Village Life

Inike everyone,

We hope that all of you are well! We think of you all often and pray that God is transforming your lives. Here in Guinea where we don't have access to certain needs, it gives God the opportunity answer our prayers in a big way. This past week, many of our children were very sick. Some had malaria, another had worms, and others had the stomach flu. They had fevers that were 102 and 103 on a regular basis, and we were concerned for them. Some of our children were on malaria medicine prescribed by the doctor that comes to our center weekly. He is the father of one of our children,
Alexis. However, since this is Africa, typically children are all given chloroquin. So as we prayed before we went to bed, Shannon and I asked God to completely heal our children. At that point, I was so frustrated at my inability to help them. The next morning, when Pastor Joshua asked the children during chapel time if any of them felt sick, everyone said that they were healthy. They have been healthy through the end of this week as well, which is really a miracle since we have typically been sending 2-3 students home sick every day. We praise God for answering our prayers and thank you so much for your prayers as well. Please continue to pray for their health!

This past Tuesday, the villagers celebrated the end of Ramadan. Typically, they sacrifice goats each year to atone for their sins that year. Then have a large feast after their forty days of fasting from sunrise to sunset. A "dj" comes into large villages where they have a celebration with music and dancing. Sarah sahmonim, Jeje, and I went on Tuesday into Sambouya to say hello during the festivities. Everyone from nearby villages was there, because it's one of the larger villages around here. I said hello to many people from Bilingkoro, the village Shannon and I live in about 15 minutes away by foot. As usual, about 30 or so children followed us around and stood by us. Many women and girls had their hair braided and some even wore makeup, probably made from things found here. At the end of Ramadan, many people buy new clothes and other things for themselves and their children, so we saw many people with new earrings and clothing.

We said earlier that we would share more about village life. First we usually go home after dinner because we eat with Jeje. On a side note, we have a bat that somehow got into the guesthouse, where Jeje stays. We haven't been able to get rid of it for two nights because it flies up into the cracks. Now I really know what a bat looks and flies like now. Shannon almost caught it with a large cloth, but it flew out from under it. I'm hoping that we can humanely get rid of it, but I'm not sure if we can. Oh my goodness, there are two. As I'm writing this e-mail, two just appeared from nowhere inside the house. Shannon grabbed the broom and hit them. I think he's gotten tired of trying to throw cloth on them to catch them. We're too busy screaming and trying to avoid it to do anything. One landed on an umbrella after he hit it. He put a bag over it and threw it outside. The other flew into a small room after he hit it but it's nowhere to be seen. We went back outside and we think the other one was just stunned and flew away.

Anyways, most of the time we travel by moto, but occasionally by foot or car. On the way home, Shannon usually leads the way and blocks most of the spider webs we encounter. There's always the frogs, ant colonies, and animal dung to avoid as well. It's interesting though to hear all the night sounds as we go home. When we get home we walk around the village and greet villagers. Usually, people invite us to sit on a bench or small stool. The other night we sat with a young woman named Kuta. She always wants me to touch her belly because she's due anytime soon. All the women in Bilingkoro wonder why I'm not pregnant, because it's rare for us to see women who aren't pregnant here. Making babies is valued in this culture, so I get teased every so often about my apparent lack of baby making abilities.

Another interesting thing about village life is how much you stick out when you're a tubab, or white person. People ask you, "Did you bring me a gift?" and children always ask us for candy. We've been asked for the clothes we're wearing and the flashlight we carry numerous times. In fact, my bandana and our flashlight almost got taken away from us by people who we thought were just looking at them when they asked to see it.

But, it's fun to sit and talk with people too. The people are good company and usually try to teach us a little Maninka. On certain nights when the sky is clear, you can even see shooting stars. Even when the moon isn't full, it's still bright enough to walk without a flashlight on clear nights. The children sometimes follow us around and try to teach us songs. So far, we've learned one that goes, "N Barete Ekana Wee kay Fom ba kay" which means something like, "You will not do it, I will do it." The other song is "Segaram po, segaram pa", and the second part changes. It doesn't really mean anything but it's some song that Mohammed sang.

In our village, although this is never toward us, the people can be verbally aggressive. We often wake up/go to bed hearing people yelling at each other about various things. We recorded one particularly loud fight one morning and had Pastor Joshua translate it for us. He said the women were arguing about some illness, but it was hard for him to tell what they were saying. Typically, we hear women arguing with each other. Pastor said that sometimes the arguments are between wives, since polygamy is practiced here. When we first arrived, we were bothered by the yelling and hesitant to leave the house, but it's become commonplace. We even walk around now outside while people are fighting, and once in a while I try to ask someone what people are fighting about.

One nice story about village life: One of the older ladies that lives very close to us asked Shannon one morning if she could have a ride to Sambouya for medicine for her head. People around here know that they can go to Pastor's house for some medical needs. We had some Tylenol around and so we just gave her a pill. The next morning when we walked outside our front door, she was finishing hoeing the weeds around our front yard as a thank you to us. She told us that her head was much better and we were touched by her kindness back to us.

We ask that you please continue to pray about our passport situation for Jeje and I, especially Jeje. Please also pray for perseverance because sometimes it's easy to get discouraged here. We are doing very well and it's hard to believe it's already been two months. At the same time, it feels like we've been here forever. We don't really miss material things or comforts, but we do miss all of you. God bless!

Love,
Shannon and Carol