Day 15 - 21

Day 15 (Thursday 17^th Feb)

President Goodluck Jonathan was still in town today, I was woken up loads of sirens escorting him at 6.30am. I was to meet Joseph who looks after Gidan Bege at 10 – 10.30 so set off on my first solo Nigerian drive at 9.40, plenty of time. What I wasn’t expecting was a protest which shut all the roads close to Gidan Bege. The police and military were directing all the traffic in the other direction. I ended up at Terminus (a no go area when protests are on) and called Ricky in an ‘I’m lost’ panic (some of you are used to these from me in England!) He managed to direct me, but I kept getting diverted and when I got to the main road it had been closed by the police because Goodluck Jonathan was to drive past. This left me stuck on the other side of the road to where I live. Ricky sent Joseph to come and rescue me on a machine (they can go anywhere). I drove him back to my compound when we were able to get through and had a meeting there. He is a lovely and really passionate man, it’s going to be great working with him. He loves Mission Africa, and those that have worked there in the past. I feel I have a lot to live up to! He is really excited to have me working with him, I will be the only Baturi (white person) working there. After the meeting I went to Ricky and Angie’s and we got Suya and Fried Irish from Hillcrest.

In the afternoon Ricky and I went to get my driving licence. We went to the bank and were greeted as Mr Ricky and Mr Neil, they remembered us! We got our receipts which had been ready on Monday (we were told yesterday they didn’t have any). We then when to the government office to get the licence. The man who we needed to see was on lunch so we waited ages, we were first in the queue and when a Nigerian man tried to push in front I was impressed with my Nigerian style block which stopped him! The man we saw did my paperwork and gave me a form saying I had a learner permit. Ricky and I laughed at each other when he got the L plates out. I protested and said “I have licence from England, I am very good driver”. He said, you need to go and see the examiner. So we went to another office where the examiner was. He said I had a provisional licence, I showed him my UK licence and said I wanted a full one. He said I had to give him a N1000 (£4, about four days wages for them) ‘processing fee’. I said I had already paid for my licence but he was insistent and would give my paperwork pack. I gave him the money and he wrote on my paperwork that I had passed and had a full test. I’m really annoyed that I think I accidentally bribed him, especially as we’re trying to stamp out the way they try and bribe Baturis, but I was pretty trapped. Ricky and Angie took Luka with them when they went back the next day, but the man was on strike. I would have quite liked to go on a Nigerian driving test for the crack (can’t spell it in Irish).

After passing my driving test I got some minerals. I should explain that fizzy drinks here are called minerals, they have a coke factory in Nigeria so it is REALLY cheap. What makes it cheaper is you reuse your bottles, a bit like the milkman. You buy them in crates, and then take your empties back and swap them. The Fanta is amazing, it’s bright orange and tastes different because it has the illegal ingredient also found in the noodles here. It’s so nice, I think I’m addicted :S

I spent the evening watching a couple of films with Ricky and Angie, the second one finished at 10, which is the same time the compounds lock down. We all assumed that me leaving a couple of minutes after 10 would be fine, but the guards shouted at me! It was 10.02, I was very apologetic! The guards on my compound were fine thankfully.

Day 16 (Friday 18^th Feb)

Today was my first day of actually doing some proper work. I went to Gyero with Anne-Karin. I sat in one of the younger classes, they are primary age. I watched the teacher and marked a maths and a spelling test they did. I had a blonde moment and marked the maths tests out of 100 rather than 70, so had to quickly change them before the teacher noticed. I don’t think they’d trust me teaching them maths if I can’t add up to 100! After the spelling test the teacher asked if I wanted to take the next lesson because he needed to go and speak to someone. So I was handed a book with sentences in it and left to teach the difference between proper and common nouns. Luckily something I learnt all those years ago in school stuck and I managed to remember the difference myself! The sentences were very American so I changed “Zak is from a city called Massachusetts in the United States of America” to “Patience is from a village called Gyero in Nigeria”. It made a lot more sense to them! I was left in charge of the bell which meant I had to remember and ring it when it was break time and end of school etc. I always wanted to ring the bell when I was at school so I was happy to fulfil a childhood ambition! I took my camera, and took pictures at break time. Hopefully I will remember to include a couple when I post this online, if not sorry!

After Gyero I went to Lynsey’s and we attempted to make a tomato pasta thing with random ingredients we could find in her student like house. It was ok until Ruth decided she wanted to try some and jumped in it and then started pecking at it. In the evening we didn’t go to the Fretheims, but instead went to a film evening with people who work for Wycliffe. It was an Indian film based on one of the old wars between the British and Indians. I’m pretty dense when it comes to films that make you think, and this was made worse by the fact I didn’t have my glasses so couldn’t read the subtitles so didn’t understand what was happening.

