twenty-three

My good friend Seth has been kind enough to create a space for me to share my thoughts and experiences with each of you on his blog rather than start a new one up or put a ton of time into maintaining my old one.  I hope that you will feel free to comment and I will do my best to respond, you can also send me an email at baird.sean@gmail.com  with more specific questions/concerns.  I am traveling to Niger for work but will refrain from using the name of my organization and would appreciate the same from those of you who know where I work in order to maintain integrity with my employer.  Seth will delete comments that mention the organization - sorry to be a stickler, but people have lost their jobs because of these things!  I also hope you will take time to read the things Seth is writing about/discussing on his blog.  I believe the issues Seth discusses here are becoming increasingly important for Christians (especially the posts about beer!) and his voice is an important one to me as I strive to follow Jesus in a global and postmodern time.  With all this said, welcome…

I leave on September 10th to begin round two in Africa.  This time I will be traveling to West Africa, which will be a striking contrast to what I saw in East Africa (Kenya- see http://underafricanskies.blogspot.com/).  West Africa does not receive the same attention as Southern and Eastern Africa receives due to the relatively low prevalence of HIV/AIDS.  Thus funding for these countries is vastly insignificant compared to the rest of the continent despite the fact that extreme poverty reigns paramount along with atrocious malaria death rates and devastating hunger.

Niger is one of the world’s poorest countries, in fact the Human Development Report (United Nations Development Project) places it as 177 out of 177 for the development index which measures educational attainment, life expectancy, average household income, etc.  One of the major issues surrounding Niger is famine, which occurs after regular droughts in the arid climate just south of the Sahara.  The only fertile land for agriculture in Niger is the bottom one fifth of the country, which is called the Sahel (for a brief summary of Niger, please go to https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ng.html).  My time will primarily be spent in the Sahel and will focus on health issues (trachoma, malnutrition, etc) as well as observing economic development projects that are implemented to promote markets within the communities. 

However, what I look most forward to is time spent with the communities, listening to their hardships and joys, seeing smiles stretch across the children’s faces, and being invited into their mysterious lives.  I find myself excited and nervous at the same time, much like I was before leaving for Kenya.  Part of me fears some of the things I know I will see- the tears of infants falling due to starvation, exhausted mothers doing everything they can to provide for their families…poverty sears one’s heart when it stares you in the eyes.  But part of me feels excited for another chance to connect and learn, another chance to hold those captivating African children, and another chance to see the beauty that can come out of such darkness.

I am going to try and write two posts a week including one or two more before I leave, so welcome to Twenty-Three, take a tour and see what Seth is addressing and stop by to get updates from Niger…thanks again Seth, you’re the best.

- Sean

PS- Check out some of the pictures below…a colleague took them in Niger about six months ago.

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