December 20, 2009
Happy Christmas
Dear friends,
The Fulani of Burkina Faso have two words for shepherd. Duroowo is the more common word, defined simply as 'one who herds'. The other is banyaajo – a stronger word meaning 'one who herds and knows nothing about anything except herding.' It signifies someone who is most at ease when he is way off in the countryside, someone whose conversation is limited to cows, goats and sheep. Banyaajo is not necessarily an insult but it does have a humorous edge to it.
I like to think that the shepherds in the second chapter of the gospel of Luke were young lads of the banyaajo variety. Just before the angel turned up, they were doing what they did best – keeping watch over their sheep. They may also have been humming, shivering and telling jokes, when suddenly God interrupted their pastoral idyll and gave them something else to talk about.
Advent is here and we are wallowing afresh in the delicious story of the nativity. Light and life have come into the world. Unexpected glory has shone around us. Emmanuel, God with us, has entered our darkness, our sadness and our shame, intent on sweeping us up into his love.
Unusually, Charlie and I are celebrating Christmas in England this year. We are also celebrating the birth of our first child, Liberty, who was born on 16 November. She's very sweet and we're asking God for wisdom to bring her up well.
We are living in a small village called Lavant in the south of England. Steve is writing a new book; Charlie is looking after Lib and doing the occasional fashion shoot for girls' magazine Caris. Our cottage is just a stone's throw from the inn where William Blake wrote Jerusalem – a green and pleasant land which seems light years away from our home in sub-saharan Africa.
That said, we are in regular contact with our friends and colleagues in Burkina Faso, and we fully expect to return there in the middle of next year. Steve recently assumed the role of Field Leader for the World Horizons teams in West Africa. Charlie is looking forward to developing various craft projects alongside the charity Save Our Skills. We both admit to feeling more than a bit vulnerable about the idea of being back in Africa with an eight-month old baby, and we would appreciate your prayers as the time approaches.
For now though, we wish you and your families a meaningful Christmas and a happy new year. Alla beydu jam (May God increase your peace).
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:59 AM
September 02, 2009
Lavant News
Dear friends,
Thanks for your continuing support and prayers. Here's some of our recent news.
I returned from Burkina Faso at the end of July, and Charlie and I went on a church holiday by the seaside which was very refreshing. There was some excellent teaching there, but for me the highlights were the following three talks, which can be downloaded free from the Holy Trinity Brompton website:
Shane Claiborne: http://www.htb.org.uk/focus-09/sunday-evening-celebration
J. John: http://www.htb.org.uk/focus-09/monday-evening-celebration
Bishop of London: http://www.htb.org.uk/focus-09/thursday-morning-celebration
In August we celebrated a milestone birthday for Mum with a big family get-together down in Padstow, Cornwall. Happy birthday, Mum!
We are now living in a small cottage in a village called Lavant, where Charlie is busy making apple chutney and flapjacks and I am busy banging my head on doorways. For the first time in our married life we have a television, which I'm very happy about! We have a spare room too, so do come and stay if you're in the area.
When we don't have visitors, the spare room is where I write. It's an attic conversion looking out over the Goodwood estate and many miles of green fields. I have started on another book for Andersen Press - rattling along at a thousand words a day and enjoying it very much.
My previous book HACKING TIMBUKTU is to be published in the UK tomorrow. It's a treasure-hunt adventure – think King Solomon's Mines but with a good helping of parkour and computer wizardry. Andersen have sold US rights to a publishing house called Clarion. This is pleasing news since it will be the first of my books to travel across the pond. For a synopsis and some early reviews, see http://www.voiceinthedesert.org.uk/teen_fiction/hacking_timbuktu/
As of today, I take on my Horizons Sahel leadership responsabilities. First thing on the agenda is to write funding applications for the building of six new classrooms at the Horizons primary school in Niamey. It's a great little school and I'm hoping that some of these applications will be successful.
Meanwhile, Charlie is almost seven months pregnant. Her due date is 8 November. She is currently doing the fashion pages for a Christian girls' magazine here in the UK. It's called Caris Magazine: http://www.carismag.co.uk/
That's all for now. Love as always to you and your families. Alla beydu jam.
Steve
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:41 AM
June 18, 2009
World Horizons
Si tu veux construire un bateau, ne rassemble pas des hommes pour aller chercher du bois, préparer des outils, répartir les tâches, alléger le travail – mais enseigne aux gens la nostalgie de l’infini de la mer.
"The way to build a ship is not to bring people together to look for wood, prepare tools, assign tasks and make schedules – but rather, to inspire people to long for the infinite immensity of the sea."
Leadership is not generally something I covet; I much prefer to bumble along in the background. But when I was recently asked to assume leadership of our World Horizons teams in West Africa I felt a quiet confidence about it and said yes pretty much straight away. I start in September, even though I will be based in the UK for the first year.
The work will involve pastoral care of our teams in Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali and Chad. It will involve lots of Skype and a bit of travel. It will mainly involve longing. There's a worship song called How long which asks God: 'How long before you drench the barren land?' That's my prayer for the Sahel regions of those four countries. How long, o God, before life and love and forgiveness and integrity inundate this region? And how can we translate our longing into sensible prayer and action?
Having raised my eyes from the confines of Djibo town to the immensity of the Sahara, I am beginning to understand just how dizzyingly varied is the work of World Horizons in West Africa: schools, churches, children's clubs, tree-planting, craft groups, football camps, radio ministry and humanitarian relief. I will be blogging about some of it in the weeks and months to come. In the meantime, please pray that God gives me wisdom to lead well and not make a mess of everything.
Please pray for Charlie as well. She's in England at the moment and her pregnancy is progressing smoothly.
Alla hokku jam.
