Amaudo - Nigeria

The End

2007-12-27T05:09:00.000-08:00

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

Two weeks to go

2007-12-04T03:15:00.000-08:00

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

Monkey Business

2007-11-13T03:30:00.000-08:00

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!

Niger Wives

2007-10-13T03:55:00.000-07:00

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!!

Will be back to share mince pies and a glass of sherry!!!

2007-10-13T03:53:00.000-07:00

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.

Hazel drinks capuccino twice in one week

2007-09-14T07:18:00.000-07:00

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.

training with a difference

2007-09-09T02:01:00.000-07:00

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.

More reflections from the rainforest

2007-09-04T06:53:00.000-07:00

It's early September, it's still raining and I've left my umbrella at home. I hope that by mid-October at the latest all this wet weather will be behind us and we can start complaining about the heat again.

The words "customer" and "service" are two words that Nigerians don't seem to understand when put together. I have been trying to open a sterling bank account through which we can have money transferred directly from our partners in London, and it's driving me insane. We still haven't been able to make the first transfer so it looks like I'm going to have to go to the bank again, a place where such things as orderly queues, smiles, courtesy and getting the right information are in short supply. At least the place is air-conditioned.

Anyway, I'll stop whingeing for now. I'll leave my complaints about the food, the roads, our leaking roof and police corruption for another day. We are due to go on a much-needed holiday from this Saturday. Back to the incredibly dull but refeshingly clean and ordered Abuja (the capital city where you can get such luxuries as fresh cheese and cream cakes) on Saturday before travelling on to Jos on Sunday. Due to its relatively high altitude, Jos is probably the coolest city in Nigeria and therefore very popular with the "whites". From there, we hope to explore the north of the country, Hausa territory where Muslims outnumber Christians.

Thanks for all your lovely comments. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers. It may seem that we're having a really tough time out here but it's not so bad really. Besides, it is good to experience what living in poverty actually feels like - it makes one much more determined to make poverty history. Jesus swapped heaven for thirty years in first century Palestine which seems like much more of a raw deal. Nobody's threatening to crucify us (yet) so we have to count our blessings!

a picture of how we wash, no goats to photo today11

2007-08-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

2007-07-31T05:34:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we went to Ojukwo's bunker in Umuahia.

For those of you who don't know about Colonel Odumegwu Ojukwo, he was the leader of the secessionists who tried to form a new country called the Republic of Biafria out of the eastern regions of Nigeria, in the late 1960s. The Nigerian government objected and a full scale war ensued which the Biafrans eventually lost. Umuahia became the capital after the fall of Enugu and Ojukwo and his inner circle set up base in a purpose built bunker in a rich man's back garden.

The facilities were somewhat better than what we endure at Amaudo, with running water feeding the kitchen and bathroom. Not a place for clausterophobics, mind, nor those with vertigo as we discovered whilst negotiating the vertical escape route by which we exited the bunker. If I was there in wartime, I think I'd take my chances against a Nigerian infiltrator rather than go up that ladder again!

Nevertheless, it was all worthwhile as I got to eat a lovely bowl of pepper soup in the museum's cafe afterwards. A photo of said pepper soup will be posted herein shortly. And, if you're all really good boys and girls, we might give you another picture of a goat.

us with the head of conference

2007-07-12T01:31:00.000-07:00

I said i would post a picture of the head of conference when we saw him in Lagos and here it is. Look at the size difference between us all.

High jinks at the high table

2007-07-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday which usually means, as it does today, that we find ourselves in Umuahia and hence have the opportunity to update the blog.

We have just finished a management training event, where all the managers and supervisors in Amaudo got together to explore our job roles. My favourite part (apart from lunch) was when we were asked to imagine Amaudo was a ship and to think about where we would be on the ship. I placed myself on the bridge updating the captain's log with all the relevant data, but I don't envy Hazel who found herself up the mast with a disabled child, insisting that this was an important part of the child's rehabilitation.

