SEEDS FOR AREWA AID

Children have an honest idealism that causes them to often see problems and challenges as having very simple solutions. They often challenge us adults with their spontaneous compassion to do something about the needs of the suffering and hurting in our world. Nathaniel Hamm is one such young man. He is the 10 year old son of Darin Hamm, Teaching Pastor for the New Heights Church in Owasso, Oklahoma. Nathaniel heard about the street children that we are working with through our farm in Maiduguri, Nigeria, and how we train these young people, much the same age as Nathaniel, in the skills of drip irrigation that enable them to return to their families and help provide food year round in this aired desert region of Northern Nigeria. He also learned of our constant need for seed for our farm and to send home with these trainees to begin their own farming efforts. What follows is Nathaniel’s story in his own words. Read and be blessed as you see what a 10 year old can do for the cause of Christ.

Seeds for Arewa Aid by Nathaniel Hamm,

I came to dad and complained that people should do more. I wanted him to get something done. He asked me why I didn’t do something.

He told me about Arewa Aid and said they could use seeds to help people in Africa. He explained about irrigation and what was happening and we agreed that I could do something to help.

So I asked my school principle if I could try to get other kids to raise seeds. She told me that I needed to talk to the Superintendent so my dad helped me send them an email.

Oh, I also emailed the man from Arewa Aid, Lee, to seed if this would help and be a good idea. He said yes and gave me a list of seeds.

So the school said I could set up a table for a week at my school. The week came and I set up a table and made poster signs with information about the seeds and what they would be used for. I had bags that my dad gave me and they each had a flyer with the information.

I also had my dad tell people at church and he put something in our church bulletin.

In the end I collected seeds from people at my school and from people in my church. I boxed up the seeds and after finding the right address my dad took me to the post office where we mailed the seeds.

I hope it helps those kids on the street find a way to stay with their family. I hope they know it is because of Jesus that this was done.

Thanks for letting me help.

Nathaniel Hamm

Through Nathaniel’s efforts we are shipping a box of 234 packets of seeds to Nigeria. Great job Nathaniel and thanks for letting God use you to help the young people of Nigeria.

If you are encouraged and challenged by Nathaniel’s example and would like to learn how you can help drop me a note at rabboniblog@yahoo.com. There are many ways to help, both large and small all of which allow you to make a difference in the lives of people today.

Exciting New Appointment For Ebenezer

One of the major goals of our farm operation in Maiduguri from its beginning was to train street children and their families in the skills of drip irrigation to enable these young people to provide for their families and get them off the streets. Some of the first to attend our drip irrigation workshops were members of the Borno State Youth Empowerment Forum. This Islamic organization’s leaders not only saw first hand how drip irrigation works, but witnessed the actual training of a few street children and their family members. Leaders of the BSYEF were very impressed and Ebenezer was granted a special pass that enables him to go to any government building in Maiduguri without first securing special permission. This unprecedented access to government offices and cooperation with the BSYEF has now opened even more opportunities.

 

Here is a letter received this week from Ebenezer with some very exciting news. “Yesterday the Borno State Youth Empowerment Forum carried out a one day sensitization seminar for the Borno state and its environment. All the Stakeholders were present, including Legislators, all the Service Chiefs and all those that matters in the State…I have been nominated as the Vice President of the Forum which is a Coalition of all major NGOs in Borno State. Our organization is actively involved in enlightenment and empowerment of the economically stricken society.”

 

Ebenezer also shared a picture of the new fish pond that the BSYEF members are digging on their own property under Ebenezer’s capable direction. Other BSYEF members have already developed their own personal drip irrigation gardens, and are spreading the word about the value of drip irrigation.

 

As a supporter of Arewa Aid and the training you enable us to provide, lives are being changed and saved.

AREWA AID’S SECOND ANNUAL BENEFIT DINNER & CHARITY AUCTION

 

Second  Annual Benefit Dinner

and Charity Auction

November 13, 2008, 6:30 PM

College Hills Church of Christ, Lebanon

 

 

· Special Entertainment

· Silent & Live Auctions

· Guest Speakers

Tickets 10.00 each – ( We purchased a few extra tickets – so call NOW to get your seat reserved.)

