Afterwards

I have been back four weeks now. I am glad to be with my family and it is good to have hot showers, constant electricity and running water. It is also good to be able to sleep without having to worry about rats or insects crawling on my face. However I really miss Nigeria. Life was so much simpler there. Here I am faced with materialism on a massive scale and pressure to conform is strong. For the first time in ages I put on make-up. Going to the shops was a big shock as prices seemed to have shot up. Worst was going out for a meal and discovering the cost was the same as a month's wages for a teacher in Nigeria. Being told I'll soon get used to it again is small comfort.
It was not easy being a volunteer and I did struggle a lot at times but it was an amazing experience and I am so glad I did it. It is one of the major achievements of my life. Just before I left the tables I helped to design were being put into schools. It is also amazing to think that my training is now being used in other states. Even more mind blowing is thinking of all the teachers who are now teaching reading using a group method. I was so lucky to have been given the freedom to do these things and really appreciate the SSIT who willingly put my ideas into practice. The appreciation I received from the teachers will stay with me for the rest of my life.
I hope to go back to Nigeria and continue my work with story books so I may post every now and then but for now it is goodbye. Thank you to everyone who has read this. If you are thinking of volunteering then I would advise you to go for it! It may not be easy and you may have to face fears and obstacles but you won't regret it! If I can do it then anyone can!

Leaving

The last few days were the hardest of all. Walking out of the ESSPIN office for the last time was hard. My desk was so tidy and bare. I will no longer have to sit there editing lesson plans while keeping an eye on the waste paper bin in case the rat has decided to climb in there again! I said my last 'odabo' to the guard, walked downstairs and had my last pronunciation lesson from the guard on the desk and a final wave to Abdulai, the man who lifts the barrier at the gate. I have had some amazing conversations with that man-mostly completely beyond my understanding but he always seemed happy with my replies!

Clearing out our house and packing up took a lot of time as we had acquired so much stuff over fourteen months. We 'dashed' most of it. I asked the guards to put some stuff in the bin for me but not much ended up there. Very little of it was rubbish in their eyes. Even my worn out shoes could fetch a few naira apparently-very humbling. Lea made a certificate of excellent teaching for Buki, the girl in the photo,  who tried to teach us a phrase in Yoruba every week. She would also test us on previous phrases and was quite strict! She brought her brothers round for the final farewell.

Then there was another party. Sue is relocating to Abuja so we were both leaving. Here the chefs are getting ready.

All the ESSPIN staff came in outfits made from the same fabric! Here is Ife-I will never forget making mincepies with her or going to the market.

This is Kola who I worked with and sat next to in the ESSPIN office.

Then came Katherine, the deputy team leader who is a grandma like me and took us to the cantata at her church last Christmas.

As a surprise the ESSPIN staff had outfits made from the same fabric for Lea and I and Sue and Mesbah. Here I am with two of the SSIT members- Eunice and Yunus (both pronounced the same!).

Funmi was in charge of the agenda. He also made a very nice speech about me as did Sherrife.

Emma' the state team leader organised a pub quiz!

My dress was made from 4 yards of fabric!. Funmi bought Lea some 'palms' (sandals) to complete his outfit.

Even Sue's children had an outfit. I loved the flower on Bike's dress.

Sue was given special Yoruba cloth from SUBEB.

On the actual day we left Ilorin, Uzzar and Funmi and Sharon came round. We weren't sure when the plane was leaving-neither was the airline company Arik! As we left our neighbours were cheering and waving to us from the balcony and all the kids in the street came out to say goodbye. The woman from the tomato shop stopped the v an and gave us a mug and a calendar.

We finally left five hours later than scheduled. We l;eft Abuja early the following morning and were back in Heathrow at 3pm. I wore the lovely clothes the SSIT gave me all the way home.

Here I am at Heathrow. Fortunately when we arrived at Manchester airport James had brought a coat and a blanket as it was rather cooler there than in Nigeria!

Story books

I should have posted this ages ago so ignore the date! Just four weeks before I left Nigeria I got a grant of 100,000 naira from VSO. It was a bit of a mad scramble but I managed to buy 500 story books from Macmillan at a special rate of 200 naira per book and out of my allowance I bought plastic crates to  pack the books in. The best part was taking the books to the schools! I had already funded schools in Ilorin, Asa and Oro so decided to take books to another LGEA called Moro which does not do as well as other areas. The schools are also linked to a university there where David, our Canadian friend works. He is trying to help the communities and got some children into schools by finding funds to buy school uniforms and pay the PTA levy. Despite the claim that all children have acces to education lots of children still don't attend school because of having to pay the levy and have a uniform which is compulsory.So I went with the SSIT to deliver the books. At each school a child came to collect them and take them to the teachers. All the teachers in Kwara have now been trained in the new reading methods so it was good to observe them in practice.

