Food memories

Last night for dinner JB made a delicious dish! Calabaza squash and pink beans also known as Habichuelas Rosadas. Here's a link to the site he got the recipe from.

It's also the place I stole the picture from. I can never get food pictures to look appetizing. What is the trick? But honestly, JB's creation looked nearly identical (minus the parcely) to this.

Now not only was that dish delicious but the fried plantains he made on the side were absolutely HEAVENLY. Plantains require very, very black skins before you can fry them and get the soft, gushy fried plantains that I love so much. (My hubby discovered this after he used non-black plantains and we got crunchy plantain chips.) This time, JB did them perfectly!

Fried plantains bring me back, instantly, to our month in Nigeria in 2007. To Papa cooking in the kitchen. To couscous and plantains and fresh fruit. To oatmeal and boiled eggs. To mosquito nets and washing my clothes in the tub. To no electricity. To no running water. To the most beautiful people you can ever imagine. To one month that absolutely changed our lives.

I realized that food can do that to you. A taste of something can completely send you to another place. To a memory stored so far away.

So what does it for you? What food is it that stirs up your most vivid memories? Share away!

"Papa" our cook. He worked all day to put three meals on the table for us. He lived away from his family and would occasionally take a bus home to see his wife and children. Papa was in this seventies, but he was as spry as a teenager.

Mosquito nets. This didn't help the boiling hot temperatures and no electricity.

We were in Nigeria for the first civilian to civilian election. Here is Papa showing JB his card that allowed him to vote. His thumb was also full of ink. So exciting! He was so proud.

A typical meal (minus Tara who was taking the picture.) We ate three meals a day around this table. This was the night we were introduced (and quickly said good bye to) goat brains. Horrid! (Even Tara who will eat ANYTHING agreed.)

Team Nigeria! We spent four weeks in Nigeria and then toured South Africa for two more weeks. Kelsey (in the middle) is currently studying to be a nun in Tennessee. Tara is a resident in California. And Ajit is a newly married last year resident in Arizona.

Tara and Dr. Chris. Never, in all my life, before or since, have I met a man who more perfectly exemplifies Christ than Dr. Chris. He truly felt like Jesus in Nigerian clothing. During our stay in Nigeria, many people prayed for me and my barrenness. When I found out I was pregnant, I received an email from Dr. Chris with the date and time that the one of the prayer sessions was conducted. He is amazing. I wish everyone could meet him. If you met him, you would have a more accurately painted picture of who our Christ was.

Thankfulness

My Dad and Mom arrived last night. I've already been told that there won't be any photos of my Dad included on the blog as he has a pretty nasty wound on his lip from the surgery he had done last week. Isn't it wonderful though that Isaac could care less? He's just so happy to play with his Grandpa. Kids are so innocent in that way. Grandpa seems exactly the same as he remembers him!

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. I am usually very low-key about birthdays but apparently, through the miracle of Facebook, everybody and their mother gets a reminder that it's my birthday. So now, everybody in the world knows that I am 32. I actually completely forgot it was my birthday until JB kissed me as I pulled the covers up over my head this morning and told me that my cards were on the kitchen counter. And then off to work he went.

He is doing a rotation in Fort Walton Beach -- the hospital in the town that borders the Base. It is nice to see him leave the house in real people's clothes every morning (in contrast to the military uniform he usually puts on), but he is, overall, incredibly ready to be done with this rotation. Monday starts vacation so this is his last day of insanity for a little while.

I also meant to post that our little chunker, Elijah, had his four month appointment on Wednesday and is doing fantastic. He now weighs over 16 pounds. He went from the 15th percentile for weight to the 85th in just a matter of a month! Woah! His height is still a little down from what Dr. G. thought it would be, but she said that delay is due to the growth restriction he was facing his first few months.

Looking back at pictures of Elijah, I feel so horrible that he spent the first few months of his life so hungry and we had no idea. I also feel terrible that my Dad had to have his lip cut open. Or there is me with a scar across my lower abdoment from my c-section. All of these things are reminders of difficulties in our lives but also reminders to be so thankful that our Lord gave doctors the knowledge to help us heal. They are also reminders that even though we all feel a bit frustrated by our sagging economy and the difficulties facing our country, we still do live in the best country in the world.

When my Father asked his dermatologist what would have happened to him 100 years ago with this skin cancer on his mouth, he was quickly informed that his lips would have fallen off and he would then have starved to death.

I asked my surgeon, Dr. S. what would have happened had we not been in a developed country when I went into labor with Elijah. He explained that I probably would be dead and Elijah probably would have been dead. If I would have survived labor, Elijah probably would not have. And there is no telling whether I would have survived the multiple infections that hit me after my surgery.

When I was in Nigeria on our mission trip in 2007, I sat down during morning devotional next to a mother and her eight year old son. His abdomen was incredibly extended and his eyes were yellowed. She started asking our friend Ajit questions about her little boy and after she walked away, I asked Ajit what was wrong with him. He informed me that the little boy was dying of liver failure. "What will they do?" I asked. He just put his head down and told me that in America, he'd have a liver transplant but there, in Nigeria, he would soon die.

When Dr. Chris, who ran Faith Alive in Nigeria made his first trip to America, he remembers thinking, "God . . . you are so unfair." He couldn't believe that we sold ice cream by the gallon or that people could drink water in a fountain off of a wall or leave food on their plates at the end of a meal. How was it that people born into one family could be so much more blessed than in another? He soon came to realize though that Americans could help him care for his country. Faith Alive (Hope for West Africa Foundation) is nearly entirely supported by people from our country giving away their excess.

