KforC

Knowledge for Children is working in rural primary schools. I grew up in a village in the Netherlands and did attend a rural primary school as well. I am not sure if I had exactly the same opportunities as children in urban schools (especially regarding sports, art, etc.) but I don’t think I was very disadvantaged being in a rural school. We had teachers, we had proper classrooms, we had books, we had computers, we had everything we needed to learn. Some of my classmates were children of farmers, they could still go to school and didn’t have to stay home to help in busy times.

I am getting more and more aware that this is all not as normal as it sounds to us. In many schools where we work, children don’t have the same opportunities as pupils in cities. Their teachers are not qualified, if they are there at all. Textbooks are a rare thing. Classrooms might be in need of renovation. There is often no light or running water. And many children have to help in the farm or market before, after or during school hours.

In short, if you are a child in Cameroon and you are unlucky enough to be born in the rural areas of your country, you are disadvantaged from the very beginning. The chances you have to make it to higher education are low, simply because you don’t have the facilities. It doesn’t have anything to do with your intelligence or motivation, but how will you be able to read and write well if you have no books and your teachers don’t really know how to teach you?

Last week I visited a few private (and very expensive) private primary schools in Douala, the commercial centre of Cameroon. It was quite shocking to see the differences. Books everywhere, computer labs, highly qualified teachers, very nice school buildings. My colleague and I were really wondering if the children in our schools would recognise this as a school. They can’t imagine that something like this also exists.

Knowledge for Children tries to improve the standards of education in the rural schools we are working. We work together with the community, normally represented by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). We donate textbooks but the community also has to raise money to also buy books. In three years, schools will receive textbooks on word and sound building, English language, French language, mathematics and two more subjects chosen by the school.

We buy books which are officially recognised by the Ministry of Basic Education to make sure the books can really be used in the classrooms. Besides donating books, we also sensitize parents and community members on the importance of education. We try to teach them that they are also responsible for the education of their children and can (and should!) hold the school in account.

In many cases, teachers are not very well trained (the formal study to become a primary school teachers takes nine months!). Therefore we also train teachers, focussing again on literacy. We believe that if teachers can teach better, and use the textbooks effectively, literacy rates will raise.

Besides educational projects we also work on health. Rural children are vulnerable to HIV/Aids and malaria and have little or no knowledge about basic hygiene. In forty schools we are running Health Clubs. These clubs are formed by pupils and work under the motto; ‘good health for quality education’. We train the health scouts and their coordinators (one teacher and one community members) on health issues and on ways how to educate the other children in their school, their parents and the rest of the community on healthy practises like washing hands.

What makes Knowledge for Children very special is that we do everything together with the community. We are not going to give them books which are put in a cupboard and never come out again. Communities have to contribute financially and every time we visit the school to donate books parents have to be there (if not, we are taking the books back to Kumbo).

In this way, we want to make our work sustainable and we can reach these communities that are ready to get things work. By doing so, we hope to prevent that we end up ‘feeding the hippos' (see the first minutes of the movie below).

First impressions of Cameroon

I am for four weeks in Cameroon now and it is very hard for me to write a nice blog about it. I have had so many impressions, so many ideas, so many changes. I think it is impossible to summarize it. But, let’s give it a try!

Differences between Ilorin and Kumbo

Kumbo

When I arrived in Nigeria, I had a culture shock. Now, arriving in Kumbo, I have a culture shock again. I do still find it difficult to point the differences between Nigeria and its neighbouring countries. But somehow you can feel it. I have the impression that Nigerians in general don’t trust strangers. This makes your life hard, if you always have to wonder if that person wants to do something bad, you have to be aware all the time. Here the feeling is different.
When I went to the market in Ilorin, people were really grabbing my arm and pulling me into their shop; BUY FABRIC! No, I want to buy tomatoes! And then a discussion was following. When I go to the market here, people ask me; Hello ma’ how are you? Do you want to buy fabric? And if I say no, tomatoes, they will point me to someone who sells tomatoes and wish me a nice day.
When we were looking for a house in Ilorin, everybody was telling me we could only arrange that through people we know, otherwise it would be too dangerous. Here I was looking for a house and all my colleagues encouraged me to ask strangers as well. In the end I found a house through the landlord of our office, but the approach is very different.
At the downside of Kumbo are definitely the roads. The rainy season has started and every morning there is less road left between my house and the office. There are only two paved roads and all others become extremely slippery when it rains as it all becomes red mud. It is very hilly here so it is quite dangerous.
Another thing I miss from Nigeria is the spice in the food. Yoruba people eat a lot of ‘pepe’ but here in many dishes there is no spice at all. In Nigeria they sell chili peppers in huge quantities, here it is only ‘small small’.
And last but not least, I miss the internet connection from Nigeria. I thought the MTN fast link (cruel joke!) was the slowest ever. I now know that is not true…

Knowledge for Children

Donating books to a school

I will soon write an entire blog post about my new job. But for now, I really like working here. The staff is very committed and motivated. The projects are great and there are a lot of ideas to make it even better.
What I like is that we are not a NGO who goes to bring some boxes of books. We only donate books if the community (parents) also buy books. They buy them through our office and after they did, we will also donate our part. Over three years, they buy 30% of the books. In this way, they are really involved.

