An Op-ed piece on the kidnappings in Nigeria

If you are online at all these days, or watch the News, you are undoubtedly aware that over 250 young women have been kidnapped and are being held my terrorists in Northern Nigeria.

I find I am both encouraged and discouraged at the same time by seeing the variety of responses on the internet and Facebook after this took place. I am very encouraged to see their plight receiving so much attention, people personally praying for them, and people hearing of the plight of many here in North/West Africa.

Personally, I find it a bit aggravating that some people are saying it is getting very little attention when in fact it is on the front pages of most news organizations, constantly on the radio for here and BBC, it has trending hashtags and twitter and is in the papers. Even before I started seeing people complaining it wasn’t in the news, I was in fact reading about it in the news. Just because it is not on the nightly news of their city does not mean it is not international news if you are normally attune to what is going on in the World. So let’s not be too quick to judge news organizations too quickly is all I am saying. If you are someone who usually reads or has an interest in things around the World, it has been in the news there from shortly after it happened. That’s all I am saying. Ok, got that off my chest

As I said, I am thrilled that the plight of these young women is getting international attention. I am all about fighting for the rights, lives, education and freedom of young women in Africa. It’s even what I do for a living. (You can see our school in Niger for young women at www.nvoc.ca) But I am wondering why it took this specific act to wake up the rest of the World to what is going on? I wonder why these young ladies were targeted specifically and why has it pulled such heart strings of the rest of the world that all the previous terror events didn’t? I like how one writer put it-

“In a part of Nigeria where 72% of the population never attends elementary school, they were in high school. In a country where a war is being waged to oppress women from getting an education, they had left their homes and families to pursue one, living in a boarding home because for many, there was not a good school in their local village. In the small farming town of Chibok, hundreds of girls were doing the hard work of pursuing dreams that were not easy given their circumstances. “

Educating girls has been proven to be the highest return investment for solving poverty. If you look at the research you can see it has been shown that an extra year of primary school boosts a girl’s income by ten to twenty percent. An extra year of secondary school boosts a girl’s income by fifteen to twenty-five percent. When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education, she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children. Children born to educated mothers are twice as likely to survive past age five. Educated girls are more likely to change the world. All the stats show that educating a young woman truly does make a world of difference. I have seen the effects personally and I am passionate about these efforts.

I think it is great that #BringbackourGirls is trending on twitter and there are rallies and a whole bunch of support being thrown towards this issue. Apparently other countries are offering to intervene and help like Britain and France among others. But it is also not a new issue. Here in Nigeria and Niger, Boko Haram (the terrorist group) has been an issue for years. Since 2009 it has waged war in this part of the World. They have been planting bombs, blowing up and burning down schools, and massacring villages and villagers. They target schools, forward thinking individuals and families, and Christians. They have killed thousands of people in the last few years. In fact, the kidnapping occurred the same day as an explosion which killed 75 people on the outskirts of the capital Abuja. Monday May 5^th the same group attacked another city, Gamboru Ngala , “The attackers stormed the communities in the night when residents were still sleeping, setting ablaze houses and shooting residents who tried to escape from the fire.’”. Hundreds of people died.

Have most people heard of Boko Haram before the kidnapping I wonder? They have killed 2300 people since 2010. This February alone they killed over 300 people, with 59 of them being school boys from a single attack and burning down a school. They cross the border into Niger and replenish their supplies and recruit uneducated young men to join their groups, paying these young men who want money even if they don’t buy in to the ideology of Boko Haram. They also pay for information about the security movements on border officials and anti-terrorist agents and have easily evaded lukewarm efforts to really crack down on them.

I follow a lot of organizations that work on women’s issues in developing countries. Organizations like “Girl Rising”, “Girl Up” and “Smart Girls” are raising awareness about this horrific kidnapping but thankfully they are also shedding light on the deeper issues. This isn’t a unique case (only unique in numbers). It has been happening for a while. It is going to keep happening. Until the root causes are addressed, it is just a matter of time. Culturally young women are not seen as having value. They are not educated or protected. Forty per cent of Nigerian children aged 6-11 do not attend any primary school with the Northern region recording the lowest school attendance rate in the country, particularly for girls. Northern regions report up to 79% of girls not attending school. In Nigeria, the overall national percentage is 39% of girls are married off before their 18th birthday. But the prevalence of child marriage varies widely from one region to another, with figures as high as 76% in the North West region. I spend a lot of time researching child marriage and know this is a tricky issue with roots that reach deep into values, religion, and history and into their poverty and circumstances.
The trafficking of children for the purpose of domestic service, prostitution and other forms of exploitative labour is a widespread phenomenon in Nigeria. Violence, coercion and deception are used to take victims away from their families. Regretfully, Nigeria is a source, transit and destination country for trafficked women and children. Prostitution, domestic and exploitative labour continues to fuel this modern from of slavery.

