Thoughts after my first week!

In some ways it feels like I’ve been here longer than a week! The first few days were a little terrifying and overwhelming – I think the combination of many things including no sleep and the heat made it difficult at first to adjust. But since arriving in Calabar things have begun to improve everyday. The staff at GPI have been very welcoming, small things like John walking me to/from work so I could get used to the route have made such a difference. And having a lovely housemate who has helped orientate me and has been great company in the evenings when we’ve been chatting by candlelight!

I’m getting used to the cries of “white person” in their languages and everyone stopping to chat to me or want my mobile phone number! I’ve made two children cry because they were frightened of me! But mostly I’m greeted with smiles or amazement, and I’m sure both Leanne and I give the locals a lot of entertainment! People really do help and look out for you here, they want the reputation of their country to be a good one, and I’ve made some new friends already.

I’m now unpacked and more settled in the house – it’s a large house and pretty comfortable except for the lack of electricity and the fact that I’ve now woken up on two consecutive mornings to find dead cockroaches on the floor of my bedroom!

Food is a tricky issue for me too – much of the food here contains shrimp and ground nut oil is used regularly – so eating out or eating local food is becoming a real problem for me. I have to ask so many questions and be so careful before I can eat anything! I have a feeling I will be making a lot of my own food, although very limited depending on what imported goods I can get from the supermarkets! I have a feeling I will end up dreaming about food…..

Right now I feel happy that I am here and am glad I made the decision to come here! There will be some challenging times ahead and I miss my family and friends a lot, but I’m also learning a lot about life and the culture here as well as having fun!

 

 

The GPI girls!

Seeing my first set of lessons yesterday cemented for me the reason why I wanted to come and work with GPI. The girls come from all over town on a Sunday at 3pm for lessons – there are 8 classes and up to about 40 children in each class, ranging in age from 11 to 19+. The lessons run for 3 years, with girls graduating at the end. Lessons are participatory and encourage girls to speak out – the curriculum covers topics around leadership, empowerment, health, sexuality and decision making. The aim to empower the girls to make their own choices and lead happy and healthy lives. The girls were amazing – their desire and enthusiasm to learn was lovely to see. I get to spend a couple of weeks with each class as part of my orientation programme, which I know I’m going to enjoy. The facilitation is great, it really involves the girls, gives them confidence as well as imparting knowledge. I am impressed and already looking forward to observing my next lesson!

My first Nigerian Wedding

On my fourth day in Nigeria I am lucky enough to experience my first traditional wedding! It was  Emmanuel our office manager at GPI. I went with the rest of the GPI staff and we arrived just in time to dance to lead the groom to the centre where the bride and her family waited. There was lots of dancing, music and eating! The ceremony itself was held indoors with only close friends and family present, and the rest of the guests sat outside and awaited the bride and groom to emerge! There was a MC to keep the crowd entertained (although I have yet to learn many words in the local language!) and lots of food! Emmanual emerged with his lovely wife Margaret and danced to celebrate their marriage!

Some photos of the traditional ceremony:

 

Part two of the wedding happened on Saturday – which was the church wedding and celebration afterwards. There was an amazing choir in the church, gave me goosebumps and we were welcomed by all in the church. The cry of “welcome” is so common, people are genuinely pleased when you greet them or go to their church. Everyone I have met so far attends church regularly and have a strong belief in God. There were some similarities between our weddings – there was a big cake, lots of food and dancing! I liked the dancing section as for once as a single woman I was able to join the couple in their first dance as everyone dances – not just other couples!

I’m now really pleased I came straight here and am going back for training next week as it meant I got to go to the wedding! I’m glad I was invited, it was such a nice way to get to know my colleagues.

Photos from the church wedding & celebration:

 

My new workplace!

GPI is a great organization – it really seems to be making a good impact on empowering young women and helping them see they have options and choices and can live healthy and happy lives. I’ve been in the office 3 days now and have been looking at the training curriculum and methods they use to teach the girls. The lessons take place on a Sunday afternoon after church for 3 hours, so I will get to experience my first set of lessons this Sunday! I am looking forward to meeting the girls and seeing the facilitation in action. GPI is also involved in outreach work and training of teachers as well as generally raising awareness of girl’s rights and trying to change some traditional views and beliefs towards young girls.