I pray today that we all remember how blessed we are. We may get frustrated that our 401K isn't doing so well or our mortgage payment is late or that the price of gas has busted $2.00 again. However, we do live in the greatest country in the world. And our medical system is one of the best in the world.

Today I am thirty-two. Without this country and our medical system, I probably wouldn't be here, and I definitely wouldn't be here with Elijah. I choose to put aside my other frustrations and truly count my blessings.

Donating to Faith Alive

Some of you have been asking me how to make a donation to Faith Alive, the organization we supported in Nigeria. Donations can be sent to:

Faith Alive Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 91, Riderwood, MD 21139

Reflections

So, some of you have asked for my reflections on the four weeks I spent in Nigeria. I know my blogs were fairly scattered while I was there -- shoved in between occasional electricity and occasional internet availability.

Quite honestly, I am really not sure how to actually put into words the details of our four weeks. Anytime I start talking to someone and attempt to share the details of our journey, things ultimately sound very trite and very cliche. JB and Ajit are speaking at our CMDA (Christian Medical & Dental Association) Bible Study tonight about our trip. As we started flipping through pictures, I realized that the pictures I had, that I thought would capture our experiences, were really just sort of, well, pictures. Pictures can't explain four weeks of experiences. They too seemed trite and cliche.

One of the main questions that people have asked me is: "So ... do you guys want to be missionaries?" If you remember, before I left, one of my chief requests for prayer was that the Lord would give us guidance on our future with medicine and missions. We have returned and, quite honestly, I still really don't know how to answer that question. In some ways, our month in Nigeria made me feel like being a missionary is too hard for me. How could I possibly surround myself in such a foreign culture for life? In other ways, I think, how could I not be a missionary after what we have just seen. I guess the only thing I can say for sure is that we definitely feel called to missionary work in some form or fashion. Only time and the Lord will show us how involved we are and where we are involved. We can see ourselves working for an organization like Faith Alive from the United States, visiting on occasion. We can also see ourselves working in a country full-time or going over periodically. We really do not know. We do know that we definitely want to return to Faith Alive and Jos at some point. We really believe in their organization.

Speaking of Faith Alive, some of you have asked me about donating to them. I am working on providing the best means of donations if you are interested. I will post when I have more information.

Dr. Phil Fischer said something to me on this trip that has really stayed with me. We were all talking in the living room the night he flew into Nigeria, somehow trying to digest the last month of our lives. I asked him how someone could live in a place like Nigeria and not give away everything they have? I was referring to the fact that people were so poor and so in need, that I couldn't let them go home without helping. If I were a "Dr. Chris" (which I could never possibly be), I would want to be just like him. I would want to open my home to everyone and share everything.

Dr. Fischer said something extremely profound. He asked me how I could live in the U.S. and not give away everything I have? This was extremely eye opening to me. If we end up living in the U.S., our attitude should be the exact same. People are in need whether I live in the same town as them or across the world from them. The need is still there and should be just as important to me no matter where I live.

I was extremely pleased that I was able to "handle" the things I had to "handle" on the trip. I had never seen a dead body before getting to Nigeria. I think the Lord knew how to deal with this discomfort. The first five minutes we were in Abuja, someone fell over and died. From that point forward, nothing seemed shocking to me. Before Jos, I had never seen someone on death's door. I had never seen someone after a traumatic injury. I had never met anyone with HIV. I had never met so many people who had lost children. And yet, during the course of that month, I really feel like I handled these things well. The other day, when our little bird died, I couldn't go in the room with the doctor. This would imply that I am quite a wimp. However, when demanded, I was able to handle the things required of a "missionary doctor's wife" while we were in Jos. I stood by JB and looked at the things I was looking at. Often times, Dr. Chris or our friend Lauretta asked me to touch the things they were looking at to understand what it was. I think my coping ability was something I wanted to know, and I figured it out. The first night, when we arrived at the rural clinic and a man showed my husband a fistula on his rear end, I realized that I was okay. I could do this.

I was also pleased that I was able to overcome my slight "germaphobic" nature during this trip. I was able to forget about the fact that there was no running water in bathrooms. I was able to handle the heat. I was able to handle the lack of privacy. I was able to handle sharing food and drink items with our travel companions. I handled washing myself and my clothes in a bucket.

As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, the thing that I was not extremely pleased about was my anxiety. There were many instances, both in Nigeria and South Africa, that circumstances caused me to become ill. My anxiety is something I can quickly recognize due to the physical symptoms that quickly manifest. There were many times in Nigeria that this occurred. I realize that I love the "results" I get after traveling but hate the actual process of traveling. I see us traveling quite a bit and plan to really work on improving this tendency.

Another thing that was very interesting for me was experiencing a different culture's attitude toward infertility. In the Nigerian culture, when you get married you have about one year before people expect children to have joined your family. Over and over again I would have a conversation ensure that would go like: "Is this your husband?" "How long have you been married?" "Where are your children?" When I would just wrinkle my nose or shake my head, suddenly the person was praying for me. This even happened in the security booth in the airport in Lagos. The female security agent asked these three questions and then said, "Are you a Christian? Let me pray for you." I quickly realized that while being infertile in the U.S. is often difficult, being without child in this culture was twice as hard. I saw at least two women come into the clinic asking for help because they were still childless. There was really nothing that the clinic could do to help. They also choose to have children despite being HIV positive. It would be more painful to not have children at all. This different perspective was eye opening and made me thankful for the opportunities for medical aid I have had in the U.S.

