Oh! Yeah that is what I came here for, other than to increase the temperature by 70 degrees. This is the hottest time of the year. The inside temperature was 100 on Saturday. No breeze.
I am here to help the LCCN restart its water program. The Danish mission ran a water program here for many years. Mostly, hand digging wells. The missionary that was running the program left and his Nigerian assistant operated it for a year or so and then left. My objective is to help them start and operate their own program. In 2008 I spent 8 weeks visiting over 100 sites and talking to many pastors, chiefs, village elders, women who actually do the work of getting the water, all seven bishops and government officials. Last year I spent ten weeks here “helping” them develop a vision of what the program could be. I put helping in quotes because what I ended up writing I think is more my vision of a self sustaining program. I included organizational charts with multiple ways of organizing. During the 2008 visits I noticed that many of the boreholes (here a well that is drilled is called a borehole) were no longer operating. Most stopped working within a year or two of being drilled. The first phase on my proposed plan is organize, train and equip borehole mechanics that have the tools and knowledge to fix the many broken boreholes. I was in one village in 2008. They had three non-functioning boreholes. They walked just over 1 kilometer to a spring during the dry season. During the rainy season they go to the stream that is only 500 meters away.
At last November’s church-wide business meeting they approved a program What that program is nobody seems to know. By email I have been asking what is the program and how can I help them. But the response has been that I should come so they can continue the work. Eventually, I decided that I should come and see what is happening. One of my biggest recommendation was to hire a manager for the program. One encouraging thing is that they have taken my version of teaching a man to fish. For the few projects they are doing, they are telling the people in the village, “We will help you get a hook and line, and we will teach you how to fish. We will help you market your fish but we will not fish for you. You have to fish for yourself.” Too often people will teach someone to fish but not make sure he has a hook and line or has a fishing license or has a concept on how to market the fish. UNICEF trained people in villages to fix pumps. But they never developed a plan to get the special tools or spare parts needed to do the work. If the pump was installed by the government they people will not work on it because they are afraid. The tool kits cost more than most rural families earn in a year or two. Parts are relatively cheap but are only available in Yola. It is a full day drive round trip to Yola from many areas. The part may be 500 naira but the travel cost can be more. Permission is not the problem most people think the Water Manager for Adamawa State Water, Environmental and Sanitation told us last year he will give us a letter of authority to fix any rural public pump.
So that is the background. I am here to work on the water program. But this week is the National Convention, several thousand people will be living at the Demsa Convention Grounds from Wednesday until Sunday. Elisabeth and I will drive in every day except Saturday. Yakubu will pick me up Saturday. Saturday is the day the different Diocese compete against each other to raise funds for the church. Most Diocese work hard to raise lots of funds. It is like a huge carnival. I am afraid as a Baturi I will be the target of the fund raising. They assume all Baturis are rich. I think that is why Elisabeth does not go on Saturday. On Sunday they will be ordaining new pastors including a Danish women that is teaching at the Seminary. Also the Bishop for the new Abuja Diocese will be consecrated.
On Monday I will go to the Bali region of Taraba State where the Jimeta Cathedral in companionship with Mount Calvary Lutheran in Excelsior, Minnesota have 18 Nigerian missionaries. Pastor Bunduku will be taking me on public transport. I will stay a week and then Elisabeth has been asked to visit. She will come at the end of the week and we will return on Monday. Then I start the water work.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Saturday 02-20-10 thru Tuesday 10-24-10
After breakfast Saturday morning at the Adip Hotel Yukubu picked me up and we went to the Lutheran Church of Christ (LCCN) compound in Jimeta adjacent to the Jimeta Cathedral. This is where I stayed last year in Elisabeth’s Mission house. Yakubu Bulama, the LCCN Projects Coordinator and my main contact has his office in her living room. Elisabeth retired in 2004 and returned to Denmark after over 30 years in Nigeria. She comes back each year working on writing a history of the church and trying put together an updated photo album of all the pastors. She will be chasing them down at the National Convention. I think she is working just as hard in retirement as when she lived here.
She is living in her house now so they have cleaned the other Mission house for me. No one has lived here for two years. We looked at it last year and decided it would not be worth the effort to clean up.
