Things I love......

I have felt very convicted by an email my Grandma sent me the other day saying “I hope to see a blog soon with “Things I love…..”. It got me thinking and wondering if the way I’ve been writing may seem as thought I’m constant complaining and infact hating Nigeria, which is as far from the truth as possible! So, I’ve decided to include a little tribute to things I LOVE about this country, the people, my work and living in the third world.

I love that every day is different, every day is an adventure, every day I’m discovering new things, every day I feel increadibly challenged (mostly in my patience levels!), everyday I laugh and am made to reflect.

I love the crazyness and that nothing makes sense, I love the heat (altho this may change come hot season!), I love the noise, I love the way you are greeted by everyone just walking down the road.

I love the kids, their smiles, their energy and excitement, I love when they fight to hold my hand, I love when the write me letter saying they love me and want to be my ‘bestest friend’, I love how they appreciate the smallest things (like having their nails painted or having their hands and feet massaged with moisturiser).

I love doing clinics, I love feeling like my skills and knowledge is valued and that God is using it to heal physically and teach people how to live healthier lives to better glorify Him. I love how the smallest piece of advice can make huge changes in someones life.

I love the friends I’ve made so far. I love the social nature of life, living in a connected way and doing things in groups and being so involved in people’s lives.

I love the food. I love pineapple, watermelon, mango, papaya, banana and strawberries for breakfast in the morning. I love trying new foods I’ve never eaten before, new textures and flavors.

I love the culture, I love the inclusive and communal lifestyles of the Nigerian people, the fact that as a cultrue they don’t live to purely better their own situation but they pool resources and when one is in need, all contribute to help. I love the friendly accepting way people welcome you.

I love the church, I love the faith I see, the courgae amidst persecution, and I love the joy and thankfulness I see expressed despite the apparent lack of material blessings.  

I love Nigeria!

So now on to what has been happening lately. I started my first Hausa class the other night. George (who has lived in Nigeria 23 years and has fluent Hausa) offered to teach a group of us some essential conversational basics. It’s going really well and we’re aiming to learn about 20 new words per week. I’ve been practising hard with the guards at the gate and the women who sells frut and vegetables on the corner. It’s a really fun language to learn, lots of words said with different accents mean different things and can be used in many different occasions eg amazement, discipline, sadness and happiness. But I’ve found the key is speed and animation, I’m still working on being able to greet back and forth faster but as long as you use an animated voice they know ‘you are trying’ (a common encouragement here).

A group of us went to a pool after church last Sunday called HPC. It was beautifully cold and surprisingly clean but the absolute lack of pool saftey made me laugh. It would have been an occupational health nightmare in the West. They had interspaced slippery tiles with paved rock along the sides of the pool and the one railing over the end of pool was loose and wiggling as we climbed over it to jump from a height. I also couldn’t see the logic in putting the beach chair recliners on gravel….but hey it was cold water and fun company!

We took a trip out to a village an hour out of Jos last Tuesday to visit a missionary dentist who works out there at a retreat center. I went as moral support to a friend from Challenge who got his front tooth knocked out at basketball. Miango was a perfect example of a normal little African village, dusty dirt roads and wooden concrete shacks….we found a ‘restaurant’ on the road (recognisable by a woman cooking outside on a fire and a lace curtain covering her door), walked into the entrance to find plastic tables and chairs spread out. Usually places to eat on the side of the road can be recognised by a sign saying ‘Food is Ready’. Thankfully we had George with us who could asertain what was on the menu that day and knew how to order.  We had various combinations of Tuwo shinkafa (a dense ball of starch, can be either pounded yam, some maize porriage but that day we had a rice ball) with Draw soup (okra or melon seeds cooked until they thicken) or as the missionaries call is ‘snot soup’. It was delcious but ha the most bizzare consistency I’ve ever tasted in my life, the texture was actaully accuratly discribes when compared to runny snot! One of the guys had boiled yam and red stew (very popular and delicious) and it all has to be eaten with plenty of pepe (a hot red pepper based sprinkle on seasoning). My favourite Nigerian food so far are Masa, hard to explain but is made from permented rice and fried (as is most of the Nigerian cuisine, and usually eaten with Suya- a meat kebab coated in ground peanuts and chilli pepper babrbequed on a stick) and groundnut soup (peanut soup).

Speaking of food, I made sushi for the compund the other night! I was having a moan about missing my favourite foods the other day and George casually said he had seaweed wraps, wassabi  and salmon(which he’s picked up on holiday in the UK a few months back)…..he didn’t need to tell me twice! I must admit, the sushi rice wasn’t exactly authentic (I had to make my own rice vingegar) but all in all it was a good effort if I do say so myself!

I attended a seminar the other day about ‘Living in High Stress Environment’. It was a really interesting lecture, they discussed the physiology and manifestations of long term stress on the body (all very depressing really…I’m aging faster than all you back home!) and recognising burn out leading to depression. Even though I feel I already have effective stress relief techniques (I wouldn’t have lasted very long in my last job in ED without them!), it was helpful to hear perspectives from long term missionaries and see the link between stress and your theology.

