Pencils For Kids

This was truly the first relaxing day since we arrived in Niger. We had completed all that we had set out to do and it was time to reflect and spend time with friends on our final day. Ramatou and her mom, Fatimata, or Fati (the Mayor’s wife), joined us at the hotel for two hours. What lovely, elegant and intelligent women. We had a great time outside on the terrace and I wore the dress that Ramatou had designed and made for me last year…….. Next year she is thinking of making me one in turquoise.. She works at UNICEF, but she should definitely consider opening her own Boutique and designing clothing.

The Mayor had nicknamed me Zankey-gna, so Fati nicknamed Ed, Zankey-baba, …. The Mayor came up with the name because one of the women in the village of Guireguindi yelled out Zankey-gna when we were initiating the Farmers of the Future program there..

Afterwards we said goodbye and while Ed was mounting a camel in the front yard of the hotel, I bought some small gifts for people at home at the hotel gift shop. We saw one of the ORBIS staff as he was headed out for his two hour jaunt by camel around the city…..later told us he had a great time..

Then Gaston and his wife Lilliane picked us up for lunch. We went to a beautiful restaurant just outside Niamey where their son works. It was so lovely and the meal was great. Lillian is a nurse and is so nice and warm and smart. It was terrific to finally put a face to the name I had heard for so long. There is nothing that compares to meeting people in person. No email or twitter or phone call will ever replace looking directly into someone’s eyes and sharing a hug. We had a great time and I think we both relaxed for the first time since we arrived. There was no more pressure to get things done. Gaston and Lillian and Ed and I had an afternoon to remember. 

After we returned to the hotel, Hamani brought us the 14 groups of letters and scrapbooks for the pen pals back home. Then the Mayor personally arrived to take us to the Airport at 5pm for pre-registration.  He is an incredibly humble man with tremendous integrity.  

When we returned to the hotel we heard that there was a Tuareg wedding happening nearby. Hamani said he could take us there. In a Tuareg wedding, the groom has his turban wrapped for 45 minutes or so…….and that’s all it takes for him to be married even thought the bride is not there yet…… We missed the wrapping part but we took pictures with the Groom and his friends and gave him a Canadian pin….

At night, around 9:30pm, the Chef de Canton arrived to say goodbye. He is one of the wisest people I know with such a kind heart.

Then Yakouba, the Director from the Mutuelle bank in Liboré, arrived and gave me the most beautiful letter about how P4K is their largest client at the bank and what a difference we have made in Liboré. They gave to me a fabulous leather rug which can also be a wall hanging and perhaps one day if we have our own P4K office we can hang it there.

Hamani and the Vice Mayor also arrived and off we went to the airport to leave Niger. At the lounge in the airport, Hamani, the Vice Mayor, Fatouma, the Mayor and Ed and I talked about the Mayor’s dream to have an eye hospital in Liboré……The Mayor is convinced it will be built one day, and is looking for partners to help with equipment. Another seed planted.

And then it was time to be driven to the waiting airplane. I said a teary goodbye to them all, with an extra hug or two for the Mayor and with Ed at my side walked through the security and onto the bus.  As we boarded the plane all we could both do was look at each other and say “thank you” to all the powers that looked after us along the way and made it the trip of a lifetime.

It was time to go home.

I met the Mayor at 7:30 this morning for my trip to Liboré.  Alioun his son was driving and it was great to finally meet him. Ed was planning to leave with the ORBIS bus to go to Liboré at 8:30am for the day of outreach.

We arrived in Liboré shortly before 8am and already saw many men and women and children lining up to see the doctors. There was anticipation in the air. They were unfailingly polite and sweet and kind and ended up waiting in the hot sun all day until it was their turn to be seen. Before the ORBIS bus arrived, I gave my video camera to Alioun since he loves taking videos and we both filmed some of the people and interviewed the Mayor and Chef as they were not part of the Elder interviews on Thursday.

Finally the ORBIS bus arrived and the work began in earnest. Ed was in a makeshift examination room with Noor from Tunisia and from the moment the “clinic” opened at 9:30 until about 5:00 they worked with no break, and only some water and a power bar.. The Mayor brought lunch in but Ed and Noor, just worked straight through. They hit it off and enjoyed each other’s skill and humour. There were many translators there from both the Rotary and Peace Corps and they were incredible.

While the “eyes” were being seen, I asked the Mayor if we could go visit the wells that Carl Vahl’s Rotary team had recently drilled, the ones with the new Rotary design. The Mayor, Vice Mayor, Alioun, Mary, Hamani, Gambi, Ramatou and I all went to see them in two vehicles. The Mayor’s jeep had the two armed guards and I was in the car behind with Ramatou and Alioun and Gambi. I was told it was about 7 kilometres away, but it took us 30 -40 minutes over desert, rocky terrain to get to the first of two villages, Galbel. It was a tiny village and the first thing we saw was the shiny, new, blue and yellow colours of the Rotary well. It was gorgeous and the new rotary wheel, designed by Gaston, was an integral part of the well itself. It pumped beautifully fresh and clear water and was so easy to turn. On the way to the village, Gambi explained to me that the wells have made a huge difference in the lives of the villagers. They are faster and easier to use, take less time for women and children to manipulate and create therefore much more time for attending school. We took many photos in Galbel. The Mayor pointed out that this was one of the Villages that was not yet permitted to have a school.

We said goodbye and we drove a very short way, perhaps another 3-4 minutes, to our second stop, the village of Gouruberi. Again in the middle of the village we see the brand new Rotary well. After some photos and pumping water, once again the Mayor taps me on the shoulder and tells me that there is no school here either.

It was one of those moments in life that needed to be seized…even though I had no idea where we would raise the money.

I told the Mayor that he should begin to get the paperwork ready for us to get whatever permissions were required to put a school in this village. Then I said that while the paperwork was being done, and the fight was commencing, which could take upwards of a year, why couldn’t we send in a teacher or anyone who could at least begin educating the children in some way, even if it was under a tree..

