Niger Days: Returning Home

Mariatou and Aissa (2010)

Ever wonder what the Expanding Lives’ participants are up to when they return to Niger? Do you find yourself thinking about how Salamatou’s schooling is going? Or how Aissa’s family is doing? Or if Roukaya has finally become president of Niger?

Well, we do, which is why we maintain correspondence with the girls once they go back home. Expanding Lives’ goal is to contact each girl at least once every two months. A lot of it is just concern about their well-being, as well as that of their family. Asking after their family is important culturally; usually, Leslie ends up talking to relatives to maintain friendly relations and also to express gratitude for their support. These conversations are typically trilingual! The girls want to use their English until they run out of words; their families often only speak Hausa—and French is the bridge.

We’re also interested in how the girls stay in contact with one another. Usually, they are so well connected that they can fill us in when we can’t get in touch with someone. This is especially true for girls from the same program year, but not always. Sometimes even participants from different towns and different years end up collaborating. For instance, Salamatou (2008; from Maradi) and Roumanatou (2009; from Aguie) live on the same dorm floor at their university. Expanding Lives tries to close gaps in contact, too; we want the girls to be able to help each other out, particularly in new situations, such as going away to college.

Recently, EL sent scholarship to all of the girls. They’re small sums, but we hope they’re helpful. Nafissa and Marlia are in the process of writing research dissertations; they have told us that they’re going to use the money for photocopies, documenting, and travel.  Since there are limited books, teachers rely on copy machines and charge their students. Other girls, like Rakia, Aissa, and Rahilatou were not able to get rooms in their universities’ dorms. They have long commutes and we hope the scholarships will help them afford better transportation. Maybe Rakia will get to sleep past 4 AM, when her classes start at 9 AM. The five girls still in their last year of secondary school will use the money for tutoring for the BAC exam. (Please check out our post from the Fall!)

Scholarships are not the only way the EL assists its graduates. Second year university girls (Nafisa, Rouanatou, and Salamatou) have been given netbooks to use for their studies.   Expanding Lives also tries to make arrangements with other American groups traveling to Niger to connect with the girls as often as we can; most recently, we made contact with a computer technician who will meet up with the girls in Niamey.

And finally, we have Marie. She is proving incredibly valuable in identifying issues early. Marie lets us know if one of the girls is having a problem of any sort or a health issue. Furthermore, Marie has become well known at feeder schools and in the communities of past participants. From her experience last summer, she can speak directly to what our program is like; this helps us gain support and applicants!

Marie, our counterpart in Niger and star volunteers, Khadijah (left) & Katherine (right)

The many ways in which we are able to keep in contact makes our program stronger and all the more sustainable. We’re very proud and we hope that our Nigerien counterparts are too!