I also attended a Community Health Evangelism course last week which was really encouraging. It aims to train people to be able to go into villages, negotiate with the people there about what their health needs are, where the gaps in education and health prevention may be, and how a programme can be developed to pass on knowledge and dispell wrong and unhealthy cultural and spiritual beliefs, particularly around maternal and infant health.

We had a formal dinner out at the nicest restaurant in Jos (by Western satndards) with the Challenge Compound crew last Saturday which was great fun. The idea to dress up came from a comment made about how fun it would be to buy one of the outrageously coloured and textured, puffy sleeved, ruffled dresses we see everywhere in Nigerian shops, so Fiona and I went down to a shop run by three sisters who hang their wares in a tree! I must admit it was mainly so I could say I’d ‘bought a dress out of a tree’! The guys made us corsages of roses and we felt like real pricesses for the night. I think that’s about all to report this week. Hope you are all well.

What I hate about crisis

What I hate about crisis :

I hate thinking about the innocent people whose lives are disrupted due to crisis: ordinary, innocent people trying to earn their daily bread who have to flee because of violence.

I hate trying to help a patient when suddenly my mind is sidetracked by the sound of rapid gunfire.

I hate thinking of all of the children who are being robbed of the joy of their childhood because they are being forced to grow up in this atmosphere of violence.

I hate not knowing what to pray for, or even how to pray.

I hate the feeling of hopelessness, that I can’t do anything to stop the rapidly rotating cycle of hatred, killing, revenge, hatred, killing, revenge, hatred, killing…

I hate thinking of the youth who are being ruined on the inside because of the pressure to participate in violence from their peers and, heaven help us, even their family and religious leaders.

I hate jumping at every little sound, wondering if it is indeed more gunfire, or just a mango falling onto a tin roof.

I hate tensing my ears whenever a new person comes into the compound in case it's news of happenings in town, or feeling my heart race when I receive a text message, incase it is an alert of unrest.

I hate that only a few wayward individuals with guns or bombs can ruin the peacebuilding efforts of many.

I hate that only a few wayward individuals can ruin the integrity of their entire religion.

I hate canceling clinics due to the threat of violence, then wondering if it was really necessary to cancel or if I am too fearful of only a small threat.

I hate thinking of the children whose education is being disrupted due to violence. How can we expect children to become intelligent, productive citizens if they can’t even attend school?

I hate thinking of the precious people I know who live in “border areas,” wondering if they are safe.

I hate looking out over the beauty of creation – the hills, the rocks, the trees, the flowers – and then realizing how much we are desecrating God’s wonderful creation by spilling human blood.

I hate thinking about the newly-created widows and newly-created orphans, and how their lives are being forever changed by a very short moment of senseless hatred.

I hate thinking about all of the homes and businesses that are being destroyed. I hate thinking about how the people who are affected will now have to take money from their children’s feeding and school fees to rebuild these structures.

I hate that every new crisis makes the wounds that much deeper and more difficult to heal.

We want peace. 

We pray for peace. 

But what are we willing to do to achieve peace? 

Peace will not just float down from heaven. 

We must work peace from within. 

Are we willing to turn away from the hatred and anger and instead demonstrate love to our enemies, even if our hearts are still hurting? 

Are we willing to counsel those who are angry, to try to convince them that hatred only leads to more violence? 

Are we willing to work with the other side to achieve peace? 

Are we willing to stop the cycle of violence by not meeting violence with more violence? 

Are we willing to forgive?

I hate crisis.

Driving, zip-lining and Wahala with the police!

I had my first driving lesson last weekend. You may be asking why I need driving lessons since I've been driving for over 13 years, but it truly is like almost starting again as a learner driver! Not only am I having to get used to driving on the right side of the road and driving with the gear stick on the right side of the car not left, but driving when you have archabas (motorbike taxi's) on all four sides of our vehicle, or a crazy big truck blowing black diesel exhaust in your face or random people pulling out, not sticking in their lanes and doing 'U' turns in the most inconvenient places with a) no warning and b) no indication, is a challenge to say the least! I didn't have any life and death experiences however and only managed to put my friend Sterling in a ditch on the side of the road twice, so I considered it an accomplishment. I can only improve from here. After a year if driving in Nigeria, you'll all be thinking twice before getting a car with me I'm sure :)

Speaking of driving, I was recounting some of the more insane things I've seen on the roads over the past month with a friend the other day and thought I'd share them with you all too. The best was a man on the back of a motorbike taxi carrying a 3m ladder over his head, not on his head, his head was between the rungs and it was sitting on his shoulders. I'm NOT kidding. If he had been struck by anything he would have been decapitated instantly! I've seen motorbikes carrying people holding massive 2mx2m mirrors or sheets of glass, families with a mum or dad and 3 kids wedged between and many of them carry babies on their backs (this particularly scares me when I think of how often they have accidents) or the worse is when they position a young child on the front of a motorbike! I've seen so many cars that I'm amazed are even running, let alone being considered road worthy by any standard in the West, but there are no WOF's here! (See pic below) I've seen cars so laden down with people or produce I swear they're scraping the ground. The funniest ones are the cars jam packed, floor to ceiling with big brown yams! There are some not so funny things though too, like the other day a huge 12 wheeler truck was doing a U turn, lost control and ran over a taxi full of 7 people. They all died instantly. The mob of people who saw went to kill the driver only to find it was a young boy! They spared his life but set fire to the truck. I passed the burning wreck an hour or two later and saw the taxi car too. Really horrific. Not all trucks have breaks you see, most use their gears to slow down so it's a bit disconcerting being in front of a truck, or behind for that matter!

