Just a minor blip!

So by now many of you know the story, but hey, heres an official one. So Friday, after the giraffes, I spent the rest of the day in bed again really sick, with a 40degree fever and brutal muscle aching. We were supposed to fly out that night to Paris, but I didnt think I could make it. A Niger clinic (nice and clean!) took blood and tests showed negative for malaria, and that my body was fighting something. We figured if it was going to get worse I should probably be in a First World country at least, so i dragged my butt onto the airplane that night. I even threw up in their departure lounge. Wow...I'm so sophisticated :) Anyhow, luckily my fever broke during the flight and I actually rested a bit. The next morning in Paris we went to a hospital just for a checkout, and to my surprise, they insisted on admitting me! Yikes! So they took me over to a hospital with a Tropical Disease wing and set me up like royalty. If royalty means a yellow rough gown, no tv (that worked for the first while at least) or music or visitors and not so good food. Because Bennett is so young, he wasnt allowed on the wing (which i totally understand) but Paul also had no one to watch him, which meant he couldnt come either :( ANd thus began my days of boredom and missing them. The fever dropped and they kept running tests to try and find out what I had. To no avail (even today they are still running tests to find out). THey just kept me hydrated and gave me painkillers for the muscle aching while my body fought and won. (WOOHHOO Body!) I was released Monday morning for good behaviour and 48 hours fever free.
All in all it wasnt too bad. I was more worried about Paul and Bennett, since they were alone in Paris without their translator and guide! However God is good and they did fine, I bounced back, and more France stories to come in the blog!
We also saw Rush Hour 3 (the movie) being filmed right across the street and saw Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
Also, it may have been a normal hospital, but how many of you can truly say even your hospital area had a view of the top 1/4 of the Eiffel Tower? Ah ha! I'll take the perks where I can get em.

The Goat delivery

Someone back here in Canada gave us some money to bring to the field. They wanted us to use it directly to impact some people, with no administrative fees from a big organization or anything to water it down. SO after much discussion with the team leaders, we bought goats. Yup goats. You see, buying a goat here is more than just a goat. Especially if said goat is a mother, with a young child goatie. Especially if this mamma goat is producing lots of milk which can be both drunk and sold to help the family. You get the point I think.
Anyhow, we bought 3 healthy mamma goats, all with healthy babies and who were producing milk, and gave them to 3 guards who worked for the group and who all had families to support. Even though I was sick, I made it to the first goat delivery before being dropped back off at my bed. We packed all 6 geet (yeah i know thats not plural for goats...but i like it and Jill will catch the reference :)into the back seat of the Toyota Prado. Everyone i think must have gotten a chuckle out of us, but hey, we were on a mission! We delivered goats, made some happy families, and hopefully gave them something tangible to help make their lives better. The goats were a fantastic gift to give and to reach the people directly. Good idea dad :)

Giraffe safari

So our last morning we were there I was feeling a little bit better when I awoke and wanted to catch the opportunity to go see the giraffes in the wild. There is a reserve park about 35 minutes from Niamey. So off we went about 7am. We got a little lost (not lost-we simply had a divine appointment to go too far, pick up some Peace Corps people and get to pray for and encourage one young lady in particular) We found the giraffes and probably saw about 12 total. We drove to nearby them, then parked and walked quietly. Bennett was quite excited to see them and kept pointing and exclaiming when he saw them. Here are a few pics :)