All of us began talking while the Chief of the Village stood beside us. We decided there was no reason that we could not at least start a Kindergarten right away in the village because it required no government sanction and that way there would be a beginning. Then and there I promised the Chief of the Village on behalf of P4K, that we commit to putting in a Kindergarten. At this point Ramatou came up to me and whispered that I should mention to the community what their obligations would be.  Great point, I said as we always expect the community to participate. I told all the villagers that this was not charity but a partnership and that we expected them to help build the Kindergarten, to support the teacher in his/her efforts, and to send their children to school. The Mayor then tapped me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear “Les filles” (the “Girls”.) OF course, I said. So I looked at all the villagers and said it is not only the boys that you must send to school but also the GIRLS, the GIRLS, the GIRLS…Everyone was cheering. Then the Chief wanted to show me where the new school would be built - we walked over to a barren area near the Mosque and the Chief said here is where it will be. When I asked if we should have one kindergarten for both villages as Galbel was very close by and it worried me that we would help one and not the other, the villagers said they preferred if they could have their own as they worried about sending their little children too far. They did not assume that it would be in “their” village but in the other one. I responded, “no problem”, we will have one in each village. It just seemed the right thing to do. They continued cheering and clapping.  I didn’t worry for one moment about where the money would come from to support the kindergartens or the schools. That worry will be for later. I just have complete faith that we can do this as a team.

It was so interesting to me that this time the schools we will build have followed the construction of the wells, as opposed to the opposite. Normally Carl and his Rotary team have drilled wells near schools to make the lives of the students and mothers easier and allow kids to stay in school longer because they won’t have to walk for miles to fetch water. This time, the wells have brought the schools.

After these amazing moments, we all drove back to the CSE school area, where the ORBIS outreach was still in full swing. Then the real fun began. While Perry and the entire ORBIS team worked non-stop organizing first the women, then the children and finally the men, Hamani and I spent two hours going over the books, receipts, and all that wonderful number stuff I hate………but we finally managed to do it all and make Louise, our Treasurer, proud….

I also spent a few minutes with the Directors of some of the schools because we had over $650 to donate to them from the Associated Hebrew Day School in Toronto (Posluns branch). They were excited to use this money for professional development of their teachers and were already discussing when to plan these days. We took some photos in the courtyard.

Then Hamani and I crossed the road and went to the storage area for the sports and school equipment and spoke to some of the headmasters there as well. Hamani said that these are the leaders who are being groomed for Libore’s future.

I wanted to take some photos for our sponsors to thank them for all the goods that had been donated. So we took photos with the soccer balls for AVANTI Sports, the school supplies from MEADWEST Vaco, the volleyballs from Garry and Lee, the Bananagrams from Bananagrams, the books from the Toronto French School and the Computers from HIVE Strategic Marketing Inc.

In the field near where the outreach was taking place, there was a great Soccer Tournament taking place, the annual Pencils for Kids cup. Hamani said that before this time, two years ago, most kids never had the opportunity to play soccer because there were no balls. But now since P4K’s arrival, they play every day and have a tournament once a year with school supplies as the prizes…. It was heartwarming to hear and see and I know a huge thank you is due to Project Play for donating the first 100 balls and to Avanti for donating the next 500.

All day, Alioun took photos and videos and helped out also with ORBIS. ORBIS had a very worthwhile day, screening around 400 people and promising to give surgical and follow up treatment to 95 of those in the following months. It was a huge success and the people of Liboré were very grateful for this unbelievable opportunity. ORBIS will ensure that these people receive their treatments free of charge and get the follow up they need. What a truly amazing organization. Everyone was given a pair of non-prescription sunglasses as a gift.

We finally left Liboré and that night Ed and I returned to the Grand Hotel for dinner, happy but exhausted.

Today ORBIS staff under Perry’s guidance, went out to Liboré to train 17 health representatives, one from every village. From all reports, it went amazingly well. Thrilling for me to know how much ORBIS is accomplishing in Niger and in Liboré.

It was yet another great day….a touch less hectic for the first time since our arrival. Hamani came to pick us up and take us to the hospital as Ed wanted to spend time with the ORBIS doctors as they examined their post op patients from the day before. While Ed was there, Hamani and I talked business for the next hour – planning all the photos needed, the pen pal scrapbooks, the sights for the next day, and made a plan to meet later to discuss our accounting and review the books.  For the next few hours, I remained in the room or at the outside terrace, working and preparing for the big meeting with the P4K committee at 5pm.

At 3pm I got a call from the Director of the Hospital, Ibrahim Sabou, whom I had spoken to two days earlier about the year-long wait for our NGO status. Not sure why I mentioned it to him, but at the time he said that he knew the Minister of the Interior. Today he said he was coming to pick me up to take me to see the Minister… Ed just arrived back and we both got ready to go. I asked the Director to contact Hamani to meet us there as I knew we would have need of translation and Hamani had been walking us through this whole process for NGO status for over a year. 

As we waited at the Ministry offices for the Minister to arrive, we walked into another person’s office to ask where our P4K file was. Sure enough, as expected it was under a pile of other files that could easily have stayed there for another year…  I gave out pins and pencil necklaces to Ibrahim and the Ministry staff while we waited for Hamani and also the Minister to arrive.

The Minister ushered us into his lovely office and began to explain in French why our application had taken so long to approve. Ibrahim told him all that we were doing in Niger with P4K and with ORBIS and the Minister apologized for the great delay, or at least I think that’s what he said in French. He assured me we would get our status next week. He couldn’t do it before I left on Sunday as it was already Friday afternoon. And he said not to expect it on Monday morning at 6am either. Ha Ha. ….. We gave him a pencil necklace too and Ed asked if we could take a photo with him, which we did. FINALLY after over a year of tremendous time and effort we will now get our official NGO STATUS in Niger which allows us to send things into the country duty free and hassle free, in addition to other benefits.

Then we came back to the hotel and Ed and I met the musician, Abdul Salam Mamoudou, who composed the music for us for the Pencils for Kids song. We had asked him for a recording of this new song he wrote so we could teach it to children here. He gave us a CD of him singing it without accompaniment.

At 5:30 pm, we had our anticipated meeting with Hamani, the Mayor, the Chef de Canton, Mary , Fatouma the Vice Mayor, Gaston, me and Ed. This was a very important meeting where we could finally all sit around a table and talk about what we had accomplished, what more was needed, what were our priorities going forward etc…

Gaston chaired the meeting and it was in French, except for Gaston’s translations to me of what everyone was saying. I noticed during this meeting how very wise the people on our committee were. Each one brings such different expertise and talent to the table. The Chef did not speak much, but when he did, he managed to bring everything together in a few choice and salient words.