Still driving on the road!!??

Getting petrol here is such a 'Wahala' (problem/drama). There are many petrol stations around town but they don't always have petrol! You know a station has petrol when there is a line of about 20+ cars leading away from the pumps. So you have to leave a few hours free if you're on a petrol mission and usually Sunday mornings is the best time to go, with the shortest lines. It's a pretty communal experience though, everyone gets out of their cars and chats while they wait. The petrol here at the moment in 97 niara a litre (75c NZ) but is more if you get it off the Black-market, so it's pretty cheap, but for the hassle of not having a constant supply available and the time it takes to get it almost cancel out the benefit of how economical it is!

We went to Hillcrest school the other night for night time Zip-lining. One of the teachers at the international school (the one all the Missionary Kids go to) sets up a Zip-line (flying fox for all you New Zealanders) from a scaffold beside a huge gum tree each year for the Hillcrest Carnival. The Carnival was last weekend but he kept the zip-line set up for us to come and play on after hours. We got harnessed up and had the choice of sitting or going on our fronts 'superman style'. It was really fun, I think perhaps scarier in the daylight as you'd be able to see more clearly how high off the ground you were, but a real adrenaline rush all the same.

On our way home that evening we got pulled over at a check point and a police man on a total power trip asked to see Sterlings drivers license. He said he'd lost it as he'd had his wallet stolen in Lagos. The police man then demanded to see our 'papers' and Fiona politely handed him the registration for the car. He them took the whole file and walked away. He continued to come back to the window another 5 times demanding Sterling's license, even taking someone else's Nigerian license from another stopped car and shoving it in his face saying 'see, here, this license'. I was in the back seat alternating between trying to contain my histarical laughter and almost wanting to scream in this guys face “He's already told you he lost his license!!!!!”. Fiona and Sterling were completely relaxed and never raised their voices and just continued to explain over and over again the same story. In the end we begged forgiveness and he made us give him money before he would return the papers. I'm a little worried about how I'm going to keep my cool if a similar situation ever happens to me when I'm alone! Especially because the transport office responsible for issuing Nigerian drivers licenses has been so back logged from broken computer systems that they're not issuing foreigners licenses at the moment (I know people who have been trying to renew for over a year!). At least they don't make Buturi's (white people) frog jump down the street as a penalty/humiliation like they do to Nigerians. In my experience so far, the police have just tried to hit on me. That I can deal with.

I had my first taste of sugar cane the other day. We bought a huge stick that was 2m long for 200N ($1.50). It looked like thick bamboo and we had to wind down the windows in the car and stick it out to get it home. The street vendors usually sell it pre-cut and peeled, but sitting in water to keep it fresh, so Westerners can't eat it because of the risk of sickness from dirty water. We got the cane home and then cut and peeled it and I must admit, it was nice. You bite it off, chew it, suck the sugar out then spit out the bark or stringy husk stuff out. Hard to explain, but it's basically like sugary water, no flavor, just sweet and refreshing. Not in a hurry to buy it again but good to have another thing ticked off my list!

Well there was another bomb yesterday at a Catholic church in one of the districts out of town and reports of unrest in town today. We've been told to avoid these areas and everyone is a bit on edge. I still went and did a clinic with the youngest boys at Gidan Bege this morning and had a blast.....I love my job! So it's life as normal for now...will keep you posted. Please continue praying for peace in Jos.

Bombs at church!

As I'm sure most reading this have already heard, a bomb went off last Sunday morning about 7:20am at a big church headquarters down the road from my compound. It shook my windows and woke me up, with bits of ceiling dust falling on my face, but to be honest, having never heard a bomb before, I was unsure what it was. In my first week here, every tiny sound made me jump, every car backfiring, every mine blasting rock, even a police siren made me anxious, but as they days wore on I realised I couldn't live in this constant state of anxiety which was exhausting me, so I let it go and gave it to God. So on Sunday morning, I had my suspicions, but was a bit blazae about the whole thing. It wasn't until my phone started ringing and other people from other compounds started calling me to make sure I was OK that I started to become alarmed. I got up to ask my neighbour what it was and she confirmed it was a bomb blast. We then got an alert via our cells informing us of what had happened and our security director for the compund organised a meeting. We surveyed the damage to the compound and a few windows had shattered in the front apartment (closest to the bomb) but that was all. I was actually a lot calmer and more collected than I thought I may be in the situation. I think it would have been a different story if I'd been alone all day to worry in my room, but as it happened, since we were on lock-down and couldn't leave the compound, it turned into a really social day. I was so blessed to be surrounded by so many people who had been here for longer and had experienced many similar crisis situation, many lasting a lot longer than 1 day. We had lots of cups of tea and the day centered around our meals, everyone pooling resources. We played some Wii guitar hero, watched some movies, wrote some emails and even did exercise (another 'Ripped in 30' DVD!). The next morning I went for a walk into town for groceries with one of the guys from my compound and as we walked down the street we surveyed the damage that had been done to the Muslim shops in retaliation for the bombing. They were completely burnt out and it was sad seeing people ripping corrugated iron off burnt roofs and salvaging glass coke bottles that hadn't burnt. It seems so unfair that any Muslim is targeted when chances are they have no affiliation with the bombers and no allegiance to Boko Haram. But they're slowly rebuilding now and things are back to 'normal'. I must say I had moments of anxiety leading up to going to church this Sunday (1 week on) but things went off without event and people were greatly encouraged and strengthened in spirit by meeting together (and security had been increased with sand bags at the entrance meaning a car had to zig zag around and could not drive directly into the church grounds as they did with the car bomb last Sunday, semi reassuring!).

