Mana Shah - Facilitator

From the main road just out of Kafanchan, all you can see are what seem to be two ordinary small falls of water. Today, thanks to Alok's curiousity and lovely rainy breezy weather, we decided to check them out! And we were amazed by their beauty. It was like an oasis in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the driest season of the year. Apparently some company has had the brilliant idea of building a holiday resort around the area of the falls and has gotten the land on lease from the government. Rohi, Parul if you are reading, remember the chaos of Kempty? Well, this was far more beautiful and wonderfully non-chaotic! This marks my first sight of a natural wonder in Africa!

This was my first Holi away from home! But luckily for me I found a festive Indian to celebrate it with! Alok is a doctor who is here working as Program Manager for 30 Primary Health Centres servicing 150 villages in 3 local governments. He was nice enough to invite me and a few other volunteers to his home to celebrate holi together: eat, drink and talk! He has a fabulous cook who cooked lovely poori, aloo matar, papads [that too fried:)], fresh dahi! It was just amazing... When the other volunteers were asking what does "holi" mean and what is the historical siginifance, I was surprised at myself for not knowing! But I found out that it has many explanations including being a harvesting festival, the burning of the demoness "Holika", throwing of the ayurvedic colours as medicine for cure, etc etc.. [thanks to wikipedia again]. In the photo you see from left to right, Alok, Krystal [VSO volunteer from Holland] and Glenn [VSO Volunteer from Canada]! Behind them is ...

Saturday actually was a extra-special day! First, Pradip, an Indian VSO volunteer based in Abuja cooked for the most amazing chicken curry, dal, roti and kheer! [ahh roti:)] I then arrived in Kafanchan on Saturday night where another scrumptious Indian meal was awaiting me at an Indian doctor's house. Kafanchan in a small town in Kaduna state with a population of about 80,000. It has very weak systems for health, education and infrastructure. I am visiting a local civil society organisation called Fantsfaum Foundation [named after the local tribe called "Fantsfaum" that is working towards integrated rural development through ICT, micro-finance [modelled after grameen bank], health awareness and facilities, a local volunteering program called "Gaiya" [which means "free gift of labour" in Hausa]. I am here to know more about their volunteering program. The people here are really nice. I am staying at the Foundation guesthouse which is quite comfortable...

Happy St Patrick's Day Remember the energising party and dance sequence in Titanic where Kate Winslet stands on her toes the first time and experiences her first real "live" party? Well I didnt stand on my toes, but I did have my first experience celebrating an Irish festival and it was fun! Saint Patrick's Day, colloquially St. Paddy's Day or Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick (circa 385–461 AD), one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on March 17. Celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish and, by association, the colour green. Both Christians and non-Christians celebrate the secular version of the holiday by wearing green or orange, eating Irish food and/or green foods, imbibing Irish drink (such as Guinness) and attending parades. [thanks wikipedia!] Luckily for us VSO volunteers, an Irish construction company celebrates this day in Abuja and all VSO volunteers and staff are invited!...

Hey, as of now as many as 50 volunteers are serving throughout Nigeria and working in various capacities in the areas of secure livelihoods, education, HIV/ AIDS, and national volunteering! I am now on the map! My programme area is "National Volunteering". Every year, VSO invites stakeholders to come to together to review the past year and collectively plan for next year! I am very lucky that the annual review for my programme area is actually happening tomorrow and dayafter! It will be an excellent way for me to understand what has happened so far and how I could contribute!

I think it is the first time I have heard of a mention to India in Nigerian metaphors....Nigerians love to watch Indian movies....so much so...that when a Nigerian takes very long to do something, the comment that comes is "oh don't be an Indian film"!

General Abacha was a military ruler of Nigeria whose family looted a lot of public money...but got a barracks named after himself:) The Abacha Barracks is known for its freshly roasted fish! There is a square in the middle of a shanty place and many women are grilling fish with pepe [Nigerian slang for pepper] and bargaining for the best price. A big size fish [as in photo] costs about 500 naira [Rs 150]..it comes with sauteed onions and a lemon...with the infamous "Star" beer, its the most delicious fish I have ever eaten! As value adds, we had a lovely cool breeze, live guitar music, and funny company!