On Sunday, we went to a birthday party. Now we are just coming to realise that just about every event (birthday, wedding, fundraising event, send forth) follows pretty much the same format. Hazel and I were called up to the "high table" which basically means we get to sit at the front with the chairman, are first to be served the ubiquitous garden egg dipped in peanut butter and are generally expected to give the "celebrants" more money than the mere mortals in the general congregation. The MC follows a more-or-less standard agenda, with prayers, speeches, dancing and, on this occasion, a game of musical chairs with about 15 children competing for one chair. One has to wait to the very end for one's food but I must say it was worth waiting for - however, the standard fare of rice, salad and a chunk of meat is becoming rather predictable.

Tomorrow we travel to the capital Abuja on a bus that has such luxuries as a toilet, air conditioning and your own seat. We will stay with former Amaudo volunteers, Polly and Julian and their young son, and we are due to return to Abia State on Saturday.

Bye for now

Andrew

Still here

2007-06-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

I know that a lot of people read this so i thought i should write something.
We both continue to plod along her, and are now used to Amaudo life, well as used to as you can get.
I have had a quiet week as our vehicle has been broken so we have not been out as much, to visit the children.
I have just created a new email address for the project, an achievement considering the computers!!!!

I am staying in Umuahia again tonight and leaving Andy at home, i am sure i will enjoy some BBQ corn, it is very nice.
We have been invited to a wedding from a young couple at the presbyterian church we attend ( when given the sunday off). So the man is coming around tommorrow to give Andy some palm wine, it is a shame i will not be there. I hope that maybe we can become friends with them, as we still have few friends.
Palm wine is tapped from the sap of palm trees, if drunk fresh it is not too toxic, but if left it ferments. It is a traditional drink. During the traditional marriage ceremony it is drunk and the brie has to find the groom with a cup.

Last week there was a strike here about the fuel prices, but it has ended.
We are doing ok on the food getting used to stew and rice, and both of us can even eat a plate of beans for breakfast now!!!

I can not think of anything else to add, we miss you all, but we know that we are needed her and are learning a lot. we hope to travel to Abuja the capital and stay with some expats there, and Andy hopes to meet some ecconomists there. I hope to get a real cup of coffee!!!
enjoy

Double clothes and chocolate chip cookies

2007-06-21T03:59:00.000-07:00

Hello, family and friends!

On Monday, we celebrated our second wedding anniversary. When we celebrated our first anniversary last year in Sheffield, we could choose just about any type of food and drink from any part of the world. In rural Nigeria, one's options are much more limited but we made the best of it. We took the liberty of taking our staple evening meal of rice and stew back to our house (we usually eat with the residents in the dining room to be community with them, even though the place smells) and added to it red onion, cucumber and Heinz tinned salad (that also contains mayonnaise). We also spoiled ourselves with olives and chocolate chip cookies. We also toasted the occasion with a bottle of red wine (don't tell the Deaconness). There is basically only one make of wine you can buy here (the Spanish Baron de Valles) but at least that makes one's decision easier (I can't tell you the number of minutes of my life I've wasted perusing the vast array of wines in Morrisons desperately trying to make the right choice) and it's a relative steal at just over 2 pounds per bottle.

This last week couldn't be any different to our honeymoon week two years ago. For a start, Hazel has been away these last two nights supporting the "other" Project Comfort in Ohafia. We will be reunited later today. We plan to stay in Umuahia tonight and then travel to Benin (the city in Nigeria, not the country next to Nigeria) tomorrow with our Northern Irish colleague, Elaine. However, these last few days the country has been plagued by industrial action in protest at the recent increases in fuel prices - Hazel was lucky to get to Enugu and back last Friday - so we shall have to play it by ear. Anyway, it's not a good start for the new administration that was sworn in last month.