On to lighter topics, I finally got up the courage to try out have my gas oven the other day and I must say, to my surprise, we started our relationship off on a good foot! I finally put my fear aside and made some peanut butter cookies for a pot luck dinner, yes I know, not the most adventurous, but considering my initial trepidation and imaginings of burnt edges and raw middles, they were a great success! So watch this space for more sweet offering as I get more adventurous and trusting of the new system. I've also tried my hand at making Hummus and homemade yoghurt too. They were not like the bought stuff, but eatable, I'm sure I'll get used to it!

Speaking of household things, I've had to get used to someone coming once a week to clean for me. Now Mum, I know you will be thinking something along the lines of 'I did that for you for the first 17 years!' and I love you for it, but it's another thing to be paying someone to sweep your floors etc. because it gives them a steady income. Mama Tabita (a widow with 5 children) is hired by all the missionaries at Challenge and once someone leaves, the next person takes up her employment. We pay her 400N (equivalent of $3 NZD) to clean our apartments each week and by Nigerian standards for someone with no qualifications, is actually a really good job for her. During the weeks I've been here I have LOVED her help, however it's frustrating that the floors get dusty again a few hours after she does her weekly sweep and mop because of the slat glass windows (which I always have wide open) which don't stop dust from getting in when closed.

Well I am well on my way of getting the basics down in Hausa. I'm starting to be more adventurous in my greeting vocabulary and have been very proactive in attempting to learn medical specific words and parts of the body. Last Wednesday Kelly made me try it out on the Muslin women (who don't understand English well/if at all) “Menene dam wanke?” Which means “What is wrong with you?”.....the women then preceded to reply back to me in ridiculously fast Hausa, none of which I understood! However, I'm getting better at recognising certain worlds within a sentence e.g. 'zazzabi', which means fever or 'ciwon kai' which is headache. Slowly slowly I guess or as they say in Hausa, 'Sannu, Sannu'.

I'm sure you all heard I was pretty sick the week before last. I've determined (self diagnosis) I had Giardia as the symptoms were similar to a colleague of mine who was sick at the same time and had had Giardia before. It was a miserable time of feeling like I had a pregnant belly from all the bloating and needing to stay close to the toilet, but the medication I finally took (too late in the picture in hindsight) cleared it up after a few doses. I will be keeping a healthy supply of that particular anti-parasitic on hand in future! My hope is that now my immune system is now that much stronger and I'll be less likely to be so susceptible to getting sick again.....please God!

Well I'm off out to Gyero care center today to assist with a prenatal exam on a 13yo girl we've just had come into the ministry 6 days ago. She came to us and had been complaining of abdominal pain for days. Someone then did a pregnancy test and it was positive. She is not talking at all, so is either in shock or has been traumatised and is now very hardened and just not able or not willing to show emotion. Please pray for her, that she will open up to us and start to deal with what is happening.

I also have to go and pick up 5 boys to have their teeth pulled! None of them have ever been to a dentist, so they're in for a bit of a shock...I'm just hoping the dentist uses anesthetic on them!

Lions and goats, the 'Emergency' room and men comfortable in pink!

One of they guys who lives on my compound came home the other nights saying that he had been to the zoo that day and the workers had told him that the lions, hyenas and cheetah get fed live goats between 8-9am each morning, he really wanted to see it! As vulgar and inhumane as this may seem, for some reason I thought that being in Africa meant I had to witness this event also, kind of a right of passage I think I told myself. So off we went bright an early (I actually had nightmares about it the night before so was almost going to pull out!) the next morning, paid out ticket and camera fee and went in to wait for the goats. The zoo was a rather depressing place, the lions were the skinniest most emaciated looking things I'd ever seen. The Chimpanzees were pretty clever though, they'd put their hands out of the cage and you could stroke them (I think they actually wanted food, but I liked to think they wanted to hold my hand). So after an hour of walking around looking at sad and sick looking animals, we asked one of the park attendants where these alleged goats were, and were informed that the 'Goat man' was late and that they'd be arriving “in the afternoon, or maybe by 11am” (which really meant he had no idea and it could be anytime that day!). So we admitted defeat for the day and swore we'd be back another time.