So that is, in brief, a summary of my personal experiences upon returning. Like I said earlier, anything I say, even though I mean it, would sound generic. "I have been forever changed. I will never be the same. It was the experience of a lifetime." But they are all true. I can only hope that each of you will take the opportunity to do something like this in your lifetime. You'll be speechless just like me.

Some of my other "lessons learned" or just fun and interesting points are presented below with pictures!

I learned that the Lord can use you if you will listen to His call. The story of Dr. Chris Isichei is simply amazing. He has dedicated his life to serving people -- caring for them inside and out. Dr. Chris is my hero. He could easily be doing something else -- something easier. But he's doing what the Lord wants him to do.

Dr. Aquiris (Can't remember how to spell his name) and our friend Lauretta on the way to the Kafanchan clinic. This picture shows a relatively empty van. On one four hour trip to Yankari, we actually put five additional people in this van if you can believe that. I was so blessed to have met Lauretta on this trip. Lauretta was the most sweet and pure woman whose love for the Lord radiated off of her. She was the one who named our future child, giving an Ibo name that means "God's gift." I will really miss Lauretta. She really showed me that the people of Nigeria are the same as we are despite the fact that they live without some of our conveniences. Who we are as people is identical.

After their clinic's nurse died of liver cancer, Thomas took over the rural clinic in Kafanchan. He has no medical background, but meets with patients, tests their blood, and then drives nearly two hours to Faith Alive once a week to fill their prescriptions. He now has aspirations to go to medical school. I quickly realized that you don't have to have much background to make a difference, just a willingness to help.

Fanol Bank provides food, clothing, and other necessary life items for people without enough. Even one item makes a difference for someone else.

I truly think that the Blessing is one of the most beautiful women I have ever met. If she can keep smiling despite the storm that she has weathered, I know I cannot let my life get me down.

I also learned that babies in Nigeria need to wear warm, knitted caps if the weather dips below, say 90 degrees. I always wanted to take these hats off. The kids looked so hot! But they did look cute.

I learned that just because their are police around, doesn't mean that you feel more safe. Safety in Nigeria is the population's number one concern. Restaurants would have security officers posted right inside the door. This is a road stop which occurred every hour or so everywhere we went. However, despite the fact that these men were present, I didn't feel safer. Corruption causes a general mistrust very quickly.

It doesn't take much to make a difference. Here Dr. Chris stands by a few bricks in a rural clinic about an hour outside of Jos -- the first bricks of their new clinic. This clinic will greatly impact this rural town, which is currently hours from medical aid.

If people like Esther, living "HIV positively" with her daughter can choose to be positive, how can we not do the same thing? Esther came to our home asking if we wanted her to make clothes and purses. We instantly jumped on the chance, and when leaving she told us that we had indirectly fed her daughter. If Esther can be happy while not being sure where her next meal comes from, then surely I can chill out a bit and just enjoy life as it is.

You don't have to be a millionaire to make a difference in the life of a child. A child, truly, needs only a few things to have their life changed forever: a place to sleep, a good friend, someone to hug them, and something to eat. I think we are all capable of helping get that job done. I think sometimes we think that we have to be able to do "so much" in order to make an impact. We only have to do a small thing to make an impact.

About two years ago, Dr. Chris lost the Faith Alive building to a fire. He was out of town when it occurred and felt the Lord telling him something bad was going to happen. Then he got the call that the building had been lost to a fire. And yet his faith carried on. Here he had been working for free, trying to make a difference, and everything that he had accumulated burned to the ground. Stuff, is just stuff. And God is bigger than stuff. Two years later, a church in California donated the money for an even better facility. This building is one of the best buildings in Jos. In comparison to what is around, it is amazing.

I learned that it is possible to cook for over 80 teenage boys, outside. This woman was my hero! I can't cook in a kitchen for two people. How did she do this, three meals a day, for 80 boys?!

This picture continues to stay in my heart but not only for the obvious reason that you may think. This woman is very sick. That part is obvious. But what ministered to me were the people standing on her side. These were her family and friends who would help her day and night. I saw this same scene repeat itself many times. I think it is our duty as Christians to care for the sick, the widowed, the orphaned. No one should not have a friend or family member sitting by in hard times. For this woman, her lifeline was the help she was receiving from others. Even in the hospital there, people have to have family to wash their bedsheets and cook their meals -- it is impossible to survive without others in their community. It should be that way in ours as well.

I learned that you don't need the "right tools" to get the job done. Here x-rays dry outside, in the wind. The means is not traditional but the result is the same.

I realized that no matter where you are, who we are is the same. We all want what is best for our family and children. This was a typical scene in the pediatric areas of the hospitals we visited. The equipment and surroundings may be different, but in the end, this mother is just hoping that her child gets what he needs to be okay.

Having a talent or a trade is as important as having your HIV medications. This is Charles. He is Blessing's son, and she is teaching him to sew. This skill could make the difference in life or death for Charles. Being able to teach a man to fish, is, quite honestly, one of THE most important things you can do for other people. I realized that JB's love of community development is just as important as his love for medicine. If you heal their cold, but they can't make any money to eat, it really doesn't do much good.

My husband is and will be a fabulous doctor. I was, oftentimes, speechless, as I watched him ask a few probing questions and then, somehow, write down the medication a person needed. I was still sitting there wondering why they were throwing up? How did he know how to fix that? It's amazing how four years ago, he was just a guy who loved science and now he is a guy who knows enough science to help people feel better. I was equally as impressed with Ajit and Tara. Ajit is so compassionate and Tara is, quite literally, a walking medical book. She can remember anything! (This little girl is malnourished mainly from eating the wrong kinds of food.)

I realized that many things happen in our society without us even realizing they are being done. Snow is removed. Trash is picked up. Potholes are fixed. What if these things weren't fixed?