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:53 PM
April 27, 2009
Full of Beans
Charlie's April newsletter is now up, and it contains some good news.
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:33 PM
April 07, 2009
Djibo Djottings
Dear friends,
Thank you for your ongoing prayers for our life and work here in Burkina Faso. Here is a brief update on how things are going:
1. The Studio
Our recording studio is more than half built. The walls are all in place and the roof is going on this coming week. All that remain are the doors, windows and wiring. Plus two large panes of glass to separate the 'cabine' technique from the sound booth. It's a very solid building and is so far withstanding regular blasts from the Saharan harmattan wind.
2. The Programming
As you may know, we have already started broadcasting weekly bible studies on Djibo's new radio station (we don't run the station but we pay for airtime). The studies are very relevant to Muslims and feedback so far suggests that people are enjoying them. If you find yourself praying at 6.30 on a Tuesday evening, or at any other time, pray for switched-on radios and switched-on hearts.
3. The Charlie
Charlie's doing really well. You can read her news at
http://www.voiceinthedesert.org.uk/charlie. She's very conscientious about posting a monthly blog.
4. The Fulfulde course
My second crash fulfulde course ended this week. It consisted of three Brazilian missionaries, two catholic priests, a nun, a security guard, a postman, a college student and the redoubtable Madame Nignan. They aren't yet entirely comfortable conversing in fulfulde but they can all greet, bless, make comments about the weather and tell the story of Choffal Bodeyal (Little Red Hen). Pray that they continue to make progress and begin to share God's love with Fulani people all over this town and region.
5. The Kids' Club
Children's Club has been going well these last few weeks. Their favourite game used to be Musuuji Mbaati (Dead Cats – somewhat similar to Sleeping Lions) until our friend Saff visited from London and brought with her TWO SPACE HOPPERS. The children have been watching the film 'Magdalena' (based on the 'Jesus' film) in several installments. We watched the resurrection this week and talked about Easter.
6. The Books
HACKING TIMBUKTU is aimed at 10+ boys and comes out in September.
SOPHIE AND THE PALOMINO PONY will be out in 2010, all being well. Available on Amazon or at local bookshops.
7. The Easter Holiday
As I write this, it's 45ºC in the shade. We're going to the UK today, to catch up with our families. Both looking forward very much to some cool April showers.
A very happy Easter to you all. Alla beydu jam.
Steve
Posted by sahelsteve at 12:31 PM
November 01, 2008
Spilling the Beans
Just to let you know that Charlie's October newsletter is now up.
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:05 PM
September 08, 2008
Walfadjiri
Dear friends,
This has been a hard month for me as I have watched the building of a Muslim radio station in Djibo. The mast and antenna are complete now, and they tower high over the town centre. The name of the station is Walfadjiri - an Islamic association.
Walfadjiri was one of two associations granted FM licences in Djibo last year. The other association is PDES, a Swiss-funded development project. I do not know whether PDES are close to starting construction.
We have been advised that 'Voice of the Shepherd' has one last chance of gaining a licence - later this year - but we will have to think carefully about whether or not to try for this. If Walfadjiri and PDES both start broadcasting in Djibo, I do not think that building another station would be a responsible use of time and funds. Two stations would be healthy competition, but three would be a crowd. So our decision depends partly on how viable Walfadjiri and PDES are as projects. It's disappointing to be in this position, of course, after five years of planning.
At the very least, we hope to set up a recording studio and produce quality programs in Fulfulde that can be broadcast on other stations or distributed on cassette. Our studio equipment is currently in a container ship somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, due to arrive in December.
Thanks again to all those who sent money in response to our Tuareg Refugee appeal. We did the final distribution in Mentao a couple weeks ago, a further 350 kilograms of rice which should see the refugees through to the end of rainy season. Mark Gibson (SIM) showed the Jesus film in the camp last month and wrote this account of the evening.
We've started a weekly children's club. Charlie's August newsletter has more about that, and a variety of other news.
Lots of love to you and your families. Allah beydu jam.
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:45 PM
July 24, 2008
Painful Eyebrows
Almost every market day from October last year to June this year, Harouna and I would go off to the cattle market and sit down on a straw mat with a pile of cassettes and a pile of books. We shared the good news of Jesus with passers-by, sold a few gospels and choked on the dust kicked up by errant cows and garibous. But as of last week, we have relocated to a brand new place in the main market (cue fanfare). We're very pleased with this. It's a proper shop made out of proper cement bricks, next-door to a shop that sells fake designer jeans and opposite a shop that sells tea-leaves and Timbuktu dates.
We've stocked up on copies of Linjila Lukka (The Gospel of Luke) and Banndi Suleymana (Proverbs) and will be selling them at an 80% loss, as always, so we're hoping business will be brisk. If you have a moment next Wednesday morning, please pray that people find the shop! There has been so much re-shuffling of the various market-stalls recently that no one knows what's where any more. Pray also for Harouna and me as we communicate God's love to the people of Djibo.
The other highlight of the past month was being able to buy a used car in Ouagadougou. It's a green pick-up truck and it will be perfect for bush-trips and city-breaks alike. Unfortunately, the cylinder-head cracked on our first journey up to Djibo, toasting the entire engine. It looks like it's going to be some time before it'll be fixed. What was it Dick Dastardly's dog used to say? Rassum frassum...
A big thank you to all those who contributed to the Tuareg refugee aid effort. We have done two distributions to date, and when they run out of food again we'll do a third.
Some of you have asked how the 'Teaching Fulfulde to Mossi Christians' thing is going. Pretty well, over all. We did ten weeks of classes before breaking up for the summer hols, and during that time some good progress was made. The most memorable moment was an improvised role-play between the local pharmacist (played by himself) and a man with 'a painful eyebrow' (played by local comedian Buina). The role-play went well off-piste but explored some interesting areas of vocabulary on the way.* We'll be starting up again in September.