I went for my first tour around the local hospital the other day, and I use the term 'hospital' very loosely indeed. I guess it all depends of how you define a hospital, in the West we expect a certain degree of sterility in the environment and also an amount of concern, care and empathy from medical staff. But when I hear no one even washes their hands between patients alarm bells sound!

I was shown around the paediatric ward first (as this is where I'll likely be staying with kids I need to bring). On each side of the dark corridor were rooms that held 4-6 children. The beds had plastic mattresses with the stuffing coming out, dirty peeling linoleum floors, ripped mosquito nets and many drawn tired looking faces or parents and family members who had set up next to their child's bed to be primary caregiver for the duration of the stay. I've been told that nurses here by comparison are 'useless and only give medications', and as soon as a white person comes in with a child, they expect them to do all the caring. Of course I assume this reflects the standard of education nurses get here, but it gives me a clearer understanding of why people here think I'm a doctor. Anyone who can look at symptoms, make a diagnosis and then dispense the medication must be a doctor and the training we get in the West is so superior that I can now appreciate why they conclude this. As my tour continued I was shown the emergency room or 'injection' room as they call it. This consisted of 3 flat plinth beds and 3 2x2m curtained cubicles which I assume is where doctors were seeing their patients? There was no emergency resuscitation equipment, no defibrillators, not even an ECG in sight! I'm learning that nothing is ever urgent here, there is no such thing as an emergency!

Considering the process one has to go through to get seen in this place I'm less surprised at the laid back nature of treatment. First, once you drop the child at the injection room (lay them on a table!) you have to go to the reception area and get a form for the child, then you have to go to another area to have it stamped, then to the billing area to make sure funds will be changed to the right account, then if you need any labs or tests you have to go to different places to have those priced and billed.....I can see myself literally pulling out my hair the first time I have to go through this process!

On the subject of healthcare, I had a fantastic day out at Gyero orphanage last week giving injections to some of the kids who were due their polio, hepatitis and tetanus shots. Now before you think I have a problem, I do not take pleasure in inflicting pain on these wee ones, but I do love using my skills and the passion God has given me for medicine to help these gorgeous children. And beautiful they are. And stoic! No tears at all, some scared looking faces, but in comparison to the performances from some of the children in ED in NZ when I attempted to convince them to swallow liquid Panadol, these are brave little souls! Went through all the files of the children in the orphanage with each of the uncles and aunties to see which children were still there and who had either been reconciled with family or who had moved on to Transition House. Was really encouraging seeing so many children who had been reunited with family or had made the shift on to TH, but made me realise how hard it must be saying goodbye after becoming attached (which I can foresee being an easy occurrence).

I finally went to pick up my garments that I had sewn from Nigerian fabric into a traditional Nigerian style skirt and top, and even though it's not a perfectly fitted piece, I will look the part at church this Sunday. My Nigerian outfit was sewn by a group of widows who SIM are working with to teach the skills necessary to set up their own businesses in tailoring. I will be getting involved in the weeks to come in teaching them literacy also. Using words to describe traditional Nigerian dress just does not do it justice, but think the brightest colours, most intricate patterns and matching skirts and tops (and also head scarves for women). Any of you men who would secretly LOVE to wear pink and purple everyday of the week if you could do so without causing alarm or feeling emasculated would feel right at home here in Nigeria. There seems to be no colour division for the genders, and men feel completely comfortable wearing paisley, floral and poka dots. Weddings here are a big deal. My best friend got married before I left for Africa and had about 180 at her wedding which is considered average to large in NZ context. Weddings in Nigeria would easily have 2000 people attending. The bride chooses a fabric colour theme for her wedding which then becomes the 'uniform' e.g. blue and gold. We have a friend in the SIM office getting married in May and she is getting us fabric to get uniforms made so we will all look the same! I can't wait to tell you more about it when I go.

Now I must apologise for the lack if photos, I promise to include some soon, but I really need to start taking them! It's hard here though because there is still a strong belief that if someone takes your photo, they're stealing part of your soul, so a lot of venders will not let you take pictures or they will for a price and want you to buy whatever they're selling! I've therefore been having to take pictures of street scenes from a distance and with the Harmattan dust still about the photos are hazy and just look terrible. Then I get so busy and absorbed in clinics and when at the orphanage that I forget. Anyway, enough excuses, my mission this week will be to digitally document as best I can. Promise.

Culture, Safety, Biggest Loser and the kids

So now that I have finished my initial cultural orientation, I wanted to share with you some of the more interesting and most different cultural norms in Nigeria.

-Greetings: these are very important, to neglect a proper greeting is perceived as rude and arrogant. It is even customary for people to interrupt you with greetings when you are in a conversation with someone else.

-Respect for elders: Nigerians refer to each other very formally. A woman will always be referred to as the mother of her first or most significant child, for example my mother would be called Mama Nicky. First names are not used, except in private or with close friends and most children will call you 'mama' or 'baba' or 'aunty' or 'uncle' to show respect. It's the cutest thing for all these kids you have never met to come running up to you shouting 'aunty aunty'!

-Eye contact: You must not hold eye contact continuously while having a conversation with a Nigeria. It is important to divert your eyes once in a while otherwise it makes Nigerian feel scrutinised or not trusted.

