Friday, February 13, 2009

Thursday and Friday

Thursday I spent the day with Sr. Josephine at the Justice and Development Program Commission or JDPC. I typed/edited a counsel report and one project proposal for Misereor (a German corporation that provides funding for development projects). The proposal is for another JDPC project to bring water to a rural area by building a well and a tank to collect rain water. After that we drove a half hour out to Awka because JDPC needed a signature from someone in the Bishop's office there. Awka is farther south than I have ever been and it is a beautiful area up in the hills.
Shockingly both the JDPC office and the pickup truck we drove had air conditioning. So Thursday night I felt like I hadn't done any real work that day because I hadn't sweat at all.


Friday Sr. Annette took Aubrie and I to the first annual Igbo Civilization and Culture Festival. Igbo is one of the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. The festival was well attended by local chiefs, politicians, and dignitaries. Since we were three of the five white people there, the emcee gave a special welcome to us foreigners. The festival coincided with the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, who is Igbo. I have not read that book but in college I read Achebe's No Longer at Ease. So I found it interesting to hear the author's speech which was read by his son (Chinua Achebe was paralyzed in a car crash and doesn't travel often). After several more long winded speeches lunch was served so the slaughtered cow did not go to waste. Then the traditional drumming and dancing began, followed with a masquerade.

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