Weekend traveller...

I travelled last weekend, and as I had one or two things to do in Abuja I started out on Thursday. This meant arranging my meetings for Monday rather than the Thursday or Friday before. And so I was expecting 4 such meetings on my return on Monday – 2 librarians and 2 suppliers. But no one turned up.
Two wandered in on Tuesday failing to notice the difference. But the other 2 still hadn’t turned up by Thursday. So I called them, and both reacted in exactly the same way – “oh, you’re back?” But of course I was back; I have never not come back!
Travelling seems to be a long term commitment here in Nigeria – and “he has travelled” is sufficient to explain most absences. The notion of travelling 16 hours over 3 days doesn’t seem to sit well though. But then, the housewarming of the best hosts in Nigerian was well worth the journey :-)

Valuing teachers...

VSO volunteers have been doing some research among school teachers in Nigeria to try to understand the root causes of teacher demotivation. The resulting “Valuing teachers” report makes for difficult reading.
A key issue is the fact that teachers in Nigeria do not earn a “living wage”, that is they often cannot afford to live on their teaching income alone. Unqualified teachers (of whom there are many) earn N8000 a month (€5) and qualified teachers earn N15000 a month (€10) after about 10 years service.
So, many teachers supplement their income in other ways, for instance it is common for families to farm small plots of land. They do so by rising early in the morning and working from sun up. This can contribute to the high levels of absenteeism among school teachers, and stretches a struggling education system even further. In the words of the teachers themselves:

“Some days I have to decide whether to spend my money on transport to school or food for myself and my family”.
“I am already tired when I come to school. And then I have to teach a group of 80 or more hungry and unruly children. Sometimes, when one of my colleagues does not come to school, it is double that number. And I simply don’t have the energy to keep them under control by any means other than the cane…”

Pidgin...

I am still collecting brilliant saying in Pidgin English – its funny how differently we can use the same language, and how odd our sayings are too when you think about it

I will try my possible best I will give it my best shot
He never come again? He didn’t turn up?
Which one again? What else would you like to buy? (in the market)

Or my favourite, ‘that side’ refers to someplace foreign: how are your people that side? It reminds me of our own craziness abroad in the bridge...

Half of a yellow sun...

I have just finished reading a great book - 'Half of a yellow sun' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It is set in Biafra - a small part of Nigeria that sought independence during the 60s. Unusually, for a story immersed in war, the primary voices are that of a young woman and a houseboy. It starts like this…

Master was a little crazy; he had spent too many years reading books overseas, talked to himself in his office, did not always return greetings, and had too much hair. Ugwu’s aunty said this in a low voice as they walked on the path. “But he is a good man,” she added. “And as long as you work well, you will eat well. You will even eat meat every day.” She stopped to spit; the saliva left her mouth with a sucking sound and landed on the grass.
Ugwu did not believe that anybody, not even this master he was going to live with, ate meat every day. He did not disagree with his aunty though, because he was too choked with expectation, too busy imagining his new life away from the village. They had been walking for a while now since they got off the lorry at the motor park, and the afternoon sun burned the back of his neck. But he did not mind. He was prepared to walk hours more in even hotter sun. He had never see anything like the streets that appeared after they went past the university gates, streets so smooth and tarred that he itched to lay his cheek down on them. He would never be able to describe to his sister Anulika how the bungalows here were painted the colour of the sky and sat side by side like polite, well-dressed men, how the hedges separating them were trimmed so flat on top that they looked like tables wrapped with leaves.

Great books of our time...

One of the million things I love about working in a childrens' library... at any time when you look into a group of 30-40 kids, you can tell where the Guinness Book of Records is. Ive never known a book to inspire show a range of emotions in the faces crowding around it - curiousity, disbelief, eagerness, horror, hysterical giggles...