Zollo nda nga korfo (A gourd and its string)

African languages have many proverbs, and the Songhai language is no exception. This is one of my favorites:  "A gourd and its string."  Now you're probably wondering what in the world that means.  Well, first, a little explanation is in order.  

There are many types of gourds in Niger, each with its own word to describe it.  Some are spherical in shape and when cut in half, gutted, and dried, make nice bowls of various sizes.  Others grow in such a way that they make spoons when cut in half.  Sometimes the Nigeriens decorate these different gourds with various beautiful carvings and colors.  But there is one type of gourd that grows roughly in the shape of an hourglass.  It's called a zollo. Here's a picture of one of these gourds growing. 

Ever see anything like that?  Amazing, isn't it?  Now these gourds have a variety of uses.  People may cut off the top of the smaller end and put a stopper in the hole.  Then they carry it around as a water bottle.  Or they may put cream in it, put a stopper in the hole, and give it to a child to carry around all day.  When he or she gets home in the evening, voila,.... butter, a little runny to be sure, but very much like butter.  In both these cases the gourd will normally have a string attached to it so the person can carry it.  The string may be long enough to carry it around your neck.    So this gourd (zollo) is associated with a string attached to it.

So here's the meaning of the proverb.  Actually, it's only half a proverb.  But, like many proverbs in English, if you say half the proverb, most people could complete it. (Try completing, "A stitch in time...").  So the full proverb is, "A gourd and its string are always together."  But the Songhai only have to use the first half of it, and everyone understands what they are saying.

That still leaves us hanging.  What in the world does it mean?  Well, the proverb is used about two people or things that are always together:  A husband and wife, two close friends, two donkeys pulling a cart, etc.  It got to the point where one of my friends in Tera would come to greet and during the long series of greetings that all Africans are really good at, he would ask me, "And how is your string (korfo)?"  He wasn't literally talking about a random piece of string, but rather my wife.  We all use euphemisms when talk, and this was one of them in Songhai.  He didn't refer specifically to my wife.  He used an expression which meant the same thing.  And he didn't mean that my wife has me by the throat with a string.  It is more of a metaphor indicating a close relationship of mutual support.  

I could think of a lot of applications for this proverb in our own culture (our supporters and us, our supervisors and us, pastor and church, teacher and student, etc.).  We are dependent on many others for help, support, and growth.  We need to work together and rely on each other more. Our rugged individualism is not always such a good thing.  This is especially true for Christians.

There is another use for this gourd which really interests me.  As a musician, this one is especially intriguing.  You can let the gourd dry out and leave the seed inside it without cutting it open in any way.  Then you tie a net of beads to it, and it becomes a clacking rhythm instrument like a maracas.  Here I'm holding one in my hands. 

Lots of uses for a zollo, aren't there?

Music and Adventure

Anyone who knows me knows I like music. To a lesser degree, I also like variety and adventure.
In 2010 I will begin a new adventure. And that adventure involves music. I plan to begin studies leading to a PhD. And what will the subject of that degree be? I'll be studying the music of the Songhai people of Niger, with whom we have worked for the last 20 years. This plan has been a long time coming, and it promises to be a five-year adventure. I'll be writing more about it in this blog in the weeks and months to come. Suffice it to say that I'll be doing the studies through the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies in Oxford, England. I have to go to England in March to begin with a 10-week "induction" course. Nancy will go with me for the first month to encourage me, sightsee, and see where I'm going to be. Then she'll return to the US to be here when Daniel and Suzanne finish college. I'll stay until early June.

While I'm in England, I'll take courses in research methods, learn about the OCMS program, and have a supervisor assigned to me for my studies. Then I return to England each year until I finish the degree and have to spend only six weeks there per year meeting with my supervisor and reviewing where we're at. The rest of the program will involve research, writing, reading, and communicating with my supervisors on line.

Today I took the first step in the pursuit of this program. I bought tickets to England for next March. I leave with Nancy on March 24.

Daniel and Sumeyla

Our son Daniel grew up in Tera, Niger. His best friend there was Soumeyla, our houselady's son. They lived just two doors down from us. Daniel and Soumeyla are the same age (19 in 2008) and have similar personalities and tastes. Both are quiet and love the outdoors. Both love sports. They speak Songhai with each other and Soumeyla knows quite a bit of English both from studying it in school and also from hearing us use it. But the differences in culture and religion (Soumeyla is a Muslim) and especially in education form a huge gulf between them.

At age four

We just learned that Soumeyla passed his exams to enter high school. No, I did not say that wrong. At 19, he will be entering high school. This is the result of the school system in Niger which is partly inherited from the French. Let

With friends at age five. Soumeyla is on the right.

me explain. At the end of primary school (the equivalent of 6th grade in the US), all the students take exams. A certain percentage of the students who make the top grades will go on to junior high school (which in Niger is called college). Most students do not pass the exam. But they have the option of taking 6th grade over and retaking the exam the following year. If they fail to pass, they may take 6th grade over a third time. If after three tries, they fail to pass the exam, they are out of the education system and cannot go on with their education. They must find some kind of trade or go back to farming or go into the army or police force. There are few other options. I don't know the exact percentages, but most people who start elementary school never go on to junior high school (college).