Come and learn how programs begun in partnership with

 Healing Hands International are now planned for other

African Nations, Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

Special thanks to our hosts:

COLLEGE HILLS CHURCH OF CHRIST

1401 Leeville Pike, Lebanon, Tennessee 37087

For more info, call 615.390.2134

 

SATISFYING STARVATION OF THE SOUL

A couple of weeks ago, I was approached by a psychiatrist, Jibril Abdulmalik, at a Maiduguri internet café.  He inquired if I was the one highlighting the need to help the “almajirai” (beggar boys) with dry season farming.  I affirmed that our local non-governmental organization (INTERCEP) hopes to help afflicted groups of northern Nigeria like them.  He then came to the office last week and gave me more background into his interest on the issue.  His objective is to present a paper this year in Istanbul, Turkey on adolescent psychiatry and the plight of the almajirai.

Not much is documented into the actual health hazards of the almajirai but especially the social aspects of “quasi-homelessness” have not been highlighted.  Hence, Dr. Abdulmalik is researching psychoactive substance abuse among the boys (almajirai) in the informal religious schools in northern Nigeria.  “Almajiri” is a term used widely in northern Nigeria to describe boys sent to live with and receive religious instruction from Quranic teachers.  According to Jibril, unable to cater for their needs, the teachers send the children to beg and do menial jobs.  Drug use and other forms of high risk behavior have not yet been studied among this group of “practically homeless” boys.

Therefore, Jibril is aiming to determine the prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of substance use among the almajirai.  He used a cross-sectional survey, using a multi-stage sampling technique.  Confidential interviews were conducted in informal community settings on 340 almajirai between the ages of 5 and 16.  The overall prevalence of substance abuse was 66%!  The most frequently used substances were stimulants (49%), volatile solvents (21%), cigarettes (19%), and marijuana (18%).  The least used were alcohol (3%), sedatives (3%) and dried papaya leaves (5%). 

In Dr. Abdulmalik’s study, boys from polygamous homes had a higher prevalence of drug use than those from monogamous homes.  The use of marijuana had a significant relationship with polygamous families, loneliness, and separation from parents.  This study provides the first tangible evidence of the high prevalence of drug use among the almajirai of northern Nigeria.  This finding has far reaching implications for the present and future of the communities where these children reside.  This is exactly the rationale behind INTERCEP’s passion to advocate drip irrigation farming in the almajirai villages of origin.

Last night during our family devotional, we read about the Messiah’s invitation to little children as his disciples desired to hinder them.  In a culture of poverty where survival is paramount, it may appear impractical to focus on boy’s who are under the care of someone else.  However, the Son of Man’s acceptance of children during a busy life of ministry teaches us that their humility reflected his heart.  Boys who lose hope after begging for a living easily turn to narcotic substances to satisfy the longings of their hearts.  Let’s pray for the Almighty to use us as compassionate tools for Him to satisfy the yearning of their hearts. 

Almajiri being trained in transplanting seedlings

Boy selling street sugar cane

Dusty  almajiri at roadside village

GATHERING PEOPLE FROM GRASSROOTS POVERTY

In August of 2007, our first drip irrigation workshop targeted the agricultural ministries of Borno State.  Of the 40 trainees that we invited, only 20 of these government workers actually participated.  There were complaints concerning the lunch served, low transport allowance, and queries concerning the whereabouts of INTERCEP trustee board members.  On the whole, that first workshop was successful in establishing INTERCEP as a partner with state government agricultural officials.  As we’ve inquired, none of them have built a compost heap, raised a plant bed, or used a drip kit.

In our second drip irrigation workshop in February of 2008, we hoped to really reach the poorest of the poor.  Whenever one enters the city center of any northern Nigerian city, one is overwhelmed by the sheer number of the almajirai (Hausa for “disciples”).  Therefore, we began to embark on a strategy through which these beggar boys could be trained in drip irrigation to keep them off the streets.  My fellow sociology (criminology) students at the University of Maiduguri, particularly A’isha Mandara, encouraged me to first reach their malamai (Hausa for “teachers”).  Thus, the Borno Youth Empowerment Forum (BYEF) was requested to help recruit malamai, almajirai, and almajiri parents who would attend the event.

On the workshop’s first day, it was difficult to read the expressions on the faces of these almajirai and malamai because they were obviously cynical.  However, as we finally went to search for dry season compost materials each almajiri, every malam, and all of the almajirai parents participated.  When lunch was served there were no complaints of someone wanting “tuwo” (corn meal mush) instead of rice.  As the transport allowance was daily given to the BYEF officials to assist these poor participants, gratitude was abundant.  Not one of these trainees inquired about the constitution, nature, and purpose of INTERCEP because they knew that our only hope was to train these little boys.