At the start of each literacy lesson pupils in these schools can now enjoy reading real story books with Nigerian themes.

Some of the children had never seen a book apart from a text book and we had to tell them that they were allowed to open them. The teachers did a good job of introducing the books to the children-this was part of the training. It was very rewarding to see the children so absorbed. Even the children who couldn't read much were able to take part as the books are graded to include books for beginners with lots of pictures.

The children are in groups. At a training one teacher asked what to do about children who couldn't read at all. My response would have been to ability group them but Philip had a much better solution-he said the ones who could read would help the ones who couldn't. It is so much better to let them come up with their own solutions. Their solutions are based on experience in teaching in Nigeria where 'ofsted' ideals have to be greatly modified-this has been a real learning curve for me!

I wish all children could have access to these books. I am hoping to continue raising money for this. Less than £1 would buy a book for a child. My dream is to provide books for every child in public schools in Kwara state.

Reading is the key to so many things and should be the right of every child.

Struggling on

Times have been very tough recently. Ilorin is no longer the peaceful city it was a year ago. There have been several killings inour area. One was a young girl on her way home from the night vigil at her church. We were also stopped by the police and warned not to walk down the road in the dark as a sixty year old woman had been attaked by men with machetes, raped and killed. We cannot go out at all now after dark so are virtually trapped in our house once we return from work. Also some thieves have taken parts form the local transformer so we have had long periods with no NEPPA at all. As a result we also have very little water! There are also a lot of traffic jams as filling stations are not releasing fuel in an effort to increase the price of fuel!

The photo shows Lea washing up by candle light! We are both very tired now. Sleep is a problem as we have a new neighbour with a very noisy generator so the choice is shut the window and sleep in the heat or listen to the generator!

Our wonderful tailor made Lea and I the matching tops!

Saying goodbye

First there was a party for the SSIT to celebrate their first two years. They had these outfits made for me and Lea. They also said some very nice things about us and were really appreciative of all we had done.

At our last meeting they sang 'Jolly Good Fellow'!

Bello, I will never forget your jokes-especially the eating game!

Lea with Adeoye

Then the woman by the office who helped me with my Yoruba as well as selling us scotch eggs!

Funmi, my office colleague and true friend. He kept me going through difficult times with his humour and chat.

Oozar, my neighbour became a great friend and I will never forget her and will really miss our chats.

Nancy and Dave, our Canadian friends. We enjoyed Dave's birthday party and it was good to meet some other expats!

Searching for God in Nigeria

Last Sunday a truly wonderful person died. Gill Edwards was my friend and mentor and I loved her dearly. She was an ‘earth angel’ and inspired many people. She wrote books such as ‘Living Magically’, ‘Life is a Gift’, ‘Conscious Medicine’ and more. She kept me going in dark troubled times. Without her support I would never have come to Nigeria. Gill taught me to ‘Follow my dreams and live with joy’. She taught me to look for the positive and find something to be grateful for every day. She showed me that  without doubt  life is eternal  and the only reality is Love. Thank you,  Gill. I know you are still with me and your love will stay with me forever.  I believe that life is part of a much larger journey and so death cannot be a tragedy. Gill has moved on and I miss her earthly being but her spirit will continue to guide me.

So I will try to explain my ‘journey’ in Nigeria.......

My beliefs were sorely tested when I first came to Ilorin. My impressions of Ilorin were not good. Sabo-Oke, where we live, was often described as a ‘ghetto’-rather a rough area. Indeed it is not a picturesque place-rubbish is thrown everywhere and the cemetery is strewn with plastic bags, rotting food and excrement-human and animal. The ditches are little better than open sewers in places, lorries belch out thick black acrid smoke, generators whir and there is noise, noise, noise... My eyes are often sore with the dust and pollution and fresh air is a luxury. Poverty abounds. Polio victims beg, young children risk their lives begging at busy roundabouts. I saw children sitting for hours in dark dismal classrooms waiting for a teacher who never arrived. I saw children cower in fear of the kaboko (the strap) and Lea witnessed floggings in secondary schools. I saw children taking tiny tots to school down busy roads, five year olds looking after  babies. I could not see God in these scenes.

