By Tabita & Priscilla Garvi
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On the weekend after Tabita’s birthday, I took her out on her very first riding lesson in the bush.

Finally allowed to steer the horse all by herself (expect for shorter moments in Zinder City when the street has been empty of traffic), my newly turned five year old niece was living her dream!

Tabita’s mother Renate, [...]

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I found this image in the archives and it made me smile. According to a series of images taken by Inger during her and Staffan’s December stay, Anette was trying to cut the nails of Sheba’s eldest daughter Daya.
Ronja - Anette’s constant companion, sits to her right while Sandy has placed himself right behind her.
Daya, [...]

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On Sunday, another death occurred in my world when our neighbour Malam Mamuda lost his daughter Jamila to malaria.

Jamila (in black, bottom row) & Aichatu, Adama and friends

I met Jamila often. Even when her family moved away and only her father stayed to continue his bike repair shop, Jamila came by to stay [...]

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Whenever we hit the trails of the Zinder bush,

…we enjoy the beauty of the West African sky…

When I took my friend Katrine out for a long ride to some of my favourite places in the world,

…we had all the time in the world to enjoy the endless beauty of the African bush, which is what [...]

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A week after the death of Maurice, I went over to his family and asked his son Emmanuel if he wanted to help me move the horses.

Eager to start riding with me soon, Emmanuel was happy to help, and his brother Eric and sister Sadika joined us.

Horseback riding is a precious thing in Niger, and [...]

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Dearest Tabita! I can’t believe you’re five years old today. How time flies!

You’ve grown so big and still you intend to grow some more. Soon you’ll be taller than all of your aunts!

Thanks for all the joy you spread, sunshine girl! There’s nothing like the music of your laughter…

Looking forward to your party on Saturday! [...]

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Although I only met Maurice a few times, he was very close to me. After our first meeting in Zinder 1988 it would take 22 years for us to meet again, but when we finally did (in December 2009), we simply picked up things were we had left them; as if we had seen each [...]

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Maurice Lawal Saley
On Monday morning, tragedy struck in my world again when Maurice Saley, close family friend and national director of Eden Foundation, passed away.
Maurice had just gone back to his people in the bush and met Renate at the field station. He had a high blood pressure and felt his left arm was funny, [...]

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There’s a song that my heart has started to sing whenever tragedy occurs. It’s a love song of sacrifice; a song of walking the narrow road no matter the price, even if darkness seems to swallow all the light.

It’s a song sung by Andrae Crouch, called “I’ll Keep on Loving You”:

I thought I’d given Him [...]

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Some weeks ago, just before the green of the rainy season set in, I invited fellow Norwegian Katrine (working for the UN) for a ride in the Zinder bush.

With Katrine on Arwen, my dad on Sahara, Habu on Ivory and me on Ebony - it was the first time that all four senior horses of [...]

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For more skies around the world, visit Skywatch!

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The rainy season has started and the Zinder bush is turning green again. Once again, nature’s pantry is filling up with its generous selection of valuable, edible leaves - the ingredient of every sauce in the entire country.

I met Saada and Aichatu, two well-dressed village girls, on my last ride. They had just been out [...]

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Dearest Farmor!
I’m so sorry we couln’t all get together for your birthday, but know that you are in our thoughts! I hope you get a wonderful day, knowing we miss you and wish we could all be together right now.
Sending you lots of love,
Esther

The Garvi Family (1987)

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