In terms of work, my team has been busy preparing the 2006 and 2007 quarter 1 accounts, as well as a budget for second half of 2007, ready for the Board meeting next Tuesday. I'm sorry, but I can't think of any way of making accountancy seem more interesting. But I'm happy to say I'm enjoying the work much more than I thought I would.

The weather here is getting slightly cooler, particularly at night and first thing in the morning, but I still haven't yet had the need to wear "double clothes" as they say here (that is, more than one layer). Hazel has, but that is mainly to protect herself from the dreaded mosquitoes that are getting much more vicious in this rainy season.

Well, I hope you are all enjoying BBQs and strawberries and cream in our absence. Have a vegetarian sausage on us!

Andy

2007-05-29T12:56:00.001-07:00

It’s Tuesday evening and we are in Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria and apparently the second largest city in the world. We have been here since Thursday but I feel we have only been able to scratch the surface of this fascinating city.
Let’s face it, Lagos isn’t Sydney or Barcelona or even Sheffield. There are no parks and very few places of tourist interest. There is rubbish and abandoned vehicles everywhere, the roads are the most congested and dangerous that we have seen but it is an exhilirating place.
We came with our boss, Rev Timothy, and some other colleagues from Amaudo to visit some of the movers and shakers, including the secretary of conference (we will upload his photo a a later date) within Methodist Church Nigeria and try to raise some much needed funds. We also met with the brother of the owner of Sheffield restaurant UK Mama.
We have been enjoying the abundance of fast food here in the big city. It's probably the only place in the world that doesn't have a McDonalds, but we have become regulars at Sweet Sensations where I had a huge tub of banana ice cream

a goat we got donated

2007-05-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

a weekend of constrasts

2007-05-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

How are you all?

We have had a mixed weekend, some very good and some a challenge but that is life.

According to research after 3 months you should hit your low point in terms of cultural adaptation. I can not say if this will be the low point, but it was a weekend of extremes.

On Friday we went to Enugu to see the psychiatric hospital, and to meet the only OT who is managing the department, he is doing a good job. He is keen to learn and so I hope that I can spend some more time with him. I have agreed to review his paper work and deliver a seminar to his workers when my OT students come. It is about 2 hours away. It was difficult getting to the meeting point to pick up our lift. We left at 7am from home, and then waited till nearly 9 to try to get a public transport vehicle. It had been raining so they were not coming. I was getting bitten very badly. When I get bitten a lot the pain seems much worse.

So at 8:50 we got a lift to the other Amaudo site, and then got a motorbike taxi, and another public transport vehicle. (so it ended up 3 legs instead of 1).

Then after we had been to the hospital we went to see another Hazel in Nigeria, she is the Aunty of Peter who came with his wife Sarah to set up project comfort (where I am working). Hazel is married to a Nigerian, and very wealthy. I do not know how many people she had working for her in her home but I recon at least 5!!

We arrived and she gave us a glass of red wine!!!!! In a wine glass, and then a piece of chocolate cake. Yes you heard correctly. I savored every sip and bite.

For dinner we had tomato soup, and chicken pie with mashed potato and cooked carrot. We stayed the night and slept with air conditioning, and had hot water. What luxury.

On the sat we looked around town and went a saw one of the expensive hotels.

That evening we ate curry with popadoms!!!

And had a three course breakfast both days!!!

It seemed a shock coming back here. It has been raining so the house smells all musty.

We left 10 am, using her driver to get to the public transport depot. It is a chaotic very noisy place, Andy nearly got his mobile pinched out of his pocket. We got in to Umuahia at 12:15, and had arranged to meet a pastor at 1pm. Well we waited till one and he rang and said 2:30, so we thought ok, and waited. 2:30 came and went and no sign of him. In the mean time the skies were getting darker and darker. You know what that means, rain!

And then the skies opened, when it stopped raining as heavily. We decided we had to go and try to get back here, so did not manage to see him. Which is a shame as he traveled up especially to meet us.