-People orientated, not goal focussed: people matter more than events in Nigerian culture. The phrase 'Nigerian Time' refers to the non-observance of time in the culture. Nigerian are not time-orientated, because they will not interrupt a conversation with someone even if they are 'late' for another engagement. Hence we've been told that if we receive an invite to be somewhere at a particular time, be there 30mins later, or you can ask whether it's 'Nigerian time' or 'Western time'!

-Space and privacy: Nigerian build houses close together as a sign of neighborliness (communal lifestyle was what people depended on for survival in famine and war), Nigerians also tend to stand very close together when having a conversation (quite daunting at first!), taxi drivers cram people into their cars so they can make more money and will even try to stop and let you in when their totally full my Western standards.

-Visiting: You always have to offer a drink three times, as accepting on the first offer is seen as rude, like they only came for a drink not for your company. If a visitor comes while you're eating you are expected to ask them to join you or make them something else to eat. You must always accept an offer made to you without question; to refuse something outright, even if you intend not to partake, is seen as extremely offensive.

-Other interesting things: receiving and giving gifts with your left hand is not permitted, neither is smelling food in the markets (as this indicates it's rotten, always gently squeeze it to determine if it is ripe), safe sex show physical affection in public as it shows genuine friendship (you see guys holding hands down the street), however opposite sex, even husbands and wives do not show any public affection. Nigerians should never speak angrily to anyone in public as loosing your temper is a taboo.

I'm sure many of you have been wondering whether it's safe here and what the security is like. It's such a hard thing to give a clear picture of without making it sound really scary, which for the most part it's not but I'll try to explain it to the best of my ability with what understanding I have at this point. As I'm sure most of you are aware (from my previous emails prior to leaving NZ) there is an extremist fanatical Muslim group called the Boko Haram who are active mostly in the North, but who have in recent months bombed various cities in the Central and Southern states. Their agenda as I understand, is religious, they want to turn Nigerian into a Muslim country, but as with most causes, there are both political and economic undertones. Because Plateau State is the most productive for food, being higher and having richer soils and better rain fall, most of the food for the country comes from what they call the 'middle belt'. The oil however, and therefore most of the money, is down South. Hence strategically, the Boko Haram, who currently reside in the Muslim North (which is hot, barren and quite poor) want to gain control over Jos and spread further South so they have resources and money which will lead to ultimate power. This is why it's such a hard thing to solve, it's a crisis with a combination of so many factors and is such an old conflict with now easy answers. The media do not do a great job at explaining the complexity of the situation either according to locals here. There has been much blood shed from both sides so it is hard even for those who call themselves true Christians to forgive and love their Muslim brothers when they've lost family members and friends. So with that as a very basic outline to the root of the tensions here, back to my day to day living here and how 'safe' I really am. Basically, we're on level 1 'precautionary' alert. There are 4 levels from precautionary, standby, assembly then full relocation or evacuation. Jos has been on a level 1 for over a year. At the moment we are maintaining normal routines and are just meant to be cautious around the primarily Muslim areas of town. There is increased segregation over the last few months due to the conflict and many of the Muslim's who used to come to our clinics don't feel safe coming anymore. We are having to be sensible and alert, for example we don't go to town Friday afternoons because that's when the Muslims have their big prayer sessions. We all have cell phones linked to a security alert system, so that we can receive alerts of areas of possible conflict and so that we can be told to return to compound ASAP if need be. I have a distress alarm in my house and a lockable door to a room so that if someone is at my door I can run and sound the alarm. There are times when it is disconcerting, for example, hearing military helicopters flying over head is a sign that there is need for extra security somewhere in town, so just to be extra aware as it indicates some increased tension somewhere. But we have a crisis management team and a security committee who are always doing risk management so we stay in the loop.

Wow this has been a very serious blog so far....lets lighten things up a bit.....

I miss REAL milk! And yoghurt and cottage cheese (ah to live in the dairy capital of the world!!- don't take it for granted people!) and expresso coffee (nescafe and powdered milk just doesn't cut it!). I have a feeling a lot of the blogs will be about the differences in food and cuisine but ah well, it's something that people can relate to. There are some really expensive items here (imported of course) like cereal at $13 a box! Hence why I get our home help to make home made muesli for me. Cheap things are of course the local fruit and veggies, for example I got 12 mangoes for the equivalent of $2.50 NZ the other day (which are a lot sweeter and smaller here than the imported ones from home) and got a papaya for $1 (and de-seeded it myself!). Lots of businesses here are owned by Lebanese business men and so a lot of the cuisine has Lebanese flavours and the supermarkets stock ingredients such as couscous and chickpeas. Another thing I've had to get used to seeing in the markets is huge numbers of chickens crouched on the ground ready to be sold. The first time I saw this I assumed they were dead, but on closer inspection saw their heads moving! They tie their legs tied together so they can't move which seems to have a weird pacifying effect so that the chickens just quietly wait and accept their fate. They sell all their chickens live in Nigeria so if you want to buy one you get to choose it and it's head is cut off right then and there - can't get fresher meat than that!! So all Nigerian women and most of the long term missionaries can skin and bone a chicken in their sleep....I'm undecided if that it a skill I'm going to try to acquire! There is a meat shop in town where it comes pre prepared, frozen in plastic, think this will be the way I go in the near future at least!

