Blog: The Cheungs in Niger

Comings and Goings

posted by Ace & Cecilia Cheung 03:14 PM Sat Oct 31 2009

This afternoon we had the privilege of going to a farewell dessert party for a couple of godly young women who worked for 4 years in villages about an hour away from Niamey. They leave tomorrow night and may never come back. God blessed their ministry here and they had many locals in their presence when they said farewell from their home yesterday.

Tomorrow we welcome a short-term team, this one from our home church! It'll be exciting to see them and serve alongside them as they give dental care in villages where there are no dentists.

Over three years of living here can make one accept the comings and goings better, but as many of my seasoned colleagues often say, it doesn't get any easier.

So we say Hello and Good-bye once again, looking forward to someday being all together just enjoying each others' presence for always. An eternity with friends and our Father. With no more coming and goings.

Wishing and working towards that goal,

Ace.

The Ouagadougou Differences - Top Ten List?

posted by Ace & Cecilia Cheung 05:36 PM Thu Apr 02 2009

Just today at our team retreat in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, someone noticed that we haven't seen any animals yet - no cats, no dogs, not even donkeys, cows, sheep, goats, or camels in the streets of Ouaga. We're staying at the Mission Baptiste (International Mission Board) guest house, which is in downtown, so that might explain a bit. This made me think of what might be the Top Ten differences between Ouagadougou and Niamey (Niger):

No animals in the streets.
No people urinating in public.
Lots more bicycles and motorcycles. Even motorcycle lanes on some streets.
The street lights work!
Women ride bicycles in Ouagadougou. If you do that in Niamey, children will tease you by yelling, "Burkinabey! Burkinabey!"
Lots of restaurants to choose from. As a result, it's a lot cheaper to eat out here than in Niamey, and the food is better.
Less garbage piles in the streets.
Many more paved streets.
Vendors will sell you things with their goods on the pavement while they stand in the open sewer system.
Niger's unofficial national flower is much less prevalent (black plastic bags).

If you've ever been to Ouagadougou and Niamey, would you change or add anything to the list?Email us and let us know... (cheung@sunergo.net)

Grace and peace,

Ace.

Relationships (Cheung-Key Bits #48)

posted by Ace & Cecilia Cheung 03:21 PM Fri Mar 06 2009

Cecilia and Elise with Aissa in her hut

They say that relationships are highly valued in Africa, and over the last couple of months the importance of relationship at all levels is becoming clearer. (Photo above: Cecilia and Elise with Aissa in her hut at Teppe)

The beginning of 2009

We’ve had the joy of experiencing relationship with a Quebecois nutritionist, Marianne Côté, who gave of her time in January to come study the nutrition of the Fulani and Touaregs in areas we will work, specifically studying what they eat, weaning practices, and what is used to treat malnutrition. She also gave summaries of what could be adapted locally to improve the nutrition of locals, which could help prevent up to 53% of childhood deaths*. Now for the hard but all-important part – implementation.

Beulah Alliance from Edmonton brought another medical team in February that was able to see and treat 947 people during their stay in the villages of Kojeri (koe-JAYR-ee) and Panse (PON-say). The most frequent problem seen? Worms. And the most common life-threatening illnesses treated? Pneumonia (yes, there’s a cold season here too!) and diarrhea. It’s not malaria season, so this was not seen very often, and fortunately even though we live in the meningitis belt, we did not come across that in our clinics. We’re thankful for Beulah’s ongoing commitment in a relationship with us to help share God’s love here. And using Physician Travel Packs from Health Partners International Canada again helped reduce the cost of buying medications by a factor of 10. We’re thankful for their ministry in supplying medications at a low cost to needy areas.

The girls are also experiencing a few new relationships. No, nothing serious to report at this age. Just that Elise had a new teacher since January, Miss Jones, and a few days a week Iyla’s been enjoying the presence of Moses, our house help Deborah’s son. Other than that, Iyla continues loving being Cecilia’s little shadow – just as much Cecilia enjoys her.

Present Challenges

The Beulah medical team came just as the Nigerien Ministry of Public Health was updating its memorandums of understanding (MOU) with non-governmental organizations. (Did that bit of administrative talk turn you off just as much as it does me?) It sounds like they would like more say in the programs that are being implemented in their country, to which they have every right. The thing is that the rules have changed – again. So we would appreciate it if you might pray with us as we look to align ourselves with the changes the government has put in place, that we would be able to respect the authorities but also find enough freedom to implement what we feel are effective programs to save lives and build our relationships with the locals.

We will necessarily want to start relationships with the local health authorities where we will be working, namely the Makalondi Integrated Health Centre, and the Tillabery Hospital. And we don’t want to forget our relationships with the villages where we’re working, Teppe (TEH-pay), a Fulani village by Makalondi, and Tagaintassou (I don’t remember how to properly pronounce this…), a Touareg village by Tillabery being explored by the Marineaus [link]. We pray that we would be able to balance working with the government bodies and with our friends in these villages.

Lastly, we are looking to increase help to our local employees too. Our day guard, Raissa, is using a small business loan to start a number of small business projects as he gets a feel for the local market. We would like to expand this and also offer individualized loans for projects tailored to our other guards as well. We pray that we would have the wisdom to see what would work well for each of their situations, as Cecilia is noting more and more that there is not a cookie cutter solution that will work here for everyone.

