about.

Teaching them to ride has been one of my greatest experiences in Niger, because horseback riding is something for the rich only and most kids never get to sit on own at all, much less learn to ride.

Life in Niger is full of developing opportunities and you don't need to be an educated teacher to expend the children's world view and teach them something valuable about life. That's a responsibility we all share, actually.


Greetings, Ishtar

Cattle, uranium and desertification

The marketplace of Tanout - Copyright Eden Foundation

When talking about Niger yesterday, I mentioned that cattle was Niger's second largest export, and considering the state of the animals due to the degradation of the environment that is taking place, it certainly calls for concern.

The country's largest export still comes from the uranium mines located deep in the Sahara desert. During the seventies, uranium brought in a considerable income, but that has changed during the past two decennials. My brother just forwarded me an article though on how foreign agencies are flying in to scan the desert area for more mines.

That might be great for the country - at least the statistics will look better - but somehow, I doubt that all this foreign involvement will benefit the poorest of the poor who try to make a living cultivating crops in a sea of sand.

Imagine if the Western World spent a small share of this 55 million dollars investment to help fight desertification in a sustainable manner. Ah, then we might be talking REAL progress!

Ishtar

Presenting Eden

Eden family in the Tanout area - Copyright Eden Foundation

Today I had two Eden presentations (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) and they went very well - my first commitment since the news of my mother's illness. I was a little worried at first because I was sooooo dizzy (I didn't sleep much tonight because I somehow got it into my head that the alarm wouldn't go off in the morning; not that it helped worrying about it...), but I survived the day without losing my train of thoughts and the message came through.

I love presenting Eden's work and showing how such a laughably simple solution (helping the farmers establish drought-tolerant trees and bushes that bear fruit, even in times of need) can give such outstanding results; how the poor can be joyful and how easy it can be to achieve a sustainable solution if you only have the time, commitment and patience to see it through.

Collecting Eden fruits from the family field
- Copyright Eden Foundation

Now I am well aware that few projects plan the future in terms of generations and that Eden is quite unique in this matter. I am aware that others think I miss out on many adventures by not changing scenery now and then - after all, with all my knowledge and experience, I could take jobs in so many other places. However, the thing is (and I say this whole-heartedly) that I would rather spend the rest of my life working with one thing that I know truly makes a difference, than spending a few years here and a few years there and in the end not accomplishing any true difference.

A small fortune of Eden fruits - Copyright Eden Foundation

I love Niger with all my heart, despite its weaknesses and turtle-paced progress. I love Eden because I get to help the poorest of the poor - the inhabitants of the least developed area in the least developed country in the world - to achieve a sustainable solution, and we get to do it from scratch. It's a huge challenge, but I love challenges, and so yet again, I am incredible fortunate!

Now, as you may or may not already have figured out, I wish I could be spending all my days (nearly, at least!) in the land "that stands still", the land that so few people know anything about. But I can't at the moment - have to work on my finances etc - but there is one thing I can do here in Sweden which concerns Niger, and that is to be the messenger of glad tidings and let the people of the Developed World know that there really is a solution for the poor, that both poverty and desertification is reversible and that they can be a part of letting that happen. So can you!

Little Illa with his Eden fruits, one my favorite pictures!
- Copyright Eden Foundation

Greetings!
Ishtar

Where to raise your children

Lol, I really must be one of the greatest Niger-fans on this entire planet!

Today I read an article in the Swedish paper Aftonbladet, which stated that Sweden is the best country to live in if you are a mother.

At the bottom of the list was none other than Niger, in terms of insurance, health care, female life expectancy, education, financial inequality between the sexes, parental insurance (or lack of...?), female involvement in politics, child mortality rate etc... (The list was long).

Now, all this is true - and Sweden is really a comfortable place to bring up your children, and yet... there is no place on earth where I would rather raise my children than in Niger!

