Vacation Pictures

What did I do on vacation? I played tourist one day and went out on the Niger River looking for hippos. We were 14 in a canoe, with 2 on the stick and 1 on the engine which didn't want to stay started.



















Well we found them. At first we thought they were rocks jutting out of the water, but then we really saw hippos jut out and spray a bit of water. We did get pretty close, got our pictures and left! I wasn't quick enough to get the 3 of them together.

Besides that adventure, lots of time was spent at the pool, visiting friends in town, having tea (I'll tell you that story some time), shopping, cross-stitching, watching videos, & breaking equipment (don't ask about that one).

Fuel-saving Mudstoves

I was hoping to answer the question about mudstoves right away. But now it’s a month later. I’ve been away in Niamey, vacationing in the big city. My team is on vacation for the month, so I took 2 weeks. This last week I have been back at Galmi, thinking I’d get ready for their return, but that hasn’t been the case.

As I am team leader for the Galmi missionaries, I have been busy with people. We have reorganized some of the responsibilities which have changed lots of things for me. I am now the manager of the Galmi guest house and housing placement. That’s a big responsibility but I’m also sharing it with another who actually does a lot of the foot work and managing of the 2 employees. I do the paperwork. J So I have been figuring things out for the last 2 ½ days. I think I have it. So if you want to make reservations for your visit to Galmi just contact me!

Now about mudstoves: it’s made of mud and it’s a stove so the women cook on it. Sounds simple and it is. They typical cook with the pot on three stones. But this allows the wind to blow the fire all over and prevents the pot from getting hot fast enough. Children can and do easily get burnt from being too close while mother is cooking. So to make a mudstove you put down the three stones, put the pot on top, then start building a mud wall around the pot keeping the wall 1 inch away from the pot and building the wall up to the top of the pot. Make a door for the wood and 2 windows for the smoke to get out. Half the amount of wood is used, the food is cooked in half the amount of time and children are kept safe from fires and burns.