Rainy season has begun. Charlie has been going out to the fields with Dikoore to sow beans and peanuts. She posted a newsletter on her blog today, with this hilarious account of her agricultural exploits.
And in other news: on 7 August, the third Sophie book comes out. It's called Sophie and the Pancake Plot. Recommended reading age, eight to eighty.
Love to you and your families,
Steve
* If you ever need to say 'My eyebrow hurts' in Fulfulde, the phrase you need is 'Waywayko am na naawa!'
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:41 PM
May 28, 2008
Sulking and Milking
Just to let you know, Charlie's May newsletter is now up.
Charlie is heading to England for a two week break and a good friend's wedding.
I've been left with some equine babysitting. Can anyone tell me: how much hoof oil is too much?
Posted by sahelsteve at 11:12 AM
April 01, 2008
April prayer requests
Dear friends,
Here is a Fulani tongue twister for you to try:
Fulfulde na tiiDi, Fulfulde FulBe na tiiDi. Pullo biiDo o buri FulBe waawde Fulfulde na tiiDi.
Literal translation: Fulfulde is hard. The Fulfulde of the Fulani is hard. And for one Fulani to claim that his Fulfulde is better than other Fulanis, that's hard!
It's true, Fulfulde is a difficult language. Take noun classes, for example. English doesn't really have noun classes but French and Spanish have three (masculine, feminine and plural) and German has four (masculine, feminine, neuter and plural). Problem is, Fulfulde has twenty-four (humans, small animals, big animals, bovine animals, ovine animals, trees, grasses, grains, wooden things, metal things, little things, big things, long things, round things, indefinite things, noises, mats, bugs, drums and five separate plurals). So when Ali Bari, pastor of our local church, asked me to teach Fulfulde to his congregation, it was with some trepidation that I agreed.
Since coming back to Burkina Faso last year, Charlie and I have been part of a new church plant on the outskirts of Djibo. The congregation is very enthusiastic but not very Fulani - almost all of them are Mossi men and women who have been sent to Djibo to work in the public sector - Christian teachers, nurses, policemen, forestry rangers, topologists and fiscal engineers. In the past it was normal for these settlers to be disdainful of the local Fulani population and wish a swift end to their exile, but all that is changing now. Our Mossi brothers and sisters are seeing themselves more and more as Christ's ambassadors in Djibo - missionaries to an un-reached people group. And with that in mind, they want to learn Fulfulde.
We have acquired a lovely white board and some coloured markers. We will be starting with the basics (Jam waali! Jam tan!) before progressing to the problematics (such as the twenty-four noun classes), but always with an eye on how best to convey the love of God to the Fulani people of this province. I'm very much looking forward to Lesson One.
The market outreach continues weekly and I am now being helped in that by Harouna, a young Fulani believer. If you ever find yourself praying on a Wednesday morning, perhaps you could give us a mention.
A Swiss missionary on the board of Djibo FM has been meeting with a government minister who is sympathetic to our application for a broadcasting license. If you still have the stomach for it, please pray new life into this floundering project.
Charlie is preaching in French at church next Sunday morning. Her text: 'Shining like stars in the universe' (Philippians 2:15). You can read Charlie's March newsletter here.
Another prayer request: on Saturday April 19th the church is going on an evangelistic visit to Bourgeinde, a nearby village of 3000 Fulani without a single follower of Jesus. Pray that we would go in humility and that our Fulani friends there would find the message of redemption to be good news for them and their families.
Posted by sahelsteve at 02:39 PM
February 20, 2008
Look Back in Wonder
Just to let you know that Charlie's February newsletter is up!
Posted by sahelsteve at 06:07 PM
January 24, 2008
On a Wing and a Prayer
Just to let you know that Charlie's January newsetter is now up!
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:20 PM
January 01, 2008
Togo? Oh no!
Charlie's December newsletter is now up!
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:27 PM
December 10, 2007
preparing to celebrate Christmas among the Fulani of Burkina Faso
Duroowo yari yarnaay, domka muudum heddi.
If a shepherd drinks but does not water his animals, his thirst remains.
Christmas in Djibo is all about sharing the news of Christ's birth with people who have never heard it. Charlie and I have spent the last few mornings telling and retelling the nativity story to groups of wide-eyed children (and one wide-eyed goat) here in our yard, and giving our neighbours invitations to a Christmas eve feast. It's going to be quite an occasion: 300 guests, 50kg of rice, 50 chickens and a festive smattering of shepherds, stars, camels and donkeys.
Back in September I did a book interview on BBC Radio York (Jonathan Cowap's lunchtime show) which took a turn for the surreal when I was asked to preach the gospel in Fulfulde to the people of Yorkshire. I did enjoy that but nothing quite beats doing it here in Burkina amongst the Fulani. Hannden e ley wuro Daouda on ndimanaama kisinoowo, kam woni Almasiihu, Joomiraado. To you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ, the Lord! Hooray, hooray, al hamdilillalay! Have a dance and a chicken wing. Christ is born!
Pyjamas? Fruit bowls? Shoulder bags? Charlie has lots of ideas about possible directions for her women's craft project, and meanwhile her Fulfulde is coming on in leaps and bounds. She can now say 'Yesterday I washed the goat but today it is dirty again'. What is more, she can say it with a straight face, perfect inflexion and absolute truthfulness. Please do continue to pray for Charlie though - she feels (quite naturally) that her world has suddenly become a lot smaller, and that the process of cultural adaptation is not entirely straightforward.
Lots of exciting things coming up, including, in January, my parents' first visit to Djibo. They are fresh back from a trip to Mozambique where they travelled in bush taxis, ministered on rubbish dumps and slept with giant centipedes, so Burkina Faso should be a picnic. Please pray for them anyway.
