Saturday, February 6, 2010

It's been a week since I typed anything for the blog. So sorry! I'm in Eket at Phyllis' house in the south. It is really nice. There is grass, shrubs, and trees in her little compound. The problem? No power. Here in the city they have less power than we have in rural Emi-woro. But let me back up.

During this week, the teacher conferences were completed. I had one at 8 am and another at 1:30 pm. Then I had a meeting with the Head Mistress, and Bridget. We discussed all of the problems the teachers were experiencing, solutions I had suggested and suggestions the teachers had for the future. We agreed to take this information to Phyllis and get her opinion. We're also looking for a good evaluation form for the teachers. Here they are in their second year of operation and the teachers have never been evaluated. Interesting!

The Adult classes are continuing. Muhammed has been visiting and will cover my Monday class since we will be traveling back to Emi-woro that day. Which brings me to the trip from there to here(Eket). It was 11 hours and about half the roads were horrendous. Huge pot holes, the like that Pennslvania has never seen. This was the most jarring trip I've taken in my long life. The roadside scenery became more lush and green as we drove though, and we saw more western clothing being worn. I think Paul got some video of the roads and congestion in the towns we traveled through. I timed how many wrecked vehicles we saw in 15 minutes - 15. The battered cars and trucks are just left on the side of the road to rust. Before that happens they are picked clean of anything that can be used. In one area we ran across 3 recently happened accidents. One of them had cattle on the road. Clement said that they would die. So sad. We found out how these accidents happen the second half of the trip. Clement is a very careful and cautious driver. We met another driver half way, and whoa what a difference. He drove like all the other Nigerian drivers. He passed cars passing motorcycles with motorcycles coming in the other direction. We had a couple near misses. It was just best not to look forward. We left at 8 in the morning and arrived here at 7 pm. No bathrooms along the way, which was okay for the men, a little more challenging for me. But we all made it safe and sound. We stopped at a National Teacher Institute on the way down for Devin to see about getting what was needed for them to attend conference in Kenya in March. I got out to video the grounds and building. Big mistake! I was facing away from the building to start the pan when there was quite an uproar behind me. I immediately stopped filming - knowing what the problem was. I keep forgetting that they don't want you filming any public buildings. I turned around and there was a uniformed man with a very large rifle coming towards me. "No pictures" he said. I walked toward him and expressed my deep sorrow. He seemed okay, so I went to the van and put my camera inside. As I continued to walk around he came back and asked if I had "captured" anything. I said no that I was turned away from the building when I started to film. He said "I know, I saw you". Paul tells me later that he wanted my camera. I didn't get that from any of the conversation, but anytime someone is talking to you with a huge gun across his chest - you want to listen very carefully.

Three times during our drive to Eket the van chugged to a stop and died. The driver, who is a "mechanic" would throw back his seat and remove the engine cover (a thick piece of cardboard) remove a few things put them back then blow through a pipe in a small piece of the engine, put it back and off we'd go. I think it was the starter he kept clearing with a good puff of air.

Back to the present: The night was difficult. I showered and went to bed at 9 pm. I knew the "jen" would be turned off at 10 and was hoping to be asleep by then. Not! At midnight the downtown area was partying big time. Their loud speakers were on top volume with music and singing. At 3:20 the roosters started announcing the forth coming dawn. I decided during the night two things. One was that I would purchase the needed fuel to run the "jen"(generator) for the next two nights and two that I would purchase a floor fan if possible. I also wondered about the possibility of purchasing a ticket to fly from here to Emi-woro on Monday. My thoughts about that were punctuated by our outing on Saturday.

What an adventurous day. It started out with the announcement that we would visit a church in Omon and then go to Pastor J's house for lunch. I took a small bottle of water and wore my flip flops. First mistake for today. The church was waiting for us and held a little meeting meant to give us information about the area and the need for a proper school there. The information was typed on two pages and given to us to read as the Superintendent read it to us. This certainly is an area that needs a school. Then Phyllis announced that we would be "stopping by" a little fishing village on the way to Pastor Jillian's home. Sounds simple, right????? Okay - here's how simple goes in Nigeria. We drove quite a ways on bone crushing, teeth rattling roads (and Phyl assures me that they are MUCH better now than they have been) and I knew I was in trouble. My abdominal area was protesting loudly with each jolt of the van. But I toughed it out as we went from paved roads to dirt roads to wide, rutted walking paths. We were stopped by a guard at some point here and told that there were two tribes that had been warring with each other, but we should be okay - just to be aware. It turns out that the original owners of the land found out that oil and gold had been discovered there and came back wanting to repossess their land. When the present owners weren't about to let that happen, the other tribe began to burn their homes. We saw some of the resuts of this. Really nice homes burned to the ground.

We parked the van at a crossroads where further driving was not possible. We were to "trek" the rest of the way. (remember the flip flops? And me with plantar____ however it's spelled) Okay I'm still game! Off we go down this narrow path through jungle like growth. Around each corner I'm expecting to see the village. Paul swears it was two miles that we walked. I think it just seemed that long. We come to the "bridge" that I might have tried if I'd not been carrying a comcorder, camera and bottle of water, which incidentally was getting very low and I wasn't at the halfway point in the trip. So Pastor Jillian hoots something into the jungle growth several times and pretty soon - here comes a "can-o" (that's how they pronounce canoe). We all won't fit, so I'm in the first bunch. Every time the driver paddles, the boat tips to one side and the water is very near the top of the side. The thought of a saying came to mind - Tippy Canoe and Tyler too. I don't even know what that's from. Anyway Paul kept telling me to sit still. I really was trying. We arrived at the village and got off the canoe to wait for the second group. Right away we saw that the burning had reached the village. There were about four homes there burnt down. We walked through the narrow pathways between the houses made of palm leaves and bamboo. They were quite large, square and rectangle shaped homes with many rooms inside. Between each house you would find someone working on something. Mending a fishing net, cutting something, preparing food, etc. I would love to see this village from the air. I think it's huge. So our trek wasn't over. We finally came to the church. Someone went to get a key, chairs for us to sit on. Phyllis sent for some mineral and biscuits. The people wouldn't let us pay for them. The mineral is orange fanta, coke, lime drink - it's our pop or soda. We were able to take pictures of the children, and show them the picture. They loved it. There was a boy in his early twenties with a hugely swollen foot. He was walking with a cane. Phyl thinks it's elephantitus. She will look it up on the internet and see if anything can be done to ease his pain, and possible stop the progress of this disease.

I have been thinking about Lauren this whole trek, and at this point I was impressed that she needs some medical training. Lauren your teaching degree will be used to a huge degree on the mission field, and I think you will want to help the people physically too. Maybe while you take your Bible training you can also get some medical classes. I remember your immediate response to the boy in the jungle of Venezuela. His finger was nearly cut off and you went right to work helping the pharmacist work on him. How we wished we had sutures and needles to sew him up. But you made do with a pitiful first aid kit and the knowledge the both of you had. By the time we returned to the boat, I knew - had you (Lauren)been here you would have said to me again - "Gram, this is the most exciting day of my life". Our return to the van was uneventful, and it seemed not to take as long. I discovered thay my terrible towel was missing. I thought I left it in the van, but it was not there. SO, there is a Terrible Towel near a fishing village on the Niger delta in Nigeria Africa!

I best stop this for now and start another one, just to make sure we can upload this to Paul's Juno account. More news to come!