One reporter apparently was trying to get some answers from major networks about why this was not getting more airtime in their opinion. The anchor said the people didn’t want to see it because it was not intense,flashy or exciting enough, and also that they could not get reporters and photos from the region, making it difficult to report in an age where people expect images and video. Then the writer makes this comment-

“That may be true, but many (that writer included) fear there is a more troubling reason for the lack of coverage: these are African girls. I feel certain that a group of American or European girls, sleeping at a boarding school and stolen by armed men in the middle of the night, would absolutely be the top story all over the World. But African girls are Other. The distance, the difference, the ongoing challenge on the continent  . . . have these things made us discount their humanity? Do we discount terrorism and death in Africa as just part of their “normal”? Are we failing to identify with these parents because of racial or cultural differences? I hope that isn’t true. I fear that it is.”

CNN had a few good points as to why these events should matter to the World.

Just imagine if 276 girls had been kidnapped in the United States. The response would be mass outrage and a forceful demand for a response. As borders become more irrelevant for terrorists, the whole world needs to take notice of the likes of Boko Haram. Nigerian militant activity has already spilled over to neighbours such as Niger and Cameroon, whose government has warned that clerics have been recruiting members in mosques in the country, said Orji Uzor Kalu, a former governor of Nigeria's Abia State.
"In this era of accelerating globalization, it appears Boko Haram hopes to align itself with extremist forces in Niger, Mali and potentially in the Middle East, which raises the specter of coordination on the stockpiling of munitions, intelligence gathering and future assaults," Kalu said.

Girls matter. Everywhere. Child slavery, forced early marriage, burning schools, blowing up bus stations and burning down schools. It ALL matters. It took this kidnapping to bring it to the attention of many around the World, but I pray that even after the resolution of the situation with these kidnapped young ladies, that the World will not just quickly forget about the whole thing. The war is far from being won, and it will continue to happen over and over again unless we address the bigger picture. Let’s not lose this new found interest just as quickly as it came.

Death and funerals

In the last couple weeks we have talked about death at our house. We had a favourite street seller in town named Adan. He was confined to a wheelchair but he hung out on the street where he sold local postcards and made children's toys and crib mobiles out of twisted round wire to make it look like animals, trucks, etc. He was always happy and grinning from ear to ear. When we returned from home assignment in Canada this Fall we found out he had died. Details are sketchy but the story goes something like he fell over in his wheelchair and laid in a ditch for a few days before someone saw him but he was already dead, or at least almost dead but died in the hospital with very poor care, depends which version you listen to.  A very sad way to die.

Bennett wondered why he could not have gone to a good hospital, which led to a long discussion about healthcare and insurance and death among the poor. We also drive by funeral processions regularly and the kids were also asking questions. Death is so much a regular part of life here that it does not receive the same attention and scale of grief we see in North America. It is quieter. It is expected. They say it is “God’s Will" (Insh’Allah) and are resigned to it. They watch it happen and many of them feel they have very little they can do about it. The roads are dangerous, disease and sickness take awful tolls.
Niger has horrific mortality rates. They are among the worst in the world for Infant Mortality rates and Child aged 1-5 mortality rates. Their adult life expectancy is only 58 years , compared to 81 years for Canadian adults. We live close to the large Muslim cemetery and everyday if you drive by at the right time you will see convoys of people and vehicles heading to the cemetery.
In our community of the poor urban Tuaregs, they have a problem getting vehicles to carry the body and mourners to the cemetery. Our team has an older pickup truck and Paul and Tim have in the past become the drivers to help care for the community in this way. The men all go to the burial and the women all stay at home. Women do not go to the cemetery. So I had no idea really what happened there. My friend Scott Guptill attended a funeral out East in the country a few years ago and took these photos below, which explains what happens at burials here.
A little bit of cultural insight into death ritual in Niger. Photos all courtesy of Scott Guptill. Other info/insights courtesy of Paul.