Love as ever to you and your families. Have a very happy Christmas.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:55 AM
November 26, 2007
Lettuces and Lingo
Charlie's November newsletter is now up.
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:10 AM
November 10, 2007
Fulani wedding
As the motorbikes came within earshot, the excitement in our yard mounted. Children ran to the gate and started jumping up and down. Women ululated and prepared their water-drums. Most of the men remained seated on the ground, gnawing goat bones with feigned indifference. The bride was on her way.
A song rose on the night air, swelling to a crescendo as the motorbikes roared in through the gate: Jam naati, jeyoowo wari, jam naati, Sambo bangi. (Peace is entering, the bride has come, peace is entering, Sambo has got married). The bride came in last, swaddled and veiled, a crowd of Fulani women escorting her to the door of the house.
Nyibira suudu (Build the house
Loosi e cekke With sticks and mats
Jam yowee dow. Put peace on top)
Even after Charlie had disappeared into the house, the women outside continued to dance for a long time. Old Al Hajji Amadou fired his rifle in celebration. A hundred people cried 'Alla moyyin' (May God make [the marriage] good!). Another hundred cried 'Alla hokku bikkoy e jawdi' (May God give children and wealth!). Cola nuts exchanged hands. In the corner of the yard, Gaultier the Goat ruminated quietly, more interested in watermelon than weddings.
Gaultier was a gift to Charlie from our neighbour Dikoore. He is white
with black spectacles and he wakes us up with a loud bleat at precisely 5.55 every morning. Dikoore cackled when we told her we had given the goat a name. It's not really the done thing.
Charlie has mastered several phrases in Fulfulde, including 'Jam tan'
(Peace only), 'Mido ekkitoo Fulfulde' (I am learning Fulfulde) and 'Sambo walaa gaa' (Sambo is not here). Her first official Fulfulde lesson takes place on Monday. Please pray that she will enjoy learning the language and that she will get good at it.
It's good to be back. The last few days have been a carousel of visiting and greeting but it is beginning to calm down now. Now that our Fulani wedding is out of the way, what are we going to do here?
Once Charlie has made some headway in Fulfulde, she is hoping to start up some kind of small business to employ and empower local women. Not a magazine this time. Probably something craft-y. Please pray for God's guidance in this.
The Djibo FM broadcasting license is still proving elusive. Our hopes were high after receiving a message that our latest application had been successful, but on our return we learned that a last-minute intervention by a government minister had scuppered us once again. It is disappointing to say the least. Pending the arrival of a Djibo station, I am going to concentrate on three things:
- Producing Christian audio materials
These can be distributed on cassette in the Djibo area and via existing stations elsewhere in the Sahel. The work will involve setting up a recording studio and working with Fulani people to produce inspiring, Christ-centric programmes.
- Writing for Children
'The Yellowcake Conspiracy' came out in September and is already in its second edition. It is aimed at 12-16 year-old boys, but a lot of adults seem to be enjoying it as well. Next one due out is 'Sophie and the Crooked General'.
- Market outreach
Our book/cassette shop completely collapsed this year during a
particularly heavy rain, but I intend to get it built again. Many rural Fulani only visit Djibo on market day and our open-sided shop enables them to hear about the love of Christ in their own language.
Our warmest greetings to you and your families. Alla beydu jam.
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:09 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.
Posted by sahelsteve at 08:21 AM
February 25, 2007
Je souhaiterais...
Dear friends,
The Journalist leans back in his chair and narrows his eyes. 'Je souhaiterais...' he begins. 'I might wish for...' During the long pause which follows, the Journalist's eyes plead with me to finish the sentence for him. Eventually he tires of my blank gaze and finishes it himself: '...quelque chose.'
'Je souhaiterais quelque chose,' he repeats, more confidently this time. 'I might wish for something.' I try to look intrigued and innocent, hoping this will deter him from spelling out his request.
The Journalist has spectacles-on-a-chain, impeccable French and a regular current affairs show on national TV. We have been paying him a modest fee to advise us during the preparation of the Djibo FM dossier de candidature: eighty pages of flowery French explaining why we should be allocated the Djibo broadcasting permit. Now I am sitting in the Journalist's office at the TV station, and the time has come, it seems, to share with each other our hopes and dreams.
Je souhaiterais is a sublime expression, isn't it? So much more refined and wistful than Je voudrais. As it turns out, though, the Journalist is wishing for something fairly down to earth: an injection of cash substantial enough to propel our dossier all the way along the corridors of power. The Journalist Knows People, apparently.
So far as I am concerned, it is fine to pay a consultant for his advice, but less fine to spray purple-backs around the offices of a government body. I tell the Journalist in a roundabout way that the Conseil Superieur de Communication will simply have to base its decision on the contents of our dossier.
We part ways amicably enough, he to pick up his motorbike from the mechanics, and me to hand in the radio dossier at the CSC. The receptionist there looks strikingly like Mme Makutsi from The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency ("She wore oval glasses with wide plastic frames, and she had a fixed but apparently quite sincere smile"). I want to ask her whether she graduated from the Botswana College of Secretarial and Office Skills with 97%. Instead I ask how long she thinks the Conseil Superieur will take to come to a decision.
Mme Makutsi's eyes look very big behind her oval glasses. 'The Conseil have a lot of dossiers to evaluate,' she says.
'So it could take weeks?'
'Oui.' The big eyes brighten. 'Weeks and weeks.'
'And do I get a receipt of some sort to prove that I've been here today?'
'Non.'
'I see.'
'Trust me,' she says, and reaches for the dossier.
It's out of our hands now. The fledging dossier will have to fly through some pretty dark and labyrinthine places over the next three months, so please pray that God's will be done. It is good to have arrived at this stage, and it would be even better to arrive at the next one.
