14 juin / june 2011
Some happy happenings:
-vaccination day again today at the ol' centre du sante. A bunch of ladies from my fave village of Saltaka showed up for their "rendevous" date of Polio and Penta 2 vaccinations. Kids, of course, are ridiculously healthy and happy. Interesting also how the women can respect the vaccination date and arrive at the hospital even though they live an hour plus away on a bad road and the women in the town here never bring their kids for vaccinations.
-been hanging out with my fam who lives next door more. The daughter, Koulsy (formerly Aissatou in past blog posts), is gone this week to Chad to take an exam for school, so mama Fadi and I have been spending some quality time together. She speaks French very well, so we have been learning Dii and Fulfulde a bit every night as she makes couscous and sauce. The other night we had an intense talk about her life and family and people here in the village. It was one of the first times since I've been here that someone has told me some of their secrets. It feels good that someone trusts me and wants to share their stories with me.
Some sad happenings:
-so Essaya's dog has been missing for a few weeks now and I thought he had just left and not come back. So I asked Essaya about him and where he thinks he went. He started laughing. "Hadidja, he was the biggest dog in this village."..... (so?) "And we were neglectful, we just let him walk around". Ya, so someone stole him and ate him, Essaya told me. Ps he told me this right before church. "You're joking right, Essaya?" No, there are people in my village who eat dogs. Ok, so here I am faced with most-likely the biggest cultural difference I am going to come across. And I honestly cannot get past it. Like what? Needless to say, I am a bit scared for Ashia. "Don't worry", Essaya said, "it won't be for a while. They'll wait until she's big to eat her". If they eat Ashia.....bad things will happen.
-There is this little girl Yani who lives with Essaya and Rose, and she's somehow someone's daughter of some sister. Anywho, I feel bad for her because the family doesn't treat her very well and I think she's suffering from Failure to Thrive Syndrome because she's not held and loved enough. Any chance I get, I always hug and kiss her. The other day, one of the boys said that Yani had a headache. Another boy said she wasn't feeling well because of a stomachache. Rose's diagnosis: no, she's feeling fine, she just wanted you to touch her head and stomach....I had to suppress myself from crying right there.
Ashia Updates
Ashia is currently in the biting phase. Which is annoying when I just want to walk in peace, or want to keep my panya intact, or want to visit people without her chewing on their mat. This phase will pass though, right?
I don't know if I'll ever be able to raise a child. Raising, or conditioning, a dog is so much work. Conditioning a creature, meaning teaching it that certain behaviors are preferred or not preferred, is quite tricky. Here are some examples:
-when Ashia is in my house, she chews on the mat. It is better than chewing on my clothes, or mosquito net, or books, and it isn't harming anything. However, when we go to other people's houses, she chews on the mat. And they get mad and hit her. But it's not her fault becuase I didn't teach her that that behavior is bad.
-Ashia and I run in the morning and I've conditioned her to run alongside me. But then when children are running, she runs after them, and they start screaming, and throwing rocks at her...it really is quite a scene. But to her, that behavior is okay, so she continues to do it.
The thing about conditioning is that it needs to be uniform across the board, with all people and in all locations. If Ashia is allowed in my house, but not other people's, then she gets confused and barks to come in. However, it is just very complex to condition her because behaviors that are acceptable in my home will never be the same as people's homes adjacent to mine.
Some happy happenings:
-vaccination day again today at the ol' centre du sante. A bunch of ladies from my fave village of Saltaka showed up for their "rendevous" date of Polio and Penta 2 vaccinations. Kids, of course, are ridiculously healthy and happy. Interesting also how the women can respect the vaccination date and arrive at the hospital even though they live an hour plus away on a bad road and the women in the town here never bring their kids for vaccinations.
-been hanging out with my fam who lives next door more. The daughter, Koulsy (formerly Aissatou in past blog posts), is gone this week to Chad to take an exam for school, so mama Fadi and I have been spending some quality time together. She speaks French very well, so we have been learning Dii and Fulfulde a bit every night as she makes couscous and sauce. The other night we had an intense talk about her life and family and people here in the village. It was one of the first times since I've been here that someone has told me some of their secrets. It feels good that someone trusts me and wants to share their stories with me.
Some sad happenings:
-so Essaya's dog has been missing for a few weeks now and I thought he had just left and not come back. So I asked Essaya about him and where he thinks he went. He started laughing. "Hadidja, he was the biggest dog in this village."..... (so?) "And we were neglectful, we just let him walk around". Ya, so someone stole him and ate him, Essaya told me. Ps he told me this right before church. "You're joking right, Essaya?" No, there are people in my village who eat dogs. Ok, so here I am faced with most-likely the biggest cultural difference I am going to come across. And I honestly cannot get past it. Like what? Needless to say, I am a bit scared for Ashia. "Don't worry", Essaya said, "it won't be for a while. They'll wait until she's big to eat her". If they eat Ashia.....bad things will happen.
-There is this little girl Yani who lives with Essaya and Rose, and she's somehow someone's daughter of some sister. Anywho, I feel bad for her because the family doesn't treat her very well and I think she's suffering from Failure to Thrive Syndrome because she's not held and loved enough. Any chance I get, I always hug and kiss her. The other day, one of the boys said that Yani had a headache. Another boy said she wasn't feeling well because of a stomachache. Rose's diagnosis: no, she's feeling fine, she just wanted you to touch her head and stomach....I had to suppress myself from crying right there.
Ashia Updates
Ashia is currently in the biting phase. Which is annoying when I just want to walk in peace, or want to keep my panya intact, or want to visit people without her chewing on their mat. This phase will pass though, right?
I don't know if I'll ever be able to raise a child. Raising, or conditioning, a dog is so much work. Conditioning a creature, meaning teaching it that certain behaviors are preferred or not preferred, is quite tricky. Here are some examples:
-when Ashia is in my house, she chews on the mat. It is better than chewing on my clothes, or mosquito net, or books, and it isn't harming anything. However, when we go to other people's houses, she chews on the mat. And they get mad and hit her. But it's not her fault becuase I didn't teach her that that behavior is bad.
-Ashia and I run in the morning and I've conditioned her to run alongside me. But then when children are running, she runs after them, and they start screaming, and throwing rocks at her...it really is quite a scene. But to her, that behavior is okay, so she continues to do it.
The thing about conditioning is that it needs to be uniform across the board, with all people and in all locations. If Ashia is allowed in my house, but not other people's, then she gets confused and barks to come in. However, it is just very complex to condition her because behaviors that are acceptable in my home will never be the same as people's homes adjacent to mine.
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