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!)

Monkeys, carnival, blankets and haloumi cheese

If I think about Christmas, I think about snow, about long dark nights and staying inside, away from the cold. You can imagine, Christmas in Nigeria is not exactly like that…

This year I celebrated Christmas with a road trip (which turned out to be an off-road trip for some parts) to the south east of Nigeria. Final destination was Calabar, a city close to the border with Cameroon. And it is a totally different world. Of course, this country is huge so differences should be big. But they really are. What makes it very interesting to travel!

Drill monkey

The first stop we made was at Afi mountain, close to Cameroon as well. Here, a NGO is working with/for drill monkeys and chimpanzees. They take care of them and the final goal is to release the drill monkeys back into the wild.

It is a very beautiful place, in the middle of the rain forest (sweaty!). They have power through solar panels, but no phone network for example. So you feel like you are really far away from the city. If you are looking for nature, don’t look any further!
Although we really enjoyed our stay, I have a lot of mixed feelings about the project as well. They aim to release monkeys back into the wild. I think releasing primates is very difficult. But I really believe that if you want to make it happen, you have to treat the animals as what they are; wild animals. They are not pets, they should know how to look for and catch or find their own food. They have to be aware that humans are their enemy (especially in a place where bush meat is very popular). I am afraid that this is not what monkeys learn when you feed them every day at the same place. They told us they have the fifth generation of drill monkeys now which live in their premises. I am just not sure how a fifth generation monkey, so used to being fed and used to humans being their friends, will be able to survive in the wild.


Rainforest

At the same time, I admire their effort and I also agree we should try to preserve the drill monkeys from extinction. But if it turns out to be pretty much impossible to release them, maybe that idea should just be given up? Another NGO in the region, working on similar things, are now trying to find funding for a PhD student to research how to release primates back into the wild. I really hope that will happen and that research will bring some good ideas.

Calabar Carnival

After Afi, we travelled to Calabar. I am so used to Ilorin now, that I got very excited to see green grass fields, in front of schools for example. Amazing how green everything is down there!

Christmas in Calabar also means carnival time. We had a great time at the cultural parade. As our car had diplomatic plates (two friends with who we travelled work at the Greek embassy), we got a real VIP spot, next to the governor and the ambassador of Rwanda. Somehow, they thought our friend (with blue hair!) was the ambassador as well. But well, this confusion led to the perfect spot to see all the traditional dances from all over Nigeria. Really nice! When I see this kind of things I feel so sad being Dutch, where we only know things like polonaises…
After this, we enjoyed a Christmas dinner at our friend’s house. Very nice to celebrate Christmas with a group of people. But no, the white landscape and the cold were far away. Although dark nights are very common here, especially without power of course!

Carnival!



Obudo Cattle Ranch

After a few days in Calabar, we travelled back north again, making a stop at Obudu Cattle Ranch. This place is now mainly used as a conference center. There is a big resort, which is a bit old but still very popular. If you are walking around there, you don’t believe you are in Nigeria. There are mountains, a cable cart and good quality roads. We stayed in a lodge very close by, much more basic but nice.

As the ranch is pretty high in the mountains, it gets quite cold there. After ten months in Nigeria, often without a fan, I was really freezing at night. I think temperature dropped to 15 degrees Celsius, but I really needed two blankets and was still kind of cold. (I will suffer when I come back to the Netherlands!).

We travelled back and celebrated New Years Eve in Abuja. We had a lovely dinner, cooked by our Greek friends. So, no ‘oliebollen’ but haloumi, Greek salad and much more.

Now I am back in Ilorin and ready to go back to work. Excited to start a new year, full of new adventures!



Sunset at Obudo

2013

In the last days of the year, it is the time to look back. So, what did 2013 bring?

• People! This year was a year in which I met so many wonderful people. Fellow volunteers in Nigeria, colleagues, national volunteers, people in the street. It is always nice to come back to Ilorin after a trip. It takes me at least 15 minutes to get home from the main junction (normally less than 5 minutes away) as every shop owner on the way wants to have a chat and a dozen of kids run to me to hug me.  
• My parents in Benin. Never expected, but they made it, and they loved it. And I loved showing them around in this part of my life.
• Education. I learnt so much in this year about education in Nigeria. I have seen a lot of challenges and hopefully also a lot of opportunities. It is not always easy to prepare volunteers to teach hundred children. Or to support them in teaching practicals with no materials. I hope my colleague and I can help them a bit to improve education.
• Volunteers. I am so proud to see what a big impact the national volunteers make. I hope to contribute a little, but they are the ones who do the job. So I am very proud of them when I hear that instead of 40% now 95% of the students in a school is passing exams. Or to hear from school principals how big their impact is on students but also on colleagues.

But also,

• Corruption. Especially crossing the border, it is an ongoing frustration.
• Heat. I really remember my first night in Ilorin. No power all night long, so also no fan all night long. Welcome to Ilorin!
• Lack of water and power. An ongoing issue in our house. I get used to the lack of power, but being without water is still difficult.