Please pray for Charlie, too, as she hands over Precious Girl Magazine to her team of budding Khmer journalists. She has a lot to do between now and June, so pray that God gives her the strength and grace she needs.
Love to you and your families. Alla beydu jam.
Posted by sahelsteve at 10:56 AM
December 10, 2006
Letter home
Dear friends,
Waaldude e duko na buri waaldude e mimsey.
It is better to spend the night with noise than with regret.
This Fulani proverb has been much on my mind recently. There are lots of mosques in my neighbourhood, and more being built all the time. One of them is an interesting sect of Wahhabist Islam which chants 'La ilaha illa Allah' (There is no God but God) over and over, inducing a trance-like state in some of its adherents. They chant for more than an hour before each of the five daily prayer times; in the morning they start chanting at 4am in preparation for sunrise prayers at 5.30. In the past their voices blended with the faraway calls of donkeys and roosters to form a pleasantly indistinct early-morning hubbub. No longer. The mosque in question recently acquired a powerful PA system and these days the whole of Sector 1 awakens with a jolt and shares wide-eyed in the Wahhabist devotions.
It seems that my non-Wahhabist neighbours are prepared to be philosophical about the disturbance. It is better to spend the night with noise than with regret, they say. Better to endure than to take drastic action, they say. So I have to content myself with thinking uncharitable nocturnal thoughts about Wabbabists.
In the warm light of day I usually think differently about it: I reckon that if people have to chant something at 4am, then 'There is no God but God' is a not a bad lyric to choose. The uncompromising monotheism of the Wahhabists is no more and no less radical than the Shema itself: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord' (Deut.6:4).
Monotheism is the common ground I share with my neighbours in Djibo, and as common ground goes, it's pretty substantial. In Cambodia this year we walked miles of bas reliefs depicting a fascinating and colourful gang of deities, and I came to appreciate anew the monotheism which I have so long taken for granted. There is no God but God - that was part of Jesus' creed, and it is the basis on which we can relate to God as Jesus did - as our Creator and as our loving heavenly Father. Worth shouting about.
RADIO
Some good news and some no-news.
The good news is that we have bought some land to build the radio station on. We now own two lovely flat hectares on the western edge of Djibo, not far from the hill. Those of you who have followed the tortuous progress of our land applications will feel as relieved about this as I do!
No news on the broadcasting licence front. The licensing body keeps saying 'Maybe next month.' It's not just us - they've been saying the same thing to all radio applicants this year. Our spies in Ouagadougou are telling us that there is not much longer to wait now. I hope they're right.
By the way, Djibo FM will begin broadcasting at 5.58am every morning and no one will be forced to listen to it.
CAMBODIA
I mentioned having spent a couple weeks in Cambodia, and for me this was the highlight of the year. The 'Precious Girl' magazine for factory workers is still going strong there and Charlotte is doing a wonderful job as its editor. She took some time off work in October so that we could do some travelling together.
Would you please pray for the future of 'Precious Girl'. Charlie will be leaving Cambodia next year but the Khmer girls who work with her are not quite ready to take over the running of the magazine. If you know anyone who might enjoy a couple years editing a girls' mag in the most beautiful country in the world, I'm sure Charlie would be pleased to hear from them.
Read Charlie's December newsletter Page 1 and Page 2
Charlie and I get married in July next year, live in England for two
months and then move to Djibo together.
CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Sophie and the Albino Camel came out in April and sales have been good. In November the book won the Glen Dimplex New Writer's award in the children's book category.
In the coming year look out for two more books:
Sophie and the Locust Curse (to be published in March 2007) is the sequel to Albino Camel. All the usual ingredients plus some locusts, some daft songs and a camel race.
Yellowcake (to be published in September 2007) is a nuclear thriller set in Niger. Haroun is a fourteen year-old Fulani boy working as an agent for the French Secret Service. Cattle-herding, secret surveillance, heists, motorbike chases, clandestine uranium enrichment, you know the sort of thing.
CHRISTMAS
Charlie and I will be in England over Christmas. We are looking forward to spending time with each other's families (who we have not yet met) and with each other.
I return to Djibo on 2 January 2007.
Lots of love to you and your families. Have a VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
Alla beydu jam (May God increase your peace).
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:00 AM
October 22, 2006
Pnews from Phnom
Sorry for the long delay in posting. The reason is that I am in Cambodia at the moment and not using the internet a lot. The journey here was quite long (Ouaga-Tripoli-Paris-Amsterdam-Singapore-Phnom Penh) but it is very nice to be here and to see Charlie again.
At the same time, work on Yellowcake continues apace (or to be precise, aslowpace). 30,000 words down, 20,000 to go. Thanks for all the helpful answers to those obscure questions I asked a couple weeks ago. Here are two more:
1. Could anyone give me an introduction to a nuclear scientist? - cold contact is proving futile, for obvious reasons.
2. Driving a van in sand with one/two/three burst tyres. Possible? Impossible? How would a large van cope with that?
Warmest greetings to friends, family and readers unknown.
Posted by sahelsteve at 06:27 AM
February 12, 2006
The Listeners
Living here in Djibo, in the old part of town known as Hong Kong, we are constantly getting visited. Koyngal woni endam goes the Fulani proverb - the foot is fellowship. Normal social relations are maintained by going as often as possible to the house of your friend, relative or neighbour and pronouncing various greetings and blessings to them. Paul Riesman was an anthropologist who lived for several years among the Jelgobe (the Fulani of the Djibo area), and in his resulting ethnography he wrote the following:
In the course of our stay among the Jelgobe it appeared to us that greeting people is the most fundamental act for the day-by-day maintenance of the social fabric...the ritual aspect of the exchange is emphasized not only by the invariability of the formulas but also by the tone in which they are spoken; the voice has a strained and chanting quality.
