Hi everyone,
So, this week is a little bit more relaxed, so I have some time to write. We are being audited over the next 2 weeks, so work will be a little slow, which will be a nice change of pace.
Last week I was up north in Nigeria, is the North western zone..actually only about 3 hours north of Abuja, but very different. It is a town that is 50% muslim and 50% Christian, but is a state governed by Sharia law, which is interesting as it can impact on the Christians, but since the 90’s, they have lived relatively harmoniously. There were some positives and some negatives to this trip, but overall it was alright. The best part was that Kaduna has this amazing French café, with the best croissants I have had outside of France! The worst part was having to choose which cute, baby lamb to choose for slaughtering, and later eat for our dinner! My treat, as a first timer to Kaduna, was getting the speciality….sucking the marrow out of the still furry lamb’s tail!! Yummy! It was horrible, and I mostly faked it, as the whole idea was just so horrible, the sucking was not half as bad as me having to convince myself to actually put the furry tail in my mouth….I survived, but I will not ever do it again! I should also mention that we are now leaving the good season and entering the Harapin Sand Storm season…where the air is full of red sand blowing in from the Sahara, so at all times you are eating, drinking and breathing red sand…and on top of that it is also the aphid season…huge, flying, grasshopper like bugs that eat all remaining crops and nestle themselves into your bed, clothes and hair!! So, all in all very enjoyable at the moment, especially as the temperatures get up to 40 degrees some days!!
I have been getting some great questions from friends and family about my time here, so I should try to clarity some of them. First, so far from what I have seen of Africa, it is really a beautiful continent, some countries are of course nicer than others, as are some cities and towns, but overall it is a place to visit at least once in your lifestyle. The Arica that is portrayed on television, like kids sitting idling with snot running down their noses and covered in mosquitos is NOT the norm…sure it happens, and you do see it occasionally, but only when I am going to the camps where these (typically) refugees are living, and there has been an outbreak of cholera or dengue…it is not like everyone lives this way. Africa, as whole is actually very green, with lots of trees and farm land…however I have been visiting the various countries during rainy season…drought starts in March-June, so I am sure that will change, but on a whole, there is a lot of farming and agriculture. When I go on mission, it is usually to some pretty terrible areas, and it is for this reason that I am going on mission…we have to visit the bad areas, because they have a lot of illnesses and other problems, which is of course why WHO operates in the countries it operates in….so when I am on mission, it is not usually all the fun in terms of what I see and experience, but it is definitely educational and eye opening. The one thing I have definitely learned from it all is that we from the developed world often feel sorrow/pity/anger/sadness, etc for the way these people live, but for the majority, this is all they have ever known and all they see…they have a roof over their heads, yams and other root veggies growing in the garden, and God…they are not asking for a bigger television, nicer home, better clothes…they ask what every parent asks for..to keep their kids healthy! The problem is often with the officials (government and religious) who know what else is out there, and want a ‘piece’ of it. While Nigeria is known to be a corrupt country, the people themselves are wonderful, grateful people, who will literally do everything they can to make sure you are comfortable…while maybe not giving you their last dollar, they will certainly come to your assistance when you really need them! Nigerians are also extremely entrepreneurial, which is a nice change from many other neighbouring countries, where people just ask for a handout. Everyone is a business owner in some capacity or another…selling anything and everything you can imagine on the busy roads, or setting up booths to teach driving skills (which is kind of an oxymoron, because Nigerians really are the craziest /stupidest drivers I have ever seen), to traveling barbers, etc…they do not look for handouts, and surprisingly there are no people just standing at street corners looking for a free handout…if and when you do see it, they are typically polio survivors or blind from other diseases…yet they are still working, selling newspapers. Definitely puts those “squeegee kids” to shame who are just looking for drug money or just refuse to use the “system”. There is no social support network in Nigerian, so even more shameful that we have homelessness and other problems in our developed worlds. While I do complain from time to time about the food (only because I want the stuff that is bad for you like Doritos and candy, etc), the food is actually pretty good here…it is really spicy, sort of like a good west Indian curry. The really good news is that I found an organic farm that grows absolutely everything (including strawberries) and does home delivery!!! The bok choy and arugula is the best I have ever had, anywhere in the world, and that passion fruit is unbelieveable! I get a huge box of fresh fruit, herbs and veggies every week delivered right to my door! While it is a bit expensive, it is worth every single dime plus some! I am actually going to spend a weekend at the farm, as they encourage those who use them to come and stay and work for free. I see it as a really good opportunity to learn about farming in Nigeria, as they use no machines or animals, only human, physical hands to grow everything! Not sure when I will be able to go, but hopefully before Christmas!