And in all this, we want to be focused on being loving and honouring in our relationships, modeling Jesus’ love in action and in words.

Dates for March

March 8: No daylight savings time change for us. But we’re seeing more sunlight at night – until 7pm these days!

March 13-15: Mosquito net teaching and distributing at Kojeri and Panse.

March 22-April 6: Sahel Academy (Elise’s school) early Easter break.

March 28-April 3: Niger team spiritual retreat in neighbouring Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

On the plate

Clinics for local employees

One-on-one time and expanding our small loan program for our employees

Establishing relationships with local, district, regional and national government health officials regarding our programs

Drafting a new MOU for the Ministry of Public Health

Defining needs of the Makalondi Integrated Health Centre and the Tillabery Hospital

Medical program long range planning (5 years)

Define our working relationship with the community of Teppe

Practicing Zarma

Thank you to you, too, for your relationships with us.

Peace to you until next month,
Ace

* Caulfield LE, de Onis M, Blössner M, Black RE. Undernutrition as an underlying cause of child deaths associated with diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria and measles. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;80:193-8.

A lot like Christmas… (Cheung-Key Bits #47)

posted by Ace & Cecilia Cheung 04:08 PM Tue Dec 23 2008

Especially during Christmas, it’s hard not to imagine that Jesus came into this world in a setting not too different than that which surrounds us. Goats, sheep, cows, donkeys and camels milling around almost everywhere. Wood and straw huts, mud brick homes, and the odd fences made of sticks that look more like branches than lumber. Smoke from burning waste and dust from the desert infused into the air, our noses, and our clothing. It’s like Christmas, the very first time.

This year, I can’t help but notice even more similarities around us.

A son is born.
Our house help Deborah and her husband John received a healthy baby boy of 4.4kg yesterday. Everyone is healthy and doing well. The girls, especially Iyla, have already claimed the baby as “theirs.” I’m not sure what this exactly means, but I think that they’re looking forward to many hours of amusement with him. What a great Christmas present for their family – and us! We’re thankful for the friendship of Deborah and her family, and pray that they would remain strong in their faith as they live out their Christian witness in Niger.

Shepherds hear the Good News of the arrival of Jesus.
As we work in holistic development of the Fulani village of Teppe, we pray that they would indeed meet Jesus one day. The skit being acted out above by the health agents at Teppe is that of the parable of the unmerciful servant.

The wise men come later on to give gifts to Jesus.
I can’t help but see the parallel of the wise men to that of the noble culture of the Touaregs, mounted on their camels, along with their gift giving culture. May we respect their nobility and wisdom as we start holistic development projects with them as well. And may their wisdom and seeking lead them to the one true Savior.

As we think of our friends and family in Niger and abroad during Christmas, we are reminded of how blessed we are to be part of a community of encouragement, prayer, and helping hands. We pray that we would be faithful in giving the Fulani and Touareg of Niger real opportunities to meet – and know – the real Jesus. May we all be blessed with encounters of His love this Christmas season as well.

Wishing you a very merry Christmas,
Ace (& Cecilia, Elise and Iyla in Niger)

Sweet Like Honey (Cheung-Key Bits #46)

posted by Ace & Cecilia Cheung 03:37 PM Tue Nov 25 2008

Nov 26/08

Prayer Bit
Please pray for the Community Health Education program underway in the Fulani village of Teppe (TEP ay). We were encouraged with the prayer team’s visit with the Chief last week when he said that partnering with us was like tasting honey for the first time – once you taste it, you just want more and more. May we give the village everything sweet that they need. This week (Nov 26) we’ll be teaching them about wound care and the related topic of forgiveness.

Niger Bit
You’d think that being in a place that goes from dry and hot to wet and hot and then to dry and warm wouldn’t really have a cold and flu season. Well, as the winds have picked up it seems that we’re into the cold and flu season. Locals as well as ex-pats all seem to be catching either a cold, the flu, or the stomach flu. That’s besides the occasional episodes of malaria or diarrhea that we normally see. And then next week we’re officially into meningitis season, being that we live in the meningitis belt. With that in mind, we’re happily vaccinating our local employees for meningitis.

City Bit
We met a Korean family here with YWAM at a restaurant the other day, and they very kindly invited us for supper. Little did we know that they could hook us up with Chinese vegetables for a reasonable price. Apparently another Korean had given some vegetable seeds to a local to grow, and it was successful last year. If we’re willing to pay up front, we could have some Chinese vegetables this February. I never thought we’d be so excited about Chinese vegetables! And yes, we got some kim chee from the family too! God just spoils us in the funniest ways.

Girls Bit
Elise participated in her school’s track and field day last Friday, which was held at the national Stadium – apparently rental of the stadium is around CAD$25 for the day. Not bad, eh? Quite the feat to organize – K-12 all over the field simultaneously in events like shot put, high jump, 100m run, 4x100m relay, and even a three-legged race for the younger ones. Lots of fun! Iyla’s been working on her “goalie face” for hockey, looking very determined not to let in a puck. And still keeping in touch with her feminine side as well, playing with her dolls, neon nail polish, and her mother’s hair. What else do you do for fun when you’re a little preschool girl?

Thankful Bit
Thank you once again for your support so that we can serve people in Niger, especially during these uncertain financial times. We pray for blessings to you in eternity.

The Cheungs