Back in early November we hosted the best sallah party in our house. And I am happy to report that many of the 12 guests said it was their number one and best time they have had in Nigeria.
That made me so happy.
The Muslim festival lasted for 3 days with a huge colourful parade of horses, music and dancing on each day. We had a full tour of the beautiful Emir’s palace, climbed up the rocks and walked along the sandy desert paths. It was easy for us to host as everyone chipped in with the food and drinks, cooking and cleaning.
We even sacrificed our goat that we had bought several months ago in preparation. It was a fun and interesting experience, although I never want to slaughter, wash or cook another goat again!!! A good, one time experience!
Lea, the first guest to be invited (alongside his wife) wrote a wonderful poem called Lucy’s International Garden. Please click on the link to read it. http://leainnigeria.blogspot.com/2011/11/lucys-international-garden.html
If you want to hear further adventures of the sallah holiday, you can click on the links below to read Paul's story and Kasia's story.
http://www.savagemountain.nl/pivotx/?e=58
http://kasiaincalabar.blogspot.com/2011/11/lucys-international-garden.html
Monday 19 December 2011
Tuesday 18 October 2011
World Food Day
To celebrate World Food Day, VSO have encouraged us to blog about our experiences with food in our placements. Food is a favourite topic of Nigerians and they always like to hear which local foods I have tried. Often people are surprised to hear that I am eating local foods, but to be honest is there access to English foods in Jigawa State? What choice do I have?
When I am lucky enough to be in female company outside of the workplace the conversation is usually centred around food and how to cook certain dishes. But these dishes take hours to prepare and cook. Here is one example of when I once tried to cook cosai (a local bean cake which is actually very delicious: Mum’s favourite Nigerian food). First you are supposed to check every bean for a black spot which means there is a weevil inside the bean. Then they need to be soaked for about an hour. Next you somehow have to get the skin of EVERY bean (the beans are about the same size as green peas). Then hop on a motorbike to the nearest grinding machine. Wait in line for your turn. Return home, and begin cooking. I got too bored preparing the beans that I only had enough to make me about 8 cosai and the first 4 I actually burnt! Often my Ugandan housemate is surprised when I cook a pasta dish or something similar in about 30 minutes!
The custom is to eat the food from the floor with only your right hand. So far, I have never seen a dining table and if a table is available, such as when we eat at workshops, the participants still take their food to eat on the floor. All chop houses (local cafes/restaurants) have an area where customers can choose to eat from the floor if they wish.
Whenever you pay a visit to someone’s home, you are automatically given something to eat and drink. To eat and drink the food they give you is an honour to them. If you don’t eat enough then they truly feel very upset.
It is funny when you go to the local chop houses because you tell them what you want to eat and then they tell you if it is on the menu or not! The ‘food’ generally available in chop houses is ‘white rice, jollof rice, fried rice, pounded yam, semovita, gari.’ After you have chosen the starch first (the bit that will fill you up) you then get to choose the tasty bit of soup that goes with it.
Pepe is hot! Really hot. It burns your fingers when you chop it and it accompanies every Nigerian dish.
Tea drinking is a big thing before a meal, especially with/before eating breakfast. The interesting thing is, I have never drunk tea in my life. Until now. I love Nigerian tea. Tea without at least 4 sugars is not an option here. And more often than not, coffee is also added to the tea!
Nigerians love their meat. Meat with lots of pepe. But meat can include any part of the animal, and usually isn’t the ‘meat’ that we know in our country. Most of the time I have no idea which part of the animal I am eating (or not eating)! An Igbo (one of the 3 major Nigerian Tribes) speciality is goats head pepper soup. I managed to nibble an ear!
Buying food in the market is really interesting. I am beginning to learn what is in season and when the season for a particular fruit or veg is coming. The market was really bare for the couple of months leading up to the rainy season, so bare that it was even difficult to buy tomatoes and the price of onions quadrupled.. Then suddenly it bloomed again. You buy things by the bowl, e.g. a bowl of rice, half a bowl of flour, a large bowl of pepe! Then you are supposed to bargain for a good price.
Another interesting thing is that is it very common to share a plate of food with others. Often all the children in the family will sit around one large plate and share the food together. When arriving at an LGEA at lunchtime the men were sharing a large plate of potatoes, they did offer me to join them but then ended up giving me a separate plate (I have mentioned before that men and women don’t eat together).
Friar da nono is the local milk drink mixed with millet and spices. Often when I visit the villages they give me a bowl of the milk to drink (from the bowl, no spoon or mug). Now I am used to the taste I really enjoy it. It is more like yoghurt than milk. They are always surprised to hear that we don’t drink friar da nono in England. Don’t we drink the milk from the cows? I guess so much has been done to ‘our’ milk that it is nothing like the natural source. And usually it is cold from the fridge.
"Would you like to see our kitchen?" Not exactly what I was expecting!
3 large pots of bean porridge ready to serve for breakfast to the hungry pupils of Kudai Boarding Primary School.
The cooks preparing spagetti ready for lunch.
When I am lucky enough to be in female company outside of the workplace the conversation is usually centred around food and how to cook certain dishes. But these dishes take hours to prepare and cook. Here is one example of when I once tried to cook cosai (a local bean cake which is actually very delicious: Mum’s favourite Nigerian food). First you are supposed to check every bean for a black spot which means there is a weevil inside the bean. Then they need to be soaked for about an hour. Next you somehow have to get the skin of EVERY bean (the beans are about the same size as green peas). Then hop on a motorbike to the nearest grinding machine. Wait in line for your turn. Return home, and begin cooking. I got too bored preparing the beans that I only had enough to make me about 8 cosai and the first 4 I actually burnt! Often my Ugandan housemate is surprised when I cook a pasta dish or something similar in about 30 minutes!