As for the polio update this week…we have now infected 3 other countries…Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali all have had positive tests in the last week…these countries have not had polio in over 10-15 years and were considered eradicated! So, looks like we have even more work to do now!
Apart from that, all is well! I had my greatest dinner since arriving...real Indian food!! My neighbours are from India and are vegetarian, so they have invited me for dinner whenever I want to come…YAH!!! So excited about this!! No more semovita, such a relief!
Take care, and hopefully you in those snowy countries about to get winter don’t get any more early storms.
Andrea
dimanche 26 octobre 2008
mardi 21 octobre 2008
Polio is again on the rise...
So, it has been a few weeks since I last wrote, and it is not because I have had nothing to say, but more because work is just a little out of control right now. I am sitting in the north of the country, in Borno state, right on the border of Cameroon, which is insanely hot, and the sandstorms have started, so it does not make for good times….however the hotel we are staying at is also our meeting location, so I have not actually gone outside in 5 days…apart from our trip across the border to eat fresh fish from Lake Chad in Cameroon!
Polio is worse than even. We now have over 900 cases of wild polio in Nigeria, and it has spread to neighbouring countries, like Niger and Ghana (they haven’t had a polio case in over 10 years!!). So, we are in pandemic planning and figuring how we can contain the virus and get government and religious officials on board to support the vaccination campaigns we are planning to do throughout November. I have been involved in day long and all night meetings for basically the last two weeks. I am still not sure why I go to these meetings, as I am not a technical person (meaning I know nothing about the disease), but there has been a lot of (unsuccessful) facilitation, but I am also pretty sure that my skin colour has something to do with it! We have brought in some very well respected Nigerian officials to help support our initiatives, so we hope this will have some impact on our results. Only time will tell! But, it is making time go by very fast…I have already been here 3 months, so only 8 more months to go here, before I figure out where to go next…I do have a bet on the line that if I lose “I won’t come back to Africa”…there is a possibility for Laos, in south east Asia, which could be interesting…but house prices are dropping in Toronto, so we’ll see
While in the north of the country, we paid a ‘courtesy’ visit to the man with 87 wives and 219 children (and counting), as he has become rather famous for his habit of marrying every woman born in his village…he was looking at me funny, with a sort of “maybe that oyibo can be #88?!”
I am again having some immigration issues here…got the strangest call from the Nigerian Embassy last week saying I must bring down passport photos within 24 hours or risk being “removed” from the country…I did not quite believe it…for a few reasons…we often get “threatening phone calls”, where people just call random numbers and make idle threats….they don’t know our name or where we live, so I am not sure how it works, but I will say, these Nigerians sure are “entrepreneurial”…the call turned out to be a real call, and I had to immediately bring down 2 photos…this is after I already gave them at least 10 other photos…so we will see what happens.
Anyways, that is it for me for now this week. I am going to be out on missions most of the month of November, so looking forward to a relaxing Christmas break, in a location still to be decided! I just hope it includes a white, sandy beach, crystal clear water and a swim up bar! We are also working on finalizing the Thompson family safari trip in East Africa in March, which will be very exciting…so lots to look forward to! Congrats again to my brother and Maggie, who are finally getting married…it’s about time!
Once I get back to Abuja later this week, I will be posting some photos of my new flat and the compound....apart from the noise from the highway, the gunshots, and the ridiculously annoying birds, it is a nice place!
Hope you are all well!