It was a really really great meeting lasting 2 and ½ hours. But we covered so much and I was very pleased with the results. We received tons of wonderful feedback and information which I will put into meeting notes for our P4K meeting at home. Suffice it to say we are all of one mind on sustainability and we are all on the right track so far with our programs.

I did ask the Mayor at one point if there were any children in Liboré still not going to school at all. I wasn’t counting the children learning in a hangar or under a tree. He surprised me when he said yes. There were still many children without schools. When I asked why we had just built a school to replace a shade hangar when there were children who had no hangar at all, he explained the following. There are places where the government refuses to build schools because it doesn’t feel the population size or number of children warrants the expense of the teacher salary etc… There is apparently lots of red tape to get schools approved in these villages and hamlets. I told the Mayor to start up the paperwork because I didn’t want to leave any child in Liboré without access to education at all. Let the challenges with the government begin. Time was of the essence.

Afterwards Ed and I were picked up at the hotel by DOV PASTERNAK from Farmers of the Future and were driven to a nice restaurant specializing in fish, that he recommended. We had a fascinating discussion with him about the details of the FOF program and about what brought him to Niger for the past 8 years after living in Israel. He is an interesting man with a passion to make a difference and I now know more about agriculture than I ever dreamed I would.

I am absolutely hooked on the Farmers program and Liboré will be the first ever official pilot of the program. The other sample pilot that Dov had done, in Sadoré, was a smaller test case.

I learned about drip irrigation, Moringa vegetables (most nourishing veggie in the world and very popular in Niger), growing of Mango trees, Pomme de Sahel, (grown and nicknamed by Dov himself) and all the ways we can make this program work.

All in all it was another great day.

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It is midnight and we are just getting into our room. What a day. We were picked up at 7:45 am to go to Liboré, to the village of Guireginde, to launch the first ever Farmers of the Future program. There were two armed soldiers on our jeep escorting us every step of the way holding long rifles to protect us. The Mayor was taking no chances with our safety.

We (Robin, Ed, Dini, Ron, Jonathan, Corey (son of an ORBIS volunteer doctor who had been tremendously helpful to ORBIS and us) arrived at the village and there were many elders, women and children waiting for us and creating a circle around us. We met Dov Pasternak for the first time after a year of corresponding. Dov works with ICRISAT, an international organization that works in the developing world to improve agricultural opportunities. He created the Farmers of the Future program (FOF) as a way to alleviate poverty. The theory is that if you train young primary school children to properly irrigate their land, plant vegetable gardens, fruit trees and fatten animals, and then market their produce and invest their proceeds, then they will no longer farm for subsistence only, but to earn a living for the future.  I heard of Dov from an article I read and wanted to bring his program to Liboré. While he had experimented with this project on a small scale in Sadoré, a village 45 km away from Liboré, this was to be the very first FOF official pilot program in the world.

Dov introduced us to his colleagues and Lennart is the one who will now work with Hamani directly to implement the program once we leave. The contract is signed and we are ready to begin. We were taken to an area where we would “officially dig our shovels into the ground” for the kickoff of FOF.  I had printed off the names of each of our Executive and Advisory Board on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets, laminated them, and had the children hold them, so our team would feel they were there with me and I would not feel like I was launching this great initiative on my own…we are a team in every sense of the word.. The sheets simply said “In honour of ________”their name”__________ P4K member.

I asked Dov to say a few words and he spoke eloquently but firmly about the importance of the program for the future of the country. “If we teach the children how to farm in order to make a living and not just subsist, they will have money for the future” he said. That is the way to alleviate the spiral of poverty. He gave a great example of some people who were taught how to improve their crops, and were so successful that they had enough produce for the following year. When he went to visit them he saw that the fields were bare and no work was being done. When he inquired what was going on, they said there was no need to work because they had enough to last them for the year.
“That”, he said, “was the subsistence mentality, that says, “if you have enough for your needs, stop.” He wanted to change that way of thinking and teach the young children in Guireguinde to treat the program as a way of making a living for the present and the future and not just to feed themselves in any given year. His words were powerful and were translated to the villagers in Zarma. I told the crowd I was honoured to partner with them and with ICRISAT to help improve their lives and prospects for the future.  Then Dov and I, each with a shovel in our hand, and the hands of some young children on ours, ceremonially dug into the earth to make it official… My laminated team members reflected the light of the sun and absorbed every moment with quiet anticipation.

The crowd cheered and the children smiled. The Chef de Canton and the Mayor were explaining to the villagers afterwards more about the impact the program can have. Dini was surrounded by children who were laughing and enjoying her attention, and the games she taught them, and I went skipping with some others back to the car, as they imitated every “skip” that I made, laughing all the way. It was a great start to a long and rewarding day. I have such faith and hope for this FOF program as it is something sustainable for the community and educational for the children. 

Then the Mayor, trying to keep us on schedule, whisked us away to our next appointment.

A few minutes later we arrived at the inauguration ceremony for the Vive la Vie classrooms at Ecole Centre. There are no words to describe the scene when we got out of the cars. We were met by the “band” of men, hitting their drums in rhythmic style and ushering us to the courtyard. Hundreds of kids were holding Canadian and Nigerien flags. There was a podium, a stage and a singer playing the guitar. There were chairs set up for all the dignitaries, and we were placed in the front row, behind tables filled with refreshments and food. I was seated beside the Chef de Canton and the Vice Mayor. Gambi, a councilor on the Mayor’s committee, then brought in a chair and put it between me and the Vice Mayor. She and I do not speak one word in the same language, but she always calls my name…..”ROOOOBINNNN”…… “ROOOOOOBINNNNNN”…..and I say “GAAAAMBIIIII”…… “GAAAAMBIII”……

The ceremony to officially launch Vive la Vie then began.

First three spiritual leaders began the prayers for the occasion. Everyone held their hands cupped in their laps with their heads bowed as the melodic voices of the elders lifted our spirits.

