Dear Friends,
I have had a fun week!
On Sunday morning I attended the Family Worship Center, an evangelical, fundamentalist Christian church in the southern part of Abuja. I accompanied Do-pe(do pay), a Nigerian woman trained as a dentist here, who now lives in Baltimore. She does research for IHV in both Baliomore and Nigeria.
The church is a mega church with at least 3000 people but probably more, per service. The singing was breathtaking and at times I just closed my eyes and let the sounds surround me. Pastor Sara gave a good old Bible thumping sermon with lots of Amens and Alleluias; ending the service with a brief Altar Call because 3000 more people were waiting outside for the next service. I really wanted more singing and dancing! And again, I was the only non-African in the sanctuary. Great fun!
Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings are sacred mosque/church times here. Many local businesses close on Friday afternoons so all Muslims can go to the mosque to pray between 1:30-3pm. Traffic is horrendous around all mosques; but most especially around the central mosque that seats thousands. Cars are parked everywhere and traffic is at a virtual stand still.
Sunday mornings, apparently all non-Muslims attend some kind of church service and the city is quiet. No honking horns signaling a lane change or turn, no men with really big guns, no nothing. It is quite lovely. Not even the drivers are available until 1pm.
Sunday afternoon I escaped! Woo Hoo!!! IHV-N is starting and funding 7 comprehensive labs in Nigeria with the goal of being certified by the World Health Organization (WHO). The labs will be focusing on advanced HIV and TB testing if the labs can get up and running. A lot depends on the availability of some type of 24 hour electricity to maintain consistent refrigerator temperature for cultures, etc. Even with generators, it is still impossible. An engineer arrived the other day to fix/replace cords on the machine that calculates the HIV Viral Load. Reason: the rats chewed thru the cords of this gazillion dollar machine! Because of these projects, many people come and go from the Guest House at all hours of the day and night and then they are gone to outer towns for days at a time.
Sunday afternoon, Valentina, a Russian woman who lives and works in Botswana as a Microbiologist, needed to be driven to Kaduna, about 3 hours away. There was an apparent mix-up between Valentina and some engineers who thought everyone was driving on Monday, blah, blah, blah. Words were spoken, blah, blah, blah and Valentina said that she needed to go NOW. OK.
Chinduc, the driver, agreed to take her, knowing that this was a 6 hour trip that would have to be repeated with the engineers the next day. I was sitting outside, listening and watching this little sidewalk soap opera, when I spontaneously said, "Can I go with you?" Chinduc said ,"Yes" and I was outta here! Du-pe did know that I was going but nobody else did. So clandestine!
One of my frustrations has been the inability to really "get out" and see this place. The drivers take us everywhere, which is wonderful of course; and the guards must accompany us after dark, even if it is to walk down the street to a little shop. I was not allowed to stay in the home of the matron, in Keffi, because of security. I understand all of this and would not do anything to compromise this but I really wanted to see a sunset and not its reflection on the Guest House wall.
So off we went and I felt like I was running away from home!!! It was wonderful! The landscape wasn't much different than the one I see daily driving to the clinic but I was excited to see life after dark. What were the villages like? The markets? Did everything shut down at sunset?
What I did see was a lot of truck stops. Now, the 2 lane road (in each direction) that we were on, is about 3 cars wide. The trucks, oil tankers and semi's, park right on the shoulders, on both sides. Itisreallyclose!
Several years ago, I read about truck stops and the charting of HIV infection in the country. The infection transmission paralleled the truck routes and we were driving thru one of these stops. There were about 50 trucks all stopped; some being washed or fixed and all idling with thick black exhaust smoke. I asked Chinduc what was going on and he said that they were "all resting with their concubines."
The ride was uneventful except for having to dodge non stop potholes which means cars, motorcycles and trucks are all over the road, all of the time. Driving is like participating in a 3-D movie and not for the faint hearted.
We arrived in Kaduna, staying long enough to drop off Valentina, get some bottled water and use the facilities. And do you know what the facilities had? Hold on now: a door on the stall, a lock on the door of the stall that worked, a toilet seat, a flusher that was attached to the inside, thingy and DID flush, toilet paper, a sink for hand washing, running water, SOAP and paper towel. Can you imagine? What will they think of next?