We walked with our umbrella through the puddles, to the motor park, but there was no direct, vehicle so we got one to Bende. When we got to Bende it was raining again, and there was a huge queue of people wanting to get a motorbike. Eventually we got one, which both of us shared, so 3 on the bike.

The boy did not know the meaning of the word slow, and the road was awful, we were slipping and slidding everywhere. I lost my shoe twice, and we went through puddles at such speed we got soaked. In the end we asked him to stop and we walked the last bit home. I was so pleased to back off that bike, and we just got home before nightfall.

So that is the end of our weekend adventure, how was your weekend

Busy week of work ahead of us, but Andy has arranged to watch football with people on sat, I am sure the football fans amongst you will be watching too.

Ndewo (good day) from Enugu

2007-05-11T05:29:00.000-07:00

At the training course we attended in January before travelling, we learned that one tends to reach a culture shock nadir at about 3 months after arrival. We have now been here for 3 months and one day so let's just say I'm happy that from this point forward the only way is up!

We are currently in Enugu, the largest city in the Igbo-speaking region of Nigeria. I have left Hazel at a psychiatric hospital - she's a visitor not a patient I hasten to add - while I surf the net. We are staying tonight and tomorrow night with a British woman also called Hazel (these Hazels get around, don't they?) who runs a development project based in nearby Ohafia, so hopefully this will be a break from rice, beans and yam.

There have been a number of sad events at Amaudo over the last few weeks, which I shouldn't really elaborate in this public space, but please continue to remember us in your thoughts and prayers as we try in some small way to take this place forward and restore it to its former glory.

We are still struggling to build good friendships here but we are getting along well with the three "coppers" (National Youth Service Corps workers) - Martha, Gbenga and Olide. They are about our age and have been posted to Amaudo for their post-graduation national service and are a breath of fresh air in terms of the integrity and professionalism that is sadly lacking in Amaudo, as it is in Nigeria generally. We took Martha and Gbenga to the Damgrete Hotel in Umuahia (capital of Abia state). Hazel gave Martha some swimming lessons and introduced her to the gym while Gbenga and I retired to the bar for a meat pie and a beer to watch the Manchester derby. As a fervent Manchester United supporter, Gbenga was very happy with the result.

Also, on Wednesday evening we did a "huddle" with Martha. Those outside the St Thomas and Order of Mission clique won't have a clue what I'm talking about, but now is not the time or place to explain - suffice to say that it's all perfectly above board!

Finally, you may be interested to know that I retched four times in the early hours of Thursday morning but I'm now feeling much better, thank you very much!

Andrew

Steering the ship

2007-05-01T06:12:00.000-07:00

It's 14.19 on Tuesday 1 May and I'm a happy man. Not that I've finally solved all of Amaudo's financial problems, nor even that I managed to finish breakfast this morning. But I've just found out that Cheltenham Town secured their League One survival with a game to spare by winning 4-2 at Rotherham on Saturday.

Anyway, let's update you with events closer to (or further from, depending where you live) home. First up, those financial problems. My task as financial supervisor is extremely overwhelming. It can only be compared to trying to sail a ship on stormy waters while at the same time carrying out major structural alterations to the ship, without having any nautical or shipbuilding experience. Thankfully, I have every faith in my team - the cashier, Chief Raymond (yes, I am managing a traditional chief and, yes, I do call him "Chief") who has been at Amaudo for at least 150 years and knows everything about how the organisation is run; and the fresh young graduate, Gbenga, seconded to Amaudo on national service who is both a chartered accountant and has a degree in accountancy (i.e. all those vital qualifications that I don't have!). So, between us, and with God's help (you have to say that here but it is true), we will succeed.

Our weekend was spent doing PR for Amaudo. We attended a burial of the wife of one of the board members on Saturday before showing our face at a church service on Sunday, where we did the customary begging for money. Not only did we get money, but they also gave us a goat and a chicken (both still very much alive). Thank goodness we brought the pickup and not my little toy scooter that is apparently known locally as a motorbike.