If I am at home during the day, one of the most common sounds I hear is the creak of my gate hinge, followed by the words Cok-cok or Salam aleykum. Depending on how I am feeling, I either bound to the door with a merry 'Aleykum asalam' on my lips, or slouch to the door with a muttered prayer for patience. In the latter cases my greeting ends up having a 'strained and chanting quality' that would impress even Riesman.
One day last year, before Cris and Ira joined me here, I got a visit from Mamadou Bagadumba at nine o'clock in the morning. Being visited by Mamadou Bagadumba is an almost daily occurrence, but what made this time memorable is that it was extremely hot and I had a sore throat (although not a particularly bad one). I was not in the mood for visitors, not even Mamadou who is modest, funny and likeable. The gate creaked, Mamadou cried 'Salam aleykum' and I sat inside reading a PG Wodehouse story and ignored him. Paul Riesman would have turned in his grave.
'Jam waali, Sambo,'cried Mamadou. I stayed quiet and turned a page as quietly as I could. On finding no one home, most Fulani would give up and continue on to the next greeting-station. But Mamadou is not most Fulani. He sighed and murmured 'Allahu akbar' (God is great) and sat down to wait.
By ten o'clock it was already forty degrees and I was getting thirsty - but I could not drink because my water pot was outside the front door right by where Mamadou was sitting. Imagine my relief when the gate creaked again. He's gone, I thought, and I was just about to dash out and plunge my head into the water pot when I heard voices outside. Mamadou had not gone - someone else had come.
'Salam aleykum,' said a whiny voice.
'Aleykum asalam,' said Mamadou.
'Toy Sambo woni?' (Where is Sambo?)
'O walaa gaa.' (He's not here)
'En dooman o ndelle.' (Let's wait for him then).
So it was that I became a prisoner in my own house, a restless spirit creeping around in bare feet and reading Wodehouse and becoming slowly but steadily dehydrated. I felt like one of the Listeners in Walter de la Mare's poem, with Mamadou as the traveller whose every word 'fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house'. I half expected Mamadou to shout, 'Tell them that I came, and no one answered,' but he never did of course.
Morever, unlike the traveller in the poem, Mamadou and his companion did not go away. More greeters arrived instead. At two o'clock in the afternoon I gritted my teeth and emerged shamefaced from my hideout. Five men stared accusingly at me through the slits in their turbans. 'Salam aleykum, ' they said. 'Accana kam hakke' (Sorry), I replied. I had broken every Fulani rule of hospitality listed in Riesman's Ethnography, as well as a few that aren't.
Market-day preaching and village visits and radio projects are worth nothing if I lack grace in my normal everyday interactions. So my prayer request this month is for grace and patience and Christ-like love. Pressed down, shaken together and running over as per Luke 6. Especially as hot season approaches.
Alla beydu jam (May God increase your peace).
Posted by sahelsteve at 08:45 PM
July 29, 2004
Brazil nuts
Dear friends,
Hi. Hope you are well. Happy Feast-of-Sao-João.
Brazil is wonderful and I believe everyone should live here. There is enough steak here to feed the entire human race, and an equal quantity of joie-de-vivre. There is enough emotion in one single episode of Cabocla (one of Brazil's many excellent soap operas) to give you six months catharsis. The coffee is also good. I saw a baby the other day, less than a year old, sucking filter coffee from his baby-bottle. His mother asked me why I was staring.
Continue reading "Brazil nuts"
Posted by sahelsteve at 07:24 AM
February 28, 2004
Hoofing it
Dear friends,
There are two words in Fulfulde for a long journey with cows. Eggol is a long journey with your own cows, usually going to an area of good pasture or to a natural salt-lick. The purpose of eggol is fine, fat cows. Then there is choggal. Choggal is a long journey with someone else's cows, usually going to a distant market. The purpose of choggal is to sell the cows to fine people at a fat profit.
Every Thursday morning groups of herders leave Djibo cattle market and begin the nine-day choggal to Ouagadougou market. They walk all day and watch the cattle all night. They go hungry and thirsty. They get tired and sick. The scorching midday sun beats on their heads, the cold night air numbs their feet. They get cramp and blisters. Those who do it say choggal is the hardest job on earth - but then most people think that about their job, don't they?
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:37 PM
January 30, 2004
How to tell a garibou from a caribou (from a maribout)
Dear friends,
As you know, a caribou is a deer which inhabits open tundra, has antlers and makes a clicking sound when it walks. It is not to be confused with a maribou, who inhabits semi-desert, wears a prayer hat and walks silently. A maribou is a Muslim religious teacher. He presides at naming ceremonies, weddings and funerals. He consorts with djinns , and is respected and feared for it. For two hundred African Francs (20p) most maribous are equally willing to curse your neighbour or to pray for your toothache.
Continue reading "How to tell a garibou from a caribou (from a maribout)"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:36 PM
December 30, 2003
Legions of tongue-clicking beaurocrats
Dear friends,
Hi, hope you are all well; I'm fine. I have not written since September, sorry about that. My computer has been very poorly but is feeling better now, so I can send and receive email again. Thanks to Ed in Ouagadougou for fixing it.
Officials here in West Africa often answer requests or enquiries with a stern frown and the suggestion "Come back tomorrow." Whether you are wanting to post a parcel at the post-office, renew a visa, or be admitted to the hospital with a life-threatening illness, you must be prepared to hear "Revenez demain matin". You smile and say "D'accord" and stroll off, grinding your teeth. All well and good. But being told "Come back next year" is, as you can imagine, rather harder to swallow, and that is what we have been told by the radio-licensing people in Ouagadougou. The reason given was an administrative technicality - a deposit paid late - but I suspect there is more to it than that. Anyway, come back next year. Bit deflating, especially after all the momentum that seemed to be gathering. Please pray for God's will to be done. The Gamaliel principle would suggest that if God wants this thing to happen, Ouagadougou's legions of tongue-clicking beaurocrats won't be able to stop it - but they have certainly stalled it for a while. Looks like 15 - 0 to them.
