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samedi 19 février 2011
Momo Republic
Lever de Soleil
dimanche 13 février 2011
Blanket feeding
Flying in the field
It never worked as planned... and the return was epic!!!
At 6am the driver picks me up and drives through an empty and sleepy city. I reach Maradi without trouble 2-3 hours later. The pilots are south-african guys I had met at a pool party at their place the very same Saturday...
I spend the day and the night in Maradi. But because I would like to attend a blanket feeding distribution and that Zinder is only 2h30 away by road, we decide to reach Zinder by car and stop along the way at Aguié for a distribution. We finally arrive in Zinder at 5:30pm, it's a bit late for the driver to drive back but he wants to do it the same. I'm supposed to leave the next day (Saturday) around noon back by air for Niamey. Unfortunately the weather conditions deteriorate so I get to the office but the plane will never come. Sunday there are no usually no flights planned and it is an election day. Movements are restricted. After negotiations, they will do a rotation but the visibility is still too low for the pilots to risk a landing in Zinder... That night I sleep fully dressed under a mosquito net with holes and there is no water at the guesthouse... It's my last week-end in Niger and I missed the opportunity to say goodbye in church :(
Monday... I wake up with a call from the aviation officer asking me to get ready. False alarm. No plane will land this day either. Travelling by road would take 11 hours and it would be difficult to get a security clearance to do so. I am supposed to wait another day. But finally just before the sunset a car with colleagues from Diffa comes to pick me up. The first 1/2h I'm really tense about the idea of driving by night with a guy that has already 6 hours drive without stop on his shoulders. Praise God, we arrive safe in Maradi. I never enjoyed so much a good bed and a clean room!
I'm the only one having a seat booked on the next day flight to Niamey and hope that the plane will land because I don't feel like driving back to Niamey, in addition by the time we know if the plane is cancelled the car for Niamey will be half way.... But they did it!!! The plane lands in Maradi and takes us back to Niamey (however they again refuse to land in Zinder, security first!). So happy to be back home!!!!
Ahmed le bijoutier
L’histoire de la demoiselle brésilienne
Pour Anibelli,
Un dimanche du mois de janvier, je suis retournée dans l’église de mes débuts à Rome. Il y a 2 ans il y avait ce couple qui venait d’adopter 3 frères et sœurs brésiliens : 1 fille et 2 garçons entre 6 et 10 ans. Ce fameux dimanche la jeune demoiselle brésilienne me voyant seule s’approche et vient me parler. Elle ne voulait pas que je me sente seule et me dit que si sa mère (adoptive) était là elle m’aurait certainement chaleureusement accueillie. J’étais impressionnée ! Puis on discute un peu, de l’italien, de quelques problèmes avec les copines à l’école. Je l’encourage à tenir ferme, à être un exemple. Non, elle ne veut pas rendre le mal même quand elle se fait dénoncer injustement par ses amies… Et à la fin elle me dit « et la prochaine fois si tu veux tu pourras écouter mes mp3 ». C’était trop mignon !
Alors leçon #1, sommes nous un bon modèle pour les plus jeunes ? Sont-ils inspirés par notre conduite et notre vie comme cette jeune fille par sa mère ?
Leçon #2, un cœur obéissant est beau à voir et encourage, quelque soit l’âge !
Que personne ne méprise ta jeunesse; mais sois un modèle pour les fidèles, en parole, en conduite, en charité, en foi, en pureté. 1 Timothée 4:11-13
samedi 12 février 2011
Japanese Restaurant
* according to my observation that Friday nights can only be bubbly or gloomy
vendredi 11 février 2011
mercredi 2 février 2011
From TED, Nicholas Christakis: How social networks predict epidemics
After mapping humans' intricate social networks, Nicholas Christakis and colleague James Fowler began investigating how this information could better our lives. Now, he reveals his hot-off-the-press findings: These networks can be used to detect epidemics earlier than ever, from the spread of innovative ideas to risky behaviors to viruses (like H1N1).