The Ramblings of a Geordie in Nigeria

By Chris Sutherland

I thought about a possible theme for a blog post on multiple occasions over the last few weeks, but each time I drew a blank. So instead I thought I’d just try and detail some of the crazy aspects of life in Lafia; a place I would describe as the capital of relaxed chaos.

Food

I’ll start with the cuisine, never swallow a mouthful without chewing, you never know if it’s going to contain a bone, piece of fat or entire foot. If someone offers you soup, stew or porridge, don’t bother saying you’ve had it before back home, those words have clearly been lost in translation here. Asked my counterpart on day one what meat we were eating, he said “cow, goat, sheep, pig or bush rat”. I didn’t bother asking again, I just treat it like a game of meat roulette, never knowing where it’ll land.

Word of warning; if you buy a child a pack of biscuits in the local store make sure he has no friends first. Otherwise prepare yourself to be mobbed by the local children with requests of cupcakes and Bobo milk once the word has spread about your generosity. 

Wildlife

Saw a chicken cross the road in my first week here, wasn’t as funny as I’d imagined and I’m still waiting for the punchline.

When the cockerel in your yard disappears one day don’t assume you’re having it for dinner, it will likely lead to disappointment.

Money

If you like haggling you’ll love it here; if you don’t you’ll pick it up very quickly. Be prepared for your first attempt without a Nigerian to not go very smoothly though. On our first attempt we somehow managed to bamboozle an Okada driver by saying ‘130 Naira, no 130 Naira’, only for him to say ‘Ok, 120 Naira’. Learn from the masters though, it doesn’t matter if you’re going two minutes down the road or the other side of the town, a Nigerians opening bid will always be 60 Naira.

Television

Forget Hollyoaks, Eastenders and the other pillars of UK TV, Nigerian ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ and ‘Super Story’ blow them out of the water. I’d share the synopsis of ‘Super Story’ with you but I think that it will take away from the enjoyment when you finally get to watch it for the first time. Facial expressions and dramatic music can be found in abundance.

Entertainment

Ways to pass the time in Lafia without spending money include: “who can touch the hot car roof the longest, who can do a plank the longest and who can make the miserable shop owner smile first”. If you want to spend money there’s “who can chug a fanta the quickest”. 

Transport

Do you enjoy those simulators which make out like you are on a wild car ride? I hope so, as get ready to spend a small portion of your time driving with the bus tilted at a 45 degree angle , looking at the inner workings and cogs of most vehicles and hearing a chorus of car horns wherever you go

Things you can fit on an okada 3 grown men, one grown man and five small children, a live goat, 10 metres of scaffolding, wheelbarrow and a mattress.

All jokes aside if you end up in Lafia just try to embrace it. The quirks I mentioned are what makes it so interesting to be here. The work can be tough on a bad day, but on a good day it makes it all worthwhile.

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MPR - The one where we went to Keffi

By Andy Crisp

So there we all were, waiting for our bus to turn up, it’s 9:30 am on Friday morning and the bus is already 30 minutes late (although this is something I’ve come to grow used to during my time in Lafia). It’s about 11 by the time we finally set off but none of us care because we’re all too excited about getting away for our Mid Phase Review in Keffi. For those who are unaware of what this is, the Mid Phase Review is our opportunity to get away from our Host Communities for three days at the mid-point of our programme in order that we can assess how everything is coming along.

It took around two and half hours to get to Keffi from Lafia, with no problems along the way. Upon arrival in Keffi we then went on to our hotel for the weekend, which was absolutely brilliant, a place called the New Keffi Hotel. Great food, really accommodating staff and even a screen to watch the football on! Not much more I can say on that!

To give you an idea of how the Mid Phase Review works, our weekend was structured into 10 sessions and split over 3 days. Each session focused on a different aspect of the programme so far, with each session devised by a different counterpart pair. Topics included things like Team Dynamics, Counterpart Progress and Voices for Development. All in all it was a great opportunity to give ourselves, as a group, a little bit of perspective on what we’ve achieved and also what we can improve on going forward.