Cheerio for now

Andrew

we love them mango

2007-04-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

Blessed day

2007-04-13T06:53:00.000-07:00

Hi, i know that i have had some requests for photos but it is hard to attach them as the internet speed is so slow, but will try!!

I have had a mixed day, our driver for project comfort has been bereaved, so fieldwork could not happen in the vehcile. I went to a parent support group, as there had been a complaint. To find that the chairman was at market and only one other person showed up!! but was able to address the complaint. Then i went to see if a note had been dropped at the methodist church concerning, comfirming the attendance of a child to see the surgeon with us next week. There was no note! So i left another one to be passed to the minister working in that area, asking him to drop anothernote by next tuesday! communication is so hard, mobiles do not work well.

I then came into town having 4 hours to spare, hence writing this. Been to market and bought all the things i needed including lots of mangos, and a pineapple - life can not be too bad. Food colouring for playdo, andn playing cards to help with matching.
I found somewhere that photocopying quicker than a snail!!! and talked to a man there who has invited us to his house to get to know him. This will be great to get to know those outside Amaudo.
The went to the post office. but they have gone home. looked at the book shop and the man recognised me from a wedding we went to over the weekend, again i will enjoy going back to his stall and he will help me to get some books written by Nigerians. and now i am here.

We are going out for tea tonight with the other uk volunteer and the founder of Amaudo.

Thinking about the weddings this weekend that i am going to miss, would have loved to celebrate with you all.
Life without love is like a tree without blossom and fruit.

thinking of you all

Hazel

feeling positive

2007-03-27T05:39:00.000-07:00

It is Friday 23rd march lunch time and I thought I would write you a note, depending if the battery lasts on my laptop.
I am at my home, I have been out this am supervising one of the fieldworkers and have returned from base. When I was out it was sad to see a boy that a month previous had good sitting balance, no longer able to sit, up or even roll over. It looks as if he has been left lying for the last month, his parents were out at the farm so we could not speak to them.
This afternoon I am doing some training for the new fieldworkers, not sure what on yet, Andy has gone to a synod meeting today to try to raise some funds for the project.

We are going into the town tomorrow so may be able to send this email. We are staying with another uk volunteer who lives there. I am looking forward to eating some food tonight that is not rice and stew or beans. I am getting used to the food, and often eat out of comfort not because it tastes good.
The residents here have gone out today which is very good as this is the first time since we have been here that it has happened. Part of the problem seems to be the coordinator of the project has no clinical experience especially working with learning disabilities. I was asking him yesterday if we could arrange a residents meeting. So that we can find out there views and how things can be improved, he kept saying it is not possible, and they can not give their opinion. With a bit of creativity I believe all people can be heard. The atmosphere in this place is not always good, and the family house seems to be ruled by fear, not love. But there are some good workers and at least the place exists. The staff just seem not to have good management or be appreciated, or visioned.
There is only so much we can do as we do not work at the family house but separate projects
But on a more positive note, the deaconess here seemed happy when we suggested taking some residents out two at a time, and a date has been arranged for this.

Last night afterwork we played ludo, which we bought at the market with one of the residents, and a child who is living here. It was much fun the resident kept wanting to roll the dice the whole time.

Next weekend we are hoping to go away to Calibar, I think that the break will do us good, we hope it will not rain as it is the start of the rainy season.

We are still struggling how to build in rest into our lives. Living and working on site is hard.

Also it is interesting to look at how little freedom we have compared to the UK. I have been used to operating in a low control high accountability environment. Here it is the opposite, there is much control and low accountability.
We hear gospel messages twice a day , yet behavior remains unchanged, I wonder what they would make to the idea of huddles, where people can meet and challenge each other, with humility. I do not think that people are used to admitting their frailties, and get very defensive very quickly.

we had a good weekend i rode a motor bike, and i also met up with another Nigerian Martha, i am sure with time we will become good friends

a picture of collecting water and prime minister house

2007-03-17T02:27:00.000-07:00

its rained

2007-03-17T02:17:00.000-07:00

They said it would start to rain and we have experienced some, and yes it does pour when it rains.
I think that our last blog must have sounded a bit negative, so i want to share with you some of the good things that have happened this week.
It is mothering sunday which lasts all week, and i was invited to speak on how to surive difficult times in the presbeterian church. I hope to be able to attend some of their service on sunday.

