We are now back in the UK, after over 10 months in Nigeria. We arrived on 20th December and have been spending the Christmas period with family. Hazel will return to her old job in Sheffield in March while I will be looking for a new job.
Thank you all for your comments / prayers / letters / parcels over this past year. Knowing that we have had many people thinking about us and supporting us from home has been a great blessing. We are now looking forward to catching up with you all, eating your food and regaling you with our stories of African life. Believe me, we've dumbed down our opinions for the purposes of this blog. If you want to know what REALLY happened in Nigeria, you'll have to speak to us in person!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Andy and Hazel
Thursday, 27 December 2007
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Two weeks to go
We have the pleasure of the company of my parents for our last week or so in Nigeria. They are very well-travelled people but I think they have reached new limits in Nigeria, and Amaudo in particular! Both have already suffered from what you might call Delhi-belly if had been contracted in India, but are fine now. My mum is helping to fix some of our computer problems while my dad will be sorting out the mess I've made of the finances!
On Friday, we went on an outing with the residents at Amaudo 2 (they have either mental illness or learning disabilities). We went to a resort called Oguta Lake in Imo State. It was a nice place when we eventually got there and the residents really enjoyed splashing around in the lake. However, most of the day was spent squashed in a minibus trying to stay clear of the vomit of fellow passengers so we were glad to get back to Umuahia where we spent two nights in a good hotel, much to my parents' relief.
We leave this country in two weeks and two days but there's a lot to pack in in that time, including the Project Comfort Children's Christmas Party (that Hazel is helping to organise), the Discharge Service (where outgoing residents are formally discharged) and our very own send forth (where we will be formally discharged).
Unfortunately, being allowed home is not a mere formality. Our visas are still not in order so we will have to do some serious diplomacy at the airport (brown envelopes stuffed with dollars might do the trick).
We will be in touch when we get home if not before.
Andrew
On Friday, we went on an outing with the residents at Amaudo 2 (they have either mental illness or learning disabilities). We went to a resort called Oguta Lake in Imo State. It was a nice place when we eventually got there and the residents really enjoyed splashing around in the lake. However, most of the day was spent squashed in a minibus trying to stay clear of the vomit of fellow passengers so we were glad to get back to Umuahia where we spent two nights in a good hotel, much to my parents' relief.
We leave this country in two weeks and two days but there's a lot to pack in in that time, including the Project Comfort Children's Christmas Party (that Hazel is helping to organise), the Discharge Service (where outgoing residents are formally discharged) and our very own send forth (where we will be formally discharged).
Unfortunately, being allowed home is not a mere formality. Our visas are still not in order so we will have to do some serious diplomacy at the airport (brown envelopes stuffed with dollars might do the trick).
We will be in touch when we get home if not before.
Andrew
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
Monkey Business
Dear Bloggers,
It has been a while since we last posted, so thank you for your patience.
Last month, we were visited by our good friend Ben Cooper (aka Uncle Ben). I know he had quite an adventure and coped with everything Nigeria had to throw at him. The highlight of his stay, and one of the highlights of the entire year for us, was a visit to the "Drill Ranch" in Cross River National Park (near the Cameroon border). This is a project set up to protect drill monkeys, an endangered species in this part of the world. The drills are kept in large enclosures in proper communities until they are ready to be released into the wild. There was also one family of chimpanzees.
We stayed at this place for two nights in log cabins surrounded by nothing but rainforest and primates - a real oasis. We could have stayed there forever. However, we thought we would never arrive when our vehicle got stuck in the mud and had to be towed out.
The problem is that we are just at the end of the rainy season so some rural roads are in an awful state. There is one place on the Amaudo road that always causes problems and we seem to have spent many hours there recently pushing (or watching other people push usually) vehicles. The great thing about Nigerians is that they never give up! You can't just phone the police or the AA to come and rescue you. Everybody just mucks in and helps out until the problem is solved, although they often expect payment.
So we will be touching down in England on 20th December, which gives us just over five weeks. Therefore, there's probably not much point posting anything to us now. But thank you all for the letters and parcels we have received. They have really cheered us up.
Until next time!
It has been a while since we last posted, so thank you for your patience.
Last month, we were visited by our good friend Ben Cooper (aka Uncle Ben). I know he had quite an adventure and coped with everything Nigeria had to throw at him. The highlight of his stay, and one of the highlights of the entire year for us, was a visit to the "Drill Ranch" in Cross River National Park (near the Cameroon border). This is a project set up to protect drill monkeys, an endangered species in this part of the world. The drills are kept in large enclosures in proper communities until they are ready to be released into the wild. There was also one family of chimpanzees.
We stayed at this place for two nights in log cabins surrounded by nothing but rainforest and primates - a real oasis. We could have stayed there forever. However, we thought we would never arrive when our vehicle got stuck in the mud and had to be towed out.
The problem is that we are just at the end of the rainy season so some rural roads are in an awful state. There is one place on the Amaudo road that always causes problems and we seem to have spent many hours there recently pushing (or watching other people push usually) vehicles. The great thing about Nigerians is that they never give up! You can't just phone the police or the AA to come and rescue you. Everybody just mucks in and helps out until the problem is solved, although they often expect payment.