Outside of these sessions we were also given an opportunity to relax a bit and enjoy some time away from our community work. One of the ways we elected to relax was by having an African themed party on the Saturday night. Everyone came dressed in their best traditional African attire, which was great to see. One of the highlights for me was when Alice decided to teach everyone to ballroom dance, although I admit I didn’t get involved (two left feet!). We also got a chance to celebrate Suzie’s birthday with a cake lovingly bought for her by VSO.

Lastly, I just wanted to make a special mention about the food we were given over the weekend. CHICKEN! CHICKEN! CHICKEN! So much chicken! This may sound like it was quite repetitive but it was actually fantastic. Having largely been deprived of the opportunity to eat it while I’ve been out here, as they don’t really eat it much in Lafia, I jumped for joy when I saw our options for the weekend. Of course there were lots of other options for the weekend as well, such as Swallow and soup, but in my book Chicken and Rice was the clear winner of the weekend.

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A social with a difference!

by Kayleigh Bernard

Just a quick one!

Today we held our first social of the month, visiting some amazing children at Gidan Bege orphanage. The day was full of laughter with a variety of activities including face-painting, games, songs and drawings. I can honestly say that the day will be a lasting memory and I hope the children enjoyed it as much as the team of volunteers did! We will definitely be visiting again before our placement is over as it was impossible not to fall in love with each and every child.

 Enjoy the pictures!

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Starting work in the community

by Isabel Bennett 

3rd March 2014

Last week we began work in our four rural communities that surround Lafia. I am in the Keffi Wambai team with Kayleigh, Patrick, Pelumi and Nabila, and the other communities are Kireyi, Duduguru and Gidan Maiakuya. We work in the communities every Monday, Wednesday and Friday- two days spent conducting sessions with farmers, and one day spent in schools running ‘Young Farmers’ clubs. 

The first session we led with farmers last Monday was on ‘Group Formation’. There are many benefits to farmers working in groups- competition will be reduced, they can pool together resources and tools and buyers can no longer work them against each other to drive prices down as they can all decide on the same selling price, which leaves room for profit. Also, being part of a cooperative savings and loans group (which we are running a session on soon) will mean that the farmers can take out small short term loans and share the task of record keeping, meaning that if any of them need to apply for a loan from a bank they will be more likely to receive it, as banks are unlikely to lend to individual farmers if they do not have sound finance records.   

The first challenge of beginning our sessions is mobilising people. I was lucky, as in Keffi Wambai we had over 80 people turn up to our first one! We run the sessions on benches outside under a tree, as this is a point in the village that many people pass by and we have lots of space here. In all of the communities we are linked to CAEVs (Community Agricultural Extension Volunteers) who can help us to spread the word around about our events and help us to reach new people. Our aim is to have about 50 attendees at every session, so 80 was a bit overwhelming! The session went well though- we did presentations, role-plays and group discussion work- and it seemed that a lot of the farmers there wanted to form groups and they definitely understood the benefits of doing so. Another challenge is translation, as in the communities not many of the adult farmers understand English, with the local language in Keffi Wambai being Eggon. We managed to find some people who were willing to interpret for us, but when I was working with a small group to try and get a discussion going the man who was interpreting would just answer the question himself without asking the others for their opinions. I really wanted the women to give their views but he wasn’t allowing them to either. I now know how important it is to be working with an interpreter who is there to help our sessions, not just to give their own opinions.

The second session we ran was on ‘Clearing of land’ as many farmers here burn their land to clear it and do not understand the negative effect this method will have on their next harvest. At this session we had about 35 people turn up, which showed that perhaps last time people were just curious! We are trying to make sure we get people’s names and phone numbers so that we can personally stay in touch with them and inform them of the upcoming sessions. I am beginning to see that one of the great things about running these sessions with the farmers is that they allow for the farmers to share and discuss their work with one another, something that they may otherwise not be doing in such a large group. It was really encouraging to hear one man stand up and tell the whole group about the way he clears his land- by gathering the weeds and residues and arranging them between the furrows, where they decompose and fertilise the soil. 

