Amanda's Musings

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity .”
~ Albert Einstein~

This is this weeks quote and immediately my mind is filled with examples both mine and Biblical.
For example; Paul in the prison, earthquake and the conversion of the jailer. Joseph’s whole life. Moses – his mother’s choice to put him in the basket. Daniel still praying and ending up in the lion’s den. The list goes on and on.

For myself. There are a few examples but the main one I can think of is quite current. My family lives overseas, my Mum, my Dad, my brother, my sister-in-law and my nephew. They live in a place where it’s difficult to stay. They’re missionaries in Papua New Guinea. In having my family live so far away it means that I don’t have them around for advice, hands on help or physical support in my first year of being a mother. This may sound selfish and in some respects it is but there are times that I wish and wish and wish that I had my Mum around to show me what to do.

In the midst of this difficulty I’ve had the opportunity to grow. I’ve had to make conscious choices to change an attitude or way of doing things. I’ve also had the wonderful opportunity to be available back here in Australia to send thing up to PNG whenever they need them. This seems simplistic but for me this is my current difficulty and that’s how I’ve made it into an opportunity. I must say though in closing that this is an every day decision, I have to keep on checking my thinking all the time and remember that God is the one who has them there and me here.

The next few weeks settling into our new house in Niamey (left) are a bit of a blur to me. I know we spent a few weeks preparing for the school year which started only a couple of weeks after we’d arrived and I know we met a lot of people and had meals with a lot of people but I can’t remember much more than that.

Niamey was pretty much what we had been expecting, dusty, dry, poor and very busy (and overrun with goats, sheep, camels and donkeys). We immediately thought we were living in Bible times. To be honest, we either didn’t have time for culture shock or had prepared so well for it that we didn’t get it. I suppose we expected such a big contrast and got it. We knew we weren’t there for a holiday.

Only a month before we arrived in Niger I was asked to teach year 11/12 History. I had only prepared to teach 1-12 Art so this was a bit of a challenge. Basically, due to the lack of qualified teachers anyone who had a gap in their teaching week was given as many hats as they could handle.

This was to be my first big challenge. Sahel Academy is an English speaking MK school situated in Niamey, Niger. Niger is a French speaking, mainly Islamic country which is currently the poorest in the world.

When we arrived I was given the History text book and the accompanying Teacher’s textbook (students in my class) . I was then to work my way through the book as far as possible by the end of the school year. Good thing I like history and I’d done it in yr 11 and 12 myself (and got a B!!).

Along with this I was to teach Art to the whole school and Michael was to teach year 10/11 Maths (pictured marking work below right) and yr 7-12 computing. In second semester he also taught PE (if you know him you’ll know that this wasn’t his strong point!). What a challenge. First we had to work out how to do lesson plans, then how to set assignments, exams and how to mark them. The qualified teachers there were wonderful and assisted us along the way.

Before I go on to describe some of the interesting, wonderful and challenging (dangerous) experiences we had during our year in Niger I will say this. Is it fair that MK’s have to be taught core subjects by non-qualified teachers? I don’t think it is BUT many teachers won’t go overseas (some do of course and they are a wonderful blessing). There are those Christian teachers who don’t see this as their calling, are afraid of living in a situation like that of Niger or are simply unable to physically go.

If you are a Christian teacher can I ask you to seriously pray about serving in this overseas context. Will you pray about short-term MK teaching? Will you pray about long-term MK teaching, afterall consistency is what kids need right? Yes, this is a challenge, please consider the amazing role you will have with these kids and the blessing you will be to their parents in allowing them to stay in their missionary capacities because someone is teaching their kids. If you have a list of excuses a mile long (which sound like genuine reasons not to go) will you pray through the list and ask the Lord to help you with your fears and worries? Afterall, I made it through Niamey airport in one piece and if I can go (and I’ve got my own list of fears STILL) then anyone can.

Another of my African sketches originally done for literacy sketches and then I turned them into cards for sale. The money from the sale of the cards went to SIM‘s Niger Famine Relief Project. I still have some cards for sale by the way if anyone is interested. You can read about them here.