We headed back to Abuja and Chinduc immediately said, "Why don't white men want to have a lot of kids? Can white men have more than 1 wife?" Color: if you are not black, than you are white. Poor Treeny hasn't adjusted to that one yet and is hoping that her Chinese ancestors don't put a pox on her house.
I briefly explained that there are many colors in America but for someone who has never been on a plane or out of Nigeria, demographics are an abstract concept. Except for Rap videos and President Obama, white is all many people know. I told him that family size was a mutual decision; and 1 wife at a time was the legal limit. In Nigeria, Muslim men can have 4 concurrent wives, non-Muslim men 2 wives but only 1 marriage can be in the church. I did ask if women could have more than 1 husband and he laughing, emphatically saying, "NO, that is taboo!" I said that that was discrimination. He laughed at that too! Homosexuality is taboo here and is appalling to anyone that I have asked.
Dusk was settling in and the steel gray, puffy clouded sky looked so close and so beautiful. But...no one turned on their headlights! I had heard about this and the explanation given was to "save gas???" I asked Chinduc about this and he said, "no need, everyone can still see." OK. He also said that the switch on new cars that automatically turns on headlights is usually disconnected when the car is bought because, "we can see.”
A few minutes later, I again asked about the headlights because it was more dark than dusk and he laughingly put on his lights "just for you." Now, just because there are headlights does not mean that there are taillights. I had this realization as we came really close to crawling up some semis’ tail pipe.
As we passed the villages, mainly round mud huts with thatched roofs, it was apparent that most huts did not have electricity and any light that was seen, was coming from small kerosene lamps. Bigger villages that had small houses or "apartments" had a few lights but that was it. The markets were open, lit with single lights bulbs strung from cords going to generators, and were busy. They will stay open until about 10pm. The only people that were walking along the road sides were women who sell their goods from small "lean-to's" or mats along the roads. There are no street lights and with poor use of headlights until it is pitch black, I would see people "just appear" out of the dark. A bit spooky.
All headlights came on when it was totally dark and because we were on a main road, the traffic looked like any other stream of highway traffic. Great fun!
Mid-week, Treeny and I ventured to the market by ourselves and we felt like "such big girls." Wuse (woo say) Market is a massive flea market/ outdoor shopping mall, comprised of very small stalls selling everything. It is the main shopping center for all of Abuja. Chickens in wheelbarrows, live fish, clothes, cell phones, etc. We had shopped there twice before but always with a small group and a native Nigerian. This time, the driver dropped us off and we ventured in to buy some fruits and vegetables. And of course, we were the only non-Africans.
Some people stared but most were about the business of shopping. Only the kids and babies stare and sometimes scream. I always feel so bad about that. Any time I did not get the price that I wanted I would say that I was "returning to America, you know, Obama." "Obama?" they would smile and ask. "Absolutely" I would say and then usually get the more reasonable price. I am shameless!
Next to the food portion of the market, is a small mosque that is always busy with people praying or just lounging about. Today, there were "barbers" sitting in chairs on the mosque "porch", shaving men’s heads and beards. We both wanted to take pictures but that is really taboo.
I also had the opportunity to visit the matron’s house this week. Ladi has so wanted me to visit and stay with her but due to security, it is not possible. So on Friday she said, "we must go to my place so I can get you a book" and off we went driven by the IHV-N driver. I love breaking the rules, especially in the light of day when there is little risk. I am not that brave to do this after dark.
Ladi lives in a 2 bedroom apartment walking distance from the clinic. The complex looks like single story row houses. All doors are maroon colored and iron "to keep out the robbers." The small living room had a nice couch and love seat, TV, etc. There was a large freezer and a small buffet style cupboard in a dining area of sorts. We then walked out a door opposite from the front door, into a small concrete courtyard. There was a large Satellite dish on the block wall, separating Ladi from her neighbors, clothes drying on a the line and 3 small rooms, all with the small maroon, metal doors. One small room was the toilet with a shower wall nozzle 'when there is water", one room was for storage(I saw Ladi's 10 year old son's bike) and the biggest room was the kitchen.
There were no appliances in the kitchen. The walls were charred black from smoke with a small open window for ventilation. There were 2 small 2 burner each, cooking stoves on the floor with pots of boiling "soupy white material". I have seen this same boiling material in large kettles outside the huts in the villages. There were piles of foot long yams on the ground which is another food staple here.
