A break in Ghana!

Some might say the last few weeks have been a tad hectic. I am all for travelling, but I was actually strangely relieved to be back in my little house this week, without the prospect of moving for the foreseeable future. That's not to say I haven't had a fantastic time. As the photos show, Ghana is a beautiful country and it was great to finally lie on a beach and soak up some sun for a few days after the week long Pan African reading For all Conference in Accra. ( I presented a workshop there along with some colleagues from my school in Nigeria.)

No rest for the wicked though, so instead of staying in one place, and together with some friends, I toured the coast of Ghana , stopping off at castles, stilt villages and Wildlife Parks along the way. It's a shame that the wildlife proved to be particularly illusive, and I think the most we saw in Kakum National Park was a few butterflies! Still, it was a lush rainforest and it was worth it for the extremely high up canopy walkway..the only one of it's kind in Africa apparently.

The bad luck with Wildlife spotting continued with us as we reached Nigerian soil again. After visiting my school for a couple of days , we went to two different national parks in Nigeria, but were foiled from seeing elephants both times, even though we saw their footprints and droppings so we knew they had been there!! In Yankari Game reserve, the Baboons jumping around the car park made up for it, as did the Wikki Warm springs which are a constant hot temperature..great for the rainy season! We went on a two day car journey to get to Gashaka Gumpti National Park, and were proud to be two of only a handful of foreign visitors who visit each year. It's a wild and remote part of Nigeria , but the countryside is spectacular and it's an interesting place to visit as much as to meet the friendly local people as for the wildlife itself! ( although luckily a few monkeys popped into view at least !)

Perhaps the best part of travelling in Nigeria though is that you are generally made to feel welcome and important...great for your ego!

But the problems of lack of power and running water , and the bumpy roads with umpteen potholes are sent to try us!

I am now trying to adjust to getting back to work ...But it's great to see the kids again, and try out the new equipment that we have been donated from the US. ( a basic electronic talker and switch )

Near my new house, and some party pics...

I am now getting settled into my new house, and am enjoying the walk to work in the mornings. Luckily, I discovered a path leading straight from my house to the school…the only trouble is there is a river I have to cross and during rainy season it can get quite high. I am negotiating stepping stones on my way to work at the moment… and am hoping they won’t be completely covered over one of these days. The pictures show the views near my new place and also my outside kitchen, and the rooms inside. As you can see I am making myself at home there, and my 2 year old next door neighbour helps me out with the mopping!! He is always in my place shouting “ Aunty, Aunty!” wanting me to play games with him!
I am busy at work preparing for the conference in Ghana as well as all the usual things. And the big news is that the wheelchair request has been approved by the ministry so we are hoping that wheelchairs will be provided for all the physically disabled children by the end of August. But I am on the quest for more funding as there are so many other things we want to provide, including electronic talking machines and other aids for the physio room and for the parents to use at home etc! I will try to get into fundraising once I get back from Ghana I think. Any ideas for contacts, please let me know!

The other pictures are from a leaving party I went to in Abuja last weekend…the theme was “stars and stripes” as both the people leaving are American. I won the name the 50 american states quiz ( admittedly with a little help from a friend!) and my prize was a stuffed animal. I took in back home and was going to give it to the school but I thought the kids would fight over it so I gave it to Abdulai, my little neighbour..but he was so scared of it he started crying!!! Not a success….think it will be going to school after all!....

Special olympics... and a new wheelchair!

Just a quick post this time, to show you a few photos from the Special Olympics event they held at school today. The kids really enjoyed themselves, although it was a shame the rain came earlier than usual and rained off the last few events. They were all so proud of their medals, and loved doing the march past to mark the start of the ceremony, including lighting the Olympic flame. I ended up being the chief photographer for the event so I didn't actually have much time to take my own pics but here are the few I did take...

I have also included a picture of Joseph in his new wheelchair, kindly donated last week. Admittedly, it is not exactly made to measure, and he has some difficulty staying in it properly, not least because it is made of slippy material, but he was so happy the first time he had a ride in it, as you can see. His mother was so happy that they finally had a wheelchair for him she started to cry, as did his nanny ( the girl also in the picture) who is generally the person who has to carry him around at school! We are hoping that our request for some more lightweight wheelchairs from the Ministry will come to fruition....We shall see!

Life continues to be hectic but in a good way. I have just moved house for the third time in six months, but this time, it’s to my own place. A friend of a work colleague has built a house in his back yard, and I am the first one to move in. It’s a great little place, with three largish rooms and the only down side is that the kitchen is outside in a small shed. But I am now fixed up with running water and the potential for electricity…depending on whether the power is on or not! My boss has been a great help in collecting furniture for me to use, and even re- upholstered an old three piece suite for me to put in the sitting room. The only trouble is that my only means of cooking is an electric hot plate at the moment…not ideal for a country with unreliable electricity supply!

I visited Kano last week to combine a VSO conference with my birthday celebrations last Saturday. It’s a really interesting place to visit…a huge city of over 3 million people with sprawling old city area complete with the original buildings from over 500 years ago. In fact, there were buildings in the old market that were apparently used as the main depots for trading slaves. They are now used as money changing venues.
It was fascinating wandering around the narrow market alleyways bustling with movement. I nearly got my eye poked by someone carrying a long piece of timber on his head. Needless to say I got carried away buying objects from the market…I kept thinking that it was a birthday treat to myself….but it was nice to be able to see your things being actually made on the spot. ( such as the tie die cloth and the pot ( called a calabash…see pics) They still make the tie dye cloth in the original way and each die pit is owned by a particular family and passed down through the generations, over hundreds of years. But perhaps the best thing about seeing all these things was that you didn’t feel as if you were just another tourist…we were asked to sign a book when we went to the dye pits and I think we were the first tourists there for a while!