*    *     *    *    *   *

First the body is washed by friends and family. Other friends go to the cemetery and dig the burial hole themselves. It is wrapped in white cloth, then wrapped blankets (sometimes) and then in new woven mats. It is laid in a truck, surrounded by as many people who can cram into the truck bed with it, and driven to the cemetery, followed by their friends in other vehicles or motos. Only men. You pull over to the side when you see the “body truck” coming. The body is then carried by friends into the cemetery. In most cases, this happens all on the same day the person died.

The body is taken out of the woven mats and laid into a narrow hole. They are laid in there on their side with their faces pointing towards Mecca. It is the covered with sticks as shown. I believe this is partially to keep animals from getting easy access.

The woven mats are laid over top of the sticks

Straw is then laid out over top of the woven mats.

All the men around will then help to fill in the hole with sand, making sure to well saturate the straw with sand as well.



After the burial is complete there are certain sets of Muslim prayers that are said. You can see the big crowds of men who attend the whole process.


After the prayers the men all file out and visit with each other. An important opportunity to reconnect and see many contacts in the community. A small group will stay and wet down the sand (to help it settle) and but up branches over top sometimes to also help keep animals out of the grave. This is most common if they are not buried in a wall enclosed courtyard.

In this culture, death is one of the important community occasions that people feel obligated to attend. Not attending a funeral without a really good reason is seen as very disrespectful to the community and family. Even if you were not in town, you will make sure to visit the families and pay your respects to anyone who died in your absence.
After the funeral, most of the family and close friends will go back to the family home of the deceased where the women have been waiting. They will have sacrificed an animal (goat or sheep usually) and will have prepared a big meal to feed everyone. They will go into debt and take loans to make sure this happens. People will come and go all day long. One thing you will very rarely see is tears. I have sat with the women when a child had died and outwardly I was more upset than the mother, although I am sure her heart was broken on the inside and I have no doubt it signalled dark days in their lives. I struggle to remain “calm and collected” sometimes when my own heart is broken for them. Outward signs of grief and tears and wailing are mostly discouraged in this culture.
Death is seen as so inevitable and to the outsider it seems almost like they don’t care. But I know that is not true. Many of the things they do in their religion is to try to make themselves “good enough” or the follow the rules enough, to gain entrance into their idea of heaven.
Please continue to pray for these people. God meets us all in times of grief and as we evaluate our own mortality. May He speak to their hearts and make His path clear to them.

Arielle turns 8

Please excuse the lateness of this post! We have had lots of power outages, and a shipping container arrive this week so our internet time has been limited!

But we did not want to forget to write about our sweet Arielle’s 8th birthday! Every year we like to look back at how our children have grown and I love to see their personalities emerge.

Arielle has grown up so much! Now that she is 8 I realize she has spent half of her life here in Niger, and it is reflected in how well she adapts here and how at ease she is in the homes of our African friends, out in huts, in the streets, in her school etc. This is just her life and she is content!

We have great friends here and on her 8th birthday we had a pool party and cake with our friends. While she misses her friends and cousins in Canada, we are blessed with good friends and teammates here as well.

Arielle, each year I am amazed at how much you grow as a person. I love how your eyes light up when you really smile (no more fake smiles!) and how you giggle and love to be hugged and snuggled. You are also pretty excited you lost your first tooth!

You are not afraid to try new things. You may be timid to speak up and you stay so quiet, but you will also climb onto the donkey, or try that new food you have never tasted before. You like to help out in the kitchen at home but also in the homes of our friends. You are a great helper.

More than anything, you love family. You don’t need to be with anyone else. Bennett has for years been your very best friend. Every single day you two play board games, card games, hall hockey, cards, etc. together. You come home, do your homework, and rush to do things together. I am sure when you are teens you will lose some of that, but I hope you remember these days when it was the best part of your day to play with your brother!

 

You are also a wonderful big sister to Ella. You calm her when she cries, you hold her in your lap, or hold her soother and rub her forehead if she is crying in her car seat while we drive. You love to help change diapers (eww!) and you can’t wait until she starts eating real food so you can feed her. I am thankful for how much you embrace your role as a big sister. There has never been a single day when you have shown anger, or jealousy or any negative emotion towards having this new little baby in our lives who can take up more of our time than you are used to before. You have embraced her and you wrap your heart around hers. She will be so lucky to have a big sister like you to look up to.

 

 

My wish this year for you is to continue to see you grow in confidence. You have so much to offer people with your great ideas, generous heart and desire to help. But you often stay quiet and watch from the background with other people. I pray you would realize how special you are and find your courage. I am so blessed to call you our daughter.

 

Happy Birthday Arielle!