Love, ange
Polio is worse than even. We now have over 900 cases of wild polio in Nigeria, and it has spread to neighbouring countries, like Niger and Ghana (they haven’t had a polio case in over 10 years!!). So, we are in pandemic planning and figuring how we can contain the virus and get government and religious officials on board to support the vaccination campaigns we are planning to do throughout November. I have been involved in day long and all night meetings for basically the last two weeks. I am still not sure why I go to these meetings, as I am not a technical person (meaning I know nothing about the disease), but there has been a lot of (unsuccessful) facilitation, but I am also pretty sure that my skin colour has something to do with it! We have brought in some very well respected Nigerian officials to help support our initiatives, so we hope this will have some impact on our results. Only time will tell! But, it is making time go by very fast…I have already been here 3 months, so only 8 more months to go here, before I figure out where to go next…I do have a bet on the line that if I lose “I won’t come back to Africa”…there is a possibility for Laos, in south east Asia, which could be interesting…but house prices are dropping in Toronto, so we’ll see
While in the north of the country, we paid a ‘courtesy’ visit to the man with 87 wives and 219 children (and counting), as he has become rather famous for his habit of marrying every woman born in his village…he was looking at me funny, with a sort of “maybe that oyibo can be #88?!”
I am again having some immigration issues here…got the strangest call from the Nigerian Embassy last week saying I must bring down passport photos within 24 hours or risk being “removed” from the country…I did not quite believe it…for a few reasons…we often get “threatening phone calls”, where people just call random numbers and make idle threats….they don’t know our name or where we live, so I am not sure how it works, but I will say, these Nigerians sure are “entrepreneurial”…the call turned out to be a real call, and I had to immediately bring down 2 photos…this is after I already gave them at least 10 other photos…so we will see what happens.
Anyways, that is it for me for now this week. I am going to be out on missions most of the month of November, so looking forward to a relaxing Christmas break, in a location still to be decided! I just hope it includes a white, sandy beach, crystal clear water and a swim up bar! We are also working on finalizing the Thompson family safari trip in East Africa in March, which will be very exciting…so lots to look forward to! Congrats again to my brother and Maggie, who are finally getting married…it’s about time!
Once I get back to Abuja later this week, I will be posting some photos of my new flat and the compound....apart from the noise from the highway, the gunshots, and the ridiculously annoying birds, it is a nice place!
Hope you are all well!
Love, ange
mardi 7 octobre 2008
Icelandic adventures!
So, I am back from what seemed like the fastest vacation ever! 10 days goes by way too quick! It was nice to be back in somewhat civilization, where I am relatively anonymous again...no driver following me around everywhere or being called "Oyibo" (White person) where ever i went!
I was staying with my friend Catherine, and on my second night we met up with a couple of friends from Rome, who I hadn't seen in about 4 years, and luckily was in London at the same time, as she lives in Colombia...it definitely did not seem like it had been 4 years! Had a great dinner and of course some local drink...and now looking forward to our reunion holiday to Jordan next year!
Now on to the real part of the holiday...ICELAND!!! It was incredible. The Icelandic folk love their bathing and toilet facilities, which is a nice treat from the standards found in Africa (more on this later)!! Iceland is a really beautiful country, and even prettier when it snows, and lucky for us, we got to see it both ways, as for some reason, Iceland had a freak snowstorm and got like a foot of snow! Catherine and I rented a car upon arrival, and so it was nice because we could easily get around. We had a great Mexican meal our first night, complete with Icelandic lobster...very, very good! Our first day we intended to go south east, but fate always works in our favour, and we ended up going north (good thing about holidays is that you don't really HAVE to be anywhere at any point). So, we headed for the Icelandic fjords. A long 8 hour journey on roads full of potholes, gravel and windy, mountainous and sea cliffs along the way...but the views were incredible. Almost everything in Iceland shuts down after tourist season ends in early September, so finding a place to stay is quite difficult. Luckily the gas station attendant knew a place in her town about "2 mountain passes away"...we settled in and the nice surprise that awaited us was the shower...it's not often that I get excited by showering, however this is one of those showers that had 8 showers heads coming from all different angles...and it had a built in radio and crazy blue lights! So, it was very enjoyable...and after 4 months in Africa it is nice to know that if i open my mouth and drink some of the water that I won't get giardia or dysentry or something like that...the water in Iceland is said to be the cleanest and purest in the world! From here we went the the western most point of Europe, and only 300kms away from Greenland... to these amazing cliffs to see the birdlife...it was a beautiful sunny, crisp (about 6 degrees) day, so we spent the morning there exploring, while I think I worried my friend a little, as I for some reason like to get really close to the cliff drops off 400 metres below to rocky ocean floors!!