Everywhere people go to the mosque or the Christian church. Religion has a powerful influence here. How else would people put up with their wretched lives? Religion offers the chance of a better life. Religion says just ‘trust’, put everything in God’s control. Missionaries build fine churches and offer salvation from hell. They tell people to repent and pray, cast out their devils and tell their converts God is in charge. All they have to do is pray-no action is required.  So people remain helpless victims in the face of corruption and the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I know this is a very simplistic view and I am sure not all churches are like this but this is how it first seemed to me.

So how could God be here?  How could ‘Life be a gift’? How could anyone ‘live magically here? What have these people got to show gratitude for and where is the joy in their lives?

But....... when I got past all my pre-conceived notions and looked beyond the squalor, of course, you are right Gill. God is in Nigeria. Life is a gift-yes, even and especially, in Nigeria.

I couldn’t find God in the churches but I did find him in the people. Nigerians have something we, in the west, have lost-joy, spontaneity, the ability to live in and truly appreciate the moment! The State School Improvement Team I work with face many difficulties and frustrations but I will carry their joy and laughter with me always. They have not forgotten how to sing and dance in celebration of life. At first I found the banter infuriating when I was training them but once I shed my British ‘stiff upper lip’ I found I too could be joyful!  And the fun we had pretending to be chickens, a yam in a bag, five little ducks..... Oh how we repress our joy as adults in the West! Yes, training here is very noisy and can be frustrating but everyone joins in, shows appreciation and has fun!

Then I look at the children. They don’t want my pity! They run to greet me, laughing and tumbling in the sand, shouting, ‘Auntie Caroline!’  Some of them have to be tough to survive but the pleasure in their faces as they play with bits of wood and home-made toys. I have seen groups of them looking out for one another with a tough love but a love none the less. Yesterday, at the orphanage, the little boys were playing ball with Lea and they were so happy-it was moment I will always treasure. All they want is love. I still so desperately want the children to be able to play and want the carers to hug them more but Mrs Omolehin has love in her heart and is drawing in more and more support. Last year she was in two rooms with a few part-time helpers now she has a nursery room, a building for the older children, thirteen helpers and a bus. She, truly sees the positive. Her love attracts more love and I know that very soon the other buildings will be up and the children will be housed in family style accommodation.

Yes the classrooms are dark and dismal but times are changing. Thanks to the SSIT teachers are releasing and sharing their joy with the children. They are learning that teaching does not have to be a chore but can be fun. They are singing the phonic songs, pretending to be ducks......

God is here in the people. Love is in the families. Mothers with babies bound to their backs, work day and night to improve their lives.  The poorest people here have given me the most-an extra egg, a bag of tomatoes from my neighbours, drinks at schools. There is much that is wrong and sad here but the day after Gill died I looked into the sky above Sabo-Oke and knew God was here. God/Love  is what keeps Nigeria going.

I will miss you!

Yes, sadly Lea and I are returning home on December 17^th as our family need us. It was a very hard decision and one we made in September. It had nothing to do with the trials we have faced recently although they have saddened me greatly.

The children playing with some of the toys Andrea sent. The rest of the money I raised I used to buy disposable nappies. Thank you everyone who helped me do this!

A moment to treasure. Lea playing catch with the children.

At Lucy's

We had such a nice time at Lucy’s. It was so nice to be with other volunteers. We enjoyed great meals in the garden. Vonnie and I made the best salad and Irish garlic bread of course but we also had pounded yam with okra soup which we pounded ourselves. Lucy and Laurence had been keeping a goat so I stayed well away from the slaughter area but Lea said it tasted good. She has got another one for Christmas. The guards were very pleased to be given the head to eat!

In the garden the hammock was in much demand. There were lots of nice shady places to sit which was good as it was much hotter there than it is here. Harmattan has started there so it was cooler at night.

We also got to meet two German students who have done a lot of work with the Almajirai children and showed us a dvd the children had made themselves. These are Muslim children who beg on the streets. After seeing the dvd I understood a lot more and realised they didn’t need my pity but wanted respect for what they were doing. They are sent to the Koranic schools  by their parents and have to beg to provide money for their food. They are treated very badly but are proud that they support themselves. They spend many hours learning and reciting the Koran. If they get it wrong they get beaten by the Mallam (teacher of the Koran) who believes the more beatings he gives the more rewards he will get.

It is much quieter in Dutse and it was nice to walk about without being shouted at! We went to the market and got some really pretty cloth. Things are cheaper there too. The rocks were very interesting and good to walk to and up, although I didn’t get very far-my shoes were too slippy!

Sitting in the secret garden. It was so quiet here after the noise of Ilorin!

Lea enjoying a well earned snooze!

I even got a free drumming lesson!

Thank you Lucy for sharing your house with us all.

Seen in Dutse along with bicycles and a lovely slower pace of life!