She showed me her small back yard, accessible thru another maroon, metal door, with plants of peppers that are used to make pepper soup. I have had the soup and it is delicious!
Ladi then said, 'wrap this cloth around your waist and sit and eat." OK. The cloth was a common African print, that was a long skirt really, and I guess is worn for eating. I sat on a small stool and was handed a plastic mug of a cool rice pudding like substance that was wonderful! With honey, which she scooped out of a large barrel, it was to die for. She said that I was not a typical oyibo (white person) and should move to Nigeria. After a few minutes, we left and returned to the hospital. As we were getting in the car at the apartment, kids emerged from several apartments to see the oyibo. Most have never seen a white person. Amazing!
My clinic activities have included cleaning and organizing some of the clinical areas that are crazy messy and make me nuts; speaking on appropriate chart documentation, HIV 101, etc. and problem solving clinic issues with Ladi. for some reason, I just love this clinic. It's a hellhole, but I love it!
Miscellaneous:
- Every person seems to have a cell phone with some pretty entertaining ring tones: ABBA-Dancing Queen, Mexican Hat Dance, Prayers to Jesus. And my personal favorite, "The First Noel" on the phone of a veiled clothed Muslim woman. Her phone rang and 2 nurses and myself started to sing and sway. The woman laughed not understanding a thing that we were saying!
I have had a fun week!
On Sunday morning I attended the Family Worship Center, an evangelical, fundamentalist Christian church in the southern part of Abuja. I accompanied Do-pe(do pay), a Nigerian woman trained as a dentist here, who now lives in Baltimore. She does research for IHV in both Baliomore and Nigeria.
The church is a mega church with at least 3000 people but probably more, per service. The singing was breathtaking and at times I just closed my eyes and let the sounds surround me. Pastor Sara gave a good old Bible thumping sermon with lots of Amens and Alleluias; ending the service with a brief Altar Call because 3000 more people were waiting outside for the next service. I really wanted more singing and dancing! And again, I was the only non-African in the sanctuary. Great fun!
Friday afternoons and Sunday mornings are sacred mosque/church times here. Many local businesses close on Friday afternoons so all Muslims can go to the mosque to pray between 1:30-3pm. Traffic is horrendous around all mosques; but most especially around the central mosque that seats thousands. Cars are parked everywhere and traffic is at a virtual stand still.
Sunday mornings, apparently all non-Muslims attend some kind of church service and the city is quiet. No honking horns signaling a lane change or turn, no men with really big guns, no nothing. It is quite lovely. Not even the drivers are available until 1pm.
Sunday afternoon I escaped! Woo Hoo!!! IHV-N is starting and funding 7 comprehensive labs in Nigeria with the goal of being certified by the World Health Organization (WHO). The labs will be focusing on advanced HIV and TB testing if the labs can get up and running. A lot depends on the availability of some type of 24 hour electricity to maintain consistent refrigerator temperature for cultures, etc. Even with generators, it is still impossible. An engineer arrived the other day to fix/replace cords on the machine that calculates the HIV Viral Load. Reason: the rats chewed thru the cords of this gazillion dollar machine! Because of these projects, many people come and go from the Guest House at all hours of the day and night and then they are gone to outer towns for days at a time.
Sunday afternoon, Valentina, a Russian woman who lives and works in Botswana as a Microbiologist, needed to be driven to Kaduna, about 3 hours away. There was an apparent mix-up between Valentina and some engineers who thought everyone was driving on Monday, blah, blah, blah. Words were spoken, blah, blah, blah and Valentina said that she needed to go NOW. OK.
Chinduc, the driver, agreed to take her, knowing that this was a 6 hour trip that would have to be repeated with the engineers the next day. I was sitting outside, listening and watching this little sidewalk soap opera, when I spontaneously said, "Can I go with you?" Chinduc said ,"Yes" and I was outta here! Du-pe did know that I was going but nobody else did. So clandestine!
One of my frustrations has been the inability to really "get out" and see this place. The drivers take us everywhere, which is wonderful of course; and the guards must accompany us after dark, even if it is to walk down the street to a little shop. I was not allowed to stay in the home of the matron, in Keffi, because of security. I understand all of this and would not do anything to compromise this but I really wanted to see a sunset and not its reflection on the Guest House wall.