Continue reading "Legions of tongue-clicking beaurocrats"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:34 PM
September 30, 2003
How to talk to cows
Dear friends,
Hope you are well. Here there is jam tan, we are all fine. The rice has fruited or grained or whatever the right word is, and now we are just waiting for it to ripen. A couple more weeks and there will be chicken vindaloo all round, or at least something to serve it on.
We have been showing the Jesus film in Boukouma and it has gone down very well indeed. Three nights, a couple hundred people each night, and all of them falling over themselves to say how good laawol Iisaa (the way of Jesus) is. Nowhere else have I come across so many people so enthusiastic about Jesus but so reluctant to follow him. Most of them are held back by fear of their families. There is one lad called Rasmane, for example, who will start ‘terminale’ at school this year (equivalent of A-level year). He wants to follow Jesus, but his uncle, who pays his school fees, says he will stop paying his fees if he becomes a Christian. Tricky.
Continue reading "How to talk to cows"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:33 PM
August 30, 2003
Don´t read this if you are squeamish
Dear friends,
It is so good to know there are people out there who pray for me. Thanks, I appreciate it. I should warn you that this update is rather long. You might want to read alternate paragraphs, or something like that.
I am happy here at Boukouma, and in excellent health. And, praise God, we have had rain. The reservoir is full, and people are getting on with working their fields.
Continue reading "Don´t read this if you are squeamish"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:31 PM
July 30, 2003
There was an old fellow called Fritz...
Dear friends,
Here in Boukouma there is a old man called Fritz. He is originally from Holland but has been in Boukouma since 1980 and married a Fulani woman here. An agriculturalist by background, Fritz knows a thing or two about rice, and it was he who began the rice-growing project in Boukouma. Since then he has also built a school and installed a pump. Now he is officially retired and spends his days relaxing in the marketplace, where he drinks pastiche and revels in the acclaim of an entire village.
Continue reading "There was an old fellow called Fritz..."
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:30 PM
June 30, 2003
I´m going to grow rice
Dear friends,
"Sambo Solum! A warti! A wari e jam?"
(Sambo Solum! You came back! Did you come in peace?)
Sambo is my Fulani name, a herder's nickname traditionally given to the second son in a family. I am neither a herder nor the second son in my family, but it seems to have stuck. Solum is the Fulfulde word used for a tree which is very tall and thin. That at least is correct.
"A booyi koy! Kosam leydi maa na buri kosam amin welude, naa?"
(You've stayed away a long time! Your country's milk is sweeter than our milk, is it?)
I throw up my hands in mock-protest, although we both know the answer to that. After all, England has grass.
Continue reading "I´m going to grow rice"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:29 PM
April 30, 2003
Who Wants to be a Millionaire in Mali?
Dear friends,
Big place, Africa. You could fit the whole of the USA into Africa three times over, and still have a couple of safari parks left over. Take Mali for example - to my shame I had not even heard of it until Sydney 2000. At the opening cermony there was a wrestler carrying a MALI sign and behind him a posse of men and women in white suits, waving shyly. I remember thinking 'Ah, Mali, that must be one of those tiny countries like the Cook Islands or Equatorial Guinea - how quaint.' Wrong. Mali, as you know, is enormous; ten times bigger than England for a start.
Continue reading "Who Wants to be a Millionaire in Mali?"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:27 PM
March 30, 2003
Stolen peanuts
Dear friends,
I've always wondered what 40ºC feels like, and now I know. It feels really hot. The temperature here in Djibo is gradually rising and will probably peak at about 48ºC (in the shade) in April. That's about the limit, I am told. I imagine it is also the point at which one's sandals melt and one's goats spontaneously combust. Something to look forward to.
Thanks for praying for Baraboulé. I have started visiting there on Sunday mornings. Been there three times now and to be honest it doesn't get any easier. The town consists of hundreds of dry, cracked mud-brick houses; in front of some of them sit small clusters of listless, thirsty men. I greet each group in turn and we rattle our way through the greeting sequence, the irony of the exchanges making me almost choke on them:
"Peace only?"
"Peace only."
"There are no problems?"
"No problems, peace only."
Continue reading "Stolen peanuts"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:25 PM
February 28, 2003
Bin Laden T-shirts
Dear friends,
Djibo is a big town in the north-west of Burkina Faso. The population during dry season is between 10,000 and 15,000 - mostly Fulani and Mossi. Djibo is my new home.
There have been missionaries in Djibo since the late 70's, and more recently a Fulani church was planted. Now there are twenty to thirty Fulani who attend this church and they are just beginning to take an active part in reaching out to their own people.
Keith and I have moved into a house near the centre of town. It has electricity and running water. In the yard we have two small round guest huts hint with thatched grass roofs and trendy minimalist decor.
Continue reading "Bin Laden T-shirts"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:22 PM
January 30, 2003
An unconventional Christmas
Dear friends,
There is no future tense in fulfulde. But by using an incomplete verb form and the phrase 'si Alla jabbi' you can signal that an action has yet to take place. The phrase means literally, "if God wills it."
Take my last prayer letter for example. I wrote, "I will spend Christmas in Gorom-Gorom." That should of course have been, "I will spend Christmas in Gorom-Gorom, si Alla jabbi." Turned out, of course, that Alla jabbied something else entirely. I spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day sitting by the side of the road in the semi-desert after the bus I had been travelling on broke down. The unpredictability of life here is one of the things I love!