I cant remember how many people have told me that "we Indians are very unique"; "this can happen only in India"...well just a week in Nigeria and I have learnt that perhaps Indians are not so unique after all! What should I start with...lets say the constant honking on the roads, the anywhere-pee policy, vendors on the sidewalks selling anything under the sun, the low priority pedestrian status, the dilapidating condition of the taxis and buses to the larger issues of lack of quality education, corruption, poverty, conservative attitude towards girls, lack of livelihoods etc etc etc.... The best one was last night...I swear when I heard the dogs barking at 4 am...I felt right at home:) But despite all of this, Nigerians are happy people...you see smiles, you hear laughter, you smell pepper, you hear "welcome, welcome, welcome"! I have felt so much warmth and love here in just a few days and it is indeed this that holds for me the promise of an unforgettabl...

As part of the session on motivation, the existing volunteers shared that in aiming for high impact, we very often forget our smal achievements and dont congratulate ourselves! To help us do so, we were asked to write a letter to ourselves...here is what I wrote... Dearest Mana, You are truly fantastic. I want to congratulate you for taking this leap; for finally doing what you have been thinking about for a long time; for leaving your comfort zone and loved ones to find comfort in and give comfort to some others who are in a similar journey as you; for wanting to understand and live in a new culture and the joys, the pain, the excitement, the passion in their lives; and finally for venturing from the planned into the unknown!

Just few days into my entry into a new land, I was on the road. The distance between Abuja and Jos is about 300 km and thanks to the great condition of Nigerian roads [two lane to six lane], we made it there in less that 4 hours! The Nigerians were surprised to here me say that their roads were better than ours in India:) The drive to Jos was absolutely amazing! Jos is in "Plateau State" and is literally on a plateau, hence, the cool weather...We passed by small green and brown hills, vast expanse of land, Its also an abundant producer of fruits and vegetables...and many volunteers do their grocery shopping here.. Good news is that the mango season is just about to start and I already saw huge mangoes on the road sides...it was just amazing... We attended a "Volunteer Patch Meeting" of the northern patch which has about 40 volunteers across the northern states. It was a great opportunity to meet volunteers from Netherlands, Canada, UK, Ireland, Uganda, Kenya, US, Au...

Pidgin english originated in Africa...The early explorers, navigators, and sailors found it difficult to communicate with the natives. On part of Africans, there was keenness to explore new ways of communicating with their visitors. And there developed "Pidgin", a version of English very unique to certain countries in Africa, Nigeria being one of them! Pidgin is spoken widely in south, so since I am in Lagos, I would ahve to learn this one to be able to connect with the locals including my co-workers, my neighbours, my vendors etc... Its very much like english but with certain different words...like, "how are you children?" would become "how your pickin them?"...."You go smell pepper"...means "You will ahve hard life.".... So as they say in Pidgin..."I dey manage"...meaning..."I am coping well."!

Its very impolite to walk into an office and not greet everyone...Nigerians love people and they love to ask about your family, your children and at times they have to clarify that "we are not being nosy...just want to know how you are!" I have already got a taste of that on the plane and also at the training... One more interesting thing I found out is that if a Nigerian tells you " Oh, you look fat !" it actually is a compliment! They mean to say that you look healthy and you look well... I hope to gain some kilos then...

My trip from Lagos to Abuja was quite exciting...we were taxing the runway and suddenly this lady gets up and starts shouting she is uncomfortable adn wants to get off the plane!! she is very persistent so the plane does turn around...now the other passengers are quite irritated and are very suspicious of her and after she gets off...they wanted to get off too...it was really funny to see the comradarie among the Nigerians...there was a Nigerian sitting next to me and he was also quite friendly...she said that this type of thing happens sometimes:) Anyways the pilot convinved all to stay on board and we did finally take off and I landed safe and sound. The VSO team was there to pick me up and we checked into a very comfortable hotel with AC and internet in the room...very good so far! The next morning I met the 10 other volunteers who were from UK, Canada, Uganda, Ireland, Netherlands and Kenya. There were a few serving volunteers as well. Its so amazing to see young people who ahve be...

Finally my journey begins! The day I was about to leave, I was numb, I couldnt believe that this is happening. I am very thankful for my share of good experiences so far. First my bags which were about 45 kg [excess by 5] were checked all ok without any excess baggage charges and then the guy checked it in all the way to Abuja. So I got the excess allowance right upto the last sector which actually allows only 20 kgs! I was very impressed with Emirates! The entertainment system was excellent, I watched two movies-"Enchanted" [demsey looks really Mcsteamy aka Dr Shephard in Grey's Anatomy], an amalgamation of cartoon and reality, modern day cinderalla story, lovely songs...and "No Reservations" [Anthony Bourdain must not be very happy with use of this name!], a story about lonely hard working chef who discovers meaning in life by living with his niece! I also watched two episodes of "Greys Anatomy" which I had not seen, it was so nice to watch this af...