Then they had the little kindergarten kids, from Clara’s Kids kindergarten, aged 4 or 5 sing the first song. (It is called Clara’s Kids because Clara, a nine year old girl from Toronto read an article about us in the Globe and Mail one year ago, and was so moved she decided to donate all her birthday money towards P4K. She raised over $1400 with her family and friends and with that money helped sponsor a Kindergarten which we then named “Clara’s Kids”.) They were too cute, reciting words, and singing at the tops of their voices. One little girl was shouting her words so loudly and strongly and with such confidence that I was mesmerized……I stood up after they all finished and gave a standing ovation.  Then the older girls came forward, probably about 11 or 12 years old, who sang a great song and added some dance moves as they recited the words. They were very animated and always using the words “Pencils for Kids” in their verses. I couldn’t quite catch the meaning of all that they said, but I did keep hearing “Pencils for Kids”.. The audience clapped and cheered throughout.

Next was a great skit written I think by a combination of the teachers and students and Hamani. It was beautifully acted and expressed by the children who were about 9-11 years old, I think. It was about a man who lives in the bush and comes to stay in Liboré with his daughter. She attends school. But then the man comes home one day and he wants his daughter to be pulled out of school to get married at age 11.. The people from Liboré respond that “We don’t do that here in Liboré. We study and stay in school and Pencils for Kids has made that education possible. No girl should be married so young. She should stay in school and learn.”

That was the gist of the play which I think was meant to educate the parents as well as entertain us. It was a fabulous idea and performed beautifully. I couldn’t help but think that Louise’s introduction of theatre a year earlier, was instrumental in the success of this little skit……even though they weren’t the same kids, the planners thought to put on a skit, write it themselves, and get the kids to act it and project their voices. That was progress. What a great way to convey that important message about staying in school and the value of education for girls as well.

More treats followed. Hamani had hired a composer/singer, Abdou Salam Mamoudou, whose wife teaches at Vive la Vie to write a song especially for P4K.  A group of young children came up to sing it…..and it was in both English and French. It was catchy and easy to sing and I was falling deeper in love with this community with every passing minute.

I hummed along once I mastered the rhythm of the song and thought to myself….perhaps one day we can have many children in the world singing this song in support of education and literacy worldwide…..

Here are the words:Pencils for the KidsTomorrow will be the bigs.By your simple giftBe sure you gave us a lift. Kids we have the willWith your magic pencilsTo reach the top of those hillsAnd get plenty of…..of knowledge. Le savoir est une clefUne fois dans vos mainsVous rend la vie merveilleuse Pencils for the KidsSoyez en convaincusEn nous venant en aideVous nous donnez là….la clefCette clef toute magiqueQui ouvres toutes les portesOu est cachéle savoir Pencils for the KidsLiboré vous dit bien merciLiboré vous dit bien merciLiboré vous dit bien merciLiboré vous dit bien merci Then the speeches began.. The podium was facing the dignitaries…….the Mayor, Chef de Canton, another government official, and then me. The Mayor thanked us and began listing all the programs and projects we had supported and accomplished together.

When I got up to speak, the Podium covered everything but my head, I was so short… Since my speech was in French and Zarma, I could not say it without notes, as I was not confident enough in either language to do this. So I remained behind the podium and began. Every time I finished a paragraph, the people cheered (even though I am not quite sure they understood my french or zarma!)……I spoke for ten minutes in French and Zarma…………thanking people, explaining how this school was sponsored by a generous Canadian couple, named Vive La Vie because it reflected their views about the importance of loving life, loving what you do, embracing education and loving each other. In Zarma I asked them to stay in school, learn as much as they could and believe in themselves because we believed in them.

At the end I called up the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Hamani, Mary and Gaston and after I thanked them personally, gave them each a pair of Red Canadian mittens from the Olympics with the Canadian flag. It was after all the Games of La Francophonie that brought us together and the Olympics were one week away, so it seemed only fitting that we should have some symbol of the Games to wear together. We took a few photos of all of us holding up our hands in friendship and solidarity, showing the flags imprinted on the inner side of the mittens…….. Of course I mentioned that they needed the mittens because it was so “cold” in Niger..

When I stepped away from the Podium, the band of men started a frantic beating on their drums and I was compelled to start dancing along with them, looking like an idiot I am sure. Am not looking forward to seeing this on video..

Afterwards we officially unveiled the banner for the Vive la Vie school – I was given a string to pull, and the plastic that was covering the banner came down revealing the beautiful new sign, Vive la Vie, sponsored generously by two Canadians. This was a moment to remember.

The school itself is large and inviting with French posters on the walls that we had sent in advance and soon there will be photos of the children who attend the school in its first year. The donors felt it would be a wonderful thing for future students who attend the school to look at the photos of those who have gone before them and became leaders in their community, to offer hope to every new crop of students coming in to Vive la Vie. What an inspiring idea.

We gave out many pencils that morning with our Logo imprinted on them, donated by my generous neighbours.

We witnessed a portion of a spelling bee or as they call them in Liboré, “Spelling wars” – a concept we introduced to them last year and they have embraced. They do it differently than we do and have created their own system which is great to see.. We are hoping this becomes a regular part of their curriculum to encourage literacy and love of words. Each of the students was wearing a white collared shirt donated by two other Canadians, Danny and Lisa.

It was getting hot, and I kept losing my water.. But there was so much more to accomplish in this day that we kept on going and videotaping and talking to everyone, constantly surrounded and pulled in different directions……Jonathan was filming the whole time and was fantastic…..I felt badly that there was no time for a break, but knew that our time was limited.

At one point I was surrounded by a group of girls who said in French, “We are the girls in your sewing program”… They were giggling and hugging and so enthusiastic and warm…..I literally jumped for joy and we were all hugging and laughing….as I was pulled away I promised to visit the Second Chance Sewing program shortly.

We then walked over to Clara’s kids Kindergarten to visit the small children who had participated in the opening ceremony…..as we walked into their straw hangar, with the sign Clara’s Kids on the outside, the small children were holding up Canadian and Nigerien flags at their pint-sized desks….and looking very serious.. The teacher got them to start singing and by the time we walked out they were laughing and smiling and feeling less shy in our presence.

Finally it was time to visit the sewing girls across the road in the little shed that was the home base of the Sewing Program we had started with help from the Spirituelle Divas. I just love those girls. They were not in school anymore so this was an opportunity to educate them with a skill that would help them earn a living in the future. Their excitement was palpable as was mine.

