The Last Christmas.

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By, Uwe Paschen.

 Christmas Eve in Niger.

 I do have some good memories of what Christmas was when I was a Child and even as our Children where still Young, yet the last time we managed to have our whole family united for Christmas was in 1991 in Niger and New Years celebration that followed in Algeria.

 It was the last peaceful Christmas our Family would have known. Since then we have been avoiding this time off the Year, We used to celebrate Eid as well for we do have some Muslim in our Family and Hanukkah since my sister in law is Jewish.

 My wife being Buddhist and I not having a clue nor being able to make up my mind just embrace them all and try to take the good out them and leave the bad behind. In sort making my own non religion or religion out of it all, in a way a very Buddhist approach.

 My mother and my father as he was still alive, went to great lengths to accommodate all and every one and make them feel at home and comfortable with in their own faith and customs, to the point that we ended up having a sort of marriage of many cultures, customs and believes with in our Family.

 We all loved our home and land, which were Niger and the Air Mountains in the middle of the Sahara Desert in West Africa. Since we have a multitude of colours and cultures with in our family, it was not difficult for us to feel at home in that part of the World.

 My great grand father was the first that came to Africa as an Engineer in Cameroon has it was still a German colony. I myself was born there and lived there for the first couple of years of my life until my father decided for us to move to Niger after some Missionaries tried to have him assassinated because he was about to expose a scam they ran with aid money being diverted into their own pockets.

 In Niger we where happy and at peace, my Father worked hard and dedicated himself to bring this country that we called home up and to become self sufficient and free off the Colonial power France, that still had its grip on its former Colonies and was not willing to let go.

 As President Kunche came into Power in the 70th he fund a great ally in my father since the two man where thinking alike. Their priorities where to stop the corruption, Educate the people and make Niger self sufficient and stable, all this looked great and did actually work. Niger had no more famines nor any internal conflicts any longer, maybe in part because Kunche was of mixed heritage himself. Agriculture was stable and Schools where well attended back then, all seemed to go into the right Direction until Kunche died in 1986. Corruption came back as well as famines and all the projects my father tried to keep alive ended up being destroyed due to civil unrest and clan politics.

 In 1991 was the last Christmas in piece and where we all where united as a Family. 1992 The Tuaregs woke up my Parents and helped them flee because some fundamentalist or extremist where coming to kill all None Muslim in our Village, the Muslim Villager did help all none Muslims to escape this ordeal.

 Ever since that time we have been avoiding Christmas and maybe because as my father said "the next Christmas we will be back home". This never happened though. I went back to Niger on several occasions mainly to get aid and medication into the country  for the people in the Air Mountain.

 Last time I was there and Saw the place where our house once was, in a village that is now with next to no one living there any longer, all that remained was a plaque on a big rock commemorating the Knighthood given to my Father by President Kunche for his work and life dedicated to the People of Niger.

 One day there will be a Christmas bell ringing again in the Air Mountain and that day Peace will have returned and the spirit of Kunche and my father may then rest in peace.

 Merry Christmas to all and every one, may peace be with all.