Day 17 (Saturday 19^th Feb)

Today is a day which should have loads of writing, but I can’t put it in to words and you kinda had to be there so it will be shortish. Lyndsey and I decided to get a ‘taxi’ in to town because being a Saturday it would be impossible to park. Taxis here are a little different from home. You flag down a taxi which can be either a minibus or a car. The one we got there was a minibus, they are all falling apart and driven by mad crazy people. Here is a picture of the taxi we got there:

This is it when it was empty, there were 10 people in it at one point, it is designed for 7 so was a bit of a squash, very hot, and interestingly fragrant! Think incontinent person who hasn’t washed for a week, in a sauna. Times that by twenty years since the taxi was new and last clean, and you’re starting to get the picture!

The reason for our crazy Saturday adventure was that we both really wanted to buy cloth to get a Nigerian outfit made. We battled through the market, I still can’t get used to the interesting smells of things I don’t want to imagine. We spent a lot of time using our Hausa phrases for “I don’t need one” and “wow that’s expensive”. We went to the cloth shops and Lynsey was impressed with my bartering skills. My favourite is “Tell me how much you paid for it”, and “I don’t want your Baturi price, I want your Nigerian price”. I bought two different pieces of cloth, I was amazed at how cheap. They are 6 yards of hand printed cotton and I paid £4 for one, and £7.50 for the other. The Muslim man in the cloth shop asked if I needed a tailor and so he got one for me. He measured me and then told me it would be N3500 to make my outfit (£15). I told him that he was giving me a crazy price and that I know the wage for a skilled worker (N500 a day approx). The cloth man argued with him and told me not to try and rip me off, they shouted at each other for a while, and in the end we settled on N1500 which is £6 on the basis I will bring him more work if I like what he does. I am very excited about seeing my outfit which will take about a week to make. The men here generally wear plain cloth so me being me decided the best thing to do is fit in, and I went for a colourful cloth.

After getting cloth we went to a cafe (run by Lebanese) to get a meat pie and icecream. Yum yum, it’s almost like being at home except the best and expensive food here we would turn our noses up to at home.

We got a taxi home which was a normal car. There were four of us in the back and three in the front. I was glad I wasn’t the poor man who had to sit on the gear stick, ouch! The taxi cost us N40 each, that’s 17p.

I spent the evening chilling out on my own reading, getting my thoughts together, and watching a Joel Virgo preach.

Day 18 (Sunday 20^th Feb)

Lynsey picked me up at 8.45 to get to church for 9am. When we arrived there seemed to be a lot more people than last week. We realised that we were an hour late and the service always starts at 8am, last week wasn’t a one off. We crept in the back, and to our surprise we weren’t the last to arrive, a few arrived after us. We were in time to hear the sermon, but we couldn’t hear or understand anything because we were at the back and it was echoey. I think it was on grace and 1 Peter 4. I am still wondering about where I should go to church, it’s all so different to at home, and I really want to feel settled somewhere. Afterwards we prayed with the youth fellowship which was cool, we all held hands in a very African manor. I’m getting used to the idea that men hold hands with men, but men and women never hold hands unless they are praying in a group.

After church Lynsey and I hung out and wondered what to do. Niffer came home later and Lynsey and I went to get a takeaway for the three of us. We went to a different restaurant (I can’t remember the name). It is REALLY expensive on our budget, but it was a special treat. It was like being on holiday somewhere like asia, a total escape from Nigeria for a moment. I had pizza which I probably wouldn’t have eaten had I been in the UK, but nothing would stop me here! I got a phone call from mum and dad which was really lovely. It was the first people from home I’ve spoken to since arriving.

Day 19 (Monday 21^st Feb)

This morning was attempt two at driving to Gidan Bege (GB) after the first attempt ended in disaster. I arrived on time, without having an accident which was a bonus. This is where I will be spending the majority of my time (4 days a week). I met with Joseph who runs Gidan Bege, and he introduced me to the aunties and uncles again. I was taken to the classroom and introduced to the boys, they all stood up in a very cute way and greeted me with “Good morning Uncle, may God bless you”. The teacher asked me to take the lesson, I asked if I could watch him teach for a while to understand his style, but he basically said no, teach what you want and how you want. I was freaked out for a moment, but didn’t really have a choice so I got on with it. The teacher had already disappeared. They had been having a lesson on bible stories, so I tried to find out what they know. I worked out that they know a lot about some of the Old Testament stories, but have pretty much no idea about Jesus or the Gospel. I went back to basics and gave them a passionate Gospel story which I’m going to keep drumming in to them. I tied it in with English and as I was writing on the black board I got them to repeat letters and recognise words. After break time I moved on to English and went over phonics with them. I noticed a huge void between the stronger and weaker boys. I am determined to get alongside those who are really struggling, one of them couldn’t even recognise the alphabet where others are starting to spell out words. After the lesson some of the boys thanked me individually for really helping and want me to always teach them. I must have done something right. I think I scared one of them with my visual demonstration of what “mad” means, but he seemed to enjoy the lesson. Lessons finish at 12.15 and then they have lunch. It is Nigerian and very very basic. They eat it in the room they also sleep in (they live in a room with old bunk beds, and really dirty mattresses). I am determined to make a difference to Gidan Bege before I leave, it’s so sad the conditions they live in. After lunch I hung out with the boys and the an uncle called Joseph (another one). It was good to start bonding with the boys, I think it’s going to take a while to form genuine relationships with them and build trust. I had a great conversation with Uncle Joseph about what the Holy Spirit has done in his life, and the way He still works.