So we will be touching down in England on 20th December, which gives us just over five weeks. Therefore, there's probably not much point posting anything to us now. But thank you all for the letters and parcels we have received. They have really cheered us up.
Until next time!
Saturday, 13 October 2007
Niger Wives
Hi we are both being stretched in trying to be wise and drawing on wise principles to make decisions.
Throughout our time we have been concerned with how sustainable the organisation is that we work for. We are trying to discuss this with the management and want our thoughts to be heard and considered. Whilst we recognise that we are not development workers, we think that there are some important questions that the organisation need to consider, so that in the future it can continue to move towards providing the best care for the residents that it can.
We have just been to Church this morning, and the preacher was talking and praying about the plans of the devil. The devil and evil gets mentioned much more often here. It seems sometimes that people are either considered good and of God or Evil and of the Devil. Maybe this makes it harder for Christians to own and recognise their sins.
I am sure that this is oversimplified but sometimes I think, that people think;
Yesteday we went to a Niger wives fundraising event in Enugu. Niger wives are expat wives of Nigerians. There are 20 members in its Enugu brach. We enjoyed superb continental food!!! Andy wished that he could try one of the dishes each day until we are due to return home.
Twenty years ago they had 80 members, so there are now less expats in Nigeira which is interesting. I enjoyed talking to a person who manages a school for disabled children in Enugu.
Hope you are all well, I guess it must be getting cold back in the UK, its getting warmer here as the rainy season is coming to an end!!
Throughout our time we have been concerned with how sustainable the organisation is that we work for. We are trying to discuss this with the management and want our thoughts to be heard and considered. Whilst we recognise that we are not development workers, we think that there are some important questions that the organisation need to consider, so that in the future it can continue to move towards providing the best care for the residents that it can.
We have just been to Church this morning, and the preacher was talking and praying about the plans of the devil. The devil and evil gets mentioned much more often here. It seems sometimes that people are either considered good and of God or Evil and of the Devil. Maybe this makes it harder for Christians to own and recognise their sins.
I am sure that this is oversimplified but sometimes I think, that people think;
Yesteday we went to a Niger wives fundraising event in Enugu. Niger wives are expat wives of Nigerians. There are 20 members in its Enugu brach. We enjoyed superb continental food!!! Andy wished that he could try one of the dishes each day until we are due to return home.
Twenty years ago they had 80 members, so there are now less expats in Nigeira which is interesting. I enjoyed talking to a person who manages a school for disabled children in Enugu.
Hope you are all well, I guess it must be getting cold back in the UK, its getting warmer here as the rainy season is coming to an end!!
Will be back to share mince pies and a glass of sherry!!!
Will be back to share mince pies and a glass of sherry!!!
For numerous reasons and with some sadness we have decided to come back earlier than originally planned. We will be back some time just before Christmas.
For numerous reasons and with some sadness we have decided to come back earlier than originally planned. We will be back some time just before Christmas.
Friday, 14 September 2007
Hazel drinks capuccino twice in one week
Good afternoon readers!
Our week of travelling is almost an end and it will soon be time to get back to the grindstone. But it's been fun while it's lasted.
After one night in Abuja on Saturday, we made the four-hour journey to Jos, a city located on a plateau giving it a much cooler climate than the rest of Nigeria. Hazel even had to wear a fleece at one point but, then again, Hazel would wear a fleece in a furnace! Our guide for the week was a man called Tom Gata, a geologist working for an NGO called TASTE. This organisation uses specialist equipment to drill boreholes, giving communities access to clean water. They also train local people to maintain these boreholes.
Our visit to Jos took in the zoo and the wildlife park. In both of these establishments, knowledge about or concern for animal welfare was sadly lacking. We also had the opportunity to visit a hydroelectric power station. This was established in 1929 and the machinery hasn't changed since then. NESCO, as the company is called, provides electricity at half the price of Nigeria's mainstream power company, NEPA, experiences far fewer power cuts and is much less damaging in terms of climate change. Critics would argue that the station and accompanying power lines are a blot on an otherwise beautiful highland landscape but I would say that's a price worth paying.
On Wednesday, Tom took us to Kano, the main city in the north of Nigeria. This heaving metropolis is noticeably hotter and dryer than the south of Nigeria where we are based, a situation made worse by the traffic fumes. The main difference between the north and south is that life is dictated by Islam rather than Christianity. We arrived in Kano at the start of Ramadan so we had to wiat until after sunset for our supper. Fortunately, we were able to get breakfast despite being up much after dawn. Thursday was spent exploring the old city originally surrounded by a mud wall, some of which is still intact. The most fascinating part of the old city was Nigeria's oldest market, a labyrinth of narrow alleyways in which traders were selling traditional crafts (souvenir-type shops are actually very rare in Nigeria). Hazel bought some beads while I rummaged through some old West African coins.