I have the luxury of having my own desk, laptop with internet connection and printer! I have a little cubicle to myself and I have put up some photos today which have been hugely popular – everyone loves photos here!

Everyone has been so friendly, welcoming and kind here – I’m looking forward to working here, although from what I can see GPI is already a great NGO. It has a very dedicated team and its own premises, which include a conference room and lots of classrooms. The security team have walked me to and from work so I feel confident next week walking on my own, its only a 10-15 minute walk and its entertaining as so many people stop to say hello to me! Leanne and I are the only two white people (macarras) in town so we are like celebrities! Everyone wants to talk to us, the children in particular! Most children shout good morning or wave from a distance but one brave girl came running up to me and cuddled me this morning!!! She was so cute, think she’s definitely a GPI girl – empowered and goes for what she wants!

I’m keen to start work, I’ll be formally introduced at the staff meeting on Tuesday and then I will be able to start work shadowing people and beginning to get a good feel for the organization. I definitely feel like I’ve found a great organization to work with!

 

My little cubicle at work!

Arrival and house

I am finally here!! Arrived in Abuja Monday morning, had a days briefing with VSO before heading off to my new home! I have to return to Abuja for more training in November when the other volunteers arrive - there were visa delays, mine was luckily one of the first to come through! So ladden with a water filter, motorbike helmet and two suitcases I left the VSO office for my placement. It was a little scary as I had been given little information about Nigeria and culture/customs, would have liked to have a little more support and information from the VSO team. But thankfully GPI have been so supportive and helpful!

I arrived on Tuesday and had the luxury of an internal flight rather than a 9 hour bus journey!! I was escorted here by a lovely lady called Comfort who works with Girls Power Initiative.  I am living in a small compound which has several houses; mine is a very spacious three bedroom house with a huge living room. My own bedroom is great I have a very comfy double bed and a huge wardrobe which I plan to continue to fill with lots of locally made dresses, the material is amazing here! I also have a lovely South African housemate who has helped me settle in and has taken me around town to try and to the markets to buy food! The house is pretty much the same as you get in the UK apart from the lack of electricity! I’ve had about 2 hours of electricity at home since I arrived! So I’m learning to shower and cook in the dark with candles! I’ve very glad I brought a headtorch with me! Because of the lack of electricity the fridge becomes more of a storage cupboard so it is tricky to buy food and keep it fresh. There are many small stalls and shops here so I will be buying food daily rather than stocking up! Western food is very difficult to get here, chicken and rice is probably the closest and easily available food. Although there is limited imported food in supermarkets but it is relatively expensive – I treated myself to cereal, chocolate and biscuits to keep me going! I expected my nut allergy to be restrictive but actually its shellfish that is going to be a problem – they put shrimp/crayfish in so much of their food that so many dishes are ruled out for me. So I will be doing more cooking than eating out! I have seen a pizza restaurant which I will definitely be treating myself to now and then and ice cream is widely available too. Ate Heinz tomato soup for dinner last night with fried yam! I’m just about used to the milk here now – it is powdered so you add water to it – it wasn’t bad on my cereal this morning!

At my parents!

Well my time in London has come to an end - living at my parents for a few weeks now and time to catch up with all my friends and family.

Had a great last few days in London - laughed with Shona and Tom, had great girly time with Katie, Sally, Janett and Jackie. And my hair of course looks great thanks to the lovely Simon!

Had a great leaving do with Brompton people - thanks to everyone who came along it was so lovely to see all my friends there! Sorry to Naeem, Rob, Tony, Anthony, Steven, John and Gerrie - you guys must have been in pain the next day!
And it was so great to have all  the donations to show your support, it is so appreciated. If you're still meaning to donate the page is still open -http://www.justgiving.com/Sarah-Corley/new

Looking forward to seeing the Grays and Popes over the next week - though sad about saying more goodbyes. This whole process has made me realise how much I love my friends! Nigeria has a lot to live up to!