Our Young Farmers Clubs are under way now too. In Keffi Wambai we have been linked to two schools, a Junior Secondary and a Senior Secondary. We had about 70 young children on our first day at the junior school, all very excited that we were there! At the senior school the children are much older, around 15 years old I think and so each week we are planning different agendas for the two. Young Farmers Clubs seem to be quite common here, their aim to encourage young people in these rural communities to be interested in farming and to understand its importance. At the senior school, almost everyone wants to be a doctor or a lawyer when they’re older, and nearly all of their parents are farmers. We are not discouraging other career choices such as these- but trying to show that some people could do both, or that they at least could farm at some point in their life. We would like to show them the importance of the farms in and around their communities, as the older generations fear that children will leave to go to the cities when they finish school, and there won’t be enough farmers to continue the work.

I am enjoying the work so far, we’re getting very busy now with training and then planning of more sessions, but it is rewarding to see people understanding the information we are bringing to them. I’m also loving being in the Keffi Wambai community as a lovely woman cooks lunch for us each time after we finish our session!

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Host Homes - An Introduction

By Tolu

As we left the Crystal Palace Hotel and Abuja in general behind, a little bit of trepidation filtered into my mind. I was nervous about a few things and what the next three months would hold for me. Would I make an impact or would I just go and waste mine and everyone else’s time? Would I be a pain with my mood swings and would I be able to bring up ideas and general stuff like that? However one of the greatest fears I had was regarding my host home, the place that would be my home for the next 3 months. The idea of staying with total strangers was also frightening as I was not used to staying with people that I am not comfortable with (trust me extended family members rarely make the cut) and I have no idea what they look like, their temperaments, hobbies and so on.  

We arrived in Lafia and made our way to the YMCA office where we were given some necessities like mosquito nets and filters as we waited for our host parents to come get us. The first person to arrive was a reverend father and he was introduced to his wards, which ended up being Patrick and Samuel, while we were still whispering and making jokes about it. Some time passes and Emma calls my name and tells me to come meet my host mom. As I moved towards them I felt like an orphan up for adoption hoping that I would be liked instantly and there would a connection or something. I reached them and a smallish middle aged lady bestows a smile on me and I mumble a greeting while doing a mini curtsy (something I learnt to perfect as a Yoruba girl to prevent lectures from overbearing relatives and their archaic views about respect). Despite my initial reservations she pulls me in for a hug and in my head it felt like we were off to a good start. Claire was also introduced and she asked if we were ready so we packed our things said good bye to the team and we were off.

After a 5-10 minute drive we were at our destination and I was impressed, until that moment I had also harbored fears that I was going to live in a shack but this house was definitely lovely. We walked into the house and we were given drinks and asked to rest for a bit before we were shown our room (which was detached from the main house popularly known as a boys’ quarters in this part of the world). We dropped our luggage in our room and headed back to the main house where we worked on our host home agreement. This went well, almost too well in my own opinion (So much so that I felt it necessary to add that we should review the agreement monthly). Then we started the question and answer segment and I learnt that the Chubes (my host parents) had 3 kids (a 26 year old, a 23 year old and an 8 year old) and 2 “foster” kids (a 28 year old and a 19 year old) They were civil servants and even though the husband worked in Abuja he was around for the weekends (which I later discovered meant he arrived late Saturday evening and he left before noon on Sunday).

After all the chatting we retired to our room to rest but less than an hour later Leah (the 8 year old) comes knocking that we should come and watch some television in the main house and we obliged. While we were doing this I pondered how the reality of my host home was nothing like I had imagined and how welcoming everyone was being. Later on the dad arrives and the introductions start all over again, along with the intense questioning (thank heavens our host mum helped answer most of the easy ones). After this we made our escape to our room, alas relief was nowhere in sight because 5 minutes later our host dad knocks and promptly tells us that he feels we need our personal space, especially Claire, but we graciously declined saying it was part of the experience and we prefer to be together. After trying to get us to change our minds for another five minutes he finally accepted that we meant what we were saying, however he was back again in two minutes with a mobile phone saying it was for us to make international calls because prepaid tariffs were higher and that was post paid, again we declined. Seeing our helmets he asked if either of us could ride a motor bike saying he would buy us one so that it would be easier for us to move around. Again we had to decline, saying it was against the rules (by this point I was already feeling overwhelmed).

