Thursday, January 18, 2010. My day off. I was loafing around campus having spent the morning of my day off in meetings. I ate and chatted with the teachers then wandered over to the dorm. I decided it was in my best interest to check my email...again...and began considering going out on the town for a bit of shopping or friend visiting.
About 1:00, my musings were rudely interrupted by...what is that? Gunfire? Odd. The city seemed calm. There had been a student demonstration only 8 days before, but that is a scheduled demonstration (something about some university students being killed in...well...a few years ago on that date). What now? It sounded like it was right outside the compound.
Then the school siren sounded. Hmmmm. No lock-down drills scheduled for today. OK.
Wandering out into the kitchen I watched as Hadiza called her son and it was determined that a coup d'etat was taking place. Information leaked in and we learned that the Presidential Palace was being attacked. Well, that's quite a ways away...across the river and several kilometers down. For awhile, I sat and listened to tanks and machine gun fire, followed by some kind of whistling sound and what I assume to be teargas. Explosions rattled the building and my windows shook. But a girl can only take so much!
Naturally, I did the safe and mature thing and left the dorm to wander outside and see what everyone else was doing. About 1 hour had passed since the kids were put into lock-down. They were all sitting in the hallway or in classrooms that faced away from the gate. A large group of students were sitting in the middle of the corridor singing praise songs. Another group huddled around a computer watching a movie. There was a room for games. One for homework. And the art room was being used appropriately. The students remained very calm while they waited for updates. Some of them were obviously afraid for their parents, but teachers were calling parents to tell them that kids were alright, then would wander down the hall to tell the student they had talked to their parents. Elementary kids happily watched movies in their rooms. Some of the little ones were entirely oblivious to origin of all the din outside.
The shooting calmed down and by 5:00pm parents were called to come and get their kids. School was canceled on Friday. I guess in South Dakota we got snow days off, here in Niger, we have coup d-etat days...of course.
Niamey has calmed down quite a bit since that time. There is an obvious military presence, but stores and traffic are continuing as normal. A few quirky things have changed, but we adjust and continue as we are. Rumors fly around the city about the exact events that happened on that day, but we have peace at this point. Now we pray that God will guide the leaders of this country as they establish...well...something. Most of all, we pray that the Gospel will not only be allowed, but also encouraged to spread under this new authority.
When the day ended and all the students were home, each staff member sighed in relief. God was completely aware of everything that happened and was going to happen. He has called every one of us to this place at this time. There is a place for us in His awesome plan to spread his Gospel to every nation, tribe, and tongue. Sahel Academy was completely safe the whole time just because we are members of a greater Kingdom. A Kingdom that is never in jeopardy of a coup d'etat because it has a strong Authority who knows, loves, and protects. Always
I decided to poke fun at him and how dirty he was. Then he got this tired/annoyed look on his face.
AND HE ATTACKED ME (pictures not included...I was fighting for my life after all) After the attack, where he gave me a sweaty hug and rubbed his hair in my face...I was nearly as sandy as he was. The punk!