It was a very small space where there were benches behind the sewing machines….and behind this space was a doorway to a tiny office where Hamani and LIBO have set up shop. Small by any standard and bare, yet accomplishing so much already. To my surprise the girls had made us and some of our sponsors some beautifully embroidered squares or pillow coverings, with the name Pencils for Kids, Chance for Girls sewn onto them. Stunning. It was so emotional and they had even made three for our colleagues, Dini, Ron and Jonathan..  It was obvious to me that we need to widen the space of the sewing room by adding a shade hangar, as Hamani suggested and buy more sewing machines. I already asked Hamani to submit a proposal for this.

The girls have been making baby clothes already and selling them to the community and all the profit has been going right back into the program for more materials etc…A truly great start.

Afterwards we all piled back into the cars and headed towards our new library, Bibiliothèque DHL……..piled with books and not enough shelves for all of them. A far cry from the empty shelves we were so used to seeing. We made presentations there to the Mayor of the books from Vivian Leung and the Oakville Chapter, of the Bananagrams, (I played a game with the Mayor for fun.), of Tshirts from Ron, of a book from the Mayor of Oakville, of the paintings from Shirley Scoble, paintings from Suzanne Ramsay and from Bernice Henry, my mother. They will all be hung in the library to make it more appealing.  I did meet Fati, the Librarian, and could see that this job is an overwhelming one for just one person, with little background in library cataloguing or management. Fati is corresponding with a Librarian, Carole, in Toronto and I am hoping that together we can help her cope with this responsibility or build a team around her in Liboré.

Just outside the Library, the four girls receiving our scholarships arrived. I had hoped to spend more time with them, but it was a day filled with so many things that our time was shorter than I would have liked. I presented them each with a photo of themselves (they had never seen themselves before.), a French – English pocket dictionary, an Official scholarship certificate and a tin can with a sheet inside on which to write their dreams and hopes for the future. I had heard of a woman from Africa who had done this and then buried the tin can.  She then went back each year to see what goals she had reached – My hope is that the girls will each do the same, in their own way.  I asked them for their letters to their pen pals and they were quite shy in their response. Apparently they have hesitated returning the letters to their pen pals because they have a fear of making mistakes. This is quite common I was told. I asked Hamani to let them know how much we value mistakes in our culture and see them as the best way to learn. Later in the day we did receive the letters.

Then it was time for the interviews with the elders, a project that I have been dreaming of doing for the past few years. There is so much wisdom in the people of Niger that I wanted to share with people at home and the only way I could think to do that was to interview some of the female and male elders and ask them about their advice for life. We came up with questions that we would ask in English, would be translated to Zarma and then would be translated back for us. By this time, I was thoroughly exhausted from the day’s events and was neither eating or drinking too much. I still wanted to visit the Liboré Medical clinic to see what was there. Dini agreed to conduct all the Elder interviews and sent me on my way to the clinic. I knew we were in the hands of a master interviewer and that this dream to record their wisdom was on its way. 5 men and 5 women were waiting patiently to be interviewed, and each one was taken separately to the entrance of a school classroom. Many were younger than us, but looked thirty years older. Life is hard in Niger. Dini was struck by the gems that some came out with and the moving and poignant things they had to say. Every single one stressed the importance of education, even though many had never had any education themselves. They were wise. They were kind. And I can’t wait to see and hear everything they had to say. Their words were translated by Hamani into English and Dini asked follow-up questions afterwards. Everyone was asked only select questions, not the full range to everyone. I am so happy that we have finally realized the dream to do a book and video of their wisdom.

 Here are some of the questions that were asked:1.                   What is the most important advice you give to your children?2.                   How do you see the role of women? Of men? Of children?3.                   What are your hopes for your children’s future?4.                   What are your fundamental beliefs – trying to find out the spiritual history that has come down as wisdom through the ages?5.                   What are your greatest fears?6.                   If you could receive one gift – anything in the world – what would you ask for? (What are your dreams?)7.                   What is the most important thing to know in life? 

While Dini was doing the interviews, Ron, Ed, Corey and I went with the Mayor and Chef de Canton to visit the health clinic, Liboré’s largest medical clinic. It was so sad to see the state of the clinic and this was their “best” one. Really there were a few empty rooms with few supplies. There was a crumbling mattress, and two other birthing tables but few instruments or sterilization protocols in place. Apparently women don’t want to go to have their children here because they have to pay and it is cheaper, though probably more dangerous, at home.  Now the women are being promised free health care for the children until the age of five, if they pay to have their children at the maternity clinic.  We also saw a donkey and a cart beside the clinic. This is the ambulance in Liboré. Literally.

Ed presented to the Nurses at the Clinic money from the Wishing Well Lions Club in Toronto that was donated before the trip started. The clinic staff was thrilled to have this money to use. We also donated some stuffed animals for the children who would frequent the clinic, donated by a volunteer doctor from ORBIS, and some TSHIRTS from Ron as well for the staff at the Clinic.

While I headed back with Ron to the interviews, at the CES school grounds, Ed went with Gaston to the hospital. Unfortunately, Gaston’s car broke down as they arrived at the hotel, so Ed and Corey went to visit the hospital in Niamey on their own.

Hamani drove me, Ron and Jonathan to the Handicapped Centre that we had visited the day before, but this time we brought with us TSHIRTS that Ron had brought with him to Niger with our P4K logo and we gave out 11 of them to these fine young men - men with amputations, or crippled by Polio, who crawled on the ground to get around, or were in wheel chairs – they were beaming and so genuinely grateful that we had dropped by yet again to see them. They all donned their TSHIRTS and we all found it was one of the most moving moments of the day. Pencils for Kids will definitely buy more balls and furniture from them in the future, if the need arises.

Finally, after a very long day, we returned to the hotel.  We had a short time to relax when Ed returned, and then Gaston picked us up to attend a Rotary meeting of his club at the Grand Hotel at 7pm. Ed and I were both introduced at the Rotary meeting and I was given a few minutes to tell the story of P4K and ask them to consider partnering with us in the future with a Rotary club in Toronto perhaps. Another seed planted. I noticed that they met for only one hour, without any food or drinks, as that, I was told, would take too much time and cost money. This group was all about business and accomplishing as much as possible. This was Impressive.

Dini, Ron and Jonathan went with Hamani to the airport to pre register and save time later that evening as their flight was past midnight. Then we joined them on the terrace of the Grand hotel for a very relaxing night. Jonathan entertained us all with amazing magic tricks (who knew he was so talented at this too…) and we had a great view overlooking the Niger River…brought back memories from my trips to the Grand with both Ed and Sam two years earlier.

