temperatures. So far, she’s
acclimated to life here amazingly well, and we are surprised at
how good her French is (she’s been studying it for seven
years). She’s keeping a
blog on her experiences.
Stephanie and Katie are cousins from Sioux Center, Iowa. Katie
is studying social work, and Stephanie is in pre-med. They wanted
to experience health care in Africa. Since our mission isn’t
really carrying on an ongoing health ministry, we placed the girls
with Dr. Habila, a medical doctor and member of our partner church,
the EERN, in a rural hospital one hour from Niamey in a town named
Birnin Ngaoure.
I didn’t know exactly what the accommodations would be
for them, but Dr. Habila told me that he had everything arranged
and not to worry. We equipped the girls to deal with very primitive
conditions, and we were all surprised to learn upon arriving at
the hospital that they would stay in a Belgian-funded isolation
ward at the hospital that had never been used for that purpose.
They had a private room and bath and air conditioning! The town
has cell phone coverage, so they were even able to chat with their
friends in the United States! A thunderstorm came in late that
night, however, and left them without lights, phone, or even running
water, perhaps just to keep them humble.
They spent their first week on a tetanus vaccination campaign
for pregnant women and saw much of rural life. They also learned
that not much happens in this part of Africa and to get used to
lots of “down time” and to take everything as it comes.
Their biggest surprise has been how much they have enjoyed the
food—even sampling beef tongue and kidney.
On Saturday, we took the three volunteers to see Niger’s
giraffes, the last ones left in West Africa, and we had a bush
picnic near the giraffes’ watering hole. During this time,
it was decided that Amanda should join the other two at the rural
hospital, since her French-speaking skills would come in very
handy. Also, we agreed that Amanda should see more of Niger outside
of the urban confines of Niamey. I’m sure she’s excited
to be with other young American women her age for a few days. |