Copyright Eden Foundation 2007

Material wealth and security in all its honor, but the difference - for me - between Niger and Sweden is that in Niger, I have time. Time to think, time to spend with others, time to inspire and figure out what life is really about. Though I would probably be so much more efficient if I lived the rest of my days in Sweden, I never really feel as if I am "alive". Life in Sweden is so much about work, work and work. My tinnitus goes up, my neck muscles ache and my dizziness increases and I know it's only from the mental stress that I create in my mind.

So despite what the papers say, my choice is Niger. I am Swedish and I enjoy meeting all my friends and relatives there - and Niger is truly at times one of the most awkward places on earth, but there is a very special sincerity to it that I find precious and rare, and which I would like to pass on to my own children on day.

Now your turn!



Ishtar

Back to square one

I never thought that baring one's soul and facing one's worst fears could be so exhaustive, but it certainly is. Last time things got bad - when this whole journey started in January 2005 and my mom was evacuated from Niger - I reacted by going into shock when the whole thing was over and she had been flown home.

It wasn't something I chose to do: I just didn't dare to reach out and take hold of God's outreached hand, because I was so afraid of getting disappointed if he did not answer our prayers. But he did, many times over. When your loved one is hospitalized in the world's least developed country where they have so few resources you wonder if they can actually save any lives at all - you get to see every miracle for what it really is. I've always said that life in Niger is much more black & white than in Europe, and that's one of the reasons why I love it so.

Now we're back to square one however. Only difference now is that there is even less to hope for than last winter, as the cancer seen with human eyes is irretrievable.

And yet, I am full of hope. I know that it is not from my own strength, but a gift from above. I choose to put my trust in someone so much greater than us all, and he has responded. I know that the little girl inside of me cannot in any way rejoice over the fact that my mother is facing such a long and painful process with no human of hope of surviving, but I know that my God is a God of miracles, and I know that he will be with us all the way. Whatever the outcome, whether good or bad, I know that the day will come when it will all make sense and I will be able to see why it was for the best, even though I couldn't at the time.

My life is full of meaning and I do not regret it one minute, despite the costs. There is good and evil in my life. There is black and white. There is anguish and hope, faith and despair, but above all, there is love in abundance.

My mother and I (1981)

Love comes at a price, but that price is worth it. I love my mother to bits. I cannot fathom life without her and I don't think that I will ever experience the innocence of youth again. However, I am so blessed through all of this and my heart is singing a song of joy. Funny how it is always so much easier to take that leap of faith when you have nothing to lose and everything to win.

Ishtar

Heartbroken

I am heartbroken.

We were informed last night that my mother's cancer has returned, and what seemed to be a somewhat stable situation has been shredded to pieces in a fortnight.

Tears are flowing constantly, but I do not expect them to stop. I love my mother so much.

I lift my head high and seek the Lord, for He has promised me that he will be my strength. Day by day - hour by hour. I know that we never get more than we can master and so when the stakes are raised, His presence increases. Though I am crying, I know that everything will be ok. Not by my own strength, but by His.

I love my mother. I love her so much that my hearts breaks at the mere thought of losing her. I love her so much that I would want to hold her tight and never let her go.

I wouldn't want life any other way though. I wouldn't want it - with all its good - without all its bad. I know that the pain is a price to pay, but I would not have wanted to live without the love.

I have no answers today. I have no promises for the future. I do know however that the Lord is my rock and in Him, I will seek refuge and strength. I don't expect it to get any easier along the way, but I know that He will carry us. His promise to me last year was: "Come to me and I will carry you, day by day."

And so I will. Day by day, hour by hour. With my broken heart and all my fears.

Ishtar

Claiming the Internet

There's so much you can do with your blog that tending to it could actually be a full time job! Unfortunately, I don't have time for that... Africa is waiting! :-)

Ishtar

Happy people

I just realised that there's only four months left until I get to see Africa again! Can't wait... Good thing time is flying right now, because at the rate I'm keeping busy, the coming summer is just going to fly away. Good thing too that good memories last for so long... I am so fortunate to have them!

Ishtar