After dinner we went back to the Terminus Hotel where the Chef de Canton was waiting to say goodbye to Dini, Ron and Jonathan. The Vice Mayor had dropped off wonderful gifts for each of them from the Mayor and Liboré – very thoughtful.

We said our goodbyes – we were only together for two full days yet I felt I had known them for years. I felt sad to say goodbye but knew that we had definitely given them a taste of P4K’s relationship with Liboré.

And then we went to our room….

At midnight we were finally off to sleep….a long and rewarding day.

We woke up early and Ed went with the ORBIS team to the airplane for his first meeting at 7:30am. He was very excited to see the airplane and expected to give his lecture on PHACO later in the afternoon. He had been preparing this lecture for a couple months, first writing it in English, coordinating the words with the video, and then having it all translated into French. I was so proud of all the efforts he put into making it a worthwhile talk for the Trainee doctors from Niger and Chad. I stayed back to do a 30 minute interview with Dini about P4K….Jonathan, our videographer, found a spot on the steps of building at the hotel, and we sat casually and chatted for about 30 minutes. Dini has a knack for putting people at ease and getting to the heart of the issues.

At about 9:00am, Hamani picked us up and we went to the airport for the official Opening Ceremony of ORBIS. All the dignitaries were there for the event including the Chef de Canton and the Minister of Health and of Transportation. It was supposed to start at 10:00am, but it was closer to 11:00 by the time all the officials showed up. The speeches were given by members of ORBIS and the government, and the Minister of Health acknowledged Ed in her speech as the person responsible for asking ORBIS to come to Niger. The representative from ORBIS acknowledged Pencils for Kids for its part as well……..

ORBIS is amazing – a fully equipped hospital…..4 surgeries done today….fast type of cataract surgery taught by a doctor from NEPAL….a technique used for treating masses of people and high volumes. A Plastics Doctor from Montreal did 2 orbit (bone around the eye) tumors today…Ed gave an hour lecture on modern cataract surgery….there is a 30 seat lecture room on the plane….full operating room and recovery room….anesthetists, nurses being trained, IT people, technologists/engineers who know the equipment…35 people in all…..they have a 2 week program. They will be doing glaucoma, medical retina, children, crossed eyes, and then on Saturday they are going to Liboré to examine 370 people by doing a mass screening and then offering many of those people free surgery later. These people have never seen an eye doctor ever. They have never seen a GP in their lives.

There was a reception where refreshments were served and both Ed and I were interviewed by a Newspaper reporter. Then we were taken by bus over to where the ORBIS plane sat on the tarmac. It is so impressive. We boarded the plane and began the tour. At the front of the plane there were chairs in front of a screen where ophthalmologists from Niger (there are only 15 eye doctors in Niger for over 14 million people) and Chad were watching an operation that was being conducted in the operating room next door. Incredible. The entire time there was a doctor narrating everything that was going on during the operation so the trainee doctors would understand every aspect of the procedures. We then went further down the aircraft and through a large window could see the actual operation taking place. The surgeon was accompanied by the Doctor in training, and also two nurses in training.  A girl with a huge tumour above her lid was having it surgically removed. I felt so touched to know that this young girl would have had no opportunity to correct this problem had ORBIS not come to Niger. Now her life will forever be changed for the better.

Hunter, the director of ORBIS, talked to us about everything that ORBIS does around the world and the many lives that are forever changed and touched. The beauty of ORBIS is that the training it offers to eye doctors has a huge ripple effect that magnifies the impact of its services. There was for example a doctor from Chad who learned treatments for Glaucoma while he was there and he will now take those skills back home with him to treat those in his home country. He travelled thousands of miles by car to participate in the training.

After the tour, we had lunch at the airport with the ORBIS staff and Ed remained behind to give his lecture on PHACO on the plane in the afternoon.  Many doctors came up to him afterwards and said they learned so much and enjoyed his presentation. All his hard work definitely paid off.

During this time, the rest of us went first to see the man who created and made the pencil necklaces for P4K, Tchima Abdo.  His “shop” was set up at the side of the road, with all his people working under open tents behind the displays of sculptures. It was great to finally meet him. I did promise that we would be ordering more in the near future, as soon as I could figure out how to ship them less expensively.

It was hot and tiring by the time we finished this visit. The Mayor met us at this time and Ron and I headed over with him and Hamani to speak with a publisher about potentially publishing a book in Zarma, the local language. I had heard from CODE, a charitable organization in Canada that they had a group in Tanzania who were very successful printing books in the native language there in the Children’s Book Project. There is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that literacy improves when children first learn to read in a language they understand from birth. In Tanzania they ran a competition, asking all the teachers to create a story, and their students to illustrate. The winning story was then published with 5,000 copies or so produced and distributed. I loved the idea and wanted to experiment with it in Liboré.

The Publisher was a lovely man and told me that he too agrees with this approach and so did the Mayor. He said he would get back to me with a price soon with different quantities.

Ron and I then went with Hamani to the Handicapped Centre, as they call it there, the place where we had purchased volleyballs for our new volleyball program. We were both so moved by what we saw. In a small dark room, facing the street, about 7-9 men were sitting around and making volleyballs by hand. All were disabled in some way, by polio or birth, some crawling around using only their hands as their legs were of no use. It was heartbreaking to see and yet there were smiles on everyone’s faces. Ron and I explained who we were, via Hamani, and they were delighted that we took the time to drop in to say hello. Both Ron and I came away wanting to do more.

We arrived safely today in Niger on an Air France flight from Paris at about 4:15pm. As we landed we saw the huge ORBIS airplane standing on the tarmac, already working to help the people of Niger. It was a very emotional moment and both Ed and I couldn’t believe it was happening. After all this time, after more than a year since the first email was sent by Ed to ORBIS asking them to come to Niger, it had become a reality and we were here to witness it firsthand. WOW.

As we gathered our belongings and started to walk down the steps of the plane onto the tarmac, we noticed a man at the bottom of the steps holding a handwritten sign that said ROBIN. While all the other passengers were ushered into the waiting bus to take them to Customs and the long lineups, the gentleman asked us to step aside and enter the special VIP bus that was waiting for us and our travelling companions, to take us to the Mayor who was waiting to greet us with the Chef de Canton.  