Health club member teaching how to wash your hands

Another interesting program is the health program. In several schools we have health clubs. These clubs consist of about 30-40 pupils. They are trained on health issues like HIV and aids, malaria and hygiene. They also learn how to share their knowledge with their classmates and parents. I have seen some nice sketches performed by the health club members to sensitise their parents on hand washing.

As I said, I will soon write more about Knowledge for Children. For now, check out our Facebook page. And if you like to contribute, you can either donate straight to the bank account NL37 INGB 000 (BIC/SWIFT code: INGBNL2A) or use the tool at the right!

Byebye Nigeria, Hello Cameroon!

Since a week, I am in Cameroon. It was not easy to say byebye to everyone there. But, it is good to move on as well.

My departure from Nigeria was in style, I was sick at the day I had to travel down to Lagos, my flight was delayed for about 7 hours and I wasn’t allowed to take any extra luggage, but I could take it as extra hand luggage. Arriving in Cameroon was a very different experience. At the airport, everything went very smooth. Very different from my arrival in Nigeria a year ago!

Cameroon, and especially the region around here, is very beautiful. Everything is so green and hilly. It is really a pretty place. So I can really recommend people to visit me here, there will be something for everyone! Here in Kumbo, temperatures are also friendly. Coming from Nigeria, I am really freezing at night. I guess I will get used to it soon.

Roads are very bad. In my town there are two paved roads (with a lot of potholes). All the other ones are mud roads. Now that the rainy season has started, you can see there is less road every day. The red mud also becomes rather slippery when it rains, so it is a bit dangerous as well, especially by motorbike.

People are very nice. There are quite some white people in Kumbo so most people are used to it. Contrary to Nigeria, they are not very pushy. I went to the market and nobody even tried to touch me and drag me into their shops. People ask what you want to buy and if it is something they don’t sell they will advise you where to find it, instead of trying to sell you something totally different. Probably they understand you might come back to them when you need whatever they sell if they treat you nicely.

It seems like the post system here is reliable. So, I am waiting for all postcards and packages! Food I can find here is pretty basic, so everything what you can store for long is very welcome! Send me an email for my address if you need it. Also, if you need my Cameroonian phone number, please drop me an email.

I will really start working this week. So hopefully I will soon be able to tell you all more about that. So far, it looks great. Staff is very passionate about the work, the projects are running well and communities and schools are actively involved. It seems like a great place to work for me. Stay tuned for updates about that!

Thank you!

It a strange feeling; leaving Kwara, leaving my friends and work, leaving my home away from home. I am really leaving with mixed feeling. I am excited to go to Cameroon, look forward to the new job and can’t wait to learn more about my new organisation.

But, Nigeria has brought me so much. This has really been a life changing experience. In many respects, professionally I gained a lot, socially I had a great time. So, what did it bring me?

A lot of pleasure in working with Moshood, we were a great team and I will always remember it. Great results of our volunteers; principals report they are performing well and exam scores improve. A lot of flexibility, to change training schedules when we have to leave the room two hours early, to change plans for the day if we are without light again, to change times as no-one is in time, to change ideas because they don’t work out in Nigerian context, to change from a PowerPoint presentation to flipchart sheets if there is no light.

Taxi drivers stopping for me asking where my bicycle is and knowing exactly where I am going to. Random people asking about my bicycle, people at the border asking if I am that white woman with a bicycle when I travelled to Cotonou, colleagues asking about my bicycle, people staring at me while riding my bicycle, people I newly meet saying; ‘I know you, you live in Basin and you have a bicycle’.

Very nice friends, VSO volunteers, Nigerians and other expats in Abuja. Lots of nice barbecue fish with my friend John and barbecue parties with Miranda, Stefan, Stacey and Tamara. Many hugs from children in the neighbourhood. Fun when the kids of my beans ladies shout Oyibo! Esly! Oyibo! Esly! every day they see me.

A great road trip over the Christmas holidays, seeing a bit of Nigeria. The marriage of our Dutch friend with his Nigerian wife, especially the explanation of her uncle. A neighbour cutting my hair with a lot of little girls standing around me to collect the hair. Admiration for Nigerians who can repair anything with everything.

But also, many days without light, writing reports by hand, making me buy only the food I need that day as you can’t store anything fresh. My first-ever malaria, (what was not as bad as it could be). A lot of crazy rides, in almost collapsing vehicles, with crazy drivers and horrible roads. Corruption on the border, corruption in the Ministry, people giving us cars full of plantain to make us support their schools, blank receipts at filling stations, corruption everywhere. Schools with no teachers, no books, no nothing. Lots of unwanted attention from men. People trying to rob me of because I am white.

This has been an experience I will never forget. And I want to thank everyone who contributed to this, especially the ones who contributed to the positive aspects. I hope to see you in Cameroon!

Life is what happens to you....

...while you’re busy making other plans, John Lennon sang.

In the past months, I was planning my life in Kwara. I intended to stay at least till December, I planned what kind of work I would be doing, I did some repairs in the house. And then, life came by… While I was so busy planning, other things were happening.

