Prior to my departure I spent 1 week 1 day living in my village working in the local hospital. Although I was only there for a short period of time I was able to accomplish a lot and bonded with my community. My post was located in Markowa in the Dosso region which is in the South Eastern part of the country. I was about 2 hours away from the capital of Niger, Niamey, and about an hour away from the regional capital. Moving day was an adventure in itself since me and 3 other PCVs were moving in on the same day; therefore all of us along with our luggage, furniture,and kittens squeezed into a Land Cruiser and headed out to Markowa.
Once I arrived in Markowa I was greeted by the whole village and a formal meeting was done by my program manager to introduce me to my new community. At first I was nervous; being dropped off in the middle of nowhere, miles away from any other PCV or anyone who can even speak English can be a bit nerve wrecking. After a couple of hours of getting my head together and unpacking everything into my 2 room mud house I began to feel more comfortable and ready to meet and greet my neighbors and fellow colleagues. Since many people living in the rural parts of Niger have never even traveled outside their village or met an American before, I was the object of attention for many Nigeriens in my village. I was also the first volunteer to serve in Markowa, unlike some other sites where a new PCV maybe replacing a volunteer who has just finished their service. Being the “new kid on the block” I had to endure a “hazing” phase of extensive greetings that were sometimes a bit awkward and uncomfortable for me but a sign of culture respect for Nigeriens. This meant that every morning starting at 8am people would come visit throughout the day just to say hello; some brought gifts such as rice, peanuts, beans or whatever they had to offer and some just came to stare. At first I was unsure how to handle 15 children standing in my front yard just staring at me cook or read a book. Some were very shy and so I tried to engage them in conversation but with they would simply smile bashfully and continue to watch me, only talking among themselves. Eventually I learned how to engage them by offering food and candy and even taught some of the girls how to jump rope and the boys how to play Frisbee.
My second day in “ville” I started work immediately. Normally Peace Corps assigns a counterpart for each volunteer who serves as a colleague, and an informal supervisor that you work with in your assigned sector. My counterpart was a nurse and worked in the hospital with his wife, who was a midwife. During my first week they were both out of town for work; therefore I worked with his assistant & another nurse from a nearby village that commuted there during his absence. I was given a tour of the hospital which was a small building with about 8 rooms; 4 rooms were used for storage, 1 room for deliveries and surgery, 2 rooms for medical consultations and baby weighing. Like many other rural villages in Niger there was no electricity or running water in Markowa, including in the hospital. Supplies were scarce and sanitation standards were nothing like hospitals in the US but that was where I came in. My purpose was to educate and promote better sanitation, increase nutritional health among pregnant women and children and to provide assistance in creating sustainable ways to increase the livelihood of the local villagers.
Unfortunately I was unable to fulfill all my goals during my time in Markowa but what I did accomplish and memories I have will follow me always. During my 1 week of service I assisted in 2 baby deliveries and weighing, helped conduct over 15 prenatal consultations,conducted hand washing and malnutrition seminars and simply bonded with the women and children of my village. Even though my technical work was done in the hospital I feel my greatest work was the time spent with the children. Sharing my life and parts of my childhood with them, like learning to jump rope and playing patty cake, was the most rewarding experience of all. The smiles on their faces and the pure pleasure of learning something new is something I know they will always remember too.
Moving Day
My kitten Coco
My front “yard”
The kitchen
The “bedroom” in the back
Markowa!
My “kids” aka morning wake up committee
The well
The hospital
The delivery room
My counterpart and his daughter
