My First Day at the Orphanage

The verdict is still out about how much I like my new job. Today was my first day and it too soon to formulate an opinion. I now work at the Divine Providence Orphanage in Kakamega, in the baby wing. I help three other women look after five preschoolers, six babies who are roughly 6-18 months, and two very young infants. I get to work around 8 am when we start bathing, dressing, and feeding everyone. The next couple hours are spent cleaning, helping with the laundry (most of that is done by women prisoners on lone from the neighboring prison), making beds, and basically keeping the kids happy and entertained. Lunch, which was also my only break today, is around one o'clock when I eat with the Divine Providence Sisters who run the orphanage. This afternoon consisted of folding all the laundry and rocking fussy babies. My work day ended at 4:50.

In some ways it was fun working at the orphanage. The kids are ridiculously cute and who doesn't like rocking babies? Yet in many ways it is depressing work. The youngest baby, who by my guess is probably only a week or maybe two old, was abandoned in the forest. The staff treats the babies with love and kindness but there is only so much they can do. There isn't enough time to give everyone enough attention. Often it is the screaming child who gets picked up while quiet babies like Andrew are left lying in their cribs.

I don't know where I am going to get the energy needed to work at the orphanage. I don't know what is more tiring, chasing two year olds around the courtyard or dealing with a baby who screams every time I tried to put him down. Today we had almost finished feeding everyone, when one baby threw up his entire breakfast all over himself, me, and the floor. That meant changing him for the second time in thirty minutes, cleaning my clothes as best I could, and mopping the floor. Then, as if the work wasn't exhausting enough, there was the commute home. In order to get home (or to work for that matter) I have to take a 40 minute bus ride and then there is a 30 minute walk from the bus stop. Today it was pouring and it took me an hour and forty minutes to get home.

So this job could be very rewarding. Or it could mean a lot of long days. More than likely it will be both.

The cool thing about Kenya is...

the wildlife. Nigeria was a pretty awesome place but the most exotic animal I saw was a scorpion. Kenya on the other hand has lots of animals. On Tuesday, Sr. Jane took Sue and I to lunch at a national park just outside of Nairobi. When we were leaving we saw a bunch of wild baboons, who had overturned a garbage can and were eating the contents. We drove to Malava on Thursday and it was a poor volunteer's version of a safari. We saw herds of gazelle, a couple of warthogs, vultures, a flock of flamingos (that looked like a sea of pink on the lake), and zebras. All of them were running around wild outside of Nairobi. Back home drivers have to avoid hitting deer, here it is zebras. We also have a lot of animals at the house. The Sisters have four or five cows, several goats, at least three chickens, two dogs, and a cat.

Travel Misadventures and Miracles

Sunday I came the closest I have ever come to missing a flight. It was probably the most stressful day of my life. I took the 7 am bus to Lagos and that is where the trouble began. The bus was a half hour late to begin with and the roads were a muddy mess after two days of rain. Around Oro we were stuck in grid lock for two hours. We lost a side mirror (on a military vehicle no less) and I saw more than one car bump into another vehicle. The nine hour bus ride turned into a thirteen hour trip. One of the Sisters arranged for me to meet Emmanuel, the driver at the last bus stop. Unfortunately, the bus company recently added a new last stop. So Emmanuel called and asked where I was, turns out he was at the previous stop and it was almost a half hour before we met up. So it was 8:45 when we arrived at the airport and my flight was at 10:10. When Emmanuel and I arrived at the check-in counter we were told that it was closed. I stood there gaping at the woman, wondering what I was supposed to do. Luckily after a 2000 naira bribe (roughly 20 bucks) they agreed to check me in. The next problem arose when weighing my bags. When the woman informed me that the two bags combined were four kilos over weight, I was ready to start coughing up the dough so I didn't have to unpack my luggage. Emmanuel discreetly tugged my sleeve and after a few minutes of us just standing there, they took the bags away, gave me my boarding pass, and nothing more was said about the weight. So I made it over that first hurdle at the airport.

