The seasons are a changin'...

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