After leaving the west, we woke up at 3am to take the ferry to the south...however when we got to the ferry at 430am, for the 630 boarding, it did not show up...so we had to do the whole drive all over again...however, as it had snowed, and everything looked so much different! We headed back to Reyjavic (Iceland's capital) for the evening as we had been driving all day...we went to the famous Blue Lagoon for some relaxation and pampering...and it really is as beautiful as the pictures look...note to anyone else that goes...go in the evening, as the geothermal water is this really eery magnetic blue colour and is really amazing (see photos) and after that, we decided we needed a drink or two and found a quaint little pub, hosting a Metallica night! All Metallica, all night long...that same night, we found ourselves in the freak snow fall that was blanketing all of Iceland, and our intentions of heading all the way to the west were hampered by the fact the roads were closed due to the storm. So, we hung out in the area and went to Vik beach...one of the world's top 10 beaches...as it is pure black, volcanic sand! Again, it was a sunny, crisp and fresh day...but I had to take a dip in the North Atlantic Ocean...so off came the clothes and in I went...my legs went numb in the first 10 seconds and then a wave got me and brought me down...Catherine was filming from the sidelines, and I would imagine it was pretty funny...due to the graphic nature of my language and almost nakedness, I will not be publicly posting the video, as I don't want to ruin my future ambitions as Prime Minister! We also got to see the famous Geysirs erupt, which is quite cool although I have never enjoyed the rotten egg smell that comes with sulphuric water! There are lots of big and small waterfalls everywhere, some which I was very tempted to stand under, but as it is all glacier water, it was way too cold, but they did make for some superb waterfalls, which are practically everywhere...the Gulfoss falls were pretty incredible close up, and you can surpringly get right up to them!
Overall, Iceland is a really chill country...the people are very nice and the fish and lobster is superb, especially the lobster soup from the famous Fisherman's Hut...and I had the best salmon that I have ever had...Iceland is however, extremely expensive...after Nigeria, it did not seem that bad, but compared to the rest of Europe and North America, prices are quite steep. But, it was worth every dime. Catherine and I both enjoyed it...and I would definitely go back, but probably not any time soon...they really need to work on the roads...for those wanting to cycle, you can really only get so far there, and the wind is pretty incredible...but if you like a challenge, definitely one counyry to attemp!
Once back in London, we again met up with some friends from my past...Nicole, my flatmate from New Zealand who I went to Costa Rica with in March, and my friend Grant who I met in Nepal last year! We had a very good night out in London!
I am now back in Abuja...and back to work right away. It seems that while I was away, there were 200 new cases of polio, some in areas that have never been infected, so we are now dealing with somewhat of an epidemic (I have finally learned the difference between pandemic, endemic and epidemic)! So, it is very serious, and we are at a loss, with lots of running around trying to organize major vaccination campaigns. We are also severly affected by the economic crisis, as donor countries are starting to cut back or not even send the last quarter payments...so this crisis truly is a global crisis!
Anyways, I am in my flat now...slowly settling in...no more cockroaches though!
I have updated some photos, so have a look! http://picasaweb.google.com/angelynne78
Andrea
I was staying with my friend Catherine, and on my second night we met up with a couple of friends from Rome, who I hadn't seen in about 4 years, and luckily was in London at the same time, as she lives in Colombia...it definitely did not seem like it had been 4 years! Had a great dinner and of course some local drink...and now looking forward to our reunion holiday to Jordan next year!
