Artfully Sharing The Story

Henna is an art form used here in Niger by women to adorn themselves particularly in preparation for a wedding ceremony.  Usually women will decorate their hands or their feet and ankles.  It's a beautiful art form.  I'm not sure how widely embraced it is in the church.  I recently talked with an almost 30 year old Christian colleague who had her hands and feet decorated for the first time which was kind of surprising to me.  Regardless, I love the idea that this art form could be used to share the stories of Jesus with women.  I have some students in my class whose Moms are learning to do just that.  They are practicing on their children who have been coming in and sharing the stories with us.

Here one of my students shares the story of Jesus' birth.  What I love about this is that it came so easy to her because we had memorized this portion of scripture together in class.

 

 Here one of my little boys got in on the action with a henna design depicting the story of the prodigal son.

 

Simple enough that even children can use them as a way to artfully share the gospel.  Pray for these moms who are learning to draw these designs that as they develop these skills they would have open doors to share with the women of this country.

 

If you are interested in a little more of the back story of this idea here's a more professional video sharing just that.

 



Love is in the Air

Just a month or so ago, Miss Schmidt and I were reviewing our weekly Bible Verse.  It just so happened that the week's verse was Matthew 4:19, "Come follow me," Jesus said, "And I will make you fishers of men." We were discussing the context a little bit and Miss Schmidt then posed the question to our First and Second Graders, "Am I the one that's going to teach you how to fish for men?"  Of course, we all had a good laugh at the silliness of that, knowing full well that it was Jesus talking.  One little First Grade Girl piped up and said, "Yeah, Miss Schmidt's going to teach us how to catch boys!" Since then I've been telling Miss Schmidt she will have to write a little book entitled, "How to Catch Boys."

In January, that little First Grade Girl might have needed such a book but the month of February has been a good one for her.  The marriage proposals have been pouring in, the little boys lining up for the privilege of writing their name beside hers and then today, the first love letter arrived. (All names have been blotted out to protect the innocents.)

My favorite part of this letter has to be the pregnant pause before the "BIG" declaration..."You are the prettyiest girl in class."  I'm equally amused by the last sentence, "and did you know I love you better (than) best friend's name?"  Let me just tell you that these two best friends are tighter than tight so that's a big declaration!

Well, there you have it.  It's February and love is in the air!  We'll try to keep the dating to a minimum though.  After all, it is only First and Second Grade!

What's a Little Bug Between Friends?

 

About a month and a half ago, I found this big bug going into a restaurant.  He was deader than a doornail so I decided to pick him up, wrap him in a tissue and put him in one of the little compartments between my car seats.  I planned on showing him to my students when we talked about insects.  We have yet to talk about insects so there he sits all wrapped up in his tissue - at least that's the way it was until this morning...

He happens to be sharing a compartment with my school gate pass.  This morning my friend, Bev and I drove up to the school gate.  Someone was in front of me and someone behind me.  I reached down to grab my pink gate pass and couldn't find it.  Feeling pressured because of the car behind me I began searching a little bit more frantically.  I grabbed the tissue for some reason, thinking to search every possible place the card could have gone. I unwrapped it quickly having completely forgotten what was inside. 

When I saw the bug I freaked out (just a little bit) and yelled, "What is that?"  Being the thoughtful, nice friend that I am I then proceeded to throw the bug away from me and onto Bev's side of the car.  As you can imagine, I wasn't the only one freaking out any more.  Bev yelled louder than me, "What is that???" and started dancing in her seat.  By this time it had registered with me that it was just my dead bug and I was laughing hysterically.  I don't think Bev had the benefit of that knowledge...

However, she is still speaking to me so I say, "What's a little bug between friends?"

Some things to be noted:
1.  This kind of experience will get your blood pumping in the morning.
2.  This might have been the best laugh I have had in a long time!
3.  Bev's crazy eyes are pretty CRAZY!

How to Catch a Runaway Cow

The drive home is never dull and today was no exception.  We learned how to catch a runaway cow - Nigerien style and of course, this being knowledge that you might soon have need of, I am here to fill you in on the process.

Supplies needed:

• runaway cow
• four able bodied and fast men
• two motorcycles
• two ropes

Step 1:  Get your cow good and angry so that he runs like a crazed maniac, slobbering and sending women and children scampering out of harm's way.