So off we went and I felt like I was running away from home!!! It was wonderful! The landscape wasn't much different than the one I see daily driving to the clinic but I was excited to see life after dark. What were the villages like? The markets? Did everything shut down at sunset?
What I did see was a lot of truck stops. Now, the 2 lane road (in each direction) that we were on, is about 3 cars wide. The trucks, oil tankers and semi's, park right on the shoulders, on both sides. Itisreallyclose!
Several years ago, I read about truck stops and the charting of HIV infection in the country. The infection transmission paralleled the truck routes and we were driving thru one of these stops. There were about 50 trucks all stopped; some being washed or fixed and all idling with thick black exhaust smoke. I asked Chinduc what was going on and he said that they were "all resting with their concubines."
The ride was uneventful except for having to dodge non stop potholes which means cars, motorcycles and trucks are all over the road, all of the time. Driving is like participating in a 3-D movie and not for the faint hearted.
We arrived in Kaduna, staying long enough to drop off Valentina, get some bottled water and use the facilities. And do you know what the facilities had? Hold on now: a door on the stall, a lock on the door of the stall that worked, a toilet seat, a flusher that was attached to the inside, thingy and DID flush, toilet paper, a sink for hand washing, running water, SOAP and paper towel. Can you imagine? What will they think of next?
We headed back to Abuja and Chinduc immediately said, "Why don't white men want to have a lot of kids? Can white men have more than 1 wife?" Color: if you are not black, than you are white. Poor Treeny hasn't adjusted to that one yet and is hoping that her Chinese ancestors don't put a pox on her house.
I briefly explained that there are many colors in America but for someone who has never been on a plane or out of Nigeria, demographics are an abstract concept. Except for Rap videos and President Obama, white is all many people know. I told him that family size was a mutual decision; and 1 wife at a time was the legal limit. In Nigeria, Muslim men can have 4 concurrent wives, non-Muslim men 2 wives but only 1 marriage can be in the church. I did ask if women could have more than 1 husband and he laughing, emphatically saying, "NO, that is taboo!" I said that that was discrimination. He laughed at that too! Homosexuality is taboo here and is appalling to anyone that I have asked.
Dusk was settling in and the steel gray, puffy clouded sky looked so close and so beautiful. But...no one turned on their headlights! I had heard about this and the explanation given was to "save gas???" I asked Chinduc about this and he said, "no need, everyone can still see." OK. He also said that the switch on new cars that automatically turns on headlights is usually disconnected when the car is bought because, "we can see.”
A few minutes later, I again asked about the headlights because it was more dark than dusk and he laughingly put on his lights "just for you." Now, just because there are headlights does not mean that there are taillights. I had this realization as we came really close to crawling up some semis’ tail pipe.
As we passed the villages, mainly round mud huts with thatched roofs, it was apparent that most huts did not have electricity and any light that was seen, was coming from small kerosene lamps. Bigger villages that had small houses or "apartments" had a few lights but that was it. The markets were open, lit with single lights bulbs strung from cords going to generators, and were busy. They will stay open until about 10pm. The only people that were walking along the road sides were women who sell their goods from small "lean-to's" or mats along the roads. There are no street lights and with poor use of headlights until it is pitch black, I would see people "just appear" out of the dark. A bit spooky.
All headlights came on when it was totally dark and because we were on a main road, the traffic looked like any other stream of highway traffic. Great fun!
Mid-week, Treeny and I ventured to the market by ourselves and we felt like "such big girls." Wuse (woo say) Market is a massive flea market/ outdoor shopping mall, comprised of very small stalls selling everything. It is the main shopping center for all of Abuja. Chickens in wheelbarrows, live fish, clothes, cell phones, etc. We had shopped there twice before but always with a small group and a native Nigerian. This time, the driver dropped us off and we ventured in to buy some fruits and vegetables. And of course, we were the only non-Africans.
Some people stared but most were about the business of shopping. Only the kids and babies stare and sometimes scream. I always feel so bad about that. Any time I did not get the price that I wanted I would say that I was "returning to America, you know, Obama." "Obama?" they would smile and ask. "Absolutely" I would say and then usually get the more reasonable price. I am shameless!
