We arrived safely today in Niger on an Air France flight from Paris at about 4:15pm. As we landed we saw the huge ORBIS airplane standing on the tarmac, already working to help the people of Niger. It was a very emotional moment and both Ed and I couldn’t believe it was happening. After all this time, after more than a year since the first email was sent by Ed to ORBIS asking them to come to Niger, it had become a reality and we were here to witness it firsthand. WOW.

As we gathered our belongings and started to walk down the steps of the plane onto the tarmac, we noticed a man at the bottom of the steps holding a handwritten sign that said ROBIN. While all the other passengers were ushered into the waiting bus to take them to Customs and the long lineups, the gentleman asked us to step aside and enter the special VIP bus that was waiting for us and our travelling companions, to take us to the Mayor who was waiting to greet us with the Chef de Canton.

I was so excited to see them after over two years and we just hugged and smiled and laughed – no words were needed. The Mayor handed all of our baggage tickets to one of his staff, while another woman checked our passports and we were given an opportunity to relax in the air conditioned lounge…..a real treat. They looked after us so beautifully and it felt like we were in a sense coming home.

Once we left the lounge and went outside at the airport there were more photographs and officials to meet us and we saw Hamani, the Director of Education as well. He is the man that I correspond with most of the time, who implements all of our programs in Liboré. What a reunion that was – hugs, hugs and more hugs. They drove us in a convoy of cars through the familiar streets of Niamey, to the Terminus hotel…..a lovely hotel just down the street from the Grand Hotel where we have stayed the last two times we were in Niamey. We checked in while the Mayor, Vice Mayor and others waited for us to have a meeting about our upcoming itinerary for the next few days. Hurriedly we did a little refreshing and met at the outdoor pool area. We watched as the peacocks walked casually by spreading their colourful feathers for all to admire within inches of where we sat…..what a setting for our first meeting. I figured we would meet for 30 minutes or so and then relax and have dinner, but the meeting went on for over 2 hours. There were lots of decisions to make. We discussed the Mayor’s ideas for our stay, and we added our own, until we blended everything into a plan. What is it they say about “best laid plans”?

Apparently ORBIS decided to change their opening ceremony from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning because on Tuesday their ceremony would have been interrupted by the arrival of the Air France jet we were on…..so we were lucky to get to participate in the upcoming official ceremony for ORBIS the next day.

We met some ORBIS staff and volunteers at the hotel and everyone was so kind and thoughtful, full of energy and passion for what they are doing.

We had a nice dinner by the pool, after our Nigerien hosts had left, and began to unwind after a long day of travelling……looking forward to the next few days.