Mana Shah - Facilitator

One of the many things etched in my memory from my first trip to Pakistan recently will always be colourful, distinct, decorated trucks.....sadly I could not take any pictures, but I found a detailed and a lovely description of this phenomena My colleague Olaf presented me with a nice coffee table book on this "Art on Wheels". I did manage to get a small replica of this intriguing artform which sits in my living room.

In my years before me, I can say I have decent amoung of experience in working with youth. But if one were to ask me what is the secret of their success or what is one thing that should be done in creating maximum outcomes, I would answer with a typical Indian unidentifiable nod! As someone who is supporting, guiding, mentoring youth groups, should one give more autonomy and flexibility (and then take a chill pill and wait for the spontaneous order to create the magic)? Should one provide frameworks and structures within which young people can play with (and then scringe if one of those frameworks are not often referred to again until one plays the job of a constant reminder)? Should one insist on reporting and documentation after a great program when one knows that will take its own time to come? Should one provide more spaces to meet and interact face to face or create multiple online forums? Should one wait and control the impulse to rush in to "rescue" or "correct...

After reading James Tooley's The Beautiful Tree! I felt angry, inspired, surprised, and most of all completely bewildered as to how the education experts of the world from 19th century onwards were just ignoring how majority of the poor were choosing the education for their children. His experiences of working with schools in India, China, Nigeria, Ghana, and Zimbabwe all showed him the same thing! That the poor had made a choice for the betterment of their children. The educational entreprenuers were not looting the poor "ignoramous" parents. The children in private schools, even the village schools, were performing way better than their counterparts in government schools. It was the first time I had read a counter to Britain's feather in the cap-of bringing education to the uncivilised world! He documents again and again how in Kenya, China, India, and even in England had a history of well-functioning private schools which used a unique peer-learning methodoly! Giv...

One thing I will always be grateful to my Nigeria experience, would be that it made me write:) Its the first time in my life that I wrote about the big and small happenings in my volunteer life and I found this an excellent medium to share my thoughts of my loved ones (fortunately, the positive thoughts!) But since I have been back, I have not had the motivation or the idea on the form the blog should take. One of my dear friends from Nigeria, Ayo, challenged this extended leave of absense from this blog, by saying carpe diem shouldnt end just because I have left Nigeria!! So here I am, back atleast with this new post and some alterations to the blog layout! This transition is still work in progress so it will be a while till it looks smooth! I want to keep some of the old elements as many aspiring volunteers look to my blog as a source of information on the ups and downs of volunteer life. Keep reading, hopefully my mental mutterings will entertain you.....

Its difficult to believe that almost a year has passed since I became a part of GIVE's family. I came to GIVE and to Nigeria with a lot hope, excitement, curiosity and eagerness to make a difference. Lagos to me was very much like India in all its hustle & bustle and vibrancy. Though the traffic and NEPA were tough to get used to, the music, the art & culture scene, the BRT, the beaches and most importantly the PEOPLE have made this an unforgettable experience. Over the past year, working with the Network gave me the opportunity to work with a number of organizations and different people. I have been lucky to witness some impactful initiatives and meet committed visionaries. Thank you especially to Falana Martin-Mary, Princess, Ijeoma, Felix, Charles, Dr Chika for accepting my small contributions. As a volunteer, there was tremendous value and respect for my experience, skills and perspective. It was humbling to receive invitations to workshops and seminars out...

Day 1 of the carnival had boosted our curiosity, eagerness and energy to catch the main parade. After walking around for a while, we finally settled in the media stand which was perched up on wooden beams to offer a good view of the parade and it was right opposite the judges point so we got to witness the best dance performances. Donald Duke-the creator of the Carnival led one of the bands and the crowd went absolutely crazy when he and his wife made their appearance! After catching the morning three-hour parade, I somehow still had some reserve energy and after some refreshments, I accompanied Roy to the Stadium where all the bands were returning after their tour of the city. They performed one last time in the stadium and this time I was right in the front on the tracks and I got excellent frontal views of the entire parade.

Donald Duke -the former governor of Cross River State started the annual Calabar Christmas Carnival in 2000 which has surely put Calabar on the international map of carnivals! The entire month of December is lined up with exciting activities including live concerts, shows, youth development programs etc . The street parades are on 26 December (Kids) and 27 December (adults). The parade starts from one point and walks around the major roads across the city and heads back to the National Stadium. Eager and often undisciplined crowds line up on both sides of the road and other clearer viewing spots (we saw some on back of a billboard). Five bands compete for the best choreography, costume, music etc and of course the overall best band trophy! Each band has about 10-12 sections of different costumes. The overall theme of 2008 carnival was sustaining the earth's treasures. There are 3-4 adjudication points where the bands are at their best to impress the judges. Luckily for u...

Drill monkeys are short tailed rainforest monkeys that survive only in a handful of places one among which is the Cross River State and are one of Africa's most endangered primates being hunted for bushmeat! We visited two conservation initiatives Cercopan (www.cercopan.org) and Pandrillus (www.pandrillus.org). Both organizations have a captive facilitates in Calabar and much larger forested areas few hours north of Calabar. Having made up our minds to wake up in a forest on Christmas Day, we headed up to Afi Drill Ranch on 24th morning. After five hours in a taxi and wahalla with our taxi driver over how much we owed him, we completed the final leg of our journey on a "machine" (what they call bikes here) meandering through a uphill and downhill muddy road. The Ranch is home to about thirty gorillas, chimps and drill monkeys and other forest animals including mongooses, parrots, pigs, eagles and others I didnt know about. The ranch has a shared full equipped cook...

Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, is a pleasant, laid back town set on top of a hill, overlooking the Cross river. It was a major port town in the East and approximately a third of the slaves were transported out of Africa through here. It is the home of the Efik people , Efik also being the language they speak here. Parts of the city house beautiful colonial buildings which were shipped frame by frame from Europe. The host family we were staying with--their house was shipped from Germany! It is also home to the 19th century Scottish Missionary, Mary Slessor who is known to be the champion for abolition of inhumane traditional practices like the killing of twins! You see her tomb in the photo below. We passed by one of the oldest churches in the region, the Duke Town Church built in 1904. Cross River state is also home to the best conservation initiatives in captive breeding of primates, one species of which is actually found only in this region in the entire world. Also ...