Two women have been working for two days. It is built of mud bricks covered in concrete. The foundation or walls have settled in a few places making cracks at most of the doors. Much of the concrete has fallen off the mud. The women continued to clean after I arrived. Moving dirt from one place to another. The little boy who last year screamed and ran away from me just stared on Saturday. He is about two and rarely wears clothes. Today we played soccer on Elisabeth’s front porch for about a half hour with two of his older sister. He had a small rubber soccer ball. At first he would barely push it towards me. After a few minutes he kicking it pretty hard for as tiny as he is. He has the cough and runny nose you see with many of the kids here. Burning trash and more Chinese motorcyles bilging blue smoke than mosquitos make the air hard on young and old lungs.
We had a carpenter work on fixing window screens and an electrician reconnected the house to the power grid. Jimeta had power for two hours on last Tuesday and two hours on Sunday night. We had the electrician install a manual generator switch over. I am hoping that I can convince Bishop Edward to connect the house to the big generator at the Jimeta Cathedral. They only need to run about a hundred feet for wire from the well house. It would be a lot cheaper than buying a small generator. Something is going on at the Cathedral almost every night so you get a couple hours. That will be enough to cool down the large bottles of water in the freezer. I am told that this house is connected to the churches borehole and water supply. Unfortunately, the pump is not functional. I have two 60 liter barrels and buy water from a street vendors (100 naira $0.67 for 120 liters). I buy bottled water to drink 750 naira $5) for 12 1.5 liter bottles.
The refrigerator works when we have power and the gas stove may be able to be repaired. I bought a pot and 2 plastic place settings. At the “New Ultra Modern Market”. Since my first visit in 2006 the market has been under construction. I have never seen anyone actually working there. Every year a different contractor has been paid to compete it and has stolen the money. I was surprised when I went inside. It looks like it has been in use for years. The storm water grates are so weak that most are busted from cars driving over them.Now on Tuesday it has started in the afternoon we had three hours. Elisabeth said this is the most for a long time. I told her they knew I was in town and added power for me.
Elisabeth just stopped over. Her car has a flat tire. Since power came on at 3 PM we are going to take advantage of power until 5 pm then take her tire off and get it repaired. I told her I was on my way over to see her when the power came on. Since she is always around and power is rarely around I decided to recharge the batteries in my computer and write this blog while seating under the ceiling fan.
I have designed a solar cooker. Unfortunately, I probably won’t have the time to build it for 2 weeks. The rest of this week is the Annual National Convention and next week I will be in the bush visiting the Bali region in neighboring Taraba State. Last year my simple box cooker made of cardboard and aluminum foil cooked rice in 2 hours. This year I am going to try an octagonal sort of parabolic cooker made of cardboard and aluminum foil.
I will be sending this blog from the City Wide internet café. It is about a kilometer from the house. Last night I hope on a motorcycle drive for 50 naira $0.33). Hospital road is full of potholes. One of the worst in Jimeta. He as he hit pot holes his light would go out. He would reach up and hit it until it started again. He was the fastest driver I have ridden with. I do not take these rides often. The streets swarm with them. Chinese 125cc motorcycles leaving a plume of blue smoke behind. The Governor of Taraba State outlawed them in his capital Jalingo. They moved here.
She is living in her house now so they have cleaned the other Mission house for me. No one has lived here for two years. We looked at it last year and decided it would not be worth the effort to clean up.
Two women have been working for two days. It is built of mud bricks covered in concrete. The foundation or walls have settled in a few places making cracks at most of the doors. Much of the concrete has fallen off the mud. The women continued to clean after I arrived. Moving dirt from one place to another. The little boy who last year screamed and ran away from me just stared on Saturday. He is about two and rarely wears clothes. Today we played soccer on Elisabeth’s front porch for about a half hour with two of his older sister. He had a small rubber soccer ball. At first he would barely push it towards me. After a few minutes he kicking it pretty hard for as tiny as he is. He has the cough and runny nose you see with many of the kids here. Burning trash and more Chinese motorcyles bilging blue smoke than mosquitos make the air hard on young and old lungs.
