Destination Vacation Anyone?

Believe it or not, there's actually a golf course here on the edge of the desert just outside of the city. We've driven by it plenty of times, but I've never stopped to try it out. A few weeks ago, one of our co-workers had a birthday and his wife asked some of us to take him golfing. He's been here a long time and had never tried the course either. This is our group at the "club house". Get ready for a unique adventure.

The course is actually very well laid out. Here's the tee box on the first hole. In the background you can see the pavilion for the driving range.


The course is on a plateau that is laterite rock, which is very hard. You definitely don't want to take a swing with the ball sitting directly on the ground or your clubs would be hurting. Instead, you have to tee the ball up for every shot. We played on a weekday morning, so the owner wasn't around to provide the special rubber tees. We had to make do with whatever we could find... a few plastic bottle caps, a piece of rubber rolled up, some cardboard rolled up... The fairways are marked on either side with large rocks that are painted green.

Most of the year, there are no water traps. We also don't have deep rough or woods in which to lose a ball. There are some unique obstacles, though. Here are the remaining stalks from crops (probably millet).


There's also the occasional herd of goats or sheep that cross the fairway. Donkeys, cows and camels also frequent the course.

The "greens" are nicely oiled sand and well groomed. You can see the caddy pulling the flag out of the hole. You have to take some caddies along with you. They were pretty helpful for finding our way around the course and carrying the clubs. Most of us fall into the "hacker" category for golfers, but we had a good time. We played the first nine holes before we ran out of time and it got too hot. So there you have it... you can now include the Niamey Golf Club at Rio Bravo as one more attraction to see during your next destination vacation. Oh yeah, there's also an airstrip next to the course.

Medevac

Sunday afternoon, one of our MKs (missionary kids) at Sahel Academy fell and broke her arm. She lives in the dorm, since her parents are missionaries in Benin. After taking her to a local clinic for x-rays and then talking with our SIM doctors, they decided that she should go to Galmi Hospital to have her arm set there. In God's perfect timing, we happened to have a really good surgeon at Galmi for a little over a month to help out. The surgeon is Dave's (our maintenance specialist) dad and he was a missionary doctor in Galmi for over 20 years. Monday morning, I flew the 4 hour roundtrip to Benin and back to get her mom. Ian then flew the two of them on to Galmi (1.5 hr flight) and spent the night. Monday afternoon, Galmi consulted with an orthopedic surgeon in the States who comes to Galmi every year to help. After discussing the break with him, they set the arm Tuesday. Everything went well and we flew them back on Wednesday along with Dave's dad and mom. Once again, God's plan is perfect. He pulled all the right pieces together at just the right time.

It's a girl!

If you know our family, you've become accustomed to announcements about a new Rideout model making it's debut. We've been married 8 years and have 4 kids soon to be 7, 5, 4, and 2 years old. Well, life has been pretty busy so this latest announcement is a little slow in coming. In fact, our latest model arrived August 26th right here in Niamey. We returned to the tried and true girl model this time. Our newest arrival is named Joy. All of our kids have been pretty big at their arrivals, but Joy outdid them all. She arrived almost full grown and just a few months shy of 18 years old!


Joy's real parents are missionaries in Mali (next door to Niger). She's living with us for her Senior year at Sahel Academy. We've had a lot of fun having Joy join our family for the year.

A new pet

Just a few blocks from our house in an intersection we call "4 corners." At the intersection there are some vegetables stands, a little food store, a place to buy cases of Coke bottles, a place to get propane bottles, lots of shacks where artisans sell their various crafts, a guy with makeshift racks of used clothes, and then there's a guy that has lots of cages of animals for sale. The animal guy usually has birds (african greys, pigeons, hawks, doves, sometimes owls, armored ducks, and love birds) and sometimes turtles, rabbits, and a few other random animals. One day Krista took a walk with some of the kids to 4 corners. As they looked at the animals, they found a guinea pig in a cage with a bunch of bunnies. Of course, they all thought Mr. Guinea Pig was pretty cute and that he would make a great pet. When I came home, the first question from everyone's mouth was, "Daddy, can we get a guinea pig?" My first questions was, "How much does it cost?" With a starting price of about $30, I decided that we definitely didn't need a guinea pig. Well, my family is pretty persistent. For the next two weeks, they all kept an eye Mr. Guinea Pig. Every time we went by 4 corners, they checked to see if he was still in the cage. A few times, they checked on the price to see if the guy would come down on the price. After about two weeks, they came back one day and said the guy would sell it for $8. That was more in my range. Later on, I went by and asked the guy the price. He told me $10, to which I replied that he had told my wife $8 earlier. Not a chance he said. He had $10 into the guinea pig himself. They must have talked to one of the kids that help him. So off I went. Well, my family is not easily deterred when they set their minds on something. I told them that we could get the guinea pig if they convinced the guy to sell it for less than $10. No problem. One of them headed out to make a deal. She talked to one of the kids and convinced him to sell the guinea pig for $6! Nice going. Not so fast. She headed home with the guinea pig in hand. As she started to turn the corner and head down our street, the kid came running up to her. He said the boss told him he couldn't sell the guinea pig for that price. The money exchanged hands again and the guinea pig returned to his cage with the bunnies. Like I said before, my family is very determined. About an hour later, one of them headed back again to talk business with the boss man. The end result: he wasn't going to budge from $10, so we now have a guinea pig for $10. I had a very excited and happy family, which makes me happy as well.