 

Maybe I can just sum up 2013 in one word: Nigeria. Nigeria is a world on his own, with so many nice people, so many people who want to improve the country, so many smiles, so much support, so many hugs, so many remarkable moments, so much to learn. But also, so little light, so much corruption, such bad roads, so many oga’s on the top with not much capacities for their jobs, so many jobless youth, so many children out of school.  I am happy to support the positive sides and feel really blessed to be able to do that with my colleague. I hope we can make a difference for some people together.

So, that’s the resolution for next year. Together with my counterpart, our national volunteers, VSO and everybody else who wants to help, continue to work for a better education in Kwara. I hope 2014 will bring us more visible results and a better life for at least a few people in Kwara state. I belief that all together, we can make a difference. Will you join us?

 

*I will be travelling in Nigeria over Christmas and New Years. This was most likely my last post for 2013. I wish you all a merry Christmas, but especially a very happy, healthy and delightful new year!*

 

 

Twins

The people in Kwara state are mainly Yoruba. The Yoruba of Nigeria are getting the highest number of twins in the world. About 4,5% of all babies born have a twin brother or sister. (In the Netherlands this is less than 1,5%).

Twin brothers are immediately recognizable by their names. The one who is born first is called Taiyewo (or shortened to Taiwo or Taiye for example). This means ‘the first to taste the world’. According to the story, the second one born (Kehinde or Kenny) sends Taiyewo to check out if life is ok. By the way he cries, he is supposed to inform Kehinde about the situation on earth. The reply determines if Kehinde will be born alive or stillborn.

In traditional Yoruba religion, it is believed that twins share one soul. So, if one of the two dies young, the balance of the soul is disturbed. In case one of the twins is passing away, a wooden figure is created to symbolize the dead child. In case both children die, two figures are made. The figures are treated by the parents as if they are real children. Rituals and prayers are performed for the child's birthday and other celebrations or festivals.

I am not sure how many people are still making these twin statues, treating them like real children. But, I can see a lot of Taiyes and Taiwos and Kehindes. So, the Yoruba seem to still get a lot of twins. People here tell me it is because of the yam they eat.

This sounds a bit strange, but I found some articles on the internet that says that a specific kind of yam is having something in it what resembles a fertility hormone used in the west. And in western countries, people who use fertility drugs do get a higher percentage of twins as well. So, it might not be as strange as you would think at first! (Especially as it seems that the number of twins among Yoruba’s who left Nigeria is pretty similar to the rest of the population of their new country).

Anyway, I decided to not take the risk and not eat too much yam!

Theo en Geertje in Benin

Een bijdrage van mijn ouders:


Voor het eerst naar Afrika, naar Benin. Wat een ervaring! Als eerste was het natuurlijk heerlijk om Esly te zien. Van te voren vroegen wij ons af, of we zouden kunnen gaan snappen, waarom zij helemaal verknocht is aan West Afrika. En wanneer je haar zo ziet, ziet hoe zij met de mensen in Benin omgaat, dan snap je het direct. Ze laat zich niet als blanke behandelen, ze is 1 van hen. Ze kletst met iedereen, en iedereen kletst met haar. Er wordt gelachen en ze pakken elkaar vast. Want de mensen daar hebben veel warmte te vergeven. We hebben bovendien niemand horen klagen, niemand! Mensen zijn tevreden met het weinige dat ze hebben. Ze zijn gelukkig op hun manier.

Toch denk ik dat er dingen zouden moeten veranderen. Onderwijs is gratis, maar zonder schooluniform kom je niet op school, en soms is dat beetje geld er gewoonweg niet. Ook de gezondheidszorg zou verbeterd moeten worden en ook denk ik dat er vuil geruimd zou moeten worden. Het gekke is, dat er geen woningnood is, althans volgens henzelf. Maar wij hebben plekken gezien, waar een hoekje in de natuur was afgezet, soms van steen, maar soms ook alleen van palmboom bladeren, en dat was dan hun huis...

Tijdens het bezoek aan het slavernij museum voelden wij ons schuldig. Toen we dat noemden, werd er simpel, maar recht uit het hart gereageerd; daar kunnen jullie niks aan doen toch... En men ging verder met de orde van de dag. 

Met kleine dingen lieten mensen ons voortdurend voelen dat ze ons

Eten op straat

respecteerden. Door heel veel mensen werden wij mama en papa genoemd. Dat is een eretitel, en zo klonk het ook. En wat werd het gewaardeerd, dat wij gewoon op straat in een "restaurantje" iets wilde drinken of eten. Net als iedereen, en niet enkel op zoek gingen naar de super de luxe plekken. Want die zijn er ook. Maar die zijn niet voor de gewone man te betalen. 

Kortom; we hebben het fantastisch gehad. Ik zou een ieder dan ook aanraden ooit zo'n reis te maken, maar zorg dan wel dat er iemand is die je de weg kan wijzen, die weet waar de bijzondere dingen te zien zijn. En ga vooral met de mensen op straat in gesprek.