I left GB REALLY tired and exhausted, I am finding it really draining here. It takes a lot on concentration to understand the Nigerians when they speak English, and when the speak Hausa I’m trying to listen and begin to understand what they are saying. The heat doesn’t help, and it’s go go go pretty much all the time! I came home and am spending the evening chilling, writing my blog etc, and having a bit of Neil time.

Day 20 (Tuesday 22^nd Feb)

Day 2 of Gidan Bege. When I arrived I was thrown straight in to teaching. I took the weaker (newer) class initially for phonics, then the stronger class for phonics, and finished with the weaker class for reading. When school had finished one of the missionaries came to speak. He thought it was going to be for the teachers only, but it was for the children as well so he had to abandon his plan and blag it which I thought he did impressively well. At the end the Nigerian leader asked one of the aunties to come and pray for 20 minutes (I’m dreading this being done to me!) Next it was time for lunch, the boys offered me lunch so I accepted the beans and rice and sat on the floor with them. They wanted me to go and sit with the teachers but I insisted I wanted to sit on the floor with them and they really appreciated it. One of them swept a bit of floor for me to sit on which was really cute. The rice wasn’t gritty which was good (it often can be), but did have a slightly odd flavour. I tried to ignore that the spoon I was given had previously been used by who knows. Most of the boys eat with their hands, when I tried I ended up with rice everywhere so the spoon was appreciated. The beans were a bit like big baked beans without the tomato, slightly odd tasting. Luckily I was really hungry and the boys appreciate it if you don’t finish the massive bowl and leave it for them.

I spent the evening with Ricky and Angie who had invited me over for dinner. We had Irish stew made by their new cook, and cake with custard for pudding. It was the first meal that actually tasted like food at home (Angie’s mum’s recipe) and was so good. After dinner Lynsey came over and we all watched a film (can’t remember name) based on a real life plot to assassinate Hitler. It was really good.

When I got home my bachelor pad had been cleaned which was a bit of a relief, it was starting to resemble studentville.

Day 21 (Wednesday 23^rd Feb)

I can’t believe I’ve been here three weeks, in some ways it feels like I’ve been here forever, Southampton feels a million miles away, in other ways like I’ve just left.

Today is the day that is going to become my relief day from the chaos of Gidan Bege. It was Gyero day. I got a lift from Heather who works for SIM and looks after the teachers at Cornerstone Kids (the school at Gyero). I think I’ve already mentioned it, but this is the first year of the school at Gyero, it is still very new and exciting. It’s amazing what has been created, and a world away from the government school the children attended previously. At Gyero my role is to help with one of the younger classes. It is great because the teacher and I learn loads from each other. The teacher came though City Ministries and was originally a street kid himself, it’s amazing to see such a success story. He’s incredibly passionate about his faith and the children. I took the lessons on phonics, spelling, subtraction, and shapes. I left the lesson on parts on the body to him. I’m gutted that I only thought half way through that I I should have taught them head, shoulders, knees and toes. I will try and remember to do it next week, even if it’s just to help recap what they learnt today. After school I watched him do the ‘naughty children’ talk. All the naughty children from the school have to go and see a teacher and explain what they did wrong. It’s quite cute. Two of them were children I literally pulled apart as they tried to kill each other at break time, some of them haven’t fully lost their street kid ways of dealing with their problems, but considering the background many of them have had I find it incredible how good they are. I would honestly say they are better than the children I went to school with, and they don’t appear to be disciplined as much as we were.

I then went in to a staff meeting with the teachers and Heather. It was really interesting to hear the teachers feedback on the children who have come up from Gidan Bege. I’m starting to see where I can try and make some kind of a difference, and where the challenges lay.

I got home and fell asleep for a couple of hours, I’m SOOOOO tired and exhausted! I have a day off tomorrow to plan, prepare, and rest a little. Alarm has been switched off and I can’t wait!!