People will wait a very long time for something that they need. We get frustrated in the U.S. when our appointment runs thirty minutes late. Imagine not having an appointment. Imagine spending an entire day hoping that you get a turn. I saw it, and I still can't imagine it. I need to think of this picture any time I get slightly frustrated by inconvenience. Convenience is overrated.

I learned that children are children no matter where they are. This little boy decided he didn't care that JB was giving a talk to patients -- he wanted to hang out with him.

I learned, as I mentioned earlier, that I am actually capable of getting by on much less than I ever thought I could get by on. Most people who know me, know that I am a slight "germaphobe". However, I was amazed how quickly I was able to do what the situation called for. I truly thought this would be harder for me then it was.

So there is a quick flash into my "heart". I hope this helps you all to see where I am and where JB is on our journey to follow the calling on our lives. I ask that you continue to pray for us during the next seven years, as JB does residency and then military payback. We will go wherever the Lord tells us to go. The "fun" part is waiting for Him to tell us.

JB's Photos

Here is just a sampling of some of the photos JB took with his good camera on our trip.

Market: Jos, Nigeria

Jos, Nigeria

Danladi "Papa", Jos, Nigeria

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kruger National Park, South Africa

Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa

Vergelegen Vineyards, Winelands, South Africa

Tara's blog rocks!

So it is about 6:30 on Sunday morning. We are leaving Capetown today to head into the wine country. After dinner last night, we all went our separate ways. JB and I headed to bed after an amazing and extremely tiring day, and Tara, obviously, worked on her blog. You have to check it out since she figured out a way to load pictures. Here it is: TARA. They are great photos, and she did an amazing job recapping our day in pictures. I have no idea how she loaded them, but I'm glad she did.

We are staying at this really funky "hotel" called BIG BLUE BACKPACKERS. It's a hostel. JB and I have our own room which actually has a bunk bed in it that could have been utilized by two more people. However, for about $13 a night, our three travel companions are in a really nice bunk bed filled room with some strangers :). They are keeping their personal belongings in our room but staying in the group room. It's a great place with internet, and a kitchen for cooking, and just young people hanging out all over the place. Very fun. Maybe I wouldn't think it so nice if we were doing the Nigeria portion of our trip pre-travels, but either way, it was a good find.

We have booked all of our lodging already and have a great outline already established for the next two weeks. I made an outline of this and posted it on my blog sometime ago. I can't seem to find that post right now though. We are trying to eat out only one meal a day (although we didn't start well and yesterday did two -- a great lunch on the beach and then a Thai dinner by our hostel for dinner) but that is the plan. We hit a grocery store early yesterday morning and got some fruit and cheese and drinks. If all goes according to plan, we hope to have a picnic in the wine country today.

Friday afternoon and Saturday were amazing days. As I briefly mentioned, a flat tire started our arrival in Capetown. This was a little bit of a downer, but getting the new tire went very smoothly. The flat tire was technically JB's doing, but the poor guy was having to learn how to drive in moments on the other side of the road (Nicole -- how hard is that?!), but not just learn, do it in a stick with the stick on his left hand! Then, add to that the fact that there are hills EVERYWHERE here and the curb outside our hostel is a foot high, and he hit the curb with the left back wheel. This experience made me a little nervous, especially when yesterday, I rode shotgun (which is actually the driver's side in America.) The guy at the tire station (who was adamant that THEY drive on the WRONG side of the road) said the key to successfully navigating in a backwards area is a co-captain. I did my best to do that. However, as we navigated down Chapman's peak, a breathtaking view but a windy, cliff-hanging adventure, I realized that the front seat is the worst place to be as everything is moving backwards for you! I also forbid Kelsey from using the word "plunge" on this drive.

Needless to say (and Tara's blog can prove this for you), this was one of the most amazing travel days I have ever spent. Ajit explored on his own today so JB and his "three wives" (inside joke -- don't worry ... I am still his one and only) were off on their own with John know a professional driving. We drove all the way down the Cape and then returned to the Kirstenbosch botanical gardens. We had been there the previous day with Ajit while Kelsey and Tara had explored Robben Island (the jail Nelson Mendela was imprisoned), but Tara and Kelsey wanted to see it, and JB wanted to go back with his "good" camera. JB also cracked me up when we walked in when he said in a nice way that I should go explore with the women so as to not bug him to move on and "finish that photo already". So I did. It was amazing that nearly everything I saw this day were things that I hadn't seen the previous day. This play was ginormous! (Yes, I made that word up.)

We also took a cable car to the top of Table Mountain. This was awesome. (I have used that word a lot on this trip. It's hard to come up with something else when everything is just stinkin' awesome.) It was especially awesome because we got the last car up of the day so there were only us and one other group on the car. Amazing!!!

South Africa, so far, is fantastic. One thing, however, that greatly bothers me here is the division between the races. As I understand it, there are only about 15% whites here. However, wherever we go, that is basically all we see. When we go out to eat, the restaurant is basically all white but all black doing the serving. There is a HUGE division between the races here. Much of the black population lives in its own housing areas very segregated (segregation due to economic differences) lives. It was amazing how instantly I noticed this. It may be because we are frequenting tourist areas, but it is still troubling. I read that the white population makes about $10,000 a year but the black population about $2,000.

Aside from our time here in South Africa, I am overcome with the fact that we are no longer in Nigeria. The saddest point of the whole departure on Thursday was getting in our big bus and seeing Papa (our cook), and Musa (our house help), standing there, waving, Musa looking like he was going to cry. We all gave Papa and Musa some gifts before we left, and Musa hugged JB so hard and was so thankful. To look at them and wonder if you will ever see them again, is very difficult. It is also difficult to think that as we pull away, we are pulling away to electricity, running water, and our old homes, and they will continue to work over kerosene lanterns and wells. I am not sure how to reason this.

