out west

Earlier this week I headed out West to spend some time in a Fulani village with a fellow missionary. It was a great experience, as I got to learn more about the Fulani first-hand.
















This village has about 400 people, all living in grass, mud, or millet stalk huts.















Throughout the day women were at the well pumping water for their families, dishes, baths, and animals.















Inside a woman’s hut, you find her display of bowls containing their drinks and foods.

They drink a lot of fresh cow milk and water with ground millet. Everyday they eat a ground millet or corn paste with a baobob leaf sauce. They nearly never eat meat.















My audience

One day I hung out with a family, where I observed and attempted to participate in several different daily chores. At one point I took over an old ladies’ work, which was to cut millet stalk in order to make a bed. Everyone gathered around as I strained to cut the stalks with a knife that was as sharp as a butter knife.
















It’s not Lake Martin

This is a lake inside the border of Burkina Faso that is completely dried up. From afar, it looked like a full lake, but as you can see, there is not a drop of water. After the first rain, it will fill up though. It has yet to rain since I have been here, thus as you can imagine, it is very dry. Every time we cross the Niger River in Niamey, there is less and less water. Soon the river will be nearly as dry as this lake.