I now had an hour to get through immigration and security before the gate closed but the line barely seemed to move at all. My anxiety and nausea kept increasing as I watched the minutes tick past. It did not help that Emmanuel and Sr. Amarachi kept calling to check if I had made it through yet. With ten minutes left, I finally made it to the front of the line. The officer asked to see my passport, boarding pass, and immigration forms. The first two I had ready but it appears in their haste to check me in, I was not given the necessary immigration forms. The officer told me to go back to the check in counter and pick up a form. By this time I was ready to either cry or throw up. The woman took pity on me and assured me that the South African flight crew had just arrived themselves, I would not have to wait in line again, and I would still make my flight. So I ran back to the counter but not a soul was in site. When I finally tracked down an employee, he told me there were no more forms. By this point I felt certain that I was not getting on that plane. Luckily I spotted an employee for another airline and he helped me acquire the form. I jumped to the front of the line, received my exit stamp, and it seemed as if my luck was finally changing. However after going through the metal detectors, an security guard led me off to the side and told me to open my backpack. He then said as calmly as you please, "you pay me 100 US dollars now." Cops seem to be constantly asking people what they will give them, but this is the first time I had ever seen someone demand a certain amount. If it was 20 bucks I probably would have paid right up but 100 bucks is a lot of money for a poor volunteer. So I used the tactic I have seen the Sisters use several times: don't come out and say no, just stall. So I kept telling that man that I didn't understand. The jerk kept repeating "you pay me 100 dollars." It became a battle of wills and five precious minutes later, he finally gave up and told me to go.

After nearly giving myself an ulcer, I finally arrived at the gate at 10:15 to find that they hadn't even started boarding yet. The flight took off an hour and twenty minutes late but I was on it. So that is how twenty four hours after the start of my journey I find myself sitting in Johannesburg typing away. Yesterday was by far my worst day in Nigeria but just writing down all the wahalla has been very therapeutic and I feel much better. I prayed more yesterday than I have in a long time. The Good God must have been listening because it was a miracle I made it on that flight. And eight hours from now, God willing, I will be in Kenya.

Love from a different corner of Africa,

Things I have learned in Nigeria

Just because you are in Africa, doesn't mean there is a lion, elephant, or giraffe nearby.

It is not a good idea to fetch water in cargo shorts. The buckets catch on the pockets and then you end up slopping water all over yourself.

I thought living in a convent might be like the Sound of Music, without the nazis. It was nothing like that. Living with nuns was actually a lot of fun.

Malaria is more fun the second and third time.

The part in the Wizard of Oz, where the Wicked Witch starts melting always seemed far fetched to me. After spending time in Nigeria's heat and humidity I think it is entirely plausible that someone could melt.

Murphy's Law is alive and well. Anything that can go wrong, will probably go wrong. This is especially true when it comes to travel in Nigeria.

Pineapples do not grow on trees.

It is acceptable and sometimes necessary to start laughing without knowing why.

Roosters do not crow at dawn. Well, they do but they also crow at all hours of the day and night.

A baby is never too young to be tied on someones back and carried around.

If I had to choose between running water and electricity, I would rather have electricity. Although having both is preferable.

Eating bugs is a crunchy but not all together unpleasant experience.

Just because a cop is looking for a bribe, doesn't mean you have to give one.

Haggling over prices is an art form. It can be a long and frustrating process but in the end it is very rewarding.

The fastest way to tell a goat apart from a sheep is to look at the tail (goat tails point up and sheep tails point down).

During my entire time in Nigeria (not counting the airport) I saw a total of 18 white people. Six of whom were SNDs and four more were other religious. I am relatively young, unmarried, white, and a woman, which made me an especially rare commodity. Now I know what it is like to be the minority. It was fun at times, other times it earned me special treatment, but often times it left me feeling exposed and uncomfortable. In the future I will have more sympathy for anyone who is in the minority, whether because of their gender, race, age, or culture.

Being homesick for a place that is not your home is much worse than being homesick for your home. You can always go home.

Goodbye Awkunanaw

Today is my last day in Awkunanaw. I will spend tonight at the Nwodo house and Sunday morning I take the 7 am bus to Lagos. I should arrive around 5 pm and my flight leaves at 10:10 pm. Around 5 am on Monday, we should land in Johannesburg, South Africa. I will have a five hour layover and then I fly to Nairobi. Provided everything goes according to plan, I should be in Nairobi around 4pm.

I will be excited about going to Kenya once I arrive. But right now, I am stressed out about the journey and I am depressed about leaving Nigeria. There is something special about Nigeria. The people are open and friendly. There is so much joy, even among the poor and suffering. I have grown to love Awkunanaw, the school, and especially the Sisters. Way back in October at the CMMB orientation, someone asked why we wanted to volunteer overseas. I said something about living in Germany, how I loved experiencing a different culture, and that years later I still get homesick for a place that was never my home. Well I am going to be horribly homesick for Nigeria. I pray that one day God will bring me back to Nigeria.