Mr. Guinea Pig finally got a name after a few weeks. Lots of ideas were given, but no one could agree on a name. Wise mommy eventually put all the ideas in a hat and had Silas draw out a name. Mr. Guinea Pig is now called "Squeaker."

Learning to Sew

The girls are enjoying some opportunities to start to learn how to sew. One of their recent projects was making dresses for their dolls. Of course, Krista gives them a lot of help, but they are beginning to learn how to use the sewing machine and make stitches. Here's Brynn working on her dress.

The finished product. Brynn's doll, named Evi, is wearing the new dress.


Kira gets her turn to make a dress.

Kira's doll, named Emilie, tries on the dress. Kira later took it off and said that it was going to be a special dress for Emilie to wear at Christmas.

Sweet Corn

For years the guys at SIMAIR have grown sweet corn behind the hangar. You can't get sweet corn here, so it's a really nice treat to have fresh sweet corn to eat. The last couple of years, we've continued on the tradition. We bring out Silver Queen Sweet Corn seeds from the States to plant. The first year we did it, we showed our guard at the hangar how far apart to make the rows and how to plant the seeds. Ever since then, he's actually done most of the work. We provide the seeds and he plants it for us and waters it each day. We divide the plot of land and give him a third of the land to plant his own crops. He then gets free water from the hangar to grow whatever he wants in return for helping us with the corn. Above is a picture of just some of the corn from one of the harvests. We plant it in three sections and space the plantings 2 weeks apart.

Kira shows off some of the corn.


Most of it turned out really well this year. We eat some fresh and then freeze the rest so we can enjoy it throughout the year.

SIMAIR Calendars & 2nd Diesel Plane for SIMAIR

Over the past year, we've shared about the need for a 2nd plane for SIMAIR that uses Jet-Fuel instead of the very expensive Avgas that our larger 6 seat plane still uses. After looking at lots of options for a replacement 6 seater plane, we've decided that the best choice at this point is to get another plane just like the 4 seater diesel Cessna 182 we purchased a few years ago. We're now hot on the trail trying to find just the right plane to have converted with the diesel engine. A project has been created for the 2nd Diesel Plane. The official SIM project designation is "SIMAIR JET Fuel Cessna 182; Project # NE 97720." We currently have enough money to buy the plane, but need roughly another $100,000 USD to do the Diesel Engine conversion and add other modifications to the plane before it is ready for service in Niger.

With this project in mind, one of our longtime SIMAIR pilots came up with the idea of creating a calendar with drawings of airplanes used in mission and humanitarian work. He's an incredible artist and spent much of the last year drawing the planes for the calendar.


The finished product was debuted during the annual HUGE airshow in Oshkosh in July (see the calendar cover below with one of the drawings and a sample page). This calendar is a beautiful 14 month calendar from December 2009 - January 2011. All the proceeds from the sale of the calendar go towards the purchase of the 2nd Diesel Plane for SIMAIR. It's a great deal for everyone! Please consider buying a calendar and maybe some as gifts for others. Your purchase will help SIMAIR buy a second diesel plane and you'll receive a beautiful calendar in return.


The calendars are available for sale at the SIM USA bookstore online. To purchase a calendar go here. You can also go to www.simusa.org and click “online bookstore” and scroll down until you see the calendar. The cost is $10 plus tax and shipping.

