It was one of those acousticy mornings so I got ready with the help of Rufus Wainwright and Joan Baez before walking with Adrie down to the Clinic. We are trying our best to finish The Book as quick as possible so I needed to check in with Ema about some things. It looks like we are in the home stretch, praise the Lord! We didn’t have much time to work on a project since we were being picked up in the van around 10 to head out to another area of Jos to visit a school. So we worked on the book, did a little computer time, and walked outside to wait for Greg. We waited....and waited...and finally called Naomi to discover that our ride was running behind because he was picking up food.
Just after 11 Greg pulled up to the Clinic with Pam and Sally. Adrie, Joshua, Naomi, and myself all hopped in and we made a quick stop to pick up boxes of food before continuing on our journey to the school being held at St. Matthew’s Church on the outskirts of Jos. When we arrived we were directed to a small one-roomed building where 75 children sat in rows of concrete benches jutting out from the walls. An entire elementary school in one room--it reminded me of my Grandpa’s schoolhouse back in River Falls, Wisconsin. Up at the front of this classroom stood a young woman with a blackboard going over the math lesson for the day. Once we entered the kids got excited and stood up to give us their Welcome Song. It was very sweet. Naomi spoke in Hausa to the class and was able to find out that the woman leading wasn’t the teacher but actually the teacher’s daughter filling in for the day. We brought in the boxes of food and were able to distribute a small container of rice with a small piece of meat to every child plus some of the adults we found outside. The kids were grateful for a good lunch. I sat in the back with the four toddlers who found their way inside and made sure that their containers got opened and were not tipped over onto the floor. Everyone chewed and smiled. While the kids were still eating we were able to wander out the door to the temporary structure that is being built for these students. A group from Fort Collins, Colorado is helping fund this three-room school, which hopefully will be ready to use soon. This building will allow the kids to be divided into the proper age groups for learning and will hopefully provide for the salary of two more teachers. I stood for a while outside the classroom and looked out across the green countryside. It was remarkable how much the view from the school resembled the view from the hillside at Woodward Park looking towards Valley Children’s Hospital. Just more green and less cars. We said our goodbyes after a while there and headed back down the dirt road toward the center of Jos.
Naomi remembered she needed to make a quick stop for the Faith Alive Administration and we pulled up to a government-funded orphanage. We all followed her inside the compound and ran into the new woman in charge, who happens to be Naomi’s aunt (neither of them had realized the other would be there). She told us a bit about the ministry, and how the hope was that they would no longer need to exist in a few months. Family members or other adults in the community believe it is their responsibility to care for children who find themselves without parents in Nigeria; it is not common for a child to be left behind. There are still nine children being cared for at the orphanage, four of them just infants. We were allowed to meet the kids and as we were walking towards the nursery a toddler darted out from a doorway and literally jumped into my arms. I immediately realized that he was wet but decided that holding on to pee-pants was going to be worth it. Adrie and Naomi found babies in the nursery who wanted some attention while Pam sat with a young boy lying on a mat who is unable to walk. There was even a puppy running around which Sally was trying to pet. Joshua spent the time taking pictures. The lady told me my friend’s name was Gabriel, and I must say that he was quite possibly my favorite child in the world. He continually tried to feed me the candy his sticky fingers were grasping but I reminded him that the peppermint was for him. He spoke to me in baby-Hausa and I listened with my English ears. Every once in a while he would tell me a great story because he would throw his head back and laugh with his eyes closed. Oh it was love! We danced a bit and he showed me how he could kick a ball (even with his lack of shoes) and I regretted that it was time to go so soon. I need to find a way to get back there and spend time with those beautiful children.
We got back to the Clinic feeling tried but good. Adrie and I had a very late lunch at the flat and I enjoyed a power-nap before heading back for computer time. Pam joined us in Joshua’s office and we had a wonderful chat with her about things we struggle with being here. We all agreed that the two hardest things to cope with are, first, constantly being told what our political system looks like (Why yes, I had realized that about the American presidential election. In case you forgot I am American and vote in those very elections you are telling me all about.) and second, the tension between different people groups. Many here seem very cold towards other religions, belief groups, and even tribes. They can’t seem to understand why we always want to hear both sides the story, hear the good and bad of every situation. Pam has been doing medical research in a nearby village the past few weeks and she said it is hard to use a translator since they always want to bring their personal bias into the data (“She said ‘No’ to that question but I reminded her that God will disprove of...’). It is nice to have some other Americans here to discuss these sorts of issues with. If I were having to process these things with only a computer screen I think I would go crazy.
Dinner, hot cocoa, and an itunes party in Adrie’s room were a great ending to a beautiful day. I am desperately missing the kids back home tonight and hope they aren’t doing too much growing up without me around.
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