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June 28, 2007
Superb West Africa photos byHelge
If you like West Africa you'll love Helge's photos. This set is from a recent tour he did through Togo, Ghana and Burkina Faso.
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:42 AM
June 26, 2007
Sausage dogs, Whistler's Mother and Timbuktu
Have you ever given a speech on a topic that you know absolutely nothing about?
Over dinner last Friday night the conversation got onto this subject, and it reminded me of Alexander McCall-Smith's wonderful novel The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, which is the only book I have ever started again straight after reading it the first time. The book gets its name from the scene in the opening chapter where the pompous philologist Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld travels to America to talk about his book 'Irregular Portuguese Verbs' and instead finds himself introduced to the audience as an expert on sausage dogs. Too proud to admit ignorance, he ad libs a speech. Read it - you will cry with laughter.
Mr Bean aficionados may remember a similar scene in Bean: the Movie. On a trip to America Mr Bean finds himself mistaken for an art expert and coerced into giving a speech on Whistler's masterpiece 'A Portrait of the Artist's Mother' - a speech so simple and touching that it earns him a standing ovation.
My total knowledge of the repair and archiving of ancient manuscripts could be written on a piece of confetti. So this evening I was surprised to receive invitations to Northwestern University and ISITA (Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa) to talk on the subject 'My Work with Manuscripts'. About a month ago I wrote to the director of the Timbuktu Manuscripts Project asking for help with my research for 'The Timbuktu Enigma', and although I did specify that I write fiction, this detail must have been overlooked. Nonetheless, I am thrilled to be hailed as an eminent archivist of Islamic writings.
What do you think? Should I accept the invitation to America and join Mr Bean and Professor von Igelfeld in the 'Winging It' hall of horrors? Or should I start writing my groom's speech instead?
Posted by sahelsteve at 06:50 AM
June 11, 2007
Africa: not all doom and Joseph Conrad
Amanda Craig, writing in the Saturday Times, comments on how Africa has recently become "the most fashionable setting for film, and now for children's fiction. Perhaps it took the delightful Alexander McCall-Smith's The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series to remind us that the continent doesn't have to be all doom and Joseph Conrad. It can also be a place of modern adventure."
I loved writing The Yellowcake Conspiracy so I have started another adventure story set in Africa. The Timbuktu Enigma will be about two teenage boys, Omar (a garibou in Mali) and Danny (a computer hacker in Battersea), brought together by the discovery of an ancient Timbuktu manuscript. The manuscript describes the biggest heist in African history: eleven tonnes of gold nuggets from Mansa Musa's 1342 pilgrimage convoy. Omar and Danny set out on a quest to unearth the stolen treasure, but equally hot on the trail is a powerful marabout and a family of London mobsters. Noice.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:03 PM
June 08, 2007
Care Packages
Jim Cottrill over at Missionary Blogs has asked me to write something in response to the question What Do Missionaries Like To Receive In The Post?
Three opening comments:
1. What follows is a personal view and not relevant to all missionaries in Africa. Also, it is not a plea to send me things. I am very content already. God is always good, whether or not there are DVDs in the drive or Marmite on the baguette (Habakkuk 3:17-18) Besides, I'm not there at the moment.
2. The postal system to Djibo is reliable but slow. From England a letter takes between one and three weeks but a package can take anything up to six months. From America the times are similar. Only once have I experienced a package not turning up at all, and that was way back in 2004 (Mum sent me a Tilley hat with Polo mints in it - if you see a customs official in Ouagadougou wearing a Tilley hat and sucking Polo mints, please give him my regards).
3. I get all my ministry resources here in Burkina Faso. Bibles, tracts, blank cassettes, etc, it's much easier for me to get them here. Which is why the following suggestions seem so epicurean!
Three things I can't get in Burkina:
1. Marmite: not Vegemite, not Promite, but Marmite, the original and best! My Brazilian housemates got hooked on this wonderful spread. Even my Fulani friends have given it a name: nebbam baleejam lamminaadam (the black salty butter). As Oswald Chambers used to say, start the day with a Marmite baguette and you'll be fine. Or was it Oscar Wilde?