The custom is to eat the food from the floor with only your right hand. So far, I have never seen a dining table and if a table is available, such as when we eat at workshops, the participants still take their food to eat on the floor. All chop houses (local cafes/restaurants) have an area where customers can choose to eat from the floor if they wish.
Whenever you pay a visit to someone’s home, you are automatically given something to eat and drink. To eat and drink the food they give you is an honour to them. If you don’t eat enough then they truly feel very upset.
It is funny when you go to the local chop houses because you tell them what you want to eat and then they tell you if it is on the menu or not! The ‘food’ generally available in chop houses is ‘white rice, jollof rice, fried rice, pounded yam, semovita, gari.’ After you have chosen the starch first (the bit that will fill you up) you then get to choose the tasty bit of soup that goes with it.
Pepe is hot! Really hot. It burns your fingers when you chop it and it accompanies every Nigerian dish.
Tea drinking is a big thing before a meal, especially with/before eating breakfast. The interesting thing is, I have never drunk tea in my life. Until now. I love Nigerian tea. Tea without at least 4 sugars is not an option here. And more often than not, coffee is also added to the tea!
Nigerians love their meat. Meat with lots of pepe. But meat can include any part of the animal, and usually isn’t the ‘meat’ that we know in our country. Most of the time I have no idea which part of the animal I am eating (or not eating)! An Igbo (one of the 3 major Nigerian Tribes) speciality is goats head pepper soup. I managed to nibble an ear!
Buying food in the market is really interesting. I am beginning to learn what is in season and when the season for a particular fruit or veg is coming. The market was really bare for the couple of months leading up to the rainy season, so bare that it was even difficult to buy tomatoes and the price of onions quadrupled.. Then suddenly it bloomed again. You buy things by the bowl, e.g. a bowl of rice, half a bowl of flour, a large bowl of pepe! Then you are supposed to bargain for a good price.
Another interesting thing is that is it very common to share a plate of food with others. Often all the children in the family will sit around one large plate and share the food together. When arriving at an LGEA at lunchtime the men were sharing a large plate of potatoes, they did offer me to join them but then ended up giving me a separate plate (I have mentioned before that men and women don’t eat together).
Friar da nono is the local milk drink mixed with millet and spices. Often when I visit the villages they give me a bowl of the milk to drink (from the bowl, no spoon or mug). Now I am used to the taste I really enjoy it. It is more like yoghurt than milk. They are always surprised to hear that we don’t drink friar da nono in England. Don’t we drink the milk from the cows? I guess so much has been done to ‘our’ milk that it is nothing like the natural source. And usually it is cold from the fridge.
"Would you like to see our kitchen?" Not exactly what I was expecting!
3 large pots of bean porridge ready to serve for breakfast to the hungry pupils of Kudai Boarding Primary School.The cooks preparing spagetti ready for lunch.
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Security in Nigeria
Emily, the VSO who is also from Bournemouth, has summarised the political situation in Nigeria for the past year. You can read her blog post here http://emily-in-nigeria.blogspot.com/2011/10/happy-birthday-nigeria-51-today.html
This encourages me too to also write about this situation. And the truth is that VSOs (and possibly everyone in the whole country) lives with this constant reminder and threats of Boko Haram.
VSO regularly sends us information on which states and towns we can or cannot visit due to safety reasons. But many VSOs are living and working in these towns where bombs have been set off. Some VSOs even live in places where there is a curfew in place for safety reasons.
An education conference was held in our town last week in which people travelled from the whole country to attend. There was heavy police presence around and as I walked to the office I asked some policemen who were guarding a dusty road that leads to farms, why they were here. “To protect the people and the houses of the town,” was the reply.
Of course, the thought crossed my mind that we could be bombed that week.
We are often advised by VSO or the British High Commission Travel Advice, not to visit drinking places, or stay out late, or attend any celebrations or public gatherings. What kind of a life for a western VSO is that!?
The day after the police headquarters were bombed in Abuja we had guests so went to visit our police headquarters in Dutse (the place to get beer and fish), not because we are looking to get bombed but because there is no point in living in fear.
Although, of course, we need to be cautious of the situation, in my opinion I am far more likely to die on the roads than by a bomb or any other attack.
VSO said they are struggling to recruit volunteers in Nigeria at the moment and it is not surprising due to the above issues.
But to conclude: Despite the above, I feel safe in Nigeria. I really enjoy my work and the town I live in. My parents came to visit and they too enjoyed Nigeria. I have met many wonderful people, had so many amazing experiences and learnt so much from Nigeria. Thus, I am happy to be in Nigeria and continue my work as a VSO volunteer, promoting and improving the quality of Primary Education.
This encourages me too to also write about this situation. And the truth is that VSOs (and possibly everyone in the whole country) lives with this constant reminder and threats of Boko Haram.
VSO regularly sends us information on which states and towns we can or cannot visit due to safety reasons. But many VSOs are living and working in these towns where bombs have been set off. Some VSOs even live in places where there is a curfew in place for safety reasons.
An education conference was held in our town last week in which people travelled from the whole country to attend. There was heavy police presence around and as I walked to the office I asked some policemen who were guarding a dusty road that leads to farms, why they were here. “To protect the people and the houses of the town,” was the reply.
Of course, the thought crossed my mind that we could be bombed that week.
We are often advised by VSO or the British High Commission Travel Advice, not to visit drinking places, or stay out late, or attend any celebrations or public gatherings. What kind of a life for a western VSO is that!?
