In the forest
Trip Start
Aug 26, 2006
1
5
10
Trip End
Feb 28, 2007
Akampka, Nigeria
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
On our return, we had some bad news - Auntie Glory (I live with her, Auntie Lizzie, three other permanant members of the famly and about 15 others that I have no idea about as they come and go all the time) got run over by a bus and broke her leg. Hospital/Medical procedures are quite different here compared to UK. If you are injured then you are almost completely dependent on family/community members to take you to the hospital since ambulances are rare. Before you even get treated, you have to pay about 50 naira(around 30 pence-it's not much but about 60% of Nigerians live on about 2 pounds a month) for the admission form. Even if you are lucky enough to get taken to the hospital and pay for the form, getting treated is another story altogether. If you do not have people to take care of you then you will probably not get washed or fed. Auntie Glory came home for this reason. I was very surprised to learn that her most prominent injury, a huge blister covering most of her
lower calf on one leg, was not actually caused by the accident but by a bad reaction to a poorly prepared plaster cast.
I had an interesting encounter with a pastor (Nigerians are VERY religious) who likened my beliefs to that of a chicken! She said that, because I did not follow Christianity, I go through life not caring about anything at all. All of the Nigerians I've met cannot understand that people can have strong beliefs without following a particular religion. She was very interesting and her first words to me were "Hello, have we met" and when I said 'No' she replied "I wouldn't know as you oyibos have one face" and said how all white people look the same to her. It was actually quite embarrassing as this was all said in a room with 4 other people present! Generally, people have kept comments like that to themselves so it was interesting and different to meet someone who was so frank!
I met a couple of ladies last week who have been infected with HIV. It was a very strange and moving time as, although I know HIV is a widespread disease here, I had not met anyone directly affected by it. One of the ladies lost her husband last year to AIDS. It is difficult to know how to respond when somebody tells you they have it.
I am starting to see just how different Nigeria is compared to the UK. I don't think it really struck me until last week. Things keeps surfacing which really challenge the way I see the world. For example, at Flieyo school (hut on a puddle), there is this little boy called Victor. All of my class are wonderful to teach, but Victor is easily the quickest learner (I still can't get used to teachers caning children for not learning as a result of poor teaching rather than themk being inattentive)and he cannot attend school because his parents can't afford his school fees (around 12 pounds a term). In Nigerian private schools, all their income comes from school fees and if the parents cannot pay then the children get sent home. One girl, Mavis, was not at school for over a month because of fees. Parents send children to private schools as, here in Nigeria, only 0.7% of Nigeria's GDP is spent on education. Facilities are shocking in public schools and there is really not much difference between the average public and private school.
Aside from all this, I am happy and well and am really enjoying my time here in Calabar. I honestly feel I've experienced and learn more about development in the last 5 weeks than ever before!
