Beaming kids with their new machines!

I had planned to post some pics from my recent trip to Ghana and Calabar in South Nigeria, over the easter holidays, but the internet connection seemed to be having other ideas over the past couple of weeks so I have moved onto new pictures to see if the beach , rainforest and money photos were feted! It seems that they were as these have worked! Mind you, I have to make the photos as small as possible for it upload! Anyway, it was a great holiday all in all and I may add some pics at some stage!

Meanwhile, I am now back at work again , and Iwas very excited to return back to Jos to see a new DHL parcel full of the speech equipment I had ordered from home, via a charity donation.

As you can see, the kids are very happy with their new devices, and its been really rewarding showing the parents how to work the machines and record onto them, programme them with suitable pictures and talk about all the possibilities for the future. I have been visiting some of the children in their homes so that I can take photogaphs of all the familiar objects and family members for their machines, rather than just using generic pictures , especially since a lot of the picture symbols you can download aren't always appropriate for Nigeria. ( particularly food - can't find symbols of Yam , Akara or moi moi on line!)

It's going well so far, and I just hope the machines will cope with the fact that other children in the families will no doubt get their hands on them!

I also added a picture of me collecting water from the well in our compound. I sometimes forget to mention the every day stuff, and it was only after a conversation with a friend the other day that I realised that things like bucket showers and getting water from the well have obviously become a bit too normal!

And now the pics!

Back to Jos

Admittedly there has been a slight delay since the last post in November. I didn’t quite get around to it in December, and I went back to the UK over Christmas and New Year. I have now been back for three weeks and everything feels pretty normal again. I suppose you do get a fresh sense of African street life compared to life back home: the vibrant colours all the women wear, people carrying huge pots of yams on their heads as well as carrying babies on their backs, and the hustle and bustle of the lively street markets full of loud negotiations on price all seems a world away from Bolton! ( see the picture) But you get used to it remarkably quickly.

I have been enjoying life back at the school, and it has been great to see all the kids again. I managed to bring back a whole suitcase of new toys, games and equipment thanks to the great January sales, generous donations and presents from friends and family. So it has been lovely to watch the kids’ reactions to all the new things, and it has injected new excitement into the same old activities. I am still making them practice saying the same type of things, but if there are new toys on offer, it makes everything a lot more exciting!
I am lucky to have a full time assistant now, who is a natural with the children so I am training her up to be “me” when I go. We still spend lots of time in the classrooms though working with the other teachers.

Outside of work it has been great to meet up with my friends again, and I have seen lots of the other volunteers at the weekends as you can see. I am now living with two other volunteers….in house number 4 here!....and you can see the new place in the pictures.

This week there will be 40 volunteers all together in Jos as we are having a meeting with all the VSO volunteers in the central and northern regions in Nigeria. Whatever we end up doing for the seminars etc, it will be good to catch up with everyone again!

Finally, the pictures from my summer holiday in August!!

You can see my cute little neighbour, a baboon sitting on the roof on a car in Yankari National Park, above the Wikki Warm springs, Sarah relaxing in Jos and both of us with some of the village community at one of the projects she supports.

Arrival of the wheelchairs!

Another blog entry without pics. So I will be brief, as I know it’s a tad dull to just read text! The problem is , my camera is still in Gashaka Gumpti National Park and no doubt the chimps have got hold of it and are taking photos as we speak….Well actually, not any more as it has been retrieved by rangers at the park but I thought it was safer to get a friend to pick it up when someone visits, rather than rely on the Nigerian postal system…

I have spent quite a few weekends here in Jos recently and have decided it’s not a bad spot! I have had a couple of friends to visit so we went on the obligatory tour of the Museum shops, trips to the market for material (cheaper than Abuja!) and hiking trips to the hills near my house.

I am happy that the rainy season is finally over so I have been enjoying getting back into the swing of swimming, cycling and hiking in the sun! I have also done my fair share of travelling too, mainly for farewell weekends in (Kaduna and Abuja) as it seems that there has been an epidemic of volunteers leaving recently! A new batch of VSO volunteers are arriving soon and an American girl is joining me at my school until December so that should be good. I have also found myself a very handy Speech therapy assistant in the form of a retired doctor who has some time on her hands. She has been very busy making extra PECS books and other visual aids, but the only down side is that we can’t locate stick on Velcro anywhere so are trying to find other methods!!

The really exciting news is that the wheelchairs have arrived too! My boss is going to pick them up next week so the children are so excited. Meanwhile a friend of mine is trying to set up a Cerebral Palsy support group and we had the first meeting about it the other week, which was even filmed for the local TV network. Typically they turned up when I was mid speech and I just had to carry on talking as if a film camera hadn’t just been thrust in my face!! Unfortunately I didn’t get to see myself on TV as the electricity wasn’t on that night!

It’s a short week coming up as Thursday and Friday are public holidays as it’s the end of the Muslim fasting period Ramadam. I am hoping to go to Zaria with some friends , to see the Durbar there. I will describe it in more detail when I have actually been!!!....Watch this space…

Photos from Ghana

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 )