We had a carpenter work on fixing window screens and an electrician reconnected the house to the power grid. Jimeta had power for two hours on last Tuesday and two hours on Sunday night. We had the electrician install a manual generator switch over. I am hoping that I can convince Bishop Edward to connect the house to the big generator at the Jimeta Cathedral. They only need to run about a hundred feet for wire from the well house. It would be a lot cheaper than buying a small generator. Something is going on at the Cathedral almost every night so you get a couple hours. That will be enough to cool down the large bottles of water in the freezer. I am told that this house is connected to the churches borehole and water supply. Unfortunately, the pump is not functional. I have two 60 liter barrels and buy water from a street vendors (100 naira $0.67 for 120 liters). I buy bottled water to drink 750 naira $5) for 12 1.5 liter bottles.
The refrigerator works when we have power and the gas stove may be able to be repaired. I bought a pot and 2 plastic place settings. At the “New Ultra Modern Market”. Since my first visit in 2006 the market has been under construction. I have never seen anyone actually working there. Every year a different contractor has been paid to compete it and has stolen the money. I was surprised when I went inside. It looks like it has been in use for years. The storm water grates are so weak that most are busted from cars driving over them.Now on Tuesday it has started in the afternoon we had three hours. Elisabeth said this is the most for a long time. I told her they knew I was in town and added power for me.
Elisabeth just stopped over. Her car has a flat tire. Since power came on at 3 PM we are going to take advantage of power until 5 pm then take her tire off and get it repaired. I told her I was on my way over to see her when the power came on. Since she is always around and power is rarely around I decided to recharge the batteries in my computer and write this blog while seating under the ceiling fan.
I have designed a solar cooker. Unfortunately, I probably won’t have the time to build it for 2 weeks. The rest of this week is the Annual National Convention and next week I will be in the bush visiting the Bali region in neighboring Taraba State. Last year my simple box cooker made of cardboard and aluminum foil cooked rice in 2 hours. This year I am going to try an octagonal sort of parabolic cooker made of cardboard and aluminum foil.
I will be sending this blog from the City Wide internet café. It is about a kilometer from the house. Last night I hope on a motorcycle drive for 50 naira $0.33). Hospital road is full of potholes. One of the worst in Jimeta. He as he hit pot holes his light would go out. He would reach up and hit it until it started again. He was the fastest driver I have ridden with. I do not take these rides often. The streets swarm with them. Chinese 125cc motorcycles leaving a plume of blue smoke behind. The Governor of Taraba State outlawed them in his capital Jalingo. They moved here.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Thursday 2/19/10
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Thursday, 2/19/10 – I got up and ordered breakfast of oatmeal and hot tea. This is one of my staple breakfasts when in Nigeria, everything is boiled. Pastor Hosanna picked me up a little after 9 AM and we headed to the airport and exchanged more dollars so we could pay for the parts. (I still had not found the error). We drove after rush hour traffic it only took about 25 minutes to get to Unipump.
While we were waiting for them to gather the parts we took a tour of the factory. They have the capability to manufacture and galvanize the pump heads, handles, tank and base. The rest of the pump parts are imported from their factories in India. We picked up the parts and drove through downtown Lagos to the area where the buses accumulate another 20 minute drive. We got to within 2 blocks of the location and the road was badly potholed and flooded. We watched a truck drive through the water and decided we could not get his old springless Toyota through. We took an alternate route and bottomed out his car but got through. We found the bus that was heading to Yola and showed the driver what we had to ship. He said 12,000 naira and Pastor Hosanna said he was crazy and that he rides this bus many times every year and offered 5,000N. They argued at a 6 to 10 spread. Pastor told me to him 7,000 and to get in the car. The driver refused, finally we settled at 8,000. He probably could have negotiated better if a white man had not been there. I took a picture of the tools laying in front of the bus. Later that evening I emailed them to Yakubu in Yola. (Mercedes manufacturers buses in Nigeria for the West African Market.
We headed back to the guest house via the longest bridge in Nigeria. By now it was 3PM so we stopped at Real Meal Deals for chicken and noodles lunch/dinner. Tomorrow we will fly to Yola on Arik Airlines. They have a lower weight limit on luggage so I repacked all the heavy stuff into my carry-on bag. My big bag is now close to 40 lbs and so is my carry-on.