The day after the police headquarters were bombed in Abuja we had guests so went to visit our police headquarters in Dutse (the place to get beer and fish), not because we are looking to get bombed but because there is no point in living in fear.
Although, of course, we need to be cautious of the situation, in my opinion I am far more likely to die on the roads than by a bomb or any other attack.
VSO said they are struggling to recruit volunteers in Nigeria at the moment and it is not surprising due to the above issues.
But to conclude: Despite the above, I feel safe in Nigeria. I really enjoy my work and the town I live in. My parents came to visit and they too enjoyed Nigeria. I have met many wonderful people, had so many amazing experiences and learnt so much from Nigeria. Thus, I am happy to be in Nigeria and continue my work as a VSO volunteer, promoting and improving the quality of Primary Education.
Sunday 11 September 2011
1 Year Old in Nigeria
I am happy to announce that I have reached my 1 year mark for my VSO experience here in Dutse, Jigawa State. And although I have been here for over a year now, I am still having many new experiences.
Here is one ‘wonderful’ example that I would like to share with you:
At the end of August we celebrated the Muslim festival Eid ul-Fitr which marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and once again we enjoyed the 3 day long parading of horses, music and dancing throughout the town, known as the Durbar.
Then, happily trekking back from a different adventure a few days later (greeting our guards wives) we witnessed many children playing ‘Durbar!’ They had made horses out of sticks, with cardboard for the nose, feathers for ears and scraps of material for the decoration to resemble the horse’s costumes from the Durbar. You can see turbans and huge gowns made from cardboard. They are shaking their fist as that is how you greet the Emir. It is a sign of respect and meaning ‘may you live long.’
Here is one ‘wonderful’ example that I would like to share with you:
At the end of August we celebrated the Muslim festival Eid ul-Fitr which marks the end of the fasting period of Ramadan and once again we enjoyed the 3 day long parading of horses, music and dancing throughout the town, known as the Durbar.
Then, happily trekking back from a different adventure a few days later (greeting our guards wives) we witnessed many children playing ‘Durbar!’ They had made horses out of sticks, with cardboard for the nose, feathers for ears and scraps of material for the decoration to resemble the horse’s costumes from the Durbar. You can see turbans and huge gowns made from cardboard. They are shaking their fist as that is how you greet the Emir. It is a sign of respect and meaning ‘may you live long.’
I am happy to share this with you as I don’t often see children playing. It seems to me that they have little time to play as they are either attending one of their many schools or completing the necessary chores of daily life.
Ranka ya dade! (May they live long!)
Ranka ya dade! (May they live long!)
Monday 11 July 2011
Muslim women in Jigawa State
The females in the SSIT had the idea to make a uniform for themselves. This is usually only done for special occassions such as weddings. The men were very upset not to be included! Girl Power!Jigawa State is predominantly Muslim and the vast majority of women in Jigawa State practice Purdah.
My basic understanding of Purdah here is that the women are to stay in the house to be secluded from the men and the community. The women are not even allowed to go to the market to buy food or to the well to collect water. These tasks are carried out by the men and children. Muslim women can only leave the house in an emergency, for example, if they need to visit the hospital. In these cases the women must wear a burka which covers their whole face and body, leaving only a small slit for the eyes.
Because of this practice, men are not allowed to visit other men in their houses, as they are not allowed to see the wives. If a man enters another man’s house, the wife must move to another room. So mostly the men meet outside the houses and gather together on benches or mats under trees.
As you can then guess, my contact with women in Nigeria has been minimal.
Statistics of Muslim women I have met:
When I first arrived in Nigeria the SSIT (State School Improvement Team) consisted of 30 men. Upon orders from the Head Quarters thankfully 4 women were enrolled. These women (in the photo above) have of course, become my friends. They say that they do not need to wear the burka to our meetings, or to the schools they support, as these people in the workplace know them well now. When it comes to the lunch break during workshops, these female SSIT take themselves to another room to eat their food, relax and take of their hijabs or veils, to cool off a bit! They leave their shoes clearly visable by the door so the men know not to enter.
Amongst the other group of 36 teachers that I work with for the Tsangaya project there are no female teachers. This is not surprising as these Tsangaya teachers are highly religious
We have just begun to train some Fulani (nomadic) teachers and out of the 49 teachers there are 3 females! Horay!
There are no Muslim women in our office, but thankfully there are 2 Christian women.
When I go to support the work in Kano I am privileged to work alongside a very influential Muslim woman.
Whenever I am fortunate to meet a Muslim woman in the workplace they are very friendly and greet me warmly with a handshake or sometimes a hug if I have seen them more than once.
Muslim women that I see on the streets or in the villages have given me a mixed response with some being very friendly and others so cautious that they walk as far away from me as possible when our paths cross!
Monday 20 June 2011
Things that made me smile last week. . .
1. I met a man (slim changes it would be a female) who told me he had been to England. His second sentence was: ‘There are no goats in England!’ Here in Dutse, it would be very strange to go out and not see a goat on the streets.
2. I visited a very large primary school to meet a Head Teacher and I found him sat at his desk listening to the radio because he had nothing else to do!!! When I asked to borrow the curriculum, he couldn’t find any.
3. I had my first experience of being sick here in Nigeria, (food poisoning) and actually vomited in a primary school. (That bit didn’t make me smile.) So I take to my bed and spend the rest of the day sleeping, only to have to continuously get up, quickly change to make myself presentable as I was of course sleeping in my pyjamas and looked a mess, and greet visitors. It didn’t take me long to realise that I should just sleep in my clothes ready for the next visitor.
4. Whilst supporting class teacher training I discovered one group of teachers who were counting to 11 had missed out numbers 7 and 8! (Eyes up to heaven as I smile.)