The next day we went to church with the family and our host mum was really pleased that, despite the fact that we had different churches which happened to have branches in Lafia, we wanted to go to her church. When we got home the host dad was gone, however we stayed in the living room and bonded with the family. They are so nice and I won’t lie I had serious doubts and reservations about such kindness but it’s been three weeks now and if anything they are much nicer than I first thought. My host family have been very wonderful and they treat Claire and I like bonafide members of the family I have a feeling I would break my no crying and mushy stuff rule.

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Meet the New Team!!!

Hello! We are the team of UK and Nigerian volunteers working for VSO-ICS in Lafia, Nigeria. Here you will be able to read all about our community work with the local farmers here in Nasarawa State, as well as find out what it's like to be a volunteer for VSO-ICS.

What is VSO-ICS?

ICS (International Citizen Service) is a programme which enables young people from the UK to spend 12 weeks overseas working on selected development projects alongside in-country national volunteers. The scheme is supported by the UK government's Department for International Development and is provided by VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas), an international development charity, whose goal is a world without poverty.

Our project is in partnership with YMCA Mada Hills. We will be working in four rural communities reigniting young peoples interest in agriculture and assisting farmers in learning better agricultural practices.

Our Lafia team consists of 10 UK volunteers and 11 Nigerian volunteers... whose beautiful faces you can see below next to a little introduction about themselves.

We hope you enjoy keeping up-to-date via our blog! Like what you're reading? Want to apply to take part in VSO-ICS yourself? Look no further than HERE.

Team Lafia

Gilbert

Hi, my name is Inimfom Moses Gilbert. I’m 19 year of age, from Akwa Ibom State , Nigeria. A love of sports (football) I applied for the ICS programme because I’m so passionate about volunteering and to increase my public speaking and leadership skills, visit people, learn from them and be learned from too.

Kayleigh

Hi my name is Kayleigh Bernard and I am 25 years old. I live in Dudley and have recently graduated from Demontfort University where I studied International Business and Globalisation.

I applied for VSO because I wanted to offer my skills and knowledge to hopefully make a change. I also wanted to experience a new culture and work with young people. So far the programme has lived up to my expectations and I am looking forward to the rest of my time in Nigeria.

Chris

Oi oi, my name is Chris Sutherland, I’m 23 years old and a Marketing graduate from Newcastle.

What you need to know about me? I’m a life-long Newcastle United fan, I love going to the gym and I love porridge even more.

In order to participate in VSO ICS I’m currently on a sabbatical from work, having initially applied for the programme after it was strongly recommended by friends.

Three weeks in and I love Nigeria – the place is such a contradiction of chaos and order!

  

Philimon

My name is Philimon Bitrus. I come from Borno State. I’m Bura by tribe and my age is 25. I graduated from College of Education, Science and Technology Bama, Borno State.

Dorcas

My name is Gboyinde Dorcas. I am from Kwara State. I am a female and the third-born of my family. I am 19 years old (born on December 6^th, 1994). I am going to university by September. I joined VSO because I was doing nothing at home and I thought it would be a good programme, which would improve my skills and I would be able to learn new things and bring about positive impact in the lives of others.

Susan

My name is Susan Abua. I am from Cross River State. I am 23 years old and studied Business Administration and Management. I joined ICS to improve my public speaking skills and to affect the lives of young farmers positively.

Pelumi

My name is Oladayo Oluwasheyi but I am ‘Pelumi’ by name and I am from Oyo State, Nigeria and I am 20 years of age. I applied for ICS because I want to make a good impact.

Demzee (Emmanuel Edemeka)

I’m an indigen of Akwa Ibom State, a rap addict and a prospective medical doctor.