This is my PF entry for this week. The theme is ‘four’ so here are four boys from Niger who live in the village of Say (pronounced Sigh). This was taken during our overnight visit to this village with missionaries Kris and Shelley Riggs who work with Southern Baptists in Niger. You can read Kris’s blog here.

“Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.

That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.”
~ Emily Kimbrough ~

I’ve joined this CWC ‘In Other Words’ weekly inspired sayings blog and this is the saying for this week.

I couldn’t agree more with this thought. The older I get the more I realise that I need to hold God’s hand more than I do. People are fickle, friendships are fickle but God is constant. He also doesn’t mind if I stumble and he’s always there to both help me up and give me a ‘cuddle’ to make me feel better. Sounds soppy but it’s true!

Us in Niamey

Having spent 6 months in the UK we knew we had to be prepared for quite a climate change going into West Africa. It wasn’t the only change of course but one of the many dramatic ones. Neither of us had ever flowin into a ‘third world’ country (this term has changed so many times, not sure what the current politically correct term is) before. We had been warned by various people that several things may happen when we got off the plane in Niamey, Niger. We were told we may be patted down, our luggage may be rustled through, our luggage may not arrive, our luggage may not arrive in one piece, our luggage may be confiscated. We were warned not to let baggage handlers grab our things as we excited the airport.

All these things, along with the fact that it would be hot, dusty and in the middle of nowhere meant that by the time we flew into Niamey I was literally trembling. I’m not sure how many people this happens to but it happened to me. As we got off the plane the lovely 32C (89F) air hit us and we felt like we were in Australia again. We then lined up to have our passports and yellow fever books checked by the military men sitting behind the counter. As I turned around to look down the long line I realised that there were an awful lot of westerners in the queue. I later found out that there were around 20 other SIM and other missionaries and kids on board that flight. What was I worried about!

We were shuffled into a little booth each to be patted down next. This was one of my big fears. A very large African woman stood there in airport uniform and took the book I was holding (Modern Art) and ruffled through the pages. She then said to me ‘SIM?’, I said ‘yes’ and she said ‘go’. Phew. Next fear put to rest. Michael had a similar experience as he was wearing a SIM t-shirt.

We collected our luggage. Nothing was damaged, not even the guitar which we had stupidly put on the flight in a soft case. Our luggage wasn’t rifled through and we were quickly ushered out the exit gates. We were greeted by a few different people, there were so many SIMmers to pick up that day!

So, we made it, me wearing a long skirt as is the custom in Niger (as is NOT my custom at all) and yes, with baggage handlers carrying our luggage!

Looking back, anyone who travels into this type of airport regularly would think I was silly being so afraid but I had spent almost a year and a half previously building up an image in my mind as to what our arrival in Niamey would involve. Some of my fears were real but in the end, I should have trusted the Lord a lot more than I did. We live and learn.

This is 30cmx30cm (12″x12″), oil on velvet. I did a series about the precious object and this is one of four to do with the ‘trapping’ of the precious gemstone within a rock. It’s meant to deal with the theme of the beauty within. Below is the set of four together (not a great shot as it was taken with a camera phone at the time):

This is my brother and his wife sitting at the end of a jetty. This was a special place to them, a place they spent a lot of time talking when they first met. One of my favourite pics!

Let me explain what these tags are. Basically you would attach them to a gift for a close friend or family member. There’s a little pouch on the reverse side (on all except 4). This is where you would put your message, a slip of paper will slide into the slot perfectly (see the albumn for a photo of both sides).

Each tag is hand stitched, no sewing machines were used in the creation of these (basically because I’m really bad at usin them!). They are around around 8-10 cm (3-4 inches) long. Each one is individual although if you would like more than one of the same kind I’m happy to make it up for you. The only difference may be in the buttons used as they are bought in vintage lots.

I’m also happy to make up an order for you of up to a set of 6 tags all the same colour or shape.

The cost of each tag is $8 Australian which translates to $6.50 US and GBP3.50 plus postage. I have a paypal account which you are welcome to pay into but I prefer bank deposit if you are able.

MOST IMPORTANTLY – all profits (which is around 90% of the price) will go towards a special SIM project – Hope For AIDS.

If you are interested in any of the tags, please e-mail me on ahunt@oddsocks.net