You can also make a donation directly to the 2nd Diesel Plane Project for SIMAIR. To do so you can click here or go to https://usanet.sim.org/SIMGift/detail.aspx and enter "SIMAIR Jet Fuel Cessna 182 Project#NE97720" for the project name. Then, follow the directions to complete the donation. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Stuck

A week ago, Ian headed off in the Cessna 182 to Galmi and Dave and I began working on a long list of things we wanted to get done at the hangar. After a while, we got a text message from Ian that he had landed. Then a little while later, we got a call from him that he was stuck. When he went to start the plane, the starter fried. We're thankful to have two planes at times like these. Rather than driving 6 hours to take the spare starter and fix the plane, Dave and I got everything together and flew to Galmi in the other plane. Every day here is full of unexpected events. There's rarely a day that goes just as planned. Here's a rare picture of both planes sitting at Galmi at the same time.


Instead of a six hour drive, Dave and I were in Galmi with a new starter in an hour and a half. Here's our SIMAIR team in Niger right now. We're missing Ed, who is in Canada for the year. In this picture you see me on the left, Ian in the center, and Dave on the right.


You can only get so many sets of hands in a small space to work on one starter, so I was forced to supervise.


Ian did some supervising as well. We wanted to make sure Dave felt like he was needed.


Here's the old starter with the burn marks on it.


An hour later, Ian was taking off with the passenger to head back to Niamey.


Dave and I waited around for another 20 minutes before we followed in the other plane.

Treats

One of the things we enjoy doing at SIMAIR is bringing treats for people. We tell everyone to let us know if they want us to buy things for them that aren't available where they are and we'll fit them in if there's space. I flew to Galmi recently with the plane empty, so it was the perfect chance for people to send us their orders.


Everyone was there to meet the plane to retrieve their "treats". Some people ordered cream.


Some wanted Diet Coke.


We also stocked up for a construction team coming from Ireland.


Cheese is always a hit. It's very expensive here, but well worth it when you don't get it much.


The kids always like it when the plane comes. For the missionaries kids, it means they get out of school for a little while to watch the plane land and then takeoff again.

Co-Pilot

When it works out that I have room on a flight, I like to take one of the kids along for the ride. Most of our flights are quite long (3-4 hours one way), so I wait until there is room on a flight to Galmi (which is 1.5 hours each way). During our last term, Kira and Brynn each had a turn. Ever since we returned to Niger, Elayna has been eagerly waiting for her turn to fly with daddy. I had a flight a few weeks ago to pick up a short term doctor in Galmi and bring him back to Niamey. So, Elayna got to go spend the day in my "office" helping me as my co-pilot.

I must say, I haven't seen a co-pilot much cuter than this one. It was a real treat for both of us. She was thrilled to go and the folks in Galmi enjoyed seeing her too. Now Silas is ready for his turn! We told him he has to wait until he's a little older for his turn to make sure he can control his wiggles for that long.

A favorite book comes to life!

I was driving Elayna home from swimming lessons when this peddler walked by on the street. A book title came to mind immediately. I'm sure my FIAR friends can guess what it is! I didn't have a camera, but was only a block from home. Racing home, I ran in, grabbed the camera, and went down where I guessed he would be. I stopped at a light, and there he was, crossing the street in front of me. Perfect opportunity for a shot...

There were no monkeys nearby, but I'm sure if he sat down there are plenty of goats around to munch on the straw.


So have you guessed the book yet?



How about now?



I'll give you a hint, those are hats on his head...



And he's peddling them...



For those of you who still don't know...



Go to the library and check out the book "Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina.

Alive?

We returned home one day while the workers were in the process of raising our gate. As we started to walk into our yard, one of the workers said nonchalantly, "your guard dropped off this gate key for you. He also brought you a rooster." We replied, "a rooster? Alive?" "Yes," he said half laughing as he walked over to some bushes and ruffled them with his leg. The rooster started squawking behind the bushes and eventually hopped out with it's legs hobbled. We were now the proud owners of this very alive rooster. It was a good thing our dog, Oreo, was on a chain due to the work being done on our gate. While we were in the States on our Home Assignment, Oreo killed 12 chickens that lived near the family who was taking care of her for us. My mind started racing to figure out why our guard had brought us a live rooster. A month or two earlier we had a conversation about roosters. He asked me if we ate them and I said sure. He then said that his mom sometimes gets rooster when she visits her relatives in another town about an hour away. He'd have her bring us one the next time she went there. Of course I was thinking he meant he would bring us a rooster cooked up in some African dish like he's done before with other foods he wanted me to try. Apparently I was mistaken. Now what were we going to do with the rooster. It couldn't stay in the yard because eventually the dog needed to come off the chain, which would mean no more rooster. So, after the kids had a chance to watch the rooster for a while, we loaded it into the vehicle and took it to a friends' house who had an empty cage. The next day the friend got the rooster butchered and brought it to me. Krista wasn't too impressed when I walked in the house with what used to be the rooster in a plastic bag. We ate it a few days later. The meat was very tough, which is pretty common with the chickens and roosters that get to run freely on the street.