We're now back in Abuja with our British friends, Polly and Julian, and their son, Fin. We are just about to go to our second supermarket of the day where we hope to stock up on essential supplies for the coming months. We return to Abia state tomorrow.
Our week of travelling is almost an end and it will soon be time to get back to the grindstone. But it's been fun while it's lasted.
After one night in Abuja on Saturday, we made the four-hour journey to Jos, a city located on a plateau giving it a much cooler climate than the rest of Nigeria. Hazel even had to wear a fleece at one point but, then again, Hazel would wear a fleece in a furnace! Our guide for the week was a man called Tom Gata, a geologist working for an NGO called TASTE. This organisation uses specialist equipment to drill boreholes, giving communities access to clean water. They also train local people to maintain these boreholes.
Our visit to Jos took in the zoo and the wildlife park. In both of these establishments, knowledge about or concern for animal welfare was sadly lacking. We also had the opportunity to visit a hydroelectric power station. This was established in 1929 and the machinery hasn't changed since then. NESCO, as the company is called, provides electricity at half the price of Nigeria's mainstream power company, NEPA, experiences far fewer power cuts and is much less damaging in terms of climate change. Critics would argue that the station and accompanying power lines are a blot on an otherwise beautiful highland landscape but I would say that's a price worth paying.
On Wednesday, Tom took us to Kano, the main city in the north of Nigeria. This heaving metropolis is noticeably hotter and dryer than the south of Nigeria where we are based, a situation made worse by the traffic fumes. The main difference between the north and south is that life is dictated by Islam rather than Christianity. We arrived in Kano at the start of Ramadan so we had to wiat until after sunset for our supper. Fortunately, we were able to get breakfast despite being up much after dawn. Thursday was spent exploring the old city originally surrounded by a mud wall, some of which is still intact. The most fascinating part of the old city was Nigeria's oldest market, a labyrinth of narrow alleyways in which traders were selling traditional crafts (souvenir-type shops are actually very rare in Nigeria). Hazel bought some beads while I rummaged through some old West African coins.
We're now back in Abuja with our British friends, Polly and Julian, and their son, Fin. We are just about to go to our second supermarket of the day where we hope to stock up on essential supplies for the coming months. We return to Abia state tomorrow.
Sunday, 9 September 2007
training with a difference
I went to the federal psychiatric hospital with my two OT students to deliver some training on activity analysis to the OT technicians there. There is a real life OT Nigerian there, and i am enjoying supporting him.
It was great that Philip and Emma were able to organise the training, as it meant i did not have to and could just sit down and watch.
As our driver is not regular with project comfort, he turns up when he feels like it! We decided to go the night before to Enugu and stay there as the hospital had offfered accomodation.
We travelled by public transport, there were huge cues and few buses, it was an experience for Philip and Emma but i am used to it, so we got there late around 6:30pm.
To find they had placed 4 leather chairs out for us to sit in, and had booked us into the most expensive hotel in enugu, each with our own room, and told us to order food. I had wondered what trouble they would go to.
People view "whites" as power. But i view it as a waster of money. so much money gets spent on public relations for those who already have.
We delivered the training, and i was impressed with what the OT technicians asked and there knowledge, Mr OTi the OT had done a good job training them. Although they struggled with grading. I feel that the training was well recived and will be well used.
They gave us a lunch from a fast food restaurant, fried rice. I am not sure if there was more rice or fat!!
Then we participated in there therapetic dancing, good fun, and this time i had no men who were sexually inhibitted (unlike last time!!!!)
It was time to go home, and theywould not let us get public transport but insisted on us going by their vehicle for the 3 hour jounrney.
Imagine spending NHS money like that.
It feels strange to have so much power, and how they treated me differently from my OT students.
We are now in Abuja and our host has made us cake and coffee!!! we are enjoying.
It was great that Philip and Emma were able to organise the training, as it meant i did not have to and could just sit down and watch.
As our driver is not regular with project comfort, he turns up when he feels like it! We decided to go the night before to Enugu and stay there as the hospital had offfered accomodation.
We travelled by public transport, there were huge cues and few buses, it was an experience for Philip and Emma but i am used to it, so we got there late around 6:30pm.
To find they had placed 4 leather chairs out for us to sit in, and had booked us into the most expensive hotel in enugu, each with our own room, and told us to order food. I had wondered what trouble they would go to.
People view "whites" as power. But i view it as a waster of money. so much money gets spent on public relations for those who already have.
We delivered the training, and i was impressed with what the OT technicians asked and there knowledge, Mr OTi the OT had done a good job training them. Although they struggled with grading. I feel that the training was well recived and will be well used.
They gave us a lunch from a fast food restaurant, fried rice. I am not sure if there was more rice or fat!!
Then we participated in there therapetic dancing, good fun, and this time i had no men who were sexually inhibitted (unlike last time!!!!)
It was time to go home, and theywould not let us get public transport but insisted on us going by their vehicle for the 3 hour jounrney.
Imagine spending NHS money like that.
It feels strange to have so much power, and how they treated me differently from my OT students.
We are now in Abuja and our host has made us cake and coffee!!! we are enjoying.
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