5. Half of the class of class teachers were seriously debating that prime numbers is something that should be taught in Class 2!!! (Breathing deeply to stay calm as I smile.)
6. Watching the sunset over the rocks with friends.
2. I visited a very large primary school to meet a Head Teacher and I found him sat at his desk listening to the radio because he had nothing else to do!!! When I asked to borrow the curriculum, he couldn’t find any.
3. I had my first experience of being sick here in Nigeria, (food poisoning) and actually vomited in a primary school. (That bit didn’t make me smile.) So I take to my bed and spend the rest of the day sleeping, only to have to continuously get up, quickly change to make myself presentable as I was of course sleeping in my pyjamas and looked a mess, and greet visitors. It didn’t take me long to realise that I should just sleep in my clothes ready for the next visitor.
4. Whilst supporting class teacher training I discovered one group of teachers who were counting to 11 had missed out numbers 7 and 8! (Eyes up to heaven as I smile.)
5. Half of the class of class teachers were seriously debating that prime numbers is something that should be taught in Class 2!!! (Breathing deeply to stay calm as I smile.)
6. Watching the sunset over the rocks with friends.
Monday 28 March 2011
Muslim Men in Jigawa State
These young men are actually from Kano State (a neighbouring state). They are posing in an English fashion, i.e. smiling - Nigerian's normally just keep a straight face.- Every morning when the men greet they shake hands very enthusiastically and pat each other on the back. You may still find them shaking hands five minutes later.
- If a joke is told, they shake hands very hard with the person who told the joke or anyone close to them.
- Men wear very long (down to their ankles) kaftans or shirts, usually in a light colour, that they hitch up when they sit down. This must be accompanied by a cap to be seen as respectable.
- You can easily find men and boys dressed in pink or purple or wearing very flowery prints!
- Men are not allowed to shake hands with women.
- Men do not eat with women.
- Do not be surprised to see men walking and holding hands! (But never a male and female holding hands.) Females too walk about holding hands with each other.
- In Kano some men (see photo) lead a workshop for female teachers. They are not allowed to sit at the tables with the females. They cannot even stand in the circle with them when teaching them a game.
- Muslim men can have up to 4 wives. It is very important for them to treat each wife equally.
- It is common for Muslim men not to let their wives leave the house unless it is an emergency, for example, to visit the hospital.
- It is the man’s job to shop in the market to buy food and supplies.
- Men are the ‘masters of the house.’ They are in charge of everything.
- Men never cook.
- They love to hold babies and young children, even if not their own.
Saturday 26 February 2011
Week 2 Highlights of the Tsangaya Project
Mostly Nigerian teachers talk for the whole lesson. The entire lesson. Or, they get the children to chant words from the black board. So we focused the second week of training on the structure of the lesson/ lesson plan and looking at what activities they will get the children to do for at least half of the lesson. Here are some highlights of the past 3 weeks.
100 squares made as neat as possible for maths. You would be surprised with how many mistakes they made that had to be covered up.
We were running around playing alphabet games and they loved it! But ‘honestly,’ (a common phrase used here) there was a lot of people collecting the wrong capital letter to match the small letter. It doesn’t surprise me anymore, but it is still shocking.
Follow up visits
After the 2nd week of training we followed them to their villages to see how they were getting on. I managed to visit 8 more teachers out of 30 and they were mostly doing ok.
This is an example of the charts they have been making to help the children learn. I was happy to see these displayed in the ‘classroom.’ The 'classroom' is actually in someone’s back yard, surrounded by locally made mud walls, half in the sun, half in shade. (Notice '1, 2 buckle my shoe' and 'This old man.')
This girl was showing me the Hausa vowels that she had learnt. Notice her first attempt is written from the right hand side of the slate to the left. This is the direction they write when learning the Qur’an in Arabic. This is the only education she has had so far. You can see the second attempt when she wrote it again the correct way for Hausa.
It was surprising that the teacher managed to recruit all the children in the village for their lesson 2 hours early as we arrived ahead of schedule.
Here I am dressed in native clothes, including a scarf over my shoulders (although not over my head), despite the temperature being around 32 degrees. I like this photo because you can see the teacher stood next to me enjoying the lesson and the smiles on the children’s faces as they play a ‘learning game.’
A different class singing a Hausa action song.
Here we are breaking into an empty school to eat a late lunch made by a support teachers second wife! This is me with the driver. It’s their custom to give the guest the most/best food so my plate was piled high, including a whole half of a fat guinea fowl. It was actually one of the best meals I have had in Nigeria.
I’m a little sunburnt from being under sun for a couple of hours and a little worried about how I am going to eat all this food!
More camels! These villages are far north in Jigawa State, close to Niger and the Sahara Desert. They say that some of the children have even travelled from Niger to live with these Mallams and learn the Qur'an. You can actually buy cheese made from camels milk in these areas! They also say that the camels travel to and from Niger to Nigeria, buying and selling goods.
It makes me so happy to see these children smiling and so keen to learn. I have rarely seen children playing or having fun. I have mostly seen them roaming the streets with their plastic bowls, begging, hawking or carrying huge buckets of water on their heads.
On Monday we start the 3rd and final week training to end the launch of the training. I am really looking forward to teaching the teachers 'Old MacDonald had a farm' to teach the children English animal names.
Emily's Adventures in Dutse
Emily is another volunteer from Bournemouth!!! And I meet her across the world in Nigeria.