I was also shocked by how quickly I reverted to old behaviors. After not having great bathroom access for a month, I walked into a bathroom in the restaurant we had lunch in yesterday and quickly remembered all my old tricks to avoid germs like grabbing the paper towels to open the door. This after not even having a place to wash our hands after using the bathroom for a month and not usually having a toilet to flush with the push of a button! It keeps nagging at me and relieving me at the same time.

Our last few days in Nigeria continued to produce new and eye-opening experiences. We went on three home visits with Ashom and Ezekial two days before we left. They are both HIV positive men and both a part of Faith Alive's Home Based Team. They have also both lost a wife to HIV and were basically "rescued from their death beds" early in Dr. Chris' years starting Faith Alive. They have now devoted their lives to helping others. They aren't doctors, just trained health aids.

Each of our three stops was equally amazing and difficult. All three individuals were HIV positive and all, according to our guides, doing much better. The first woman was literally skin and bones but apparently seemed to be responding to the new ARVs she was on. (These are drugs that work for a time but then, can often stop working. In the U.S. there are tons of different ones to try. Here at Faith Alive, there are only about two that they can afford and get their hands on. Again, your death is determined by where you live and how much money you have.) This woman was 26 years old and truly looked like a skeleton. However, she was still so blessed to see us and managed to sit up to say, "You are welcome." She lived in a fairly nice home and was responding well to the new drugs.

The second stop required us to get out and walk quite a bit as cars couldn't get into this village. The area we walked was rocky and steep and truly felt like what you would picture in Biblical times. The man we saw was staying in a 2 room house, fighting TB and HIV and as a result, bad bed sores. This home was unlike anything I have ever seen. In the U.S., anyone who lived like this would be considered homeless. He was on a plain mattress in his own room but the other room, was nothing more than a cement floor with some bed mats. A few woman were napping in here. Everyone was so happy to see us even though we offered nothing more but support and prayers. They don't even have a medical kit. They simply speak to a doctor when they return and then try to bring medications back when they come back in a day or two.

The third woman was an HIV widow with two children. She was staying at her parents' home. This home seemed a little better but was still just a plain room with uncovered mattresses and pillows. She was using a catheter and had extreme pain in her legs. Ezekial told them to buy some ibuprofen and that he would try to return soon with some more pain medicine. I reminded JB of a plastic bag in his pocket with some Tylenol and ibuprofen in it as he had been having a headache that day. We gave Ezekial the bag, and the family was very thankful to have a few pills. I wished we had a few bottles. Just helping with pain would help this woman so much! And it was ibuprofen, something every one of us has in our medicine cabinet. It would have been so helpful if this team could carry some sort of medicine kit. But that is a luxury currently not available.

We know Faith Alive will continue to grow and prosper. I look forward to seeing what they can do in just a short period of time. This is an amazing organization which has come so far in 10 years. It will be amazing to see where they go in ten more. Just ten years ago, Faith Alive was only a dream. Dr. Chris was a one man show in one room, offering counseling and encouragement, but no medicine, to patients. Naomi (the woman I worked with on the magazine) was his first patient. And she has been his most loyal "worker" -- a daughter to him and his wife. The organization now has hundreds working for them and will one day be, the "Mayo" of Africa. However, despite an operating budget of about $80,000 a month, only about $500 comes from patient donations. The rest of the money is through donations from outside their organization. The U.S. and UK are two of their biggest supporters. All of these donations started from people who simply visited and then went home and told the story. Through this, people continued to donate and one church donated their entire building (a palace according to the standards of Jos) after a fire destroyed the previous building. Like I wrote earlier, Dr. Chris is, without a doubt, this MOST AMAZING MAN. I am excited because if all goes well, he will be at the medical school graduation and speaking at the Christian swearing in ceremony. Our families will get to meet this little Nigerian man with a heart so big you just can't help get in line with his dreams. I truly love this man and his family and all of Faith Alive.

Another interesting thing I must note is that Jos is not how all of Nigeria is. As we returned to Abuja (about three hours away), I was amazed at how developed it was in comparison. I didn't really notice this on the way in since this was my first initial glimpse of Nigeria. We have spoken with Tunde and Deola (in person and via email while we are gone.) They both lived in Nigeria and did not live (as I understand it) as we have lived for the last month. They did not live like we have lived while in Jos. What is difficult, however, is that Jos and its surrounding areas exists as it does. Nigeria is the 6th largest oil producer. The technology is there for running water and electricity and yet the money is not with the people. It would be one thing if there weren't light switches. But there are light switches and the power doesn't get there. That is even more frustrating.

Okay, so I have gone on for an exorbitant amount of time. Better return to my room and get ready to check out. Like I said, I have so much to say. I'm sure I'll be saying it for months to come. I hope you aren't tired of me.

I'm definitely not tired of our adventures!!!

Capetown

It is Friday around 2:20 p.m., and we have arrived in Capetown safe and sound. It was a long journey. We got to the Abuja airport yesterday at around 4:30 p.m. only to find out that the 7:40 p.m. flight we were scheduled on would be running late and we would miss our connection if we took that. Somehow Dr. Chris worked his magic and we got on the 5:40 with Dr. Fishcher and his son Peter. The organization in the airport was atrocious so we relied on Dr. Chris to scoot us from section to section. I still have no idea how we got on the flight. The 5:40 p.m. flight wasn't allowed to land for quite some time so all five of us, drenched from sweat and sitting in middle seats tried to relax as we circled the skies and then landed in Lagos -- what should have been just a 50 minute flight.

