Here are some photos from the Kano Durbar. The rest can be found here http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/rich.norman/KanoDurbar#

(i hope, let me know if it doesn't work).

I'll write up what actually happened soonish. most of it can be seen from the photos. Lots of horses and all round non-health and safety compliant fun.

and here is a video:

The demonstration school for the deaf

Last Wednesday I stayed with another volunteer placed at the demonstration school for the deaf in the north of Kaduna. Deafness is much more common here than in the UK, mainly due to untreated measles, other infections and problems during birth (which normally also occur with brain damage of some description), it is a regular sight that you see people at petrol stations and the motor park coming up to you with signs asking for money.

The demonstration school was set up by a CUSO volunteer about 25 years ago and now through donations boasts a nursery, primary and early secondary school. One of the main problems they face is the stigma of being deaf, as the reasons for being deaf are not generally attributed to medical causes, but moral/spiritual reasons, as such having a deaf child can be seen as shameful and most kids are not brought to the school until the parents have tried everything. The attitude to disabled people here is not ideal and most deaf people are unable to get jobs, hence the high numbers of beggars.

The below crazy Dutch person is the current volunteer at the deaf school and is a sucker for punishment as she has been in Kaduna for 3 years. She is modelling some of Nigeria’s finest clothing...

A typical class, most of the teachers at the school are deaf themselves and all classes are done in sign language. A real problem for deaf children is spelling, as they cannot vocalise the word in their head and work out the spelling from this. Boards with spellings and signs on are everywhere to help with this!

(Apologies about the dust on the lens)

Here is the nursery class, when you think about the logistics of teaching kids who cant heat you realise how much we take the concept of language for granted. Here they actually have to teach the idea of verbal/written/signed communication, and having access to specialist teaching early to do this is needed, but too often not the case.

Children with a new teacher acting out everyday scenarios, and being reminded to say “please”, “thankyou”, anything at all really!

I got a quick sign language lesson. I can now say good morning, goodbye (just wave) , nice to meet you, science, car and motorbike (the last 2 are quite obvious as well and have me making “brum brum” sound effects).

Some top quality government intervention below, as NEPA (electricity) is rubbish infrequent the school was given some solar panels about a year ago. Solar panels was what the government said it would provide and that is exactly what they were given, no connecting wires, converter etc . They have are trying to get funding for all the extra kit required to make them useful, but in the mean time leaving very expensive unused solar panels around resulted in a load being pinched.

This is an example of a really well run, interactive school. However this is one of only two deaf schools in Kaduna, the disability rate here is estimated to be 10%, so even if only a tiny fraction of those with disabilities where deaf there would still need to be lots more. Visiting here gives me a great feeling of things being done to improve to lives of those here, but it brings home the fact that in this country your pretty unlikely to receive a decent education if you are a boy and fully able, being disabled makes it a million times harder.

Although it would be “service delivery” which is a big no-no (its not sustainable don’t you know) i want to try and help out here were possible (mainly as it will make me feel like I’m actually helping in some tangible way). For now my role is chief assistant to the assistant chief, in charge of trying to build a solar oven at some point over the next couple of weeks and website setting up. Also I have been drafted in to teach rugby, I just need to find the correct shaped ball!

Also here are some cute photos of Monique’s kittens, experiments with pieces of string show that it is possible for kittens to get dizzy . The one at the back's son is now my kitten! (as of march 2010) looks very similar.

First week of work.

Having waited for a week for my boss to return, i was looking forward to the classic mistake made by all volunteers of trying to get something done. Most of the in country training was based around lowering our expectations of actually what we would accomplish here, and featured an unhealthy obsession with putting everything on a flip chart (its the classic workshop approach, learning only occurs if it is captured on a flipchart).

Surprisingly there was actually a lot for me to get involved in and I look forward to producing my first website (this doesn’t really count). Other than that I seem to either be solving world peace or making a lot of tea in the future. I think I at the first high of the vso process, which has been promised to last a week maximum before reality kicks in and I enter the long slow march to the depression stage.

Below is a chart of the promised stages of the first few months of the volunteering experience. If you manage to avoid depression in the first few months, the instruction is clear that this is not a cause for alarm, depression will definitely hit later in the year.



But at the moment I am happily lurking around the euphoria stage, things are going well and I am looking forward to a weekend of watching England lose to Argentina at rugby and many cold, overpriced*, Stars in Abuja.