Click on the link for tales of her adventures in Dutse, accompanied by photos.
http://emily-in-nigeria.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-grand-tour-of-northern-nigeria-rat.html
The 'several thousand ants' made me laugh, it may be an exageration but then thinking about it, it could also be true! It is definitely way more than 100's! I put strong/thick glue in all the holes they appear from and enjoyed an ant free bathroom for 2 weeks until they found different routes out. Glued up those holes too now :o)
The number cards are amazing. Thanks.
Click on the link for tales of her adventures in Dutse, accompanied by photos.
http://emily-in-nigeria.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-grand-tour-of-northern-nigeria-rat.html
The 'several thousand ants' made me laugh, it may be an exageration but then thinking about it, it could also be true! It is definitely way more than 100's! I put strong/thick glue in all the holes they appear from and enjoyed an ant free bathroom for 2 weeks until they found different routes out. Glued up those holes too now :o)
The number cards are amazing. Thanks.
Sunday 20 February 2011
Engine for Sweeping and Other Short Stories
1. In the office, if I am in the middle of a conversation and someone wants my attention they either continuously tap me on the arm until I respond (like children do) or keep calling my name “Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. . .” until I answer them. It feels so rude and childlike. And nothing has been so urgent that people can’t wait a few minutes for me to finish.
2. I was invited to this workshop about teacher training and deployment. Out of the 40 participants I was very pleased to see another female there. The facilitator told me to make friends with her and take her to sit down. So we were about to sit close-ish to the front so we could see the screen ‘very well’ when I was told “I think you would like to sit over there, at the other side of the room,” indicating to the back of the room. In answer to my response I was told that the front was reserved for ‘important people!’ Down plummets our self esteem!
3. Ladies here do not sit with their legs together and it always surprises me when I see them sitting with their legs very wide apart like a ‘bloke.’ Then I try to remember being taught to sit politely but I can’t remember being taught – so I guess it is just engrained in our culture.
4. Knowing that we find it difficult to understand each other’s English, when waiting for an internal flight I listened very attentively to each announcement so as not to miss my plane. As my departure time drew very near (also knowing that things often run late here) and I hadn’t heard my call - I went to ask an attendant. I was then told to ‘run, run, run’ as my plane was about to take off. So I ran through the ticket booth. Attendants are pointing to my plane, which is all boarded and ready to fly and they are telling me to run across the airfield in front of other planes about to take off. So I run. I run, knowing that I would never be allowed to run across an airfield anywhere else in the world. I run, even though I can see my plane has no steps to the doors anymore and is fully boarded. As I run I am wondering why the attendants are not stopping me. But still I run, right up to the plane and stop next to the man with the torch and flag.
I have no idea how I missed the call. I listened so carefully to each announcement.
5. I have been in 3 road accidents now. My first day crash which was really bad. A small motorcycle accident in which the two men proceeded to have a fight over whose fault it was. And another minor car crash in which someone bumped us from behind. I hope this is my lot. Every journey I take I see the aftermath of accidents and wonder if people survived.
6. On a 5 hour public transport journey back from visiting friends in Kaduna I somehow got stuck in the middle of a political rally. (Making the journey 9 hours.) There were hundreds of cars with banners, t-shirts and posters for PDP (Peoples Democratic Party). Thousands of men lined the streets, hundreds of cars full of Nigerians hanging out of car windows, sitting in open car boots, sitting on the vehicles roofs. The scary part was they were waving weapons like swords, daggers, axes and huge wooden logs. Knowing that this could get violent, but hoping and praying it wouldn’t, I try to stay calm, the whole time waiting for a phone call with a round of ‘Happy Birthday’ from my family in England who were celebrating a belated birthday for me with a tea and scones party. (Out of the 1000s of people I only counted 4 other females in the rally or spectators.)
A week later we hear of news of a political rally in Lagos in which 9 people were killed in a stampede.
7. Harmattan is the season when the winds blow the dust from the desert. For about a month it got a little bit cold, cold enough to wear a thin cardigan in the mornings and evening. And sleeping under a blanket was comforting. The Nigerians were freezing cold but I have really enjoyed this season, being able to walk around town without getting hot and sweaty. But now temperatures are beginning to get hot again. 36 degrees in our workshop today. (I have a thermometer now.)
8. My neighbour’s kids are fascinated with my hoover and listened in amazement as I explained how it worked and how you emptied the dust etc. I have never seen so much wide eyed interest in a hoover! I have to ‘dash it’ (give it) to the mother when I leave. They couldn’t remember the English word for it so called it the ‘engine for sweeping!’ One day was a little bit cold and it made me laugh when they were warming their hands from the fumes!
9. The neighbours also think I have brought a washing machine from England with me. (I wish) They have seen washing machines on the TV. I told them I am learning to hand wash like them.
10. Lizards are everywhere here. There is one I always recognise in the garden as it has a broken leg. When these same neighbours heard that people pay a lot of money to keep lizards as pets in England they were amazed. They say they are going to put some in my suitcase when I return to England and then I can send them the money!
2. I was invited to this workshop about teacher training and deployment. Out of the 40 participants I was very pleased to see another female there. The facilitator told me to make friends with her and take her to sit down. So we were about to sit close-ish to the front so we could see the screen ‘very well’ when I was told “I think you would like to sit over there, at the other side of the room,” indicating to the back of the room. In answer to my response I was told that the front was reserved for ‘important people!’ Down plummets our self esteem!
3. Ladies here do not sit with their legs together and it always surprises me when I see them sitting with their legs very wide apart like a ‘bloke.’ Then I try to remember being taught to sit politely but I can’t remember being taught – so I guess it is just engrained in our culture.