Continue reading "An unconventional Christmas"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:21 PM
December 30, 2002
Gatecrashing goats
Dear friends,
Hello, and warm Christmas greetings to you and your families. I hope you are well. I am fine, by the grace of God.
Been travelling quite a lot lately. I spent a week on Hama's dune to introduce a sink-or-swim element to my language learning programme. When I came back from that I set off on another expedition, with Keith and several Fulani guys, taking the Jesus film around various villages in the province. Quite inspiring to get a taste of itinerant ministry, and to be amongst the village Fulani. These communities of herders with their beautiful Zebu cattle follow a way of life largely unchanged by the passage of four millennia. Their knowledge of their environment, their survival of severe hardships and their deep affinity with their animals command huge respect.
Continue reading "Gatecrashing goats"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:19 PM
November 30, 2002
Ramadan eyesight
Dear friends,
On the back of the IVP New Bible Commentary, Don Carson writes, "Aiming at the highest standards and making use of the benefits of the latest international scholarship, this commentary is designed to meet the needs of today." It certainly is - I just used mine to kill a rat in my room, and it was perfect for the job. The geckos inside I don't mind - they wander around in their own little upside-down worlds and don't upset anyone (except arguably the friends and families of the insects they gobble up). But I draw the line at rats.
Continue reading "Ramadan eyesight"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:18 PM
October 30, 2002
My house fell down. Praise God.
Dear friends,
Jam waali? (did you pass the night in peace?)
A fine e jam? (did you wake in peace?)
Jam wuro waali? (did your household pass the night in peace?)
Those early-morning phrases will come in handy when you visit me here, as I am sure you are all keen to do! The answer to all the questions is "Jam tan" (peace only). Actually, the greeting sequence goes on much longer than that, with A asking after B's wives, children, field, stocks and shares, cows, health and work, and B murmuring "Jam tan, jam tan, jam tan..." with glazed eyes.
Continue reading "My house fell down. Praise God."
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:16 PM
September 30, 2002
Who knows where the hyena goes at night?
Dear friends,
Two months gone in Gorom,
and I'm still rolling along.
The Fulani are - no, that doesn't work.
Hi, how are you, I'm fine - as ever, a bit bewildered but coping. Certain things are undoubtedly easier now. I no longer fumble about for a light switch when entering my hut. I no longer look at my watch when waiting for a bus. I no longer wince when I drink the tea, not visibly anyway. When I am agreeing with someone, however vigorously, my turban no longer falls down over my eyes. All minor triumphs.
Continue reading "Who knows where the hyena goes at night?"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:14 PM
August 30, 2002
Satan´s trousers
Dear friends,
The four of us (Keith, Peter, Gregor and I) have just got back from a couple days out in the country, away from both of the bright lights of Gorom Gorom. We were visiting Hama, one of the local Christians (surnamed Ndeggs - sorry, not really). He lives twelve kilometres away, on top of a sand dune, with his two wives and three children. Hama used to be a moodibo, a teacher of Islam - people still refer to him as 'moodibo' but they all know by now that he is an 'Iisaa moodibo'. He is a nice chap and a gifted story-teller. Even his everyday conversation is full of little stories involving talking jackals and toads and squirrels - visiting Hama on his dune is a bit like visiting Beatrix Potter.
Continue reading "Satan´s trousers"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:12 PM
July 30, 2002
Flying cows
Dear friends,
Almost a week has passed since touchdown in Burkina and I thought I should just let you know that I am surviving.
The flight to Ouagadougou was fine. Travelled with Peter and Gregor, friends from England who will be with Keith and I until Setember 5 - so far they are coping well with their forty days and forty nights of testing in the wilderness. Please pray for them.
Having said that, it is not quite the wilderness here that I remember from six months ago. The rainy season kicked in recently, and already there is greenery appearing all over the place. Good for the cows, of course. Most places are getting one or two good rains a week - if this continues, the harvest should be okay this year.
Continue reading "Flying cows"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:10 PM
June 30, 2002
So good they named it twice
When Frank Skinner visited Gorom-Gorom to launch a Comic Relief project, he said of it, "Gorom-Gorom is so good they named it twice." He wasn't far off the truth - to the 16th century Songhai travellers who first settled there it was indeed a desirable residence, with a wide river and fertile land. The story is that when they arrived at the river the chief raised an arm and called out in Songhai "Gorom! Gorom!", literally 'Sit down, Sit down'. So they sat down and stayed there - for four centuries and counting. Although now heavily outnumbered by the Fulani, Songhai families occupy the oldest quarter of Gorom-Gorom to this day.
Continue reading "So good they named it twice"
Posted by sahelsteve at 04:09 PM
February 20, 2002
Gorom Gorom
Dear friends,
It’s official - I like England very much indeed: Marmite toast, Rory Bremner, coffee cake, trousers, soft refreshing rain, so many things to be thankful for. Homecoming this time has been as good as ever, perhaps a bit better.
Don’t get me wrong, Gorom Gorom is all right, too. If you like sun, sea and sand, you’d be two-thirds happy there, and if cows are your thing, you’d really enjoy experiencing one of the only truly cow-centric cultures on earth.
Continue reading "Gorom Gorom"
Posted by sahelsteve at 09:40 PM
November 30, 2001
Burning bridges
Dear friends,
Hello. I think this is what they call a prayer letter - the first I have ever written in this genre, so that's very exciting.
The summer term at All Nations Christian College passed in a blur of volleyball and dissertation writing, and I've been home for a few weeks in Chesterfield - home of the legendary crooked spire (and the legendary crooked football club). Now at last the future is coming into focus a bit more. I hope to go and work in West Africa amongst the Fulani.