Now on to the real part of the holiday...ICELAND!!! It was incredible. The Icelandic folk love their bathing and toilet facilities, which is a nice treat from the standards found in Africa (more on this later)!! Iceland is a really beautiful country, and even prettier when it snows, and lucky for us, we got to see it both ways, as for some reason, Iceland had a freak snowstorm and got like a foot of snow! Catherine and I rented a car upon arrival, and so it was nice because we could easily get around. We had a great Mexican meal our first night, complete with Icelandic lobster...very, very good! Our first day we intended to go south east, but fate always works in our favour, and we ended up going north (good thing about holidays is that you don't really HAVE to be anywhere at any point). So, we headed for the Icelandic fjords. A long 8 hour journey on roads full of potholes, gravel and windy, mountainous and sea cliffs along the way...but the views were incredible. Almost everything in Iceland shuts down after tourist season ends in early September, so finding a place to stay is quite difficult. Luckily the gas station attendant knew a place in her town about "2 mountain passes away"...we settled in and the nice surprise that awaited us was the shower...it's not often that I get excited by showering, however this is one of those showers that had 8 showers heads coming from all different angles...and it had a built in radio and crazy blue lights! So, it was very enjoyable...and after 4 months in Africa it is nice to know that if i open my mouth and drink some of the water that I won't get giardia or dysentry or something like that...the water in Iceland is said to be the cleanest and purest in the world! From here we went the the western most point of Europe, and only 300kms away from Greenland... to these amazing cliffs to see the birdlife...it was a beautiful sunny, crisp (about 6 degrees) day, so we spent the morning there exploring, while I think I worried my friend a little, as I for some reason like to get really close to the cliff drops off 400 metres below to rocky ocean floors!!
After leaving the west, we woke up at 3am to take the ferry to the south...however when we got to the ferry at 430am, for the 630 boarding, it did not show up...so we had to do the whole drive all over again...however, as it had snowed, and everything looked so much different! We headed back to Reyjavic (Iceland's capital) for the evening as we had been driving all day...we went to the famous Blue Lagoon for some relaxation and pampering...and it really is as beautiful as the pictures look...note to anyone else that goes...go in the evening, as the geothermal water is this really eery magnetic blue colour and is really amazing (see photos) and after that, we decided we needed a drink or two and found a quaint little pub, hosting a Metallica night! All Metallica, all night long...that same night, we found ourselves in the freak snow fall that was blanketing all of Iceland, and our intentions of heading all the way to the west were hampered by the fact the roads were closed due to the storm. So, we hung out in the area and went to Vik beach...one of the world's top 10 beaches...as it is pure black, volcanic sand! Again, it was a sunny, crisp and fresh day...but I had to take a dip in the North Atlantic Ocean...so off came the clothes and in I went...my legs went numb in the first 10 seconds and then a wave got me and brought me down...Catherine was filming from the sidelines, and I would imagine it was pretty funny...due to the graphic nature of my language and almost nakedness, I will not be publicly posting the video, as I don't want to ruin my future ambitions as Prime Minister! We also got to see the famous Geysirs erupt, which is quite cool although I have never enjoyed the rotten egg smell that comes with sulphuric water! There are lots of big and small waterfalls everywhere, some which I was very tempted to stand under, but as it is all glacier water, it was way too cold, but they did make for some superb waterfalls, which are practically everywhere...the Gulfoss falls were pretty incredible close up, and you can surpringly get right up to them!
Overall, Iceland is a really chill country...the people are very nice and the fish and lobster is superb, especially the lobster soup from the famous Fisherman's Hut...and I had the best salmon that I have ever had...Iceland is however, extremely expensive...after Nigeria, it did not seem that bad, but compared to the rest of Europe and North America, prices are quite steep. But, it was worth every dime. Catherine and I both enjoyed it...and I would definitely go back, but probably not any time soon...they really need to work on the roads...for those wanting to cycle, you can really only get so far there, and the wind is pretty incredible...but if you like a challenge, definitely one counyry to attemp!
Once back in London, we again met up with some friends from my past...Nicole, my flatmate from New Zealand who I went to Costa Rica with in March, and my friend Grant who I met in Nepal last year! We had a very good night out in London!
I am now back in Abuja...and back to work right away. It seems that while I was away, there were 200 new cases of polio, some in areas that have never been infected, so we are now dealing with somewhat of an epidemic (I have finally learned the difference between pandemic, endemic and epidemic)! So, it is very serious, and we are at a loss, with lots of running around trying to organize major vaccination campaigns. We are also severly affected by the economic crisis, as donor countries are starting to cut back or not even send the last quarter payments...so this crisis truly is a global crisis!
Anyways, I am in my flat now...slowly settling in...no more cockroaches though!
I have updated some photos, so have a look! http://picasaweb.google.com/angelynne78
Andrea
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