4. Knowing that we find it difficult to understand each other’s English, when waiting for an internal flight I listened very attentively to each announcement so as not to miss my plane. As my departure time drew very near (also knowing that things often run late here) and I hadn’t heard my call - I went to ask an attendant. I was then told to ‘run, run, run’ as my plane was about to take off. So I ran through the ticket booth. Attendants are pointing to my plane, which is all boarded and ready to fly and they are telling me to run across the airfield in front of other planes about to take off. So I run. I run, knowing that I would never be allowed to run across an airfield anywhere else in the world. I run, even though I can see my plane has no steps to the doors anymore and is fully boarded. As I run I am wondering why the attendants are not stopping me. But still I run, right up to the plane and stop next to the man with the torch and flag.
I have no idea how I missed the call. I listened so carefully to each announcement.
5. I have been in 3 road accidents now. My first day crash which was really bad. A small motorcycle accident in which the two men proceeded to have a fight over whose fault it was. And another minor car crash in which someone bumped us from behind. I hope this is my lot. Every journey I take I see the aftermath of accidents and wonder if people survived.
6. On a 5 hour public transport journey back from visiting friends in Kaduna I somehow got stuck in the middle of a political rally. (Making the journey 9 hours.) There were hundreds of cars with banners, t-shirts and posters for PDP (Peoples Democratic Party). Thousands of men lined the streets, hundreds of cars full of Nigerians hanging out of car windows, sitting in open car boots, sitting on the vehicles roofs. The scary part was they were waving weapons like swords, daggers, axes and huge wooden logs. Knowing that this could get violent, but hoping and praying it wouldn’t, I try to stay calm, the whole time waiting for a phone call with a round of ‘Happy Birthday’ from my family in England who were celebrating a belated birthday for me with a tea and scones party. (Out of the 1000s of people I only counted 4 other females in the rally or spectators.)
A week later we hear of news of a political rally in Lagos in which 9 people were killed in a stampede.
7. Harmattan is the season when the winds blow the dust from the desert. For about a month it got a little bit cold, cold enough to wear a thin cardigan in the mornings and evening. And sleeping under a blanket was comforting. The Nigerians were freezing cold but I have really enjoyed this season, being able to walk around town without getting hot and sweaty. But now temperatures are beginning to get hot again. 36 degrees in our workshop today. (I have a thermometer now.)
8. My neighbour’s kids are fascinated with my hoover and listened in amazement as I explained how it worked and how you emptied the dust etc. I have never seen so much wide eyed interest in a hoover! I have to ‘dash it’ (give it) to the mother when I leave. They couldn’t remember the English word for it so called it the ‘engine for sweeping!’ One day was a little bit cold and it made me laugh when they were warming their hands from the fumes!
9. The neighbours also think I have brought a washing machine from England with me. (I wish) They have seen washing machines on the TV. I told them I am learning to hand wash like them.
10. Lizards are everywhere here. There is one I always recognise in the garden as it has a broken leg. When these same neighbours heard that people pay a lot of money to keep lizards as pets in England they were amazed. They say they are going to put some in my suitcase when I return to England and then I can send them the money!
Thursday 3 February 2011
Sharing skills, changing lives.
This is VSO’s motto and 6 months into my placement I am finally doing just that. Last week I trained 39 men to be teachers. It was a very difficult job as not many of them spoke English well at all, even those that could speak English were not used to hearing English from an English person so basically no one could understand me and I hoped through demonstration and translation that I had got some of my messages across – the focus being on child centred teaching methods as opposed to teacher centred methods.
3 men from the Education Authority were invited to attend to find out what the project is all about. They were old and wise and in high esteem amongst the participants, but honestly, their lack of understanding and the fact it added 3 more men for me to deal with made me resent them at first. Then seeing them so keen to join in the active learning games and answering questions like 5 + 5 made me happy for them to be there.
These men are community people who have been selected by the religious leaders and village heads to teach children English, maths, Hausa and social studies. At present the children in these villages are only learning the Quar’an so ESSPIN (Educatioin Support Program in Nigeria) has brought this project to introduce secular education to provide the children with their basic primary education.
This week I followed some of the teachers to the villages to support them. . .
On Tuesday I was feeling very disheartened as I visited 3 teachers and only saw classic Nigerian chanting and ‘chalk and talk’ learning.
I am very impressed when I see these children learning a Hausa counting song.
I am very happy to see children counting with bottle tops.
These children are matching numbers with dots and lining up in order 1-10. Also notice the children’s work on display in the background (plus the children learning through the window!)
Out of 6 teachers that we visited, 5 of them were doing something that I had taught them and providing some sort of child centred teaching methods. So I am back to feeling positive and ready for the second week of training which starts on Monday.
20kms of grassland takes us to one village.
I almost get a camel ride! Next time I will definitely say 'yes.'
Check me out. Demonstrating some teaching under a tree with a straw fence providing shade! 30 children on the mats, plus another 30 watching behind, along with all the “prominent members of the village” (only men) checking what I am doing. The children are writing in the air.
I have never taught reception children before but I guess that this must be a classic example of children when they are having their first go at writing the letter ‘a.’ There is a very good one in the middle. These children have never held chalk and written in English or Hausa before, but they learn the Quar’an in Arabic by firelight, using ink and quills on boards, writing the opposite way from us -from right to left.
3 men from the Education Authority were invited to attend to find out what the project is all about. They were old and wise and in high esteem amongst the participants, but honestly, their lack of understanding and the fact it added 3 more men for me to deal with made me resent them at first. Then seeing them so keen to join in the active learning games and answering questions like 5 + 5 made me happy for them to be there.
These men are community people who have been selected by the religious leaders and village heads to teach children English, maths, Hausa and social studies. At present the children in these villages are only learning the Quar’an so ESSPIN (Educatioin Support Program in Nigeria) has brought this project to introduce secular education to provide the children with their basic primary education.