I was also lucky enough to have a birthday party arranged for me…I just had to turn up! A VSO friend helped to organise it , and asked a good friend of hers if he wouldn't mind holding the do at his house, complete with a pool! I felt ready to cool off in the water after a long day's sightseeing....!

It's been back to work this week though, and I am working of Saturday too as there is a family forum with the parents, to discuss issues around coping with children with disabilities. The next round of the Nigerian special olympics is also being held at school tomorrow so I will be hoping to get some good pictures of that....!

Jos Life

It’s been a hectic couple of weeks since the Kabba weekend. Another volunteer, Heather, has moved to Jos so I have had a good excuse to eat out more than usual to show her the best places! She considers that Jos has practically artic conditions since she has been living in Delta state for the past few months, but I pointed out that although the temperature has admittedly dropped recently it’s still around 26 degrees or so. Hardly freezing, but then I felt a bit chilly the other day and needed a few layers on so perhaps I am succumbing to the local view of the climate!
Anyway, I am gathering a few more people to come with me to the samba and tango lessons I have started going to…which is necessary as the timings are rather casual , as are the other dance participants. Different people tend to come each time. Generally I end up texting the teacher before the class to remind her to come. That seems to work, although she was still 25 minutes late the other day, even after the text. I wouldn’t mind, but as it’s only for an hour….! Anyway, now we have a few definite regulars things should improve! I have been told that my waist needs to be more flexible in no uncertain terms, but at least I seem to be able to get the steps so that’s a start. And its all good fun which is the main thing.
The country pictures are of another hike in Jos with a few friends. I promised that I would take them to a place with boulders to climb and I don’t think I disappointed them! It was a beautiful day and even though I have seen the landscape in that area a few times now, I haven’t got tired of it yet!!

And moving to school matters...well, its all going quite well at the moment. I have been so pleased that many of the things that I had suggested and try to set up have actually happened. We managed to get external funding to create a partition in the physio room to make a small dark room area as a basic sensory room. I spotted a disco ball in the main “supermarket” in Jos ( not exactly Tesco sized…more like your average convenience store) and I couldn’t believe it as I hadn’t seen anything like that here before. So we bought that, and along with some light up toys I brought out with me, we have been able to create an atmosphere of flashing lights and spinning light up balls etc. We have also rigged up a ball pool using a paddling pool and a bag of small plastic balls we found in town. It makes a great waiting area for physio!
You may think this has nothing to do with speech therapy but actually I have been trying to get the non-verbal children to ask what toy they want using pictures, or a make-shift switch with a recordable message such as “I want toy!” If they press the switch, they get the toy! The switch I have got is tiny though as it is just a basic toy as part of a telephone set, so we are hoping to get funding to get some decent switches and “ talking machine” type technology ( AAC for those of you in the know) so I am more hopeful about that as I really think it will work.

Work and Play!

I had a busy long weekend at Kabba, in Kogi State. There seems to be a regular get together hosted by some irish priests down there for VSOs ( at least 20 of us or so) and other people that they know here in Nigeria. It involved lots of fun and games, including crazy golf, hiking, bar games like jenga and the hat game incorporating the donning of as many different types of hats as possible it appeared! Not sure what the point was but it was good fun which was the main thing. The incredibly cheesy music and impressive display of energetic dancing also added excitement to the evenings!!

It was good to meet up with everyone, after a busy week at work. I have been busy preparing materials as I tend to make all my own resources rather than buy things that aren't appropriate...or indeed available!....so that keeps me occupied in the evenings. I also had to plan a workshop I was giving to local teachers on general language development and how to help develop young children's speech and language...and how to spot possible problems etc.

We had a few hiccups because even thought I had made sure that the generator was available in case of the inevitable power failure, I had failed to ensure that there was sufficient fuel to power the generator. So I had to swop the video clip to the middle of the workshop once someone had gone to buy some fuel...always need to be flexible in these situations!

I have also started dancing at a local Nigerian Dance studio that does African Samba and Tango lessons. I think I will take a while to get as flexible around the waist as everyone else there, but at least I am giving it a go!

I thought I would add a picture of my room at school...complete with an invading herd of cows!

An action packed weekend in Abuja!

Admittedly this is yet another bulletin completely non-work related but I just wanted to give you a quick update about the weekend. I went to Abuja for another get together at the army barracks which is the local gathering point if you want good fish and chips!

Later we ended up with some friends at a posh house with a full sized bar in the front room and I felt like I was in a surreal film set....But that was nothing compared to the party we went to the next night. It was in a house with a life sized model areoplane on the roof, taking up the top storey...anyone who has been to Abuja will know where I mean! A friend of mine knew the Lebanese family throwing the party so a group of us went along. It was very ornate inside, but the apart from the delicious food ( as much hummous as I could imagine !!) it was great to try out lebanese-style dancing ! Everyone was very friendly and we were all encouraged to bop away...The worst part was that I have never felt so under dressed for a party in my life. I only had my scruffy trainers with me in Abuja so i borrowed a friend's top but had to make do with my sporty trousers and trainers when everyone else was in cocktail dresses and high heels!! When I noticed the film crew filming us dancing , I was particularly aware of my outfit, but by then it was too late for me to care too much!! In fact the whole weekend was very surreal as I ended up sunning myself at the Hilton by the pool on Saturday...for free this time. Managed to get away with it!

Back to work today though. Lots of planning to do for another workshop and I was going to do another evening of making resources but I have had a nice excuse to go out for a meal....my gas canister has run out and I can't even boil water or cook at the moment!! I should be getting a new one in the next couple of days.....We shall see...!