I joined the ICS programme because I am passionate about helping people. I also wish to volunteer many more times in the future.

Sania

Hello guys! My name is Sania Qaisar. I live in London and I am currently embarking on a gap year of a lifetime. I decided to volunteer with VSO as I have3 always wanted to volunteer abroad. I hope to make a difference and enhance my knowledge of African culture.

Patrick

My name is Patrick Udoh from Akwa Ibom. I am a change advocate who is passionate about development and youth participation. I was schooled at the University of Calabar and born on 29^th November 1989. I joined VSO because I saw it as a platform to impact in my community while developing skills.

Alice

Hi, my name’s Alice, I’m 22 and I’ve just graduated from university, although VSO is something I’ve wanted to do since I left school. I’ve always been fascinated by Africa, so I’m thrilled to be here in Nigeria, working with the local farmers and learning new things every day.

Alimat

My name is Akande Alimat Bolatito, I am a graduate of Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta. I am from Oyostate in Ibadan. I joined Voluntary Service Overseas because I want to make an impact on the lives of people. I also wanted to share my ideas with people and also to gain from others experience. 

Nabila

My name is Eleshin Nabila Ifeoluwa and I’m 21. I had my national diploma in Kwara State Polytechnic, I studied Mass Communication. I joined VSO to fight poverty by sharing new skills so that they can make a living. 

Ada

My name is Adaora Nwagagu. I am 23 and I am a graduate of Public and International Law. I joined VSO ICS because I wanted to learn more about community development and poverty, especially within rural communities and be able to contribute meaningfully in the development of those living in rural areas.  

Sam

Hello! My name is Samuel Carty. I am 19 years old and I come from Shropshire in England. I am currently on my gap year and I will study music at Leeds later this year. I chose to apply for VSO as I thought it would a fantastic opportunity to experience a new culture and make a worthwhile difference to somebody’s life. 

Claire

Hi I’m Claire McGrath, I’m 24 and I come from Northern Ireland. I have always wanted to travel to Africa and do some volunteering and I decided to apply for VSO as the programme looked really interesting and fun. I am really glad to be part of this team and I’m enjoying working together with everyone to hopefully make a difference in the communities.

Suzie

My name is Suzie Hadall, I am 18 years old and I come from Northern England. I am currently on a gap year before going to University. I applied for VSO ICS to share my skills, learn about a different culture and to help fight poverty across the world.

Sakhile

Hello my name is Sakhile Shann, I am 23 years old and a Psychology graduate of the University of Leeds. I have always wanted to visit Africa and applied for VSO ICS so that i could directly to tackle poverty in an effective and productive way! The programme so far has been both challenging and rewarding and I hope to really make a difference here!

Isabel

Hello! My name is Isabel Bennett and I come from Devon in the Uk. I am 18 years old and am currently on my gap year. I will begin at University in London in September. I applied for ICS because I admire the nature of the programmes it conducts – reaching people who will really benefit from the work of the volunteers. I also wanted to have the experience of living in Africa.  

Andy

My name is Andy Crisp and I come London in the UK. I am 24 year old graduate of King’s College London, where I studied International Relations. I decided to apply for the ICS programme because I saw it as an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people who really need my help, while experiencing a country that I have never been to before.

Tolu

  

Hello!!! My name is Tolu Awotoye and I am from Kwara in Nigeria. I am a lawyer (dont mind the stereotype because I just have a thing against being put in a box)I am also a mishmash of personalities (shush! its our little secret) and I have always wanted to learn a lot more about development issues. So basically being on the ICS programme for me is an opportunity to actually help and play my own little role in the ongoing development of Nigeria and I sincerely hope I do it well.

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Underage, married and divorced.

I was sitting in a newly furnished office of a local NGO Project Agape with volunteers and programme supervisors. A Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) from a nearby hospital was speaking. She was captivating and her story unreal. Words like early child marriage, forced, difficulties in pregnancy, fistula, death, discrimination filled the room.

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