This week I followed some of the teachers to the villages to support them. . .
On Tuesday I was feeling very disheartened as I visited 3 teachers and only saw classic Nigerian chanting and ‘chalk and talk’ learning.
Black board, chalk, mats, slates, exercise books, etc have all been provided by ESSPIN.
With 60 children (when there are only supposed to be 30) plus 20 adults watching (all male – parents, religious teachers, people from the Education Authority, and who knows who else – “prominent members from the village”) I didn’t know how to support the teachers so didn’t interfere much. Although the project has been accepted by the village, some people don’t like the thought of ‘Western Education’ and ‘Western culture’ in the village, plus me being female made me want to tread carefully.
When this teacher chanted ABCD in Hausa followed by EFGH in English I was so depressed I asked for them to take me home, obviously trying to hide my feelings as these teachers were “trying.” I tried to remember that this is their first ever try at teaching after only one week of training.
So on Wednesday I set off to a different government area expecting the worst, but feeling slightly more positive as I had thought of strategies on how to support these teachers (with help from mum). I arrive at the LEA (Local Education Authority) with alphabet charts, songs and number cards tucked under my arm but the LEA officials had different ideas for me. They wanted to take me to all the villages to meet the village head, village elders, religious leaders and other “prominent people of the village” – all men.
A village in Birniwa, Jigawa State. The Village’s religious leader in the centre holding the prayer beads, village head behind him to the left, LEA officials on the right, the rest “prominent members.”
So I just follow, flick of my slippers (flip flops) climb onto mats that I have only ever seen men sit on and just sit. Then after a brief translation of a long discussion I am asked to say something. And I am not good at this type of thing normally and I know they think that I have brought this project to them when I haven’t – I am ‘just’ training the teachers so I have no idea what to say. So I thank them for welcoming me to their village and hope to return soon to support their teacher.
People say things like – ‘the fact that you can greet them in Hausa will make them accept this project.’ And that really annoys me. So I try to tell them, politely, that they should accept the project (lead by ESSPIN, not me) because they want to educate the children of the village, to enable them to be literate, have choices in the future etc. Not because of me. I am only training the teachers. In 2 years I will return to England and know that my children will be educated.
So, again on Thursday, armed with my teaching resources we set off to support the teachers with their teaching.
I am very impressed when I see these children learning a Hausa counting song.
I am very happy to see children counting with bottle tops.
These children are matching numbers with dots and lining up in order 1-10. Also notice the children’s work on display in the background (plus the children learning through the window!)Out of 6 teachers that we visited, 5 of them were doing something that I had taught them and providing some sort of child centred teaching methods. So I am back to feeling positive and ready for the second week of training which starts on Monday.
20kms of grassland takes us to one village.
I almost get a camel ride! Next time I will definitely say 'yes.'
Check me out. Demonstrating some teaching under a tree with a straw fence providing shade! 30 children on the mats, plus another 30 watching behind, along with all the “prominent members of the village” (only men) checking what I am doing. The children are writing in the air. 
I have never taught reception children before but I guess that this must be a classic example of children when they are having their first go at writing the letter ‘a.’ There is a very good one in the middle. These children have never held chalk and written in English or Hausa before, but they learn the Quar’an in Arabic by firelight, using ink and quills on boards, writing the opposite way from us -from right to left.
Monday 31 January 2011
Hygiene
Those of you who know me well will know that I am a clean person. But whilst I haven’t been sick yet (touch wood) it is difficult to keep up with UK hygiene standards in the kitchen. For example,
1. We hardly ever wash up with hot water. This is because (1) hot water does not come out of the tap, (2) putting your hands in hot water when you are already hot makes you even hotter and (3) boiling the kettle involves a lot of effort. The same for clothes washing - clothes are always handwashed in cold water.
2. Ants are everywhere. You drop a few grains of sugar and ants cover your worktop. It is difficult to keep them out of the kitchen so I often cook around them! As long as they don’t go on the chopping board (which they mostly don’t) then I think it’s ok.
3. We have been having problems with rats. It was such a chore to clean up rat mess EVERY DAY that I began to leave it and ignore it!!! You will be pleased to hear that at the present the rats are all poisoned so we are enjoying a rat free kitchen (but not garden). (PS – I found a dead rat in the kitchen drawer after a poisoning session. I was shocked!)
4. The cloth that is used to clean rat mess and other disgusting things is often used to clean the plates by my housemate!
5. Again, we are killing chickens and cleaning up raw meat mess with the same cloths used for the dishes (and remember we are not using hot water.)
6. We are often reheating rice.
7. I have even more ant problems in my bathroom. I keep the door tightly shut and open it with my breath held. Sometimes the ants come in huge swarms and just sit on the walls holding on tightly to their tiny white eggs. I don’t know what attracts them to my bathroom. I am trying my best to get rid of them.
The black dots around the shower pipe are hundreds of tiny ants just sitting there.
Here is a close up of the ants.
1. We hardly ever wash up with hot water. This is because (1) hot water does not come out of the tap, (2) putting your hands in hot water when you are already hot makes you even hotter and (3) boiling the kettle involves a lot of effort. The same for clothes washing - clothes are always handwashed in cold water.
2. Ants are everywhere. You drop a few grains of sugar and ants cover your worktop. It is difficult to keep them out of the kitchen so I often cook around them! As long as they don’t go on the chopping board (which they mostly don’t) then I think it’s ok.
3. We have been having problems with rats. It was such a chore to clean up rat mess EVERY DAY that I began to leave it and ignore it!!! You will be pleased to hear that at the present the rats are all poisoned so we are enjoying a rat free kitchen (but not garden). (PS – I found a dead rat in the kitchen drawer after a poisoning session. I was shocked!)