Step 2:  Two men on foot should begin the chase with ropes in hand.  As you get close to the cow, you may either throw your rope with a pre-tied loop around his horns or at his feet with the intention of snagging him.  Don't expect to be successful right away.  In fact, this will probably make your cow more determined to escape.  Move on to step three.

Step 3:  You will need to two friends on motorcycles to zoom up.  Hop on the back as fast as you can and make sure your rope is with you.  Follow your runaway cow onto the main street because of course, everyone - even cows know that you can go faster on the open road!

Step 4:  Have your friends drop you off ahead of the mad cow so that you can lay in wait.

Step 5:  If at first you don't succeed, try, try again....and don't worry this is Niamey, nobody but the crazy North Americans following you will think twice about all this going down in front of their eyes.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's the most wonderful time of the year...Report Card Time!  Did I just say that?  I'm kidding really but I do enjoy report card time because it's when I discover these awesome little writing treasures in my student's writing folders.

First here are some of my little writers being very serious about the business of writing.

 

 

Now for the treasures!

The back story for this one is that one day my electrician (designated student to turn the lights on and off) went into our second classroom where he was to turn the lights on.  Sitting right below the light switch  was a big black spider.  He screeched and immediately went to the other side of the room where he turned on the lights.  Meanwhile, I killed the spider and teased him that one day he was going to have to be brave enough to kill spiders for his wife.  A day or so after this incident, we went into the room again and he crossed to the other side of the room to turn the lights on.  He didn't want anything to do with the scary spider light switch!  So after all of that I found this little gem in his writing folder. 

Telling it like it is, I would say!  I'm convinced there's a brave guy in there somewhere.

This second one just makes me laugh because of his plans for the terrible creature of which he writes...not to mention the way the incorrect spelling of "like" changes everything. :)

"Why I don't like cockroaches they are ugly."  And the little guy says, "Down the toilet!"

No argument here, little guy.  You've definitely got the right idea!

Sahel Academy Spirit Week 2015

Every year before the annual NUTS softball tournament here in Niamey, Sahel Academy celebrates spirit week.  We break out our nuttiest costumes and our most amazing cheers.  Here's a peek into 2015's Sahel Academy Spirit Week.

Monday was Sweets Day.  I loved this little guy's fruit salad and then there is the most refreshing sweet of all - Coca-Cola!

I thought the bottle opener was an awesome touch.

Tuesday was Fanatic Day so the kids all dressed to show what/who they cheer for.  Here's a picture of my whole class minus one student.

Wednesday was class theme day.  We chose to be Minions. I made myself into GRU and even had a bald head.  What!!!!


Better than that though was the Benji Minion pictured beside me in this photo.  His costume was awesome.  He had a bit of a hard time seeing through it which provided some very entertaining moments as he stumbled here and there and tipped from side to side.  It was great fun!

Before school started that morning, I could hear my students all the way down the sidewalk and into my classroom yelling, "Banana! Banana! Banana!"  You know you're in for it when....

And here's the whole bunch of Minions together.

Thursday was Futuristic Day.  For all you saggy pants haters out there - this one cracked me up!

Friday was Sahel Spirit Day and that, of course is when all the fun goes down.  For example, First Grade won an ice cream party for being the best dressed elementary class for class theme day.  They were over the moon excited!

Then there were the cheers/dances.  These guys had been practicing a dance choreographed by one of our seniors for over a month.

And this year the girl's kept the Sahel Academy Haka alive.  Go girls!  You were awesome!

Breaking Ground

Exciting news!  On October 2nd Sahel Academy broke ground on a new elementary wing.  We have been talking about this building for the last year and a half so it's exciting to see the work beginning.  In our current elementary wing, we have four large classrooms.  In our old elementary wing there are two small classrooms which my class is currently occupying.  These two classrooms are fine when classes are small but they are inadequate when classes are over 10-12 students.  For that very reason, our kindergarten has, until very recently, occupied one of the original buildings which is set far back into the corner of our campus away from all of the other classrooms.  This new building will allow all the classes to have their own large space.  We will be together and no one will have to move from year to year. Yippee!  Because it will be a two story building there will be space for an elementary computer lab down the road and more classroom space for middle school as it is needed. 

Pictured above from left to right is our SIM Niger construction manager, our SIM Niger director, our youngest Sahel student and our new Sahel Academy School Director.