For your interest, the term 'correct Nigerian food' stands for food that 'holds' the stomach; food that makes one full and satisfied (very helpful when spending all day out on the farm). I was told by one of the nurses that babies here a weaned early from milk and started on solids that expand their stomaches from a young age. This explains why you see tiny kids and woman with massive bowls full of food (about the volume I'd consume in 5 meals-no exaggeration) that they easily eat all of.

In terms of exercise, I had assumed this would be a rarity here, as it is not a part of Nigerian culture; the men (historically at least) did so much manual labour in the fields all day that additional exercise for physical wellbeing (as we need in the West due to our sedentary jobs and lifestyles) was unheard of. It's been great though because my flatmate Fiona is an avid runner also so we have been going to the local school to run loops around the track there and in the secret of our own apartments have shamefully been enjoying doing an exercise DVD by Jillian from Biggest Loser called 'Ripped in 30'. It's so cheesy that we spend more time laughing than actually doing the moves but it's good fun. I also joined an ultimate frisbee team which meet every Saturday morning at Hillcrest school (the school very wealthy Nigerian children go to as well as the Missionary kids). I wasn't a natural at it by any stretch of the imagination, my frisbee throwing has a lot of room for improvement but it was a lot of fun and very good run around.

In the west we apply for a job, and the position comes with certain responsibilities and specific roles we have to fill, however in ministry I've found it to be a much more fluid concept. After processing my initial frustration and realising that nothing is quite so black and white here, after talking to Kelly (the City Ministries Health Coordinator) and asking what her expectations are and what she anticipates me doing, I've been able to conclude that it's more about what I want to do, where I feel led to use my skills in the various areas of need.

With this in mind I'll try to give a brief overview of the three main orphanages that I will primarily be working in, the differences between them and where I feel I'd like to be spending the majority of my time. Gidan Bege is the main outreach centre in Jos, and is the base for lots of different ministries. It is where the boys first live as they transition from living on the streets to living with the ministry. Gidan Bege houses up to 15 boys between the ages of 5 and 14. Typically the boys live at Gidan Bege for a period of 6 months and have school in the morning and crafts, sports, counseling and bible study in the afternoon. This is also where there are weekly medical clinics for the muslim woman and men (although numbers have greatly reduced of late due to the tensions in Jos). After completing 6 months at Gidan Bege, the boys move to Gyero, the rural care center, housing primary aged boy (about 45mins from Jos). Gyero is the largest centre with about 130 children at present and the only center housing girls. This is where the girls come straight into the ministry. There is a primary school at Gyero and the children are split into groups of 10-12 and live with a caregiver. Transition House (TH) is the care centre for senior boys in Jos. At TH boys learn how to transition out of life in the ministry and into the 'real world'. There are also 5 other care centers within city ministries; Mukurdi, Kaduna, Lafiya, Kagoro and Kafanchan. These are located different distances from Jos, some as far as hours away, but which I will be visiting over the year, mainly to administer injections.

I had an initial tour around Gidan Bege and TH last week and it was all very daunting, the combination of hearing Kelly's amazing Hausa with the Muslim woman in the afternoon clinic and the ease at which she conversed, being shown the various medications (vastly different from the ones I'm used to in NZ) and what they're used for, being introduced to hundreds of important people and trying to remember their names as well as trying to process the new surroundings and lack of resources I'll have to be dealing with, all took their toll on me and I went home feeling very overwhelmed. The next day however we made the trip out to Gyero. After a bumpy ride (the last 30mins are on a dirt road which has just been improved significantly I'm told) we arrived and I was shown around the different houses and introduced to the uncles and mama's looking after the children. The kids were so immediately accepting and loving, such a joy to be around. I saw a lot of medical needs, from rotten teeth that need pulling to fungal scalp conditions, but on the whole the kids are well cared for. Challenges will come with the change of seasons however, as illness can spread quickly in such cramped communal living. I've heard stories of tummy troubles come mango season too (next few weeks), when the kids, who eat no fruit all year decide to consume five mangoes in one day! “Aunty my stomach hurts....” hmmm I wonder why! I'm so looking forward to working with the children, getting to know them individually, hear their stories and journey with them, but I can already feel that God will use this process to make big changes in me.

I have a head cold at the moment, probably my boy getting used to the change of climate and the dust around the place. The Nigerian single ply tissues are as rough as nails and my nose is raw...oh how I miss you 3-ply Eucalyptus scented Kleenex! But other than that, I'm in perfect health, no tummy upsets from the food as yet, so Praise God for that! Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts, until next time.

The Market place, adventures with food and NEPA!

