As we were reading and researching about the Dendi people group last year, one particular fact attracted my interest—their complete conversion to Islam. We learned that the laws of Islam dominate their daily lives. The calendar they follow, how they name their babies, etc., are similar to those of Muslims around the world. However, this remained just an interesting fact to me until we moved to Kandi last December and entered the stream of daily life.

Sabila Nyaa, which means “Sabila’s Mother,” is one of my neighbor friends. She is the youngest of the three nearest neighbors I see almost every day. She is also the closest—only a wall separates our two houses. Because of this, we talk often. She also sometimes serves as my language helper. Like nearly all Dendi, she is Muslim. She got married six years ago and has two children. According to Islamic custom, her children have Arabic names. The first child, a boy of five years, is named Mafaza, meaning “those who put their confidence in Allah will go to heaven.” and the second child, a baby girl eleven months old, is named Sabilatou (or Sabila for short), which means “upon Allah’s path.”

Sabila Nyaa and I quickly became friends, and we visit each other often. She really appreciates my visits because she is often alone at home. Her husband is a truck driver and is on the road most of the time.

In African Muslim culture, gifts are important signs of love and friendship. Over the past months, Sabila Nyaa and I have often exchanged gifts. I have given her clothes for her daughter, home-made wheat bread, and eggplants and okra from our garden. One day, she asked me what kind of food I gave Eliora because her baby girl was not eating and gaining weight as much as she thought she should. I explained that I feed Eliora a breakfast porridge of mixed cereal flour, and I shared some with her. A few days later, she told me how thankful she was because her daughter really loved the porridge and was gaining weight. She asked me to teach her how to prepare the recipe. That was a good opportunity for me to share with her my little knowledge about nutrition.

One morning, when Eliora and I brought over some eggplants, Sabila Nyaa and I got talking about education. I found that it was a point of grief and frustration for her.

In most African countries, few girls go to school. In places where girls have the chance to attend school, few complete their primary education. Of the handful who reach secondary school, very few end up getting their diploma. Though many African governments are making efforts to change this, there are still many parents who follow cultural and religious norms and give their teenage girls in marriage before they can be educated.

Sabila Nyaa had gotten married before she could complete her ordinary level diploma (grade 10 or 11). She was very bitter about this. Before she married, she had thought to continue her education, but her fiancé had thought differently. “You are wasting your time,” he warned her. “Once we get married, you will not continue your education.”

Sabila Nyaa didn’t take him seriously then, but when they got married, the reality hit her hard. There was no hope for her ever to attend school. She is very sad and bitter about it, but, as a submitted wife, she never mentions her feelings to her husband. Most Dendi men don’t want their wives to further their education. Sabila Nyaa’s husband never attended a western school. Sabila Nyaa is a very pious and committed Muslim lady. Though fasting is not required for breastfeeding mothers, she is preparing to partake fully in the upcoming month of Ramadan.

Ever since Sabila Nyaa confided in me, our friendship has blossomed. I have been praying with Michée for her. He may someday have opportunity to talk to her husband about allowing her to continue her education when the children are bigger—perhaps from home through a distance-learning program.

Please join us in prayer as we seek wisdom from God about how to bring the light of His truth and love into our relationship with Sabila Nyaa and her family.

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