Dr. Chris was not there in Lagos of course so we had to battle customs ourselves. This was interesting, but we eventually got through. We got great seats for the the 5 hour and 3o minute flight to Capetown because the plane wasn't very full. We slept for a few hours!!! However, when we got to Capetown, we had to get our luggage off and then recheck because we were "entering" the country. This caused us to miss our connection. They put us on standby, and we were relieved to find out that we all would be on the 9 a.m. flight to Capetown. That was a blessing.

We are moved into our "home" for two days in Capetown. We got our rental car but it is a stick, on the opposite side of the vehicle, and JB accidentally hit a curb as he tried to make an opposite turn up an extremely winding street. No one faults him as it was VERY hard driving. Not a great start, but we are in good spirits. The girls have headed out to Robin Island, Ajit is going to venture out a bit on his own, and I am looking forward to spending the evening with my best friend settling things with the vehicle and just being together.

I have so much to say about our departure from Nigeria, but I will save all that for another time. For now, we are here, and I love you all!

Yankuri Game Reserve & State Elections

Well this might be, not sure, one of my last posts before leaving for South Africa on Thursday.

I must devote a portion of this blog to the “vacation” we took to Yankuri Game Reserve on Thursday and Friday. (See Tara's blog for some great pics. I'll post more when I get home. I don't have her patience.) Dr. Chris got word that he would be returning to Jos by 3 p.m. on Thursday and decided that we would leave at 3 p.m. for Yankuri. This trip was supposed to occur earlier in the week, however, his side trip to Lagos to retrieve the surgery equipment that has been in customs for over a year (he still doesn’t have it, but he did make progress in moving it forward) put a kink in these plans. This was really the last opportunity we had to take this trip. The elections were on Saturday which meant we shouldn’t be “on the road”, and Dr. Phil Fischer, our Mayo “contact” is coming into Jos on Monday which will fill up our days until we leave for Thursday. It was therefore Thursday or not at all.

It was actually 4:30 before we got on the road. This is not unusual for Nigerians. They admit that there is “Nigerian time” and “American time.” Usually Nigerian time is the norm. Occasionally they will tell us to be there at “American time” but even this time usually leaves us waiting a bit. Nigerians are very “no problem” about everything. I really covet their laid-back attitude.

One thing I quickly learned. It is possible to fit more people in a vehicle then you may have every thought possible. I have yet to see a child’s car seat. If you can fit in the vehicle, then it is a safe arrangement. I say this to tell you that we had 13 people in a “comfortably” eight person van. Technically, you could seat nine. We put 4 more inside. Granted four of these were children, but it still left us sitting wherever possible. This seemed okay until Dr. Chris told us it was a three hour drive! In all actuality it took 4 hours. This was due to a few factors. The first was the need for a quick pit stop. This “bathroom break” took place behind an abandoned gas station on the side of the road. Quite honestly, I am getting less and less picky about where I use the restroom. The second reason for the longer trip was nightfall. This slows everyone down. There are many police stops on the road. These include rocks or tree branches in the road that you must wind around to get by. (These cause a lot of accidents as they are in the middle of the highway and hard to slow down for.) These stops are harder to see at night. There are also a lot of potholes in the roads. I asked Dr. Chris why this was, and he said it really boiled down to people doing sub-par work. The third reason was a stop at the gate of Yankuri. They like to keep track of tourists so we had to give passport numbers and pay for camera usage (people sell their photos apparently) and other things of the like.

We finally arrived at 8 p.m. Dr. Chris and Dr. Mercy’s cook had made us some food for the road. Warming containers are very big here and really do a great job. The food was very warm and very good! Afterwards, Dr. Chris informed us it was time to go to the warm springs. I was not too sure about swimming in foreign waters in the dark. However, I should have been more relaxed. These springs were so amazingly beautiful! It was basically a site for the movies – a perfect lagoon in the middle of the jungle. Bats were diving and eating flies off the water. The water was the PERFECT temperature (seventy degrees I believe.) It was so amazingly refreshing and totally worth the long drive.

The next morning we went on a two hour game drive in the back of a pickup truck. We didn't see any of the “big five”, but we saw some great birds, bush bucks, and other smaller animals. We also, as our tour guide informed us, got to see the "tse-tse fly”. These things bite badly! The only thing I can compare them to are those bugs that bite you in the pool in south Florida. Ajit is covered in bites today from some animal -- not sure if it was the tse-tse fly or what! But it was still great fun.

Afterwards, we returned to the warm springs for another swim before heading back. I could have swam there for the entire day. Dr. Chris was a bit disappointed that the park was still in the condition it was. Apparently, a year ago, government officials said they were going to really focus on this park and make it more welcoming for tourists. It has the potential to be an amazing “money maker” for the area. However, apparently, work has been started but hasn't really advanced. In a sense, we were glad that it isn’t exactly “welcoming” to tourists because, as Tara said, the swimming area wouldn’t be as amazing if it were overcome with tourists. However, it definitely has something to offer people from all over the world. They will need to improve the living quarters and roads in order to make this happen but the potential is there.

We got back to Jos in much better time than our prior trip. No bathroom break and no darkness allowed our driver to get us back in 2:45 minutes! Great job Godwyn!