Last Sunday afternoon after church, George (our resident tour guide in Jos) took a car load of us from Challenge out to some amazing rock formations about 15mins out of town. He saw them from the road years ago and found a way to access them by foot. He named one 'golf ball' rock because it is the most amazing spherical rock perched precariously on top of another with seemingly no way of being held in place. I climbed up and pushed it, but alas even my brute strength was not going to dislodge it! I pray that no one will be standing underneath when the erosion process finally has it's way. The landscape in general at the moment is very barren and sparse. The long-termers have told me how beautiful the Plateau is over the rainy season; everything just comes to life and is green and lush with streams and waterfalls to visit in the weekends. It seems like such an impossibility at present when the earth is so parched that I'm sure it would need months of solid rain to produce something living. But then that's Africa for you, a continent of extremes.

It's the dry/cool season at the moment and the Harmattan winds are blowing dust around the city so it's very hazy and everything in my apartment gets covered in a fine dust, I don't think I'm going to bother trying to fight the loosing battle of keeping my floors clean just now, especially since every single window in my apartment is open (with bars and netting over them) and stays that way the whole day! I'm a little concerned because it's very hot here for me (it's 36 degrees today), but the other missionaries keep commenting about how cool the weather has been! Hmmm, hope I acclimatise quickly! Evenings are really nice at the moment though, I went to a missionary families house for dinner last night and we (about 30 people in total) sat outside till 9am (me getting eaten alive by Mozzies - yes I had insect repellant on - I have delicious blood apparently!). One good thing is that I'l loving how fast everything dries here!

I had my cultural orientation to the market place and the center of town the other day. Now I can understand how friends who have travelled and spent time in developing nations have commented that it can take a whole day to go shopping and to buy food! It was definitely sensory overload. The noise, the smells, the heat, the lack of personal space, the need to greet people everywhere you went and politely decline the offers to buy venders wares....after a few hours I was exhausted!

My Nigerian tour guide, a lovely lady named Kauna from SIM office, who has spent some time in the US so understands the Western ways of doing and being, first took me to the Baturi (white person) market. This market has things like strawberries, apples, broccoli and cauliflower, things not indigenous to Nigeria. Our next stop was to buy fabric for me to get some Nigerian wrapper skirts made from. It's highly important to do this, as it shows to the Nigerians that you're willing to learn and embrace their culture. We entered a narrow alleyway full of cramped stores wall to wall with yards of bright coloured fabric, I chose a pink and green patterned number....photos will follow if I ever get good internet speed!

I got a sim card for my phone so I can stay in touch with people here and receive security alerts when need be. I had to get it registered which was a bit intimidating when they not only wanted a photo but my thumb and index fingerprints of both hands for their system!

Next stop was the local supermarket most of the missionaries use. I was surprised by how many things were available, lots of american brands particularly, but I saw vegemite, maggi stock, cadbury chocolate and even white chocolate malteasers! Lots of imitation products of overseas brands such as 'Skiipy' peanut butter instead of Skippy and things I'll have to slowly discover how to buy Nigerian, like the best tasting milk powder, where to buy fresh yoghurt (Nigerian have a sweet liquid drink they call yoghurt...nice but not on muesli or fruit) and which meats to avoid and which are safe to buy. I then got some Nigerian vegetables from the street venders: carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, capsicums and cucumber. It was so cheap, for example all of that would have cost me under $5 NZD.

After lugging all my produce and fabric home because none of the taxi's would pick us up due to the traffic around Challenge compound (a taxi costs 50 Naira for most destinations; NZ 35 cents), I got home and attempted to pre-prepare some of my food. Because our western stomaches aren't accustomed to the Nigeria water supply (who knows what kind of parasites could be lurking), we not only filter our water but bleach the food we want to eat raw. This doesn't include food you can peel such as bananas, mangos, oranges and papayas, but things like strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes etc. must get soaked in a bleach called Milton for 7-10mins before it's safe to eat. Food preparation here therefore takes a lot more time and thought. I even have to use bottled/filtered water while brushing my teeth! I try to hold the bottle in my left hand the whole time so I don't go for the tap with my spare hand as it is still habit to do, I've had a few near misses and I'm positive I've swallowed shower water, but I'm not dead yet so that's good!

Well I've been here a week now and we have several power cuts a day. Apparently the electricity (or NEPA as it's referred to here, stands for Nigerian Electrical Power Association) has improved in my district in recent months because one of the Governors' has moved in down the road and also because there are several big banks in the same region that obviously can't afford to be without power too long. My colleague Kelly said they often go without power for days in her compound and once went for 2 weeks without any power. We're very blessed at Challenge because we have had a battery system installed. It's very expensive to run but it's such an amazing relief to have light when there's no NEPA simply by flicking a different switch. I did wonder when I first arrived why there were two light switches for every light in my apartment. One of the hard things about having no NEPA is that there is no way to keep things cool or frozen. As I don't have a huge amount in my freezer, I've frozen water bottles so that when the power is off, what I have in there will stay frozen for around 40-50 hours. The key is just to open the fridge as infrequently as possible. It's been so crazy realising how much we take for granted in our developed country. Speaking for myself I definitely felt quite enraged and hard done by if for some reason the power was out at home, wether because of bad weather or servicing of the wires, but here it's just an awesome privilege to have continuous NEPA the whole day! I did my first load of washing the other night and the power went out mid cycle, typical! Thankfully it came on again a few hours later so my clothes weren't soaking for too long. That's all for now, I'm trying my hardest to keep each blog a readable length!