I was so excited to see them after over two years and we just hugged and smiled and laughed – no words were needed.  The Mayor handed all of our baggage tickets to one of his staff, while another woman checked our passports and we were given an opportunity to relax in the air conditioned lounge…..a real treat. They looked after us so beautifully and it felt like we were in a sense coming home.

Once we left the lounge and went outside at the airport there were more photographs and officials to meet us and we saw Hamani, the Director of Education as well. He is the man that I correspond with most of the time, who implements all of our programs in Liboré. What a reunion that was – hugs, hugs and more hugs. They drove us in a convoy of cars through the familiar streets of Niamey, to the Terminus hotel…..a lovely hotel just down the street from the Grand Hotel where we have stayed the last two times we were in Niamey. We checked in while the Mayor, Vice Mayor and others waited for us to have a meeting about our upcoming itinerary for the next few days. Hurriedly we did a little refreshing and met at the outdoor pool area. We watched as the peacocks walked casually by spreading their colourful feathers for all to admire within inches of where we sat…..what a setting for our first meeting. I figured we would meet for 30 minutes or so and then relax and have dinner, but the meeting went on for over 2 hours. There were lots of decisions to make. We discussed the Mayor’s ideas for our stay, and we added our own, until we blended everything into a plan. What is it they say about “best laid plans”?

Apparently ORBIS decided to change their opening ceremony from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning because on Tuesday their ceremony would have been interrupted by the arrival of the Air France jet we were on…..so we were lucky to get to participate in the upcoming official ceremony for ORBIS the next day.

We met some ORBIS staff and volunteers at the hotel and everyone was so kind and thoughtful, full of energy and passion for what they are doing.

We had a nice dinner by the pool, after our Nigerien hosts had left, and began to unwind after a long day of travelling……looking forward to the next few days.

In two weeks, Ed and I leave for Niger, to participate in the ORBIS program, and to offiically open the second set of classrooms in Libore, called Vive la Vie! It is an exciting time on all fronts.

When Ed and I were in Niamey last, November 2007, we visited the hospital in Niamey and Ed spoke with an opthalmologist there and hospital officials who said they desperately needed eye doctors to return and perform surgeries every six months. Upon our return to Canada, Ed contacted ORBIS, a wonderful charitable organization with a Flying Eye Hospital and asked them to come to Niger. After months of discussion and planning, ORBIS agreed and will be in Niger February 1-14th with their airplane, training local eye doctors and performing surgeries. It is such a great thing for the population of Niger and we are delighted to be a small part of it.

 We just shipped 75 boxes of supplies to Niger, via Air France, and they arrived safely. The shipment had 500 soccer balls, laptops, school supplies, scrapbooks made by children in Canada, and lots of pencils!!

Stay tuned for the beginning of our trip!

Hamani (left) wears the pencil made by the artist, Tchihma Abdo (right)The

Mayor Amadou Madougou wears the very first pencil necklace!

Please join us in our worldwide “Wear a Pencil” campaign to ensure that every child has access to education.

Our goal is for everyone to:

Wear a pencil, until every child has a pencil.

Wear a pencil until every child can read and write.

Wear a pencil as a symbol for education, literacy and hope.

Help us sharpen the minds of the future!

These pencil pendants are designed by a local artist in Niger, Africa, who sculpted them from natural rock in the region and created the look of a real pencil. They are wonderful and have already been sought after by everyone who has seen them.

Funds from this campaign will benefit the children of Libore, Niger to help them with their educational needs.

Join us in our “wear a pencil” campaign….wear one and share one!

For more details on how to get one, please see our “Donate” page!