Fortunately, this grassroots makeup of the participants even influenced others to marvel at the level of those being trained.  One agricultural lecturer from a nearby junior college (“Polytechnic” in the British system) attended and is now building composts heaps on campus.  Malamai who were unable to attend the workshop are creating space for raised plant beds in their “tsangaya” (Hausa for “Quranic school”) to train their almajirai.  Requests are now coming left and right for drip irrigation kits from casual observers who attended the workshop.  State government officials and other Borno non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) are requesting partnerships with INTERCEP in future drip irrigation workshops.

The Son of Man tells a story about a great banquet where the host invited property owners, livestock holders, and the newly married.  After hearing of the refusal of each party to attend his fabulous feast, he invited the poor, the crippled, the blind, the lame, and went to the country roads to seek guests.  The meaning of this narrative demonstrates that the poorest of the poor are those most likely to participate in the Messianic meal.  What we witnessed at our INTERCEP drip irrigation workshops is that those at the grassroots of society are most eager to implement self-help farming.  It is those at the village level who will be most receptive to the Master’s message of hope.

Gathering Millet Stalks for Composting

Randall McAdams with Almajirai and Malamai

AIMING TO AID THE ALMAJIRAI

The INTERCEP office in Borno State is located near the city center of Maiduguri with a lot of daily traffic.  This includes a daily parade of the almajirai (Hausa for “disciples”) stopping in front of our front door.  They stand momentarily to view themselves in our sliding glass door that serves as a mirror.  They hold their plastic bowls making faces, dancing, and cleaning themselves.  Most guests get quite a kick out of observing the behavior of these boys pausing to have a little fun.

Nevertheless, there is really nothing funny about the life of these boys between the ages of 5 and 15.  During our first 4 ½ years living in Jos and Maiduguri, we failed to even recognize the plight of these lads by psychologically lumping them in with the “beggars.”  It took the February 18, 2006 Maiduguri crisis where people were killed, church structures were burned, and businesses were destroyed to inquire about the cause.  As I was beginning my course work at the University of Maiduguri in sociology (criminology), the dilemma of the almajirai was often highlighted.  During this time, Jen would casually employ these youngsters in our home to watch with shock as they would “inhale” any food given.

As my master’s thesis professor connected me with the premier research on almajiranci (Hausa for “discipleship”) in northwestern Nigeria, the themes of itinerancy, seasonal migration, and dry-season idleness kept recurring.  At the same time, we were struggling to mobilize the INTERCEP drip irrigation farm at Pompomari.  This created a passion to reduce the level of migration among these migrant malamai (Hausa for “teachers”) followed by their seasonal almajirai.  This concept caused me sleepless nights as I pondered over the agricultural roots of this entire system.  Rather than creating a greater burden on the teeming urban centers, it merely appeared logical to relieve this load by encouraging the malamai and almajirai to remain in their villages through dry season farming.

The events rehearsed above led to the recent drip irrigation workshop for Borno youth on February 18-22, 2008.  In 2007, the Borno Youth Empowerment Forum (BYEF) invited me to participate in their new NGO coalition further requesting me to be their president.  Thus, when the difficult challenge of courting the malamai to bring their almajirai for drip irrigation training, two prominent educators serving with BYEF proved to be our greatest recruiters.  The skepticism of the malamai was blatantly obvious on the workshop’s first day but their uncertainty turned to joy as we constructed our first compost.  Each malam personally met me to emphasize how grateful they were and how much they hoped for this training to continue in their tsangaya (Hausa for “Quranic schools”).

Nonetheless, the highlight of the week was the participation of 2 almajirai: Abu-Bakr and Muhammadu.  These 2 boys worked tirelessly each day, ate heartily during lunch, and listened intently to the Hausa translation to pick up every little bit of insight on drip irrigation.  Each of these lads wore the same clothes every day showing up promptly at 8:30AM to receive the day’s instruction.  INTERCEP really hopes to visit these 2 youngsters in their tsangaya to monitor their progress in not only drip irrigation but life.  As the Messiah intimated, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.  For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.”

FOR MORE PICTURES SEE ALMAJIRAI LINK ON RIGHT SIDE OF PAGE.