SEATTLE
DEAF-BLIND
SERVICE CENTER
#11: Connecti Maximius
May 1, 2008
Reeling from the week I had in Jos, it was a weekend to look forward to when I hit the road to Abuja, 3 hours away, with Julia and Sebastian for a fun-filled weekend on Saturday. Hungry, we drove by the roadside market on the way and bought some grilled corn-on-the cob. It’s a delicacy, the corn is orange and tastes like burnt popcorn – I had devoured two! Speaking of orange, the trio of us were off to Abuja to attend a party hosted by the Dutch Embassy in honour of Queen’s Day, a national holiday in the Netherlands where everyone wears orange, paint their faces orange/white/blue, with wooden Dutch clogs. We had a former VSO volunteer, Thessa, working at the party so we were excited to get together with a couple of volunteers and dance the night away!
When we got to the fancy residential complex, we found a refreshing pool, a long bar that served free, flowing wine and Heineken beers, maitre d’s serving platters of cheese (tons of them), fresh raw herring, meat balls, and more! I wore an orange scarf and earrings, but apparently my black shirt wasn’t enough so they gave me an orange T shirt – and I obliged! There was a sea of people, mostly batures (white foreigners) dressed in orange, orange and nothing but orange!! Quite the sight! My face got painted orange, white and blue (the national colors of Holland) by a volunteer, Kristal. Once I got a cold Heineken in my hand, I set off to meet the other volunteers (around 15 of them attended!) and meet new people. While teams were assembled (I had signed up too late, so I sat by the sidelines cheering the VSO “O” Team on) and drank even more Heinekens… I think afrer the third one I lost count!
Through an Irish volunteer, I met Jimmy, an Irish fella working at the Ireland-based construction company, PW. PW constructs many buildings, including classrooms for special schools, so this was a great networking opportunity. Jimmy was a great fella!
Pretty much by 1a.m., everyone was seeing orange in the skies, in the water and in our faces – we ate so much herring, drank like fishes, and got wet n’wild in the pool. There was an awesome DJ that played Nigerian and Dutch music all night, and I danced in the rain while the song, “Do Me” blared – and had a cute Frenchman join me. This evening surely was one of the best highlights of my 2-month stay in Nigeria – and I am going to sign up for the 2009 Orange Party Games.
Sunday was a mellow one – the volunteers got together at our favourite hangout, AJs and had shawarma, chips, mineral and great laughs about the night before. Some of us were nursing hangovers, some of us ready to go back home. During the weekend, VSO volunteers had stayed with me at the VSO flat – now everyone was leaving and I was staying behind… alone. ALONE?????? *gulp* alone. I had become so accustomed to being with people – the intervenors, the volunteers, and friends – but now I was really, really, really on my own. I had to start hailing taxis on my own, find places, eat by myself and try to figure life in Abuja all by my fabulousness. And I didn’t mind. This was a great challenge. Zach and Erin had done their jobs well – taught me everything about environment, the people, transportation, and how to adapt to life in a village and a big city. I was ready for the ultimate test – living in Abuja by myself for an entire week before I left for home up North. I absolutely love challenges, don’t you?
Monday, I got ready for dinner with Timothy, an interpreter friend at AJs, then went off to the Nigerian Republican Party’s cocktail hour. Unfortunately, I arrived when the party ended! I thought it started at 8pm, but in fact it ended at 8pm. But I got in some networking – I met the president of the International Republican Institute, an organization that advocates a variety of issues and lobbies the Republicans in the government houses to pass laws in the IRI’s favor. Also gave my business card to some organizers and would see them the next day for the conference.
Up bright and early, I set off for the conference and met up with several other Deaf people who were members of the Nigerian Association for the Deaf, as well as a principal of the Zamfara State School for the Deaf, and a Deaf politician from Jos who worked with the state government of Plateau State. I didn’t know that there were Deaf people working on higher government levels and I was proud of that. From the looks of it, there were around 200 people sitting around a long, rectangular room, listening to each participant speak out on the issue of disabled people and how they are portrayed in the media. The topic of the conference was, “Disabilities in the Media”, it attracted very important figures in Nigerian politics and media. During a photo session, three representatives from the federal House of Representatives approached me and was astonished to find a Deaf Blind batura working in Nigeria and from the looks of it, they were excited about the possibility of a future for Deaf Blind children. Two out of three requested lunches with me when I returned to Abuja in July, and we swapped email addresses. Back to the conference room, the interpreters – Lola and Timothy – interpreted the entire conference continuously (Timothy for the group of Deaf people; Lola volunteered to be my tactile interpreter). They interpreted for what, 4 hours straight? In Nigeria, the availability and professionalism of interpreters is such a huge issue (see my previous journal entry). I decided to go up to the podium and give a few words about my experience using the media (vlogs, blogs, writing newspaper articles, going on TV and university press) to educate people on Deaf Blind topics and made a recommendation to the politicians to develop a relationship with the media, the government funding agency and disability organizations to produce TV commercials featuring disabled people being able. Round of applause for the only white woman that attended the conference.
After the conference ended and lunch break began, I was faced with a long line of people who wanted to meet me. I met several people with physical inabilities, three blind lawyers (it isn’t a joke, one of them works for the federal Justice department), Deaf people, and politicians. I received so many invitations to have lunch, and my business cards are running out. This was an excellent opportunity to network, as this was the place where lawmakers of Nigeria got together and discussed topics related to disability. And they’ve got Coco tattooed on their arm! Looking forward to meeting all of them in Abuja later on.
A southern chicken dinner at a fast food joint completed my dinner for the evening and Timothy dropped me off home. There wasn’t any NEPA for the past two days, and no water – the pump needed electricity to run – so I had to summon the guard to lug heavy buckets of water up the apartment stairs (in the dark, oops).
Wednesday wasn’t such a good day. I had gotten lost in a taxi who claimed he knew where the British Consulate was but kept venturing further and further away. I kept trying to point him in the right direction (it was a mere 3 minute drive from the flat) but this stubborn mule kept going, going, going… finally he asked for directions and 20 minutes later I arrived at the B.C.. I was rushed off the internet because of a long queue, and I forgot my flash drive when I got out of the consulate. I arrived at the VSO office and was told I needed to accompany a staff woman to the bank for some financial business, and what was supposed to be 10 minutes turned into an hour of confusion, wahala and frustration. I was beginning to feel unwell, sweating so much and feeling a little lightheaded. When I was done with my shopping (getting a few “city” items for the village where I call home) , I went to the flat and started feeling worse. I felt some flu-like symptoms, the chills, sore muscles, weak knees, could not sleep and the “bad” kind of sweat started pouring out of my pores. I became worried – what if I had contracted malaria? That really wasn’t something I wanted to have, I wanted to go home on Thursday the 1st of May and start working, living at home and starting my own routine.
My adventure to my first Nigerian hospital deserves its own journal entry – so you’ll have to be patient (no pun intended). I’m off to pop some vitamins, boil some green tea, lie down and read a good book. My trip home has been postponed until Sunday, so I better unpack and make myself comfortable. Abuja has me for at least a couple more days.
It really is amazing, how rapidly my network here in Nigeria has grown. I know people on federal, state and local levels of government, lawyers, doctors, headmasters of many deaf schools, ex-patriates, foreign businessmen, construction company, Deaf associations, an interpreting network, embassy people, a great group of volunteers and a good number of friendships. I really am blessed and fortunate to have had this opportunity to be able to settle in Nigeria well, especially when I am a Deaf Blind white woman. I foresee my next 22 months here to be productive, comfortable and eventful.
Tactile love and be in good health,
Coco