I decided to update my spreadsheet with the actual quantities of tools and parts and put in the 5% discount. I got a price of 201,742N. I called Engr. Hygi and he was away from his computer so I texted him my email address so he could send me his spreadsheet. Later he texted me that he found his mistake. I decided to proceed to Yola and talk to the State rural water manager on Monday to see if they are using R1’s on their projects. I am having Engr. Hygi send me prices for the R1 repair parts. I will figure and order for another 90,000 Naira of parts and tools and have them ship it to me in Yola. The rest can be refunded to me via a bank transfer. This way I will not have to dip into my reserve cash quite as soon.
Wednesday Evening 2/18/10
Wednesday Evening 2/18/10 - One day in Lagos and I have burned through almost a half million Naira. I flew from Minneapolis to Atlanta to Lagos. As I waited for Pastor Hossana Yohanna, the Lagos District Pastor to pick me up at the Lagos international airport, I exchanged $100 at 148 Naira to the dollar and then purchased a SIM card and recharge card for my phone. When Pastor Hossana arrived we went to the domestic airport and exchanged more cash at 150N per dollar. I am staying at the Archbishop Vining Memorial Church Cathedral, Vining Guest House. It is near the airport and near to the Lagos Church. They have nice rooms on the top floor of their conference building. Carrying a 50 pound bag up four flights of stairs is tough. Lagos is warm (90’s) and humid. Their rates are very good at 5,500N ($36.33) per night for a large clean room with hot water and an air conditioner that gets the room down into the 80’s. I get 3G on my modem but at 0.15N per kilobyte it is more expensive than the Yola Internet Café. Even with 3G the network was too busy I was able to read and send email but could not connect to facebook or to my blog.
After checking in at the guesthouse we called Unipump to arrange for tomorrow’s visit. Unipump is the only pump manufacturer in Nigeria that I have been able to contact. They are owned by a manufacturer from India and all the senior staff are from India. Since, they were still working we drove 40 minutes to the factory and reviewed prices. I am not a great negotiator, I talked them into a 5% discount off the prices they had emailed me. When Engr. Hygi was entering the discount into his computer he made an error in the equation and it increased the prices. I wanted to spend around 300,000 Naira ($2000) for tool and parts to repair pumps. I had thought I could buy 3 full tool kits and parts to repair 50 pumps. When we put that into the spreadsheet it came to over 500,000N. My sleep deprived brain did not find the error. I did ask him if he was sure and I looked at the spreadsheet. We ended up purchasing 2 tool kits and enough parts for 25 pump repairs at 403,484N. We arranged to come back the next day at pick up the parts.
Engr. Hygi asked us why we were buying parts for the India Mark II and told us that the Nigerian Water Supply Authority and UNICEF has specified that the RUWASU 1 (R1)or RUWASU 2 (R2) should be used in Nigeria. The R1 is basically an India Mark III and the R2 is basically the AFRIDEV pump. They have been modified with PVC riser pipe, stainless steel couplings and a PVC cylinder with brass liner. The main difference is that a local villager can be trained to repair the R1 or R2 pumps with simple tools. The Mark II requires a specially trained mechanic with special tools and two helpers. I agreed with him that the R1 & R2 are better fro rural villages but that only the India Mark II was available on the open market in Adamawa State and therefore we have assumed than most broken pumps were India Mark II’s. Above the ground you cannot tell the Mark II from the RUWASU 1 without lifting off the head and tank. Also, since the RUWASU 1 is more expensive than the Mark II we assumed that the contractors were charging the government for R1’s and installing Mark II’s.
On the way back to the guest house we stopped for fast food. Chicken and rice with a salad at Real Meal Deals near the guest house.