Next to the food portion of the market, is a small mosque that is always busy with people praying or just lounging about. Today, there were "barbers" sitting in chairs on the mosque "porch", shaving men’s heads and beards. We both wanted to take pictures but that is really taboo.
I also had the opportunity to visit the matron’s house this week. Ladi has so wanted me to visit and stay with her but due to security, it is not possible. So on Friday she said, "we must go to my place so I can get you a book" and off we went driven by the IHV-N driver. I love breaking the rules, especially in the light of day when there is little risk. I am not that brave to do this after dark.
Ladi lives in a 2 bedroom apartment walking distance from the clinic. The complex looks like single story row houses. All doors are maroon colored and iron "to keep out the robbers." The small living room had a nice couch and love seat, TV, etc. There was a large freezer and a small buffet style cupboard in a dining area of sorts. We then walked out a door opposite from the front door, into a small concrete courtyard. There was a large Satellite dish on the block wall, separating Ladi from her neighbors, clothes drying on a the line and 3 small rooms, all with the small maroon, metal doors. One small room was the toilet with a shower wall nozzle 'when there is water", one room was for storage(I saw Ladi's 10 year old son's bike) and the biggest room was the kitchen.
There were no appliances in the kitchen. The walls were charred black from smoke with a small open window for ventilation. There were 2 small 2 burner each, cooking stoves on the floor with pots of boiling "soupy white material". I have seen this same boiling material in large kettles outside the huts in the villages. There were piles of foot long yams on the ground which is another food staple here.
She showed me her small back yard, accessible thru another maroon, metal door, with plants of peppers that are used to make pepper soup. I have had the soup and it is delicious!
Ladi then said, 'wrap this cloth around your waist and sit and eat." OK. The cloth was a common African print, that was a long skirt really, and I guess is worn for eating. I sat on a small stool and was handed a plastic mug of a cool rice pudding like substance that was wonderful! With honey, which she scooped out of a large barrel, it was to die for. She said that I was not a typical oyibo (white person) and should move to Nigeria. After a few minutes, we left and returned to the hospital. As we were getting in the car at the apartment, kids emerged from several apartments to see the oyibo. Most have never seen a white person. Amazing!
My clinic activities have included cleaning and organizing some of the clinical areas that are crazy messy and make me nuts; speaking on appropriate chart documentation, HIV 101, etc. and problem solving clinic issues with Ladi. for some reason, I just love this clinic. It's a hellhole, but I love it!
Miscellaneous:
- Every person seems to have a cell phone with some pretty entertaining ring tones: ABBA-Dancing Queen, Mexican Hat Dance, Prayers to Jesus. And my personal favorite, "The First Noel" on the phone of a veiled clothed Muslim woman. Her phone rang and 2 nurses and myself started to sing and sway. The woman laughed not understanding a thing that we were saying!
- There is no graffiti here, at least as we know it. There is "Caveat Emptor" "Love Jesus" Think Positive"(this is about life and not HIV) and "Don't urinate here." It is culturally acceptable and necessary at times, for people to pee and poop on the side of the road. And not unusual to see men relieving themselves every few feet in populated areas; so signs are necessary. I never see any women though, I wonder where they go?
- Every major intersection has traffic lights BUT NONE OF THEM WORK!!!! Instead, there is a police officer standing inside a teeny, tiny shack, somewhat directing traffic or usually just watching all of the vehicles try not to hit each other! Crazy, and pretty funny.
- All engaged couples are strongly encouraged/required by their churches and mosques, to have HIV testing. Many clergy will also send a church representative with the couple when they are tested and will be given the results along with the couples. Some churches will refuse to marry a couple that is discordant (1 positive, 1 negative) because the clergy do not feel that the couple "can have a satisfying married life." Those couples usually go to the courts to be married.
Well folks, I think that is it for this week. The water has been off more than on and the electricity. . . . .you know the rest. The generator keeps overheating and the poor guards furiously try to fix it. And life goes on.
Kathleen
Well folks, I think that is it for this week. The water has been off more than on and the electricity. . . . .you know the rest. The generator keeps overheating and the poor guards furiously try to fix it. And life goes on.
Kathleen
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