Star is the local beer, if you want to imagine what it tastes like think Budweiser with less character, however each Star is carefully matured for some months under a source of dirty water to give it that unique rusty cap and dangerous water borne disease flavour that we have grown to love.

*250N, £ 1, 25% of a day’s pay depending on what tariff you use.

07/11/09 No fireworks

I am missing fireworks, mulled wine and the concept of having to wrap up warm. Its very hot here ~30C, this is the wrong temperature for a body expecting winter.

Arrival in Kaduna

05/10/09
Entering your accommodation for the first time is probably one of the biggest moments during the whole volunteering process. Forget achieving anything at work, whether you have running water a bed made out of concrete, and a house mainly occupied by ladies of negotiable affection will have a much greater effect on the next 12 months that a slightly greater feeling of under achievement that we have all been promised to a certain degree that goes with a placement where affecting any change is difficult to impossible.

I had been forewarned that my accommodation was nice, but after a quick look round, followed by my neighbour and the driver (who’s idea of personal space could be measured in millimeters) I was pretty pleased. The third concrete hut at the back of a pretty impressive, yet unfinished looking house was more than adequate for my needs of shelter for the year. I have 3 rooms (bed, living, bathroom) a shared kitchen but most importantly a flushing toilet (there is also a fridge and air con but with power “very infrequent” these weren’t immediately going to be all that helpful)

(grammar Nazi’s please feel free to leave comments on the correct use of affect and effect in the paragraphs above)

Abuja

The first few days was all about form filling and general admin, trying to open bank accounts and opening the magical brown envelope which in London we were told under no circumstances-except -on-pain-of death should we open., to which the Nigerian vso office’s reply was “yeah yeah, it is fine to open, you can open it”.

I remained in Abuja for the whole week, but I have been staying between Crystal palace hotel (“the Buckingham palace of Abuja”) and the VSO flat, which doesn’t have internet (hence no updates). Crystal palace is quite nice and has free internet, aircon and flushing toilets.

The big event was going to see a Nigeria match in the u17 world cup which is being held in Abuja at the moment, they were playing Honduras. It was everything expect from a African football match, loud music, loud enthusiastic support and a sweaty close heat which resulted in my glasses steaming up anytime i became at all excited. There were some familiar points, queues for toilets and dodgy unidentifiable meat products which would have made cut my own throat dibbler proud. In the toilets most of the queue was caused by people trying to use the hand wash area as a free rare chance to bathe in running water. As for the food, I thought I had a sausage roll, made from the pinky look of it, as if it was either pork or the kind of beef which makes up new York “Kosher” hotdogs, it turned out it was made of fish... yuk.

I have been to the British council offices (no spies seen as yet) and the British village. The main reason to go to the British council offices (apart from free email access) is the rooftop cafe, where we can spend 3 days pay on a beer and a pizza. Abuja is actually very low rise in the most part, so you need to sit a couple of floors up to see most of the city. From the breezy rooftop you could almost be anywhere in the world (which has palm trees). Luckily we were with David’s (my current volunteer guide) friends who work at the Irish embassy and they insisted on paying for our shwarma and giving us half their pizza (made with real cheese). I’m sure in a couple of months this act of kindness would bring tears to my eyes.

The British village is little oasis of tranquillity where the embassy staff live. Luckily it is open to vso’s to use the pool and bar. After the obligatory quick dip in the longest pool I have swam in for years (~25m), we mainly used the visit to play monopoly and eat pizza (1800N - £7 - 2 days pay). A bunch of penniless volunteers in the most expensive surroundings in town, playing a quintessential British board game was brilliant (plus I won, although I think people now realise I am slightly prone to bouts of competitiveness).

The British village is only a short walk on from the British council building, as such only a 20min walk from the Vso flat. Sunscreen would have been a great idea, even a hat would have sufficed, I used neither, I was quite red. Comfortingly every volunteer has a story of being really burnt, even the ones who have been here for years and should know better.

Also after a strict diet of pizza and top end shwarma my insides have resumed normal service. This may be due a switch away from the Crystal palace omni-buffet* or all the bacteria in my gut have regrouped and developed a resistance to doxycycline.

*omni-buffet – a buffet which serves the same food all day, every day, “hey that’s the same bit of goat meat I didn’t want at lunch” mmmm healthy.