After checking in at the guesthouse we called Unipump to arrange for tomorrow’s visit. Unipump is the only pump manufacturer in Nigeria that I have been able to contact. They are owned by a manufacturer from India and all the senior staff are from India. Since, they were still working we drove 40 minutes to the factory and reviewed prices. I am not a great negotiator, I talked them into a 5% discount off the prices they had emailed me. When Engr. Hygi was entering the discount into his computer he made an error in the equation and it increased the prices. I wanted to spend around 300,000 Naira ($2000) for tool and parts to repair pumps. I had thought I could buy 3 full tool kits and parts to repair 50 pumps. When we put that into the spreadsheet it came to over 500,000N. My sleep deprived brain did not find the error. I did ask him if he was sure and I looked at the spreadsheet. We ended up purchasing 2 tool kits and enough parts for 25 pump repairs at 403,484N. We arranged to come back the next day at pick up the parts.
Engr. Hygi asked us why we were buying parts for the India Mark II and told us that the Nigerian Water Supply Authority and UNICEF has specified that the RUWASU 1 (R1)or RUWASU 2 (R2) should be used in Nigeria. The R1 is basically an India Mark III and the R2 is basically the AFRIDEV pump. They have been modified with PVC riser pipe, stainless steel couplings and a PVC cylinder with brass liner. The main difference is that a local villager can be trained to repair the R1 or R2 pumps with simple tools. The Mark II requires a specially trained mechanic with special tools and two helpers. I agreed with him that the R1 & R2 are better fro rural villages but that only the India Mark II was available on the open market in Adamawa State and therefore we have assumed than most broken pumps were India Mark II’s. Above the ground you cannot tell the Mark II from the RUWASU 1 without lifting off the head and tank. Also, since the RUWASU 1 is more expensive than the Mark II we assumed that the contractors were charging the government for R1’s and installing Mark II’s.
On the way back to the guest house we stopped for fast food. Chicken and rice with a salad at Real Meal Deals near the guest house.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Plan? Who needs a plan?
I will soon be headed back to Nigeria. This year I am doing things different. I am flying into Lagos. I will arrive on Wednesday and be hosted by a pastor. On Thursday I hope to visit the Unipump manufacturing plant and purchase some tool kits and spare parts. When the next cross country bus leaves for Yola I will take my purchases and pay for the bus to carry them to Yola. Two nights later I will arrive in Yola. Yakubu will meet me in Yola and is working on finding me a place to stay. The next week the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria will hold its National Convention at the Demsa Convention Ground. I will be among thousands of people sleeping outside during the 5 day event. I have no clue as to what to expect. After the convention I hope to travel to the Bali, Nigeria area and meet some of the 25 Nigerian missionaries serving in this remote region. The following week, we hope to continue organizing the Water and Sanitation/Hygiene program I have been working on last year and approved at the November Church business meeting. While doing the organizing we hope to also start some pump repair worker training and work on a few projects. Even before I have left it looks like I may have to extend my trip past Easter. I will return in time to file my taxes on April 15th.
Some people have asked a few questions about my trip. The short answer is: "I do not know. I will find out when I get there." Where will I stay in Lagos and Yola? See previous answer.(SPA) How long will you be in Lagos? SPA Who is going to meet your in Lagos? SPA What are the buses like? SPA Will the pump parts and tools be cheaper in Lagos than in Yola? I hope so. Some tools are not available in Yola. What will my role be at the National Convention? I invited myself, so I guess my role is what they will let me do. I want to learn about what happens at the convention so that next year we can use the convention to promote water, sanitation, and community health, solar cooking, using recycled paper for cooking fuel and other economic development ideas. I want to video the consecration of the new bishop for the new Abuja Diocese. My good friend Pastor Benjamin Fuduta.
When I get internet access I will update you.
Some people have asked a few questions about my trip. The short answer is: "I do not know. I will find out when I get there." Where will I stay in Lagos and Yola? See previous answer.(SPA) How long will you be in Lagos? SPA Who is going to meet your in Lagos? SPA What are the buses like? SPA Will the pump parts and tools be cheaper in Lagos than in Yola? I hope so. Some tools are not available in Yola. What will my role be at the National Convention? I invited myself, so I guess my role is what they will let me do. I want to learn about what happens at the convention so that next year we can use the convention to promote water, sanitation, and community health, solar cooking, using recycled paper for cooking fuel and other economic development ideas. I want to video the consecration of the new bishop for the new Abuja Diocese. My good friend Pastor Benjamin Fuduta.
When I get internet access I will update you.
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