A river runs through it

This is the view down our street at our new house looking back toward the main road from in front of our gate, which is just out of view on the left side of the picture. Our street is called rue Château d'eau, which mean Water Tower Street. It's called that because we are just around the corner from the water tower for our neighborhood in the city. We're coming to the end of the rainy season. As I write, we're getting some rain which will probably be one of our last rains until next May/June. This rainy season, though, we discovered that our street at this house becomes a river when we get a heavy rain. Our street is lower that than the main road, so all the water from the main road runs into our street. The problem is that our street is a dead end, so there's no where for the water to go except into the yard of people's houses on the street whose gates are below the water level.


Here's a view of our street after a heavy rain. The water was 2 feet deep at some points.

Unfortunately, our gate was one of the gates that were lower than the water level, so the river on our street flowed into our yard. This happened twice this rainy season. The first time I was gone and the water in the yard was already almost up to the level of our porch. Then, the water from the street started flowing in the gate, which put our house in danger of being flooded. Krista took control and built a barricade in front of our gate. She grabbed cinder blocks from around our yard, an old shower curtain and shoveled sand from the street to stop the flow of water in the gate. A guard from the house across the street jumped in to help her. Our guard was pretty impressed that night when I told him what Krista had done.

Apparently this wasn't a new problem. Over the years people on the street have tried to solve the problem. Everyone build up the levels of their gates at one point. Then someone had the bright idea of filling in the street with more sand, which meant that the gate at our house was no longer above the street level. Later on, someone build a raised ramp at the end of the street by the main road with a small wall coming out from it on either side. That worked until owner of the house around the corner broke a hole through the wall to divert the street water from flowing in his yard and back onto our street.

After building a barricade at the gate during a second heavy rain, we decided to raise up the level of our gate again.
Here's the front of our gate from the street side. The level of the gate is now a foot higher than it was before. This won't solve the problem of the river on our street, but it should keep the river from flowing into our yard.
Here's our gate from inside our yard.

Only Here

Get them while they're hot! During one of our first trips to a store after arriving back here, we noticed a new brand of laundry detergent was available. After a while, we couldn't resist buying some Welcome Obama detergent so you could see it too.

Tricks of the Trade

The girls have been eagerly learning how to do new things around the house this summer. They each can now take their laundry bins of clean clothes to their rooms and put them away. They've also been "helping" Krista in the kitchen. Kira and Brynn are learning how to wash dishes and fill up ice cube trays, both of which need to be done often around here. As often as Krista will let them, they each take turns helping Krista cook and bake. Even Silas likes to get in on the action when there's food involved. Krista's sister, Aunt Boo (as our kids call her), made sure my ladies are always well dressed for their work in the kitchen. Here they are sporting their beautiful matching aprons from Aunt Boo.

First Day of School

Kira (1st grade) and Brynn (kindergarten) started school at Sahel Academy on August 12. They've been looking forward to this day for a long time. So far the excitement hasn't worn off. They come home each day happy as can be from their time at school.
A few days before school started, we had a "going to school" party. Kira and Brynn each got school supplies and lunch bags.
They also each got their own alarm clocks so they can wake up on their own at 6:15 am each weekday. School starts for them at 7:25 am.

A Party Niger style!

Last week we had the privilege of taking part in a party celebrating the engagement of one of our SIM Niger missionaries. After losing his wife to cancer, Chris recently met and fell in love with another lovely lady, who had lost her husband. Between them they have 5 delightful children. We are all so happy for them, and the Niamey area missionaries showed it! About 80 people showed up for the party. Most of us were really hoping to meet Nancy, as she was just on a short visit to Niger before the wedding!


As if to welcome Nancy and her sons to the joys of Nigerien weather, we started the evening here outside near the river at an outdoor restaurant. See the beautiful tables and the nice view?
About the time the food was ready to be served, in came a dust storm! Though typical of this time of year, we sure didn't plan on one that night! Ten minutes after the previous photo, below is another looking in the same direction, towards the river. Like all those flecks of dust? We all grabbed plates and food, and over 80 of us crowded into a little room. Unfortunately the power was out inside, so it was quite a dark little room! We could only laugh at how much this showed Niger's weather to Nancy- unpredictable and dusty. Thankfully they don't usually last long, and we were able to spread out again, though the tables never did get set. =) It was still a lot of fun, and we all enjoyed the time together, celebrating Chris and Nancy's joy at God bringing them together!