Eating fish sandwiches. The fish were caught in the Tera lake.

Soumeyla is on the left. (2003?)

If, however, the student finally passes his primary exams and moves on to college, s/he has another four years to prove himself or herself. He or she may be as old as 14 or 15 when they enter college. At the end of four years of college, there is another exam. As was the case for primary school, there is another exam to determine if a student can pass on to high school. Again, most students don't pass the exam. And again, if they do not pass, they may retake the exam two more times after redoing the final year of college.

Daniel and Suzanne with Genda and Soumeyla (on right)--2004.

Now I don't know how many times Soumeyla took the primary exams, but I do know that he failed to pass the college exams twice even though he was one of the top students in his class. At the beginning of last school year, his mother pleaded with us to find a job for him or some way for him to continue his education. After some thought, we remembered that a Christian friend of ours ran a private college in Tera. Would he be willing to bring Soumeyla into his school to redo the last year of college and try one last time to pass the exam? He would, and we paid for Soumeyla's tuition (75,000 francs, which translates to about $187.50). Our friend, the director of the school, thought he could easily pass the exam given his grades in last class. Well, Soumeyla finally made it. He now has the chance to get to university. But first, he has to get through the three years of high school (called lycee in French). At the end of lycee he has another exam to take, and, you guessed it, he has three tries to pass that exam. So, if he gets to university, he could be as old as 24 before he starts. That is the system here.

Renting bicycles to ride around Tera. Soumeyla is on Daniel's

right. Jeremy Slager is on the far right in the picture. 2006.

When Daniel first started school, Nancy home-schooled him. At that time, Soumeyla's mom asked us if we couldn't home school Soumeyla along with Daniel. Should we have done so? Did we make a mistake in not doing so? That is a big, unanswerable question. How do you know what is right? Could we (or should we) have supported Soumeyla throughout his schooling? Would it have benefitted Soumeyla to do that or would it have made it harder for him to adapt back to his home country's educational system? Would he have had a better education? Probably, but would it have been the best thing for him? It's easy to look back and second guess. It's not so easy to decide on the spot. There are many factors and variables.

Soumeyla and Daniel in 2007 just before Daniel left Niger.

In any case, we're very happy that Soumeyla has made it to lycee and has a chance to move on with his education. He will get at least three more years of schooling, and that should help him find a better job and better working conditions.

Walliyya aka Abdim's Stork

Walliyya

A bird commonly seen in W. Africa is the Abdim’s Stork, also known by its Songhai name, walliyya. This bird summers north of the equator and “winters” in southern Africa. I use the parentheses around “winters” because though it is “winter” in W. Africa, it is summer in southern Africa when the stork lives there, so you might say it’s a real “snow bird,” if that expression can be applied to Africa. It likes to be where there is eternal summer.

The Abdim’s stork usually appears in W. Africa in April and migrates back to southern Africa in October. This corresponds roughly to the hot, humid period in our part of the world. In April one of the common questions you may hear will be, “Have you seen a walliyya yet? The walliya is supposed to be a harbinger of the coming rainy season (June-September in Niger), and when you see one, you know that the rains are on their way.

Interestingly, the Abdim’s stork nests only when it is north of the equator. It is very gregarious and usually builds a nest in a tall, leafy tree in a town or a village near a water source. The brood consists of 2-4 eggs. During the rainy season, the chicks hatch and learn to fly, and by September, they’re ready for the long trek to southern African with their parents.

So it was quite a surprise one day this month (November, 2007) to see a walliyya walking around in the street outside out gate. They should all have been long gone by now. And this one wasn’t flying. Either it was injured in some way or it hatched late and was too young to fly when the migration took place. Earlier this week, the walliyya came into our yard looking for food, and we snapped these pictures of it.




It’s not the prettiest bird. Actually, it’s rather gangly and ugly, but it does play an important role in encouraging everyone during the long W. African hot season (March-June). You might call it the “rain bird.”

Multilingual

Any of you who know me know I like languages. I have studied six (including Biblical Greek and Hebrew) and speak three fluently(French, English, and Songhai) and know another African language a bit (Hausa). I get bored and restless in a monolingual environment. A multicultural, multilingual setting seems so much more dynamic and interesting. In the places I've lived in the US, I've unfortunately experienced more of the former than the latter. That is changing, however, and I think it is good for us as Americans, even though it does produce some "growing pains."

Thus it was fascinating last Friday, Aug 31, to participate in our monthly Day of Prayer meetings held in Niamey at Sahel Academy. Not only were we using French and English, the two main languages spoken by SIM people in Niger, but there were also other languages spoken. Two short-term workers from Romania gave their testimonies. One spoke in Swiss German (low German) and was translated into French. He is very gifted in languages and already knows some French and English in addition to German and Romanian. The other spoke in Romanian and was translated likewise into French. By the way, watch out for the Romanians. They are serious about their commitment to God and His work. They may become the next Koreans or Brazilians or Nigerians in the missions movement. Later in the prayer session we watched a DVD in Arabic with French subtitles. So, there were five different languages used in one prayer meeting! How's that for a taste of heaven?

I love being in this kind of work where many languages are used. Let's get used to multilingual environments. They're going to become more and more commonplace.