Making new friends

I am blessed with many great friends (and loving family) at home, but I have also met a lot of new people here in Niger, especially just in the past 7 days. 

 On Friday afternoon the teens from Sahel Academy played with our camp kids again ☺

On Friday night I had dinner and movie night (How to Train Your Dragon) with Amy, Ann & Kathy

Today (Saturday) we bid farewell to the cap kids and mamas. I was in awe watching them pile all of their possessions on their head and carry a kid (some of them two kids) out the gate.

This afternoon I toured the workshops of the town with Janet, one of our seasoned Galmi staff, and a bunch of newbies. We walked through areas of mud brick houses and millet stalk huts, like this:

This granny, whom I'd like to refer to as Maz Kanata for all of my Star Wars geek friends, makes these lovely clay pots (with donkey dung for extra fiber) and I wish I could've gotten one home in my suitcase! She is whacking it with a wooden paddle into the round shape.

This guy was working on wood carving, axes and the grinding pots for grain:

 These are the silversmiths, making spoons and ladles (aluminum, not real silver):

...I'm defnitely coming home with a new ladle.

This evening I watched Sherlock (the BBC TV show) with Deb and Kathy and had dinner with a nice group of 10 Galmi friends. In the morning I will be walking to church (I want to see a different one than last week) and in the evening it's my turn to have the girls for dinner. Life is better with friends!