4. The cloth that is used to clean rat mess and other disgusting things is often used to clean the plates by my housemate!
5. Again, we are killing chickens and cleaning up raw meat mess with the same cloths used for the dishes (and remember we are not using hot water.)
6. We are often reheating rice.
7. I have even more ant problems in my bathroom. I keep the door tightly shut and open it with my breath held. Sometimes the ants come in huge swarms and just sit on the walls holding on tightly to their tiny white eggs. I don’t know what attracts them to my bathroom. I am trying my best to get rid of them.
The black dots around the shower pipe are hundreds of tiny ants just sitting there. Here is a close up of the ants.Friday 7 January 2011
Christmas Holiday Adventures
I live in the far north of Nigeria in Jigawa State, a predominantly Muslim State. So to enjoy the Festive Season I travelled right to the very south of Nigeria where it is predominantly Christian with a gang of fellow VSOs.
Here are some highlights of an amazing trip.
Starting with a delicious barbequed fish supper at Abacha Barracks which used to be a fun place to hang out and soak up a chaotic bustling atmosphere. We were very sad to hear that this placed was bombed on new year’s eve, killing many women (who cook the fish and work in market stalls), their children and men who went there to relax and see in the new year. There were several bombings during this period, said to be related to the up coming elections.
For the majority of our travelling, of which there was a lot, we squashed 4 people into the back of a car and 2 in the front seat. Not because we wanted to but because this is the way that Nigerians use public transport here. If you want the luxury of a seat to yourself you have to pay the cost of another person. So we just grinned and bared it! (For one 2 hour journey we actually had 5 in the back because we struggled to find another car, that was an adventure in itself!)
Happy to be sharing the front seat for a couple of hours, hitching my leg up everytime the driver needed to go into 4th gear. Most often handbrakes don't work so luckily for me it was not needed.
We enjoyed beautiful scenery and breathtaking views at Obudu Cattle Ranch, staying in Abebe’s Lodge for a fun and relaxed atmosphere. We enjoyed the coolest weather we have experienced yet in Nigeria and were pleased to be able to finally wrap up warm in the evenings.
Hiked down and up a mountain to a waterfall for a cold swim.
Enjoyed a canopy walkway amonst the treetops in the jungle.
Stayed in a tree top cabin with only mosquito nets for the walls at Afi Mountain Drill Ranch in the rain forests of Cross Rivers State. The conservation project here rescues monkeys and attempts to release them back into the wild or take care of them. Felt a bit like the setting of ‘I’m a celebrity – get me out of here!’
How many monkeys can you spot?
We spent Christmas day in a tiny village in which we spent the day learning the name – Akpap Okoyong. Woke up very hot and sweaty to blue skies, green grass, palm trees and banana trees. We cooked some wonderful food, relaxed and enjoyed ourselves in the sticky humid atmosphere. Then on boxing day we travelled to the city of Calabar for 2 days of carnival.
I then enjoyed the cooler weather of Kagoro, where a group of VSOs live, climbed their mountain and joined in New Year celebrations, more carnivals and partying.
Here I am at the British Village, a relaxing haven in which VSOs are given free entry.
After these enjoying these wonderful adventures I am now surprised find that I have finally got a tan - a Christmas Tan.
Here are some highlights of an amazing trip.
Starting with a delicious barbequed fish supper at Abacha Barracks which used to be a fun place to hang out and soak up a chaotic bustling atmosphere. We were very sad to hear that this placed was bombed on new year’s eve, killing many women (who cook the fish and work in market stalls), their children and men who went there to relax and see in the new year. There were several bombings during this period, said to be related to the up coming elections.
For the majority of our travelling, of which there was a lot, we squashed 4 people into the back of a car and 2 in the front seat. Not because we wanted to but because this is the way that Nigerians use public transport here. If you want the luxury of a seat to yourself you have to pay the cost of another person. So we just grinned and bared it! (For one 2 hour journey we actually had 5 in the back because we struggled to find another car, that was an adventure in itself!)
Happy to be sharing the front seat for a couple of hours, hitching my leg up everytime the driver needed to go into 4th gear. Most often handbrakes don't work so luckily for me it was not needed.
We enjoyed beautiful scenery and breathtaking views at Obudu Cattle Ranch, staying in Abebe’s Lodge for a fun and relaxed atmosphere. We enjoyed the coolest weather we have experienced yet in Nigeria and were pleased to be able to finally wrap up warm in the evenings.
Hiked down and up a mountain to a waterfall for a cold swim.
Enjoyed a canopy walkway amonst the treetops in the jungle.
Stayed in a tree top cabin with only mosquito nets for the walls at Afi Mountain Drill Ranch in the rain forests of Cross Rivers State. The conservation project here rescues monkeys and attempts to release them back into the wild or take care of them. Felt a bit like the setting of ‘I’m a celebrity – get me out of here!’
How many monkeys can you spot?
We spent Christmas day in a tiny village in which we spent the day learning the name – Akpap Okoyong. Woke up very hot and sweaty to blue skies, green grass, palm trees and banana trees. We cooked some wonderful food, relaxed and enjoyed ourselves in the sticky humid atmosphere. Then on boxing day we travelled to the city of Calabar for 2 days of carnival.
I then enjoyed the cooler weather of Kagoro, where a group of VSOs live, climbed their mountain and joined in New Year celebrations, more carnivals and partying.
Here I am at the British Village, a relaxing haven in which VSOs are given free entry.After these enjoying these wonderful adventures I am now surprised find that I have finally got a tan - a Christmas Tan.
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