To sum it all up very briefly, I will leave Nigeria on the 18^th of April and move to Cameroon. I will start working there as the country director for Knowledge for Children, a Dutch-Cameroonian NGO.

I’m leaving with a lot of mixed feelings. I will miss Kwara, my friends and colleagues, the people in the neighbourhood and the NGVP project I have been working in. Nigeria became a bit of home in the past year. Part of my heart will always be there, like it is always in Benin and in the Netherlands.

At the same time, I am very excited about the new position. I talked to a couple of people from this NGO and it all seems very good. I am excited to work on several topics which I love; education, HIV / AIDS. I am looking forward to live in a place with a cooler climate and with a lot of fresh vegetables readily available at the market. I can’t wait to learn more about the co-financing of projects to guarantee sustainability. And of course I am curious about living in a new country.

The journey continues!

One year in Nigeria

A year ago, I was very busy packing and preparing my leave. Can you imagine it is a year ago already that I left the Netherlands and arrived in Nigeria? It has not always been easy, but time still flies! I will be in Nigeria for a few more months. I am telling everyone I stay because my partner doesn’t allow me to leave. But well, I am not ready to go yet. Work is not yet done, and also socially, I am getting more and more happy here.

Of course I miss my family and friends. Of course I feel sad that my best friend got a baby in October and I will not meet her till June. Of course I miss the variety of food (cheese!). Of course I miss the possibility to go out without everyone shouting at me, especially when riding my bicycle. Of course I miss having a fridge without a cockroach family living in it. And of course I also miss having constant light and water. But, if I would go back to the Netherlands now, I am sure I would also miss Nigeria.

I would miss drinking water from plastic bags and eating groundnuts from glass bottles. I would miss the taxi rides with 5 school children and me on the backseat of a crappy old car. I would miss the children screaming when they see me (from excitement or from fear). I would miss the cheering of the children in the neighbourhood when ‘they bring light’ in the night. I would miss buying fresh pineapples, watermelons and oranges on every corner of the street. I would miss being stuck in traffic in the city because some Fulani herdsmen are passing with their cattle.  I would miss people telling me I really look like Robin van Persie when they hear I am Dutch. I would even miss the days in the office without light, writing reports by hand.

I would miss eating moinmoin and pounded yam (and especially the comments from people when they see me doing that). I would miss entering a taxi and finding out the other passenger has a living chicken on his lap.  I would miss the excitement from women when they find out my hair is all natural. I would miss the doctors who want to take your blood pressure for any health issue you have (including skin allergy). I would miss the people coming to our office mainly to charge their phones. I would miss starting every meeting or training with a prayer. I would miss the people in Shoprite who spent half of their day there ‘snapping’ pictures. I would miss people telling me ‘well done’ for only sitting in my office or waiting for a taxi. I would even miss the random people telling me that I should get at least one baby (soon).

Yes, this is a crazy country. But it is the crazy country with a lot of nice people. My friends and colleagues, the people in my neighbourhood, the national volunteers with who we work, it is their country. And yes, it is also a bit MY crazy country by now.

Winter Olympics in Nigeria

Back in the Netherlands, I always watch a lot of speed skating, especially events like the Olympics. Of course, it is a bit more difficult here. Nigeria is not exactly the country of winter sports. Fortunately, there is a South African sports channel which is broadcasting a lot of Olympic sports. I don’t have a TV, but my friends have. So, I saw Sven Kramer winning his gold medal on the five kilometre ice skating.

Watching skating on a South African TV channel was an interesting experience. Like Nigeria, also South Africa is not really well known for winter sports. So, they explain all sports. What is nice in sports like freestyle skiing or curling. But, what do you explain about ice skating?

Well, quite lot! For example, you have to explain that all competitors have to skate the same distance and that the one who does this in the shortest time, is the winner. Or, you explain that they have to change lanes every lap (yes Kramer as well!). Or, you tell your audience (at least five times) that two skaters compete at the same time. So, the person in the most inner lane is only warming up, it is not the third competitor so don’t look at him. That is also why that lane has a different colour.

Also, the concept of a ‘clap skate’ (no joke) was explained. And of course we saw a short summary of the Vancouver Olympics including the ten kilometres where ‘Sven Kremer’ did not change lanes, and the 1500 metres where ‘Mark Tietert’ won the gold medal.

What I really liked was the enthusiasm of the reporter. In the Netherlands, our reporters get very enthusiast when a Dutch is skating, or when someone is performing very well. If a Polish skater is finishing in a time of 6.26 Dutch reporters might say this is very good for him, but they will not say it is so great and he is so quick and doing so fantastic. Here they do… What is fun, it gives you the feeling he did so great and might win a gold medal. Of course, the winner was 16 seconds faster. But it feels like everyone has a similar chance to win.

I think my Nigerian colleagues will tell me I am crazy when I tell them I watched ice skating this weekend. But I am very happy that I can still keep up with a few things from my own culture. And watching skating is definitely one of the nice and harmless Dutch traditions I like to keep!

 

(I am afraid I will not be able to watch much more. So every SMS or what’s app with live updates is welcome!)