2. Digestive biscuits: mmmmm. But they will need some bubble-wrap.
3. Contemporary fiction in English: I can get Dickens and Hemingway in the SIM and SIL mission libraries, but no contemporary fiction. If you read something new and good, I'd love to read it after you! I like the genre Quirky Literary Fiction, including The Life of Pi, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. In general, you can't go wrong with Booker Prize Winners (unless they happen to be Vernon God Little).
Three magazines that make me go 'Oooooooo, you ARE clever, how DID you know I liked that?'
1. Poetry London
2. Third Way
3. Vogue (actually, that one's for Charlie!)
Three things that make children in my neigbourhood jump for joy:
1. Edible necklaces
2. Little cars
3. Stickers with shiny bits (or, come to think of it, without shiny bits)
Three things I used to really like getting but no longer need:
1. Listening material: Internet access is now excellent in Ouagadougou, so it is easy for me to download listening material from the Radio 4 website. Book at Bedtime, I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and Just a Minute can all be enjoyed via the Listen Again function (that said, if you have a cassette of a sermon or testimony or song that has really inspired you, do please send it).
2. Pringles: As of this year, one can buy Red Pepper with a Touch of Olive Extract flavour Pringles in Djibo. Mind-boggling but true.
3. Notebooks: I have enough now, thank you.
One thing I used to be able to get in Burkina Faso but can't any more:
1. DVDs: I used to buy new films from the street-sellers in Ouagadougou (who get their wares from Singapore). Great value-for-money and hilarious blurbs. But Charlie has persuaded me that Piracy is Theft and I'm not going to buy any more, however hilarious the blurbs. So DVDs will be very welcome - anything ordered on Amazon is quick to arrive in Africa (not sure why) and will bless lots of missionaries (and Peace Corps volunteers) because it will get handed round. Heist-thrillers-set-in-Las-Vegas are best, of course, followed closely by romantic-comedies-set-in-London.
One address to send your package to, come November:
Steve and Charlie Davies
BP112
Djibo
Soum
Burkina Faso
One anecdote to finish:
Ken Elliott, the Australian mission doctor in Djibo, once received a care package from a lady who had read about him in the Sydney Herald. It was addressed: Dr Ken Elliott, Just South of Timbuktu, Africa. The package arrived!
Posted by sahelsteve at 06:20 PM
June 01, 2007
Back in England
Dear friends,
A Fulani man is very seldom present at his own wedding. He considers the ceremony a thoroughly shameful occasion and one best enjoyed from a distance of at least 10 miles. Pulaaku (the Fulani code of behaviour) dictates that all of a man's needs are embarrassing, including food, drink, shelter, sleep and the love of a
good woman.
I try to adopt Fulani behaviour where possible, but on this score I have failed. Thing is, I feel tremendously happy about my forthcoming wedding and fully intend to be there for it. Pulaaku can go hang.
I came back to England last week. Between now and the wedding I will be having some time in York with my parents and some time with Charlie in Chichester.
If you have a moment now, please say a prayer for the colleagues I have left behind in Djibo. Pray for good health and good spirits as they battle through the last few weeks of hot season. They are:
Mark and Cheryl Gibson: Mark and Cheryl oversee the Fulani ministry in Djibo and are planning to do some water aid this year (pumps in the desert à la Isaiah 41). Please pray for Cheryl, who is homeschooling Joshua (10) and Milly (8) and also keeping an eye on Sam (1). the Gibson's website
Pastor Jordorma Diallo and Odil: The Fulani pastor and his wife have settled in Djibo and are getting into a routine of preaching and teaching at the church. It is a real joy to see a Fulani couple taking on this role at last.
Cristiano: When the rains start, Cris will move to Bagadumba, a village 5k north of Djibo. There he will work his millet field and disciple Fulani believers. Iranaldo: Iranaldo has just returned from three months in Senegal, where he did a football coaching qualification. He will be coaching children in Djibo and telling them about the love of Jesus.
Ali Bari: I have redone the paperwork for the radio permit and left it all with Ali, a Burkinabe pastor who we hope will one day be the director of the Djibo station. In the coming weeks he will attempt to wheedle a broadcasting permit out of the powers that be, without paying a bribe.
Pray also for Charlie and I as we prepare for our wedding and for our life together. Charlie's current newsletter is online now and it's a good one.
Alla beydu jam.