I also went to one of the staff's houses that I work with Uzoma, she welcomed me well, and was a much friendlier character than at work, and i had some hot chocolate.

Also here in the internet cafe we have bumped into Martha who works at Amaudo 1.

My job is going well and it is a great privalege to be welomed into peoples home and try to help them with their children.
I have been trying to build up relationships with the local primeministers and church leaders, as they can ensure the exerises continue once we are gone. To welcome people, they give you cola, which is a bitter nut that contains tobacco, or garden eggs. that are like bitter raw courgette. Also you put a mark of chalk on you to show you have been welcomed.
Throug meeting these leaders we have got new referrals and tried to give the parents some hope, some of the referals it is sad. If the child had been referred at age 2 we could much more than at 11 years.

Andy is well, he has been visiting bishops this week trying to get money for Amaudo.

still hot

2007-03-06T04:57:00.000-08:00

We have been here 3 weeks now, the exciting phase seems to be coming to an end and this is our life now for a year. We are finding it a challenge to adapt to community life and to understand what is expected of us and if we should try to negotiate things. I think much of our difficulties are to do with us being used to having our freedom and our spare time.
Anydy is riding his bike to and from Amaudo and i can now go round in a slow circle on a bike, i do not really fancy riding on the roads here.

We drank some guiness the other day. ehcih was a welcomed treat and i have discovered i like NIgerian Larger.
Andy has been finding the food a challenge and does not want to eat a lot of food.

We are going to try to arrange what jobs needing doing here for the trip in the summer.

Our jobs are going ok, but there is so much to do, and little rest sometimes.
Missing you all, but can now make an english cup of tea.

Please continue to pray for us and gettting involved with a local chirch, our wish but in conflict with Amaudo, and making some more friends, though there are people who have really blessed us.

Hazel and Andy

We are here

2007-02-17T03:27:00.000-08:00

It is now sat and we have been here a week. The internet connection is very slow, and we are very hot.
WE have been welcomed well.
We are staying as part of Amaudo 2 the long stay resident community, our house is the same as everyone else's. We have an outside loo and wash area which we are trying to get used to.
We are eating with all the residents 3 meals a day. The food is in large portions but there is not much variety and all complex carbohydrates and fat. The residents are happy to eat what we can not. I find breakfast a plate full of beans hard to eat but Andy has managed it!!

Amaudo 1 where Andy ill be working is the short stay rehabilitation for mentally ill destitutes and is much larger. It is 3 miles but the roads are as bad as can be imagined between the two. Andy may venture trying to ride a motor bike.

We have made it into town today a long journey by minbus (public transport) that was quite expensive. We are not sure how often we will get in.
the best way to communicate is via text our numbers are Hazel +2348084759081 Andy +2348084759080.

We are on a two week induction period. There is another Canadian volunteer Micki who is a nutiotiinist, she is here for 6 months and has been here for 3 already, She found it difficult to get a role for herself but is making one now.

A lot of Nigerian people seem to want to be managed by whites and view that we will get the place back in order. Whereas we just have come to do our jobs!!! But we hope to see some improvements in how people are treated especially in the second village where we are staying this year. Some of the NIgerians have asked us to help bring this about.

We are about to go into the market very busy and try to buy some cloth for bed sheets and then try to find some mosquito repellent we have bought some but not nearly enough.

We are well and will try to write soon,
WE hope to get to know people better here and make some friends.

Goodbye England!

