Tolerance in Niger

Tolerance is a tricky concept. The Nigerien people are constantly telling each other (and me) to "kala suuru" or "say hankuri" which in Zarma and Hausa mean "have patience". What then is tolerance and where is the line between patience and tolerance? Loosely, I can understand tolerance as having the patience and fortitude to accept others, no matter how different they are.

This how reflection started a few weeks ago when a good friend of mine (http://www.sheswhy.org/) asked me about the state of Special Education and Disability services in Niger. From a concrete standpoint, there wasn't much to work on. I did some research and found a report from the US Department of State (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27742.htm) Under the section of persons with disabilities the report states:

"The Constitution mandates that the State provide for persons with disabilities; however, the Government had not implemented regulations to mandate accessibility to buildings, transportation, and education for those with special needs. Societal discrimination against persons with disabilities existed. Observers reported that many persons with mental disabilities were rejected by their families due to the stigma surrounding mental illness in the country. "

To almost every extent this is still true. There is a stark contrast between Niamey and where I live in Kollo (which in all American standards is not much less than a suburb of Niamey) In the city you see many a person in wheel chairs which actually look like hand pedaled bicycles. There is no obvious attempts for accessability. The roads are hard for cars to travel on and side walks are merely lots of sand that are difficult for the able bodied to trudge through.

In Kollo, the most often seen disability is the "fou(le)" are mentally ill. There is most certainly a stigma to mental illness and most of it stems from ignorance and the conflicting beliefs as to what actually causes mental illness. I have a few personal examples of my experience with the mentally ill in Kollo. The first is of a woman I see every day. She lives outside, wears the same pagne (wrap skirt) everyday and is usually seen talking and laughing to herself or searching through the Ecogar (motorpark) for food. One time I was walking home and she followed me screaming "Ca va, Ca va?" I was a little alarmed more by how loud she was screaming into my ear. A man passing told me to be careful because she thought my bag was food and then he got inbetween us and kicked sand at her. I told him that wasn't necessary and that I could handle myself. A few weeks later I was sitting with a group of friends and I was drawing. The woman was across the street and for whatever reason I am always drawn to this particular woman. I started sketching her. Someone asked me why I would ever want to keep that picture as a memory. I explained to him that just because one person doesn't see beauty or life in another person doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.

Another time I was followed by a young woman in the market. She didn't talk to me but stayed close behind me. I was with my neighbor kids and they were scared to death. They told me to give her money and she would leave me alone. I told them that everything was okay and that they didn't need to worry. They had such fear for a person that it was hard for them to understand. I explained to them in French that I didn't have a reason to fear her because I understood that's how she was born and after I understood that I wasn't scared.

Now for some positive experiences. When I was observing in the schools I paid special attention to see if there were students with disabilities and, if so, what kind of materials were they given to aid the learning process. The second school I visited started off much like the first. They start the day with recreation time where the students go outside and run. One girl sat out because her right leg was a bit shorter which caused her to limp. Most of the time she sat with nothing to do. The teacher then gave her a job of collecting all the other student's snack money. While it gave her something to accomplish, afterwards she went back to doing nothing but watching.
In the class she was very confident and the teacher called on her many times and her answers were always correct. There was little that she couldn't do in class.

I'd be very interested to talk to some teachers about their exposure to pedagogy relating to mental and physical disabilities. For now all I can do is observe and impart my perspective whenever the oppurtunity arises.