Journal entries by Robin Mednick:
November 15th -16th, 2007
So far everything has been fantastic. My husband Ed and I were met at the airport in Niamey by the welcoming arms of the Mayor, Amadou Madougou, the Vice Mayor, Fatouma, the director of Education, Hamani Djibo and so many others. Now they were old friends as opposed to last time in May when we tentatively glimpsed each other for the first time. The embraces were long and heartfelt and Ed immediately noticed the warmth of the people.
We arrived at our hotel, the Grand, which has a view overlooking the Niger river- absolutely breathtaking at different times of the day. I felt like I was coming home.
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The next morning we were picked up at 9:30 and were driven to Oulmantama, the village where the new school is situated. On the roadside leading to the village, where there is mostly desert and no paved roads, there was a sign that said “Pencils for Kids school”! It was thrilling to see the actual words written down – confirmation that it was real. As we neared the site, we noticed a few hundred people waiting for us and a tent set up to shelter some of the dignitaries from the sun. There was a drumming band comprised of elders and they graciously ushered us to our seats with their steady rhythmic beat. We passed the women in their colourful fabrics and throngs of children of all ages lined our path.
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About 10 teenage girls, dressed in T-shirts imprinted with side by side Canadian and Nigerien flags were led in a chant by a male teacher shouting my name and the name of the Mayor repeatedly as they danced….so much energy and enthusiasm…..they would chant a phrase with my name and then crouch to the ground, jumping up once more with their arms outstretched…and then chant the name of the Mayor, once again lowering themselves and jumping up….this was repeated over and over with the drums in the background. “Rubina, Rubina, Rubina!” “Amadou Madougou, Amadou Madougou, Amadou Madougou”! It was a scene out of a movie.
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Then all of the 31 boxes of school supplies that we had shipped the week before were ceremonially carried on top of the heads of students and placed in the centre of the crowd in front of the school.
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After this, the round of speeches started, beginning with a prayer from the elders… even though I could not understand a word – I was moved. Prayer is a universal language that brings us all together. After that the Mayor, the Chef of Canton, the representatives of the Canadian embassy and of Thiebon, the organization that did the actual construction, and other leaders all spoke. Then it was my turn.
I brought greetings from Toronto in their local language of Zerma and the crowd cheered, appreciating the gesture!  The rest of the speech I gave in French,  which went surprisingly well considering my poor facility in the language! I had it translated from English to French before leaving Canada and practiced my heart out! There were many presentations – I gave to the Mayor the framed photo of the Thomas Cook Merton St. staff who donated so many school supplies, the framed photo of Peter Enti from UK, who donated the first 100 dollars and encouraged colleagues to give, the framed photo of Marcelo Ricaud who climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with a sign that read Pencils for Kids and helped raise thousands, the banner from Sheppard Public school in Toronto which the community loved….and then gave out beautiful Pen and Pencil sets from BIC to a number of the dignitaries present.  Special mention was made of DHL, BIC Inc., Office Depot, Pivot Design Group and Adlure Media Inc. for their incredible sponsorship.  The Managing Director of DHL Niger, Mamadou Aw came to our ceremony and we sported our DHL hats for a photo!!
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The Mayor in turn, presented me with certificates for us to bring home for our sponsors, officially registering them as HONOURARY CITIZENS of Liboré! What an incredible thing to do.�
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At the end of my remarks I said that although we do not speak the same language we all understand the meaning of a “circle of friendship” — and the people with me at the front linked hands together to share this special moment. Afterwards we were taken into the school to see the great workmanship of the builders, and the desk the Mayor had engraved with Peter Enti’s name on it in honour of his contribution. The children and villagers showed us around the school with such pride.
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On the top outside wall of the school there was a covered plaque with the name “Pencils for Kids” built by Thiebon with funding from the Canadian Embassy, that we officially unveiled with the Mayor and representatives from the Embassy and Thiebon. A “Kodak” moment!
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It was a day we will never forget- the opening of the first Pencils for Kids school and the beginning of our dream to help the community of Liboré.
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November 16th, 2007 in the afternoon:
After the opening, we drove right to the Hospital where Ed had shipped thousands of dollars of donated ophthalmology equipment. They had the boxes we had shipped waiting for us at the hospital outside, and the Director of the hospital, head ophthalmologist and President of the hospital were all there to meet with Ed. We got a great tour of the operating room and clinic and a meaningful discussion followed about possible next steps. Ed was impressed with their setup but also realized how much they could use…..the sad part is that there are only a handful of eye doctors for the million people in Niamey…..and they don’t even reach the many millions of others in the countryside. It was such an eye opening visit for both of us.
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November 17th, 2007 in the morning:
We went at 7:30am with the Mayor and his wife, Fatima, to visit the 5 schools that have been pen paling with Toronto schools for the past year.  The Mayor’s wife does not speak one word of English but we managed to overcome this hurdle with my high school French which slowly is returning after an absence of 30 years! I am sorry I never kept it up!!
At each school we were greeted by shouting children and entire villages surrounding us. We gave out the banners that were drawn by the students of two classes at Regal Road Public School and the artwork from Dewson St. Junior Public School which were all so adored by the students and teachers. In addition, we gave out donated French books, schoolbags from Office Depot, the coveted BIC pens, and the great laminated bilingual maps that we had donated from Mapart.
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It was a very long and humbling morning. Walked through some villages and saw where the people slept….small areas with a bed, if they are lucky, where all members of the family sometimes sleep. There are goats walking around, sometimes a donkey….and the people are sitting around talking…it is so hot and it is hard to imagine having no cooling systems, or fans….when the temperatures sore to 50 degrees Celsius….
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November 17th, 2007, in the afternoon:
Ed and I were completely exhausted by now and were taken back to the hotel by 2:30– were then picked up by 4pm again!! This time we went to see the women who are organized into a micro credit group. Amazing meeting. Two women from each of the twenty villages were there….and the Vice Mayor explained to me in French how they work. Basically they were given $1500 dollars by the Canadian Embassy over a year ago and they divided this money into twenty equal parts. Each rep then goes back to their village and divides their share among the few women in the group in their own village who have ideas for businesses….these businesses include planting and selling vegetables, making pottery, buying some sick animals, feeding them well, and selling them when they are healthier….doing preschool for young children, etc… After six months all the money must be paid back plus a small amount of interest…..They pool the extra profit and that money helps to support community activities for the children. They have been very successful. Here were many women trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. I was honoured to sit among them. A woman ran up to me at the end and gave me her name on a tiny scrap of paper and under it she wrote the word, “friend”. She wanted to be sure I knew that she considered herself my friend. I will always keep that note.
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November 18th, 2007:
We went this morning with the Mayor and his wife to some of the villages and Ed felt as I did that we were back in Biblical times………..fascinating to watch them make bricks and pottery from the rocks in the river which they crush and then mix together with water…..they have a special tool to shape it from the inside and a paddle to use on the outside….imagine my surprise when they took us to this little hut and they had just made a HUGE urn with the name Pencils for Kids all over it. And the lid had my name on it…Rubina!!
We watched the donkeys and cows and goats and chickens share space and saw the pride one woman took when she invited me into her home and insisted I sit down on her bed. Everyone was friendly as usual….greeting us with such warmth and affection.
On the way out of the village we stopped in the middle of the desert and there was a little straw hut, with no roof, size about 5 feet by 7 feet, housing two nomad families with their children. No beds, no roof, and few possessions. The heat was pounding down and I couldn’t imagine staying out all day without shade. Yet this is their life and the only one they have known. Their husbands herd the animals and are allowed to stay on the property of others because their cows and sheep fertilize the ground.
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It has been a fantastic trip. We have fallen in love with the people of Niger, and in particular the community of Liboré. As we left, the Mayor’s wife gave me poems she wrote in French, on Poverty and on Peace. I was so touched by her compassion and moved by the spirit of her words. There is much we can do together to help brighten the lives and sharpen the minds of this future generation. The Mayor expressed his hope that we would help them connect 16 of the 20 villages that have no access to electricity. So we are hoping now to begin a campaign to “light up the villages” of Liboré.
And to be honest, I think we will reap far more than we will give.

Dear internet users and friends of Liboré, welcome to our website!

The rural commune of Liboré is a small community with an area of 110 Km2 and a population of 22,500 – averaging 205 inhabitants per Km2.

The commune includes 21 villages, 15 of which are administrative districts to which 6 big hamlets were attached.

Our primary activities are: Agriculture, farming, fishing, and small businesses.

The difficulties which assail us are: Poverty, illiteracy, and epidemic of diseases such as: malaria, cholera, schistosomiasis, meningitis, etc. and the hard labor the women must accomplish in the household and in the fields.

Given these issues, we are focusing our activities on education, health, designated drinking water sites, improving women’s quality of life which begins with the schooling of our young girls and financial aid to housewives for small businesses and to raise small farm animals.

Every humanitarian action in these fields would be a great help in the betterment and growth of our young community.

We thank you in advance for all your good deeds.

A. Madougou
Mayor of Liboré