We spent all day Saturday laying low. We turned on the television in our flat for the first time in order to watch some news. It appears that there really wasn’t any violence throughout the country. This was the first time in the country’s history that the government had shifted from democratic to democratic. In the past the shifts have been from military to democratic and back to military again. In addition, there was some big “to do” in regards to some court hearing on Thursday. To avoid the case being heard in time, a national holiday was declared. Just like that a national holiday! This really cracks us up. It’s all quite interesting and educational. Next Saturday the elections for the president will be held. Apparently, this election isn’t as serious as the election today. Either way, we are glad our flight is mid-week being as most of the airlines have cancelled their flights today and next Saturday. Elections are quite serious stuff around here.

It was actually very strange on Friday night when we went to bed and when we woke up. It was eerily quiet! Dr. Chris said most Nigerians would stay home and just avoid any trouble. People were encouraged to vote and then head home to avoid getting swept up into any riots or problems. Musa, who is staying downstairs and helps us with water and the generator, taught us a fun Nigerian card game.

“Papa” our favorite Nigerian chef voted this morning. He returned and showed us the ink on his thumb. He was very proud. He also pulled out his voting card and registration. We found out from this card what Papa’s real name is: Danladi Dasan. We also found out that he is not in his sixties as we thought. The guy is 78! He doesn’t speak great English. We can communicate but are limited to very surface conversations. He calls me Madam. He calls Tara “Mrs. Fruit” because of how she devours any fruit he serves. He also likes having doctors living in the house. He got a pretty nasty cold last week. JB went in to check on him and Papa asked John if he would take his blood pressure! This was so cute. John explained that blood pressure probably wasn’t necessary, but he did give Papa some Dayquil and Nightquil. Papa really enjoyed this stuff and the next day, I asked if he needed more medicine he said, “Yes please. And the green ones.” The green ones are to help him sleep so they obviously helped. Papa is an amazing man! He brought us two pictures of he and his wife. He had 12 children. Ten of them are still alive. I haven’t been able to get a straight answer as to how many grandchildren he has.

Sunday we helped lead the HIV support group. Kelsey preached and knocked our socks off! Tara led a great song, JB spoke on HIV research around the world, and Ajit gave a great photo presentation. I was fairly useless! :) I was supposed to have them sing some of their songs to record but they sang without a request.

It is now Monday afternoon. Our friend Lauretta came over last night and gave us each Ibo names. Later, I will write them for you. She gave our "future" child a name as well which means "God's gift". It was quite awesome. She is coming over tonight to help JB learn to cook a "real" Nigerian meal. Very fun.

Anyways, I think that is enough for now. Again, I'm not sure I will get on again before we leave for South Africa. I am also not sure what access we will have in South Africa. It is amazing that our nearly four weeks in Nigeria has come to an end. I have so much more to say (believe it or not) than what I have currently written, but I guess you will all have to wait until we get home for more details (and pictures). Check Tara's blog. She's a great picture-loader!
Missing you all so much!!

More photos

Here is me under our mosquito contraption. It really works well until I have to get up to use the bathroom at which point I can get very confused how to get out.

Here I am with our toiletry bags when they arrived from Abuja. We went 10 days without any of the "extras". It wasn't too bad for me but Kelsey and Tara were excited to get their clothes.

Here we are the graduation for the sewing, computer, and knitting schools. People love to get their photo taken here and we ended up taking photo after photo rotating people in and out. This woman in the brown dress in the middle wanted a photo with just us but all these people jumped in. We took another with just her later.

I told you the rains came! Here is Ajit and JB (very cold) taking a shower in the rains.

JB in the morning after devotionals. I just love the people here. And I especially love the children! They are so not-shy around us. They will just constantly come up and give us hugs and sit on our lap. I love them.

I just checked Tara's blog. She's got a good display of photos!!! She's patient with loading them. (And doing the prework to get thme to load.)

We just came back from Yankari game reserve for a two day trip. This was an AMAZING event. We saw one of the most beautiful places any of us has ever seen – warm springs (temperature is always a constant 70-something degrees) in the middle of the jungle. Tara (the world traveler) said this quite literally was one of the most amazing things she has ever seen and that is saying something. I will write more about it and post pictures later when I have time. We had 13 people in the van on the way there (4 hour drive). I’m still not sure how that was possible but it was. It was absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. More details to come.

We continue to be amazed by how beautiful the people of Nigeria are. They are such an amazing and charismatic people – so in love with God and life. I am sure you will hear more about them in time to come from me. They are so full of love and encouraging and loving life. We are reminded that we are only seeing a small section of Nigeria ... but this section has just really grabbed me. I just love, love, love these people!!!!

Please be praying for the country as tomorrow is the governor-elections (we are leaving on Thursday before the presidential elections). Jos never has any problems with riots etc.; however, they encourage us not to be on the road and to instead just lay low.

Dr. Chris is back in town and went with us to Yankari. Here is a blog I wrote a few days ago:

Bulleting our lives in Nigeria

• I love the names of people here: Blessing, Innocent, Comfort, Mercy, Grace, Praise, Miracle … In additions, everyone’s name means something and people are quick to share the meaning. Most people also have a “tribal” name in addition to their “English” names.
• One thing that is very different from the U.S. is the relationship between the sexes. Men will often walk holding hands. Dr. Chris will often take JB’s or Ajit’s hand as they walk. This is how male friends will act with each other. Women will do the same thing. A big difference is that couples (like JB and I) do not show a lot of affection in public. I have been told that it is not inappropriate. However, I still feel like if I touch JB in public, I am bringing unnecessary attention to us. My relationship with JB is different here and it would take months I think to find a new “normal”.
• Our friend Blessing took us to Afri-one for dessert to celebrate Tara’s “lent is now over – let them eat cake”. We returned two days later for a lunch just the five of us. There appear to be very few restaurants, primarily restaurants that non-natives would visit. This restaurant was a strange sort of “surreal” experience. It was if we had gone back into the U.S. There was fresh bread and desserts and drinks in freezers and a bathroom nicer than most you have seen in public facilities in the U.S. It was nice to have some ice cream (and a hamburger and different-tasting Mountain Dew on our second visit), but it was a very weird experience to step back outside to be flogged by beggars and honking horns. I almost felt bad enjoying the experience. There were also more white people and non-Nigerians in this one place than I have seen total since we arrived in Nigeria. Quite surreal.
• As far as food is concerned, “Papa” makes us three meals a day, seven days a week. It has been difficult to allow this sixty-something year old man to serve us meals. He is absolutely the sweetest-hearted man you could ever meet! We try to make things easier by clearing our places, but in the end, he still works nearly all day for the five of us to eat. He makes a sort of American and Nigerian mixture of food: papaya, watermelon, oranges, cous cous, beefy mixtures, chicken, noodles, even macaroni and cheese (with egg in it). At first we thought we wanted to stick to more native food. However, this tame-down version is probably better for our stomachs.
• I helped get water from the well up to the house the other day. This is not easy work AT ALL. I also can't wear my glasses in fear they will fall in.
• Tuesday we visited two SIM (Sudanese Interior Mission) boys’ homes (a smaller one of 16 that serves as a transition house to the larger one of 90). This is run by a lot of “white” people from Europe and the U.S. so our presence was not seen as “out of the ordinary” for the boys. They barely gave us a second look. I was very impressed with the amount of organization and discipline in these places. We met Isaac and Shadrach, two small boys, probably around 7 or 8 who lived in the transitional house. They eagerly showed us their beds and “place”. Most of the boys are orphans or runaways or excluded from broken homes.
• On Wednesday we went and visited the World Health Organization’s headquarters. This is basically a Christian version of “Doctors without Borders”. There building, facilities, and organization were amazing. It was a fascinating tour.
• Tuesday morning, Tara led the devotional and Kelsey led the health talk. They both did a FANTASTIC job! I was thoroughly impressed. During this time, a mother of a young boy (probably about 11) started asking me health questions. It is generally assumed that I am a physician. This little boy had cirrhosis (sp?) of the liver. His stomach was greatly distended and his eyes were very yellowed. I directed her to Ajit who discussed the back pain the boy was having. Afterwards, I asked Ajit about his case. The cirrhosis is likely a result of Hepatitis but the only cure is a liver transplant. They do not do organ transplants in Nigeria. And there is nothing I can do about that. I kept looking at this boy wishing I could help.
• A local woman gave Ajit a gift of food to take home with us. We were eating dinner with two Nigerians who explained to us (after Tara and JB had tried the food) that it was Goat head with smashed up brains. This was amazingly foul smelling. I don’t care how long I lived in Nigeria. I would never eat this!
• There are certain things that cause me frustration here that I have to work to not get frustrated about. The noise in the evenings is one of those things. You really must leave your windows open to get any sort of circulation, however, the people outside are often yelling and honking well into the night. Even with the windows closed and ear plugs in, the noise is still prevalent. This is very different from the U.S. where you assume that once you go into your house, any noise you hear is noise you personally make.
• Another frustration is toilet facilities. If you can find a toilet, it may just be a hole in the ground. There is often no toilet paper, never soap, and never hand towels. In fact, it is rare that the water is running to flush the toilet or turn on the sink. This is really “mind over matter” for me. My tendency toward being a germ-a-phobe has had to be put aside. The lack of electricity is something that I can deal with especially with a generator that you can turn on for a few hours in the evening but the water is quite frustrating.
• If I lived here all the time, I would definitely wear skirts everywhere. I would also learn how to put on a head covering, especially for church. Apparently, dress varies from church to church, but in the Baptist church on Sunday, we white women were the only three in church without our head covered. They allow westerners to do their own thing and do not include us in the “dress code” discussions that are constantly ensuing between all the older women and the younger women, however, I would want to fit in more to help draw less attention to the large amount of attention a white person already encourages. I keep thinking the novelty of seeing a white person would wear off, especially for the children that see us everyday. But it doesn’t. Older women do not like “trousers”, however, no one considers anything a westerner wears as inappropriate. They “know” we do not dress like them, and they accept that.
• Dr. Chris has been in Lagos (in the south part of the country) for a few days now. He was told the surgery equipment had been “released” from customs, but apparently, he is still struggling to get it. I know he is very anxious to get that equipment and bring it back to Faith Alive.
• JB and I have been spending a lot of time discussing missions. I would need a whole post (and will most likely use one) in the future to discuss everything that we have been discussing. We really love this organization and could definitely see ourselves being involved with them. However, we would most likely be involved at one of their rural satellite clinics. These are usually only 1-2 hours from Faith Alive, but provide less of a city environment. They would allow JB to incorporate his love for community development. In fact, today, he is going to be helping one of the physicians working on a community development grant. In addition, while long term missions is definitely something in our discussions, the possibility of being involved in a short-term fashion is also greatly needed. A few different doctors could easily “staff” a rural clinic, continuing to support themselves and the clinic back in the U.S. by taking quarter long turns. There are a lot of different options.
• People here do NOT like to see me sit on the floor. In the U.S., if there is not an extra seat, someone will easily just take a spot in a corner, pulling their laptop up onto their lap. I have tried this on many occasions and almost always, a chairs flies in from somewhere – who knows where – to save the day. I think it comes down to their perception of the feet being so dirty. I agree with this of course, however, I just still don’t think they are putting enough emphasis on the dirt of the hands.