January 25th, Monday

Priscilla did finish my hair and I wore my Nigerian dress, and head gear to church Sunday. It was a wonderful service held in the assembly area (porch) of the main building. There were about three times as many in attendance so it was a good choice, and much cooler too. At the end of the servcie they had the Wenachee Church Team, Paul, the Meyers family and I come up front and sit in chairs. The ones that wanted to speak did so and the people from the school and church all thanked us for the work that had been done. Phyllis gave each of us a gift. The men received a wonderful T-shirt and necklace, the ladies a 6 yard piece of Nigerian fabric, necklace and a fashion magazine. The team will be leaving on Thursday, so this was the last Sunday for the six of them. I've really enjoyed them all. What a blessing they have been to all of us here and to the people with whom thay have worked. The afternoon and early evening were spent enjoying each other's company. At one point Jack came to the side porch with the new calf around the back of his neck. I grabbed my camera and took a picture. About that time we heard a bellow and turned to see three cows coming after us. We all jumped up on the porch and Jack shed the calf and ran too. The herder (guy who helped birth the calf) gabbed him and took him to another area of the yard to divert the three angry moms. Never a dull moment.

Our plan for today was to take a day off and drive to the Niger river, take a boat ride across and visit a Fulani village built in the area that will be covered with water when the rainy season starts. They are a nomadic group, so moving their entire village twice a year is no biggie! One of the ladies beckoned me to come inside her hut. It almost looked like a store. Found out later that she had just married and it was her dowry. I startled the little guy inside and he began to cry. The tiny children here cry when they see us. They haven't seen a white face before. The trip over was in a dugout canoe, paddled by two men. There was a leak that got bigger and bigger. I pointed it out to one of the guys and he had a passing canoe give us a dipper and signaled us to start bailing. We all took turns - what a hoot! While on the water the temperature was bearable, but when walking around the village on the hot sand it was pretty intense. After we returned to our vehicles, most went for a walk through the market. Pat and I sat in chairs by the van and truck. I had run out of steam. We gathered together after about an hour and had lunch at the "restaurant". Samson and his wife ran it, and Devin, Bridget and Phyllis had started buildiing a relationship with them. Part of the sightseeing ride to and from the Niger, included a run past a hugh steel mill that wasn't in operation right now. It reminded me of J and L on the Ohio river. This one was built by the Russians, and it was part of a huge community. It really looked like it could be something wonderful for the area. Home again much to everyone's relief. We were all ready for a little A/C