3rd March 2009

Arriving at Work

So, after arrival and settling into my new place, I had a good night’s sleep and awoke to the smell of a new morning. I lay there thinking about what work might have in store for me. Breakfast was some bread and a cup of tea. I wasn’t quite sure about the water. It didn’t seem that sandy, but David had said that that was what I had to watch out for. Patricia arrived to clean and do my washing, which I was very grateful for. The walk to work is a fairly straight road that leads straight from the accommodation blocks down the centre of the college campus and my office. Students litter the road, ambling to and from college and being woven in and out of by okadas. Once in the office, I met various people: Manga, Becky, Tashi, Joseph, Aminu, Clement, Musa and Musa. They were all working on various projects so were in and out. The office was awaiting a current order of desks and stools for primary school in the state waiting to be completed. The prospect of this being achieved was very exciting, but until that was completed Becky was to show me round and get me orientated. We spent that first morning walking and talking around the campus, meeting Heads of Departments, enjoying the odd ‘mineral’ (soft drinks such as Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Schweppes or Guinness Malta (a non-alcoholic malt drink)) and generally greeting lots of new people. I’m sure they’ll remember me, as David and I are the only white people on campus, but I’m not sure whether I can do the same in return as we met so many people. We walked for about 2 hours, so we were quite tired that afternoon. People seemed very keen for me to work with them, particularly when it comes to computer skills, but that’s something that I will need to figure out in the up coming weeks.

Days and Nights

That night was another unappetising meal, but fortunately I’m not too fussy! Thanks to my friends, I have the box set of the complete series of Sex and the City so was very happy sitting down with a cup of tea and ‘the girls’. I did make a mental note, however, to spread my enjoyment of the DVDs out. It can easily become obsession that leads to devastation when the seasons run out. I know, I know. Anyway, I wasn’t that easily diverted from my new life, and after another bucket wash, had another comfortable sleep under my mosquito net. It actually makes me feel like a princess – look at the picture once I upload it and you’ll see what I mean!

Friday was another relaxed day and then I found myself at the weekend thinking about what to do. People tend to take it easy here in Akwanga on the weekend so I went with David into the town, which is 2 to 3 km away. He has his own motorbike that has been loaned to him by the college, so I sat on the back. After filling up my shopping bags with carrots, onions, cabbage, tomatoes, rice, sugar, cornflakes, matches, tomato puree, fruit juice and biscuits, we went and had some lunch at a local restaurant. I had my old favourite, egusi soup and pounded yam. Unfortunately I’d had a funny tummy for a couple of days so couldn’t finish. I won’t go into the ins and outs, but generally I’ve been ok. I’d heard from a fellow new volunteer in Abuja who had already gone down with a suspected case of malaria, which is a shame. I have to take anti-malarial pills everyday and sleep under a net to try and hold back the threat, but you never know when a mosquito might attack!

On Sunday I went to church with David, which was interesting. He attends one called Church of Christ. It was fairly long service with lots of hymns and some teaching from the bible where the congregation could join in by reading out passages or contributing thoughts. The hardest worker, however, was the man leading the service, who translated the sermon, teachings and quotations from English into Hausa, the local language.

On Monday, I had some visits from a couple of local children. I gave them each a biscuit, but unfortunately didn’t have anything like story books or colouring, which they built up the courage to ask for. News spread of the biscuits and I’m certain to get more visits from more children in the area.

That night disaster struck. Just as I was tucking into what I have to say is my nicest cooking yet (rice with a tomato and vegetable sauce), there was a crash and I saw the power line pole fall down just outside my window. Instantly, Nepa went. Some people gathered round to look at what had happened and as the whole area appeared to be in darkness I’m hoping that it will be sorted out soon. I will have to take things into work to charge for the foreseeable future though and will have to limit my laptop use at home. All is good though. Life goes on!