Four weeks of...

Today it is exactly four weeks ago that I arrived in Nigeria. So many things have happened since then, it feels like I spent much more time here already. At the same time, it does feel like I just arrived, that I just left the Netherlands. The same things goes for work, I am still struggling to find out what is happening and what is expected from me. But also, I did already quite some things.

Last week, my colleague and I organised a one day training for the National Volunteers about project management. VSO is giving them small grants to execute a project in the community they are volunteering. After the first applications, it turned out that the form used did not really ask for the right information. So I improved the form and in the training we discussed about some of the questions. Like; if you buy computers for your school but the principal is not giving access to the students, is it sustainable? Who is your main target group? How can you make sure this group has access to the activities you organise? How can you measure your results?  The discussions were very good and I was very pleased with the feedback the groups gave each other as well.

While they were filling in the new form, the newly recruited NYSC volunteers arrived. My colleague Moshood did a great job in receiving them and informing them about their future roll. The next day they were placed with schools and left for their placements. Quite exciting! Moshood and I will go to visit the schools where the volunteers (the old group and the new group) are placed in the beginning of May to monitor how things are going.



Groupwork!

 

So, what else has been happening? I went back to Abuja for the real In Country Training. Stacey, my housemate, also joined. We travelled to Abuja on a Saturday, we were informed that transport within the city would be limited due to local elections. But we were not aware that they would simply close the town for incoming traffic. That meant two hours traffic jam, the Nigerian way. We just sat in the shadow of a van, people were selling water and food. But we made it in the end!

I went swimming a few times and got so badly burnt that my colleagues were really worried about me. I did not really feel it that much though, and I don’t have a proper mirror, so I was not aware that it was that bad. But when I saw my pictures from the training (few days after I burned) I could imagine the shock of my colleagues. Now, I started peeling (‘like a lizard!’), so it should be better soon. I hope...