2007-02-08T04:31:00.000-08:00

We are happy to say that our visas and flight tickets have arrived and we are all set for leaving Sheffield tomorrow (Friday 9th Feb), although hopefully the recent snow won't cause another setback in the travel arrangements. We are due to leave Heathrow at 22.00 on Friday on a Virgin service, arriving in Lagos early Saturday morning. We then take a short domestic flight to Owerri in the south east where we will picked up by an Amaudo driver. So we should be at our new home in time for lunch (or in time for tea at least).

This will probably be the last you here from us before we set off. If all is silent over the next few days (or even weeks), please do not be alarmed. Our place of residence and work is some distance from internet access so we still don't know how frequently we'll be able to update our 'blog.

Best wishes

Andrew and Hazel

visa applied for

2007-02-03T02:53:00.000-08:00

We went down to London yesterday and have now applied for our visa. An experience i am glad i do not have to repeat. This will hopefully be picked up on Tuesday pm, and then we will fly out on Friday. So we are now a stage closer to setting off on our adventure.

still here

2007-01-30T07:10:00.000-08:00

Just to let you know that we are still here, and awaiting to apply for our visas, we now have a copy of the letter of invitation i think in the post, so hopefuly we should go soon.
thanks for all your prayers,
keep praying!!!!

Ball

2007-01-17T10:36:00.000-08:00

Our lovely friends organised us a leaving and fundraising ball for Nigeria.

I would like to say a big thankyou to all who came to the ball and all those who worked so hard.

I felt really blessed to have people like you to call my friends.

We loved the evening and i know that everyone had so much fun.

Birmingham training

2007-01-17T10:31:00.000-08:00

Well we are now back from a week training in Queens university in Birmingham. We joined there community for a week taking part in worship and life.There were 10 of us on our training course, all preparing to go as volunteers in the near future abroad.We had lots of fun discussing some big issues in life, with some really wise people. At the end of it all we all now know that there are no answers and just lots and lots more questions to ask.One of the best things about it was spending time with the community many of which are international ministers.

an interesting site they told us to look at about culture is

http://www.nologo.org/

2007-01-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

Dear friends

We would like to share with you the next step in our journey. In January, we will be saying a tearful farewell to the wind, rain and sleet of Sheffield and saying hello to the humidity and mosquitoes of south eastern Nigeria.

We feel that God has called us to this for the next (one year) season. We have been offered voluntary jobs with Amaudo (pronounced A-moo-do), a Methodist funded charity reaching out to people with mental illness. The word “Amaudo” means “Village of Peace” and where we are going is exactly that. In Nigeria, people with mental health problems are often rejected by their families and communities and left homeless and destitute. Amaudo offers these people a home and a place to belong – somewhere where they can live in peace, be part of a community, receive treatment and therapy, learn new skills and eventually be ready to return to their own homes.

Hazel will be working as a therapy co-ordinator, managing a team of therapists working in Project Comfort, a project for children with learning disabilities and one of a number of projects under the Amaudo umbrella. Andy, meanwhile, will be employed as a finance officer. Both of us are moving into quite unfamiliar areas of work so please pray that God would fill the gaps in our expertise. We will be living side-by-side with the residents and the other staff, worshipping, working and eating together. This will be a very different lifestyle for us so please pray that we would embrace it and that the community, both inside and outside the Amaudo village, would embrace us and have patience with us as we settle in. We would also like God to give us opportunities both to learn from the people there and to share with them what we have learned from TOM and St Thomas’.

For us, simplicity will mean no on-site access to email or internet. We will have sporadic email access when we travel to the state capital so please keep in contact on brycetowers@surefish.co.uk. Alternatively, if you still remember how to use a pen and lick a stamp, you can write to us at Amaudo Itumbauzo, Centre for Mentally Ill Destitutes, PMB 1020, Bende, Abia State, Nigeria. Letters would be gratefully received but we would not recommend posting valuable items as these may go missing.

Love and blessings to you all!

Hazel and Andy Bryce