8/11/2010

This morning, I went to the fields. Laminou and Ahna followed us there. The MG (Mai Gari=Chief) and I talked while we went (in broken French-Hausa). Something he said really stuck out to me like never before...or, maybe not 'never,' but now that he said it, it's not just me thinking it--it's been verified.

We were talking about Malam Harou and Haya--how Haya never would have been about to get an X-ray taken of his heart if La'ima (I think that's how you spell Jennifer's Hausa name) hadn't gone with him to the clinic, insisted they x-ray him, and paid for it.

And then MG lamented the fact that Peace Corps has left [the Dakoro region]. He said, "You know, I'm the head of the village, and usually, if you want something done [with government], the head of the village uses his influence, i.e. money bribes, to make things happen for the people in the village. But since I don't have the means, we just get ignored. When Peace Corps was here, the government agents were more receptive because they were worried and scared that they might get into trouble [if they didn't work with us]. But now we don't have anyone to intervene on our behalf."

And I really felt that was true when I was living there. It wasn't that they couldn't do things or didn't have effort (kokari)--at least in Mai Lafiya--it's that the system is not designed to allow them to make things happen.

So, how can I help them now?

Money is what matters, and their money comes from food (crops). I feel like they need money to really make a major purchase for their grain bank. (MG told me that measures of millet have been selling for dala dari da talatin=650 cfa; in the village, they sold the grain from the grain bank to residents of the village for 500 cfa, so they were still making profit for the bank and re-investing it the following harvest.)

Last year, Jennifer got them improved beans, and they really produced. I asked the MG, "What's the next big thing you'd want for the grain bank?" He said he'd want improved millet seed. And it just makes sense--the beans start to produce in 45 days; the improved millet in about 70 days. In a place where the rainy season is erratic and seems shorter and shorter, there's no reason to waste time on slower-growing varieties.

If they could just have enough grain in their own, personal stocks, enabling them to sell at even higher prices to outsiders, then they'd really be somewhere--or at least getting there. Not to mention I could have better peace of mind...