My Journey through Nigeria

In the Lab

Last week I spent some time in the Faith Alive laboratory with Rotimi. You’d think with me being a lab technician that I’d spend more time there, but it’s been nice having a break from the lab setting. Rotimi showed me how they test for Sickle Cell anemia, a very common genetic affliction here in West Africa. Sickle Cell anemia causes your red blood cells to assume a “sickle shape.” This causes less oxygen to bind to red blood cells, causing anemia. Rotimi, for only being 22 years old, is really a smart, innovative guy. Because a lot of lab equipment and testing supplies are limited and expensive, he has rigged up several tests that they wouldn’t be able to use at Faith Alive if not for him. Testing for Sickle Cell anemia is one of them, considering that electrophoresis gels are so expensive.

Sickle cell is a common test here in Nigeria. In fact, most churches require you to get genotyped and tested for HIV and other tests before you can get married. Most people in Nigeria know their blood type and their genotype. For Sickle Cell, you are either AA (normal), AS (a carrier), or SS (genotypically anemic). These letters represent different heme groups. For those of you who may not know, hemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying component in red blood cels. West Africans also have another form of hemoglobin that no one else has, it’s a “C” hemoglobin (There are four subtypes – C, A, F, S). In fact, anyone who has a C heme group in their blood can trace their heritage back to the western countries of Africa. Fascinating if you ask me, but I’m sure I’m putting you all to sleep. I’ve also learned how they diagnose malaria and how they measure CD4 counts in HIV positive patients.

I was given a packet of information on how to leave “positively.” It’s a lesson plan for HIV positive women and men. In it they educate patients on how to minimize exposure and prevent infection to family members and others they may come in contact with. I’m really looking forward to reading it, but I have not had much time yet. It’ll be good airplane reading material.

Faith Alive Satellite Clinics

Last week we had a team from Heart to Heart come visit Faith Alive. Heart to Heart is an NGO based out of Kansas City. The organization adopted it's name because of their first medical supply operation to Russia. At the time, the US government saw it as a big diplomatic gesture, so they backed the organization by funding the operation. It was said that medical supplies were coming from the heart of the US to the heart of Russia. Hence Heart to Heart. While Heart to Heart receives some funding from the government, most of their funding comes from private investors. They sent two team members, Leslie and Chris, to visit Faith Alive and some potential sites for partnerships. It was great to spend some time and get to know the both of them.

Last Friday I went with Leslie and Chris to visit Faith Alive's satellite clinics. The two sites we visited were Kafachan and Bakin Kogi. Bakin Kogi is still under construction. The Kafachan clinic has an interesting story. The clinic started because of a professor that works with Dr. Chris at the university. She had attended a PMTCT convention and decided to undertake a survey in the bush communities. She wanted to test the community and institute a PMTCT program that could prevent HIV infection to newborns. When she started the survey, she found that almost one third of the community was HIV positive. These rates are astronomical. Faith Alive decided to start a clinic to provide free testing and antiretroviral medication to some of the community. The clinic is by no means equipped to test and support such a community. I took a picture of their laboratory where they test patients for HIV. As you can see, it is small, and not really a diagnostic laboratory. Kafachan needs support, drugs and more staffing. They're not able to provide help to a large part of the community because resources are so few.

To date, the Kafachan clinic has tested about 4,000 patients for HIV. Out of those 4,000 patients, nearly 1,800 patients have tested positive for the virus. That's a 45% prevalence rate. That's one of the highest rates in the world. Almost 50% of the community is HIV positive. How can this be? Nigeria's national prevalence rate is only about 4.5%. Yet, HIV ravages these small bush communities with prevalence rates encroaching on 50%. These rural communities are the breeding grounds for HIV. That's why these satellite communities like Kafachan and Bakin Kogi are so vital. If they were not there, these communities would go unnoticed.

As we visited with the staff at Kafachan, the children were overcome with curiosity, and they had to gather around to get a peak at all the Oybo's. Most of these children are probably positive. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth knowing these kids are so happy and excited, but that they are dying as HIV slowly deteriorates their immune system. If the statistics are correct, at least two of these children are infected, maybe more.

As we made are way back to Faith Alive we all sat quietly, soaking up the weight of the statistics that were recited to us, gazing into the mountain range stretched alongside us. Infection rates of this magnitude are almost unbelievable. How is it possible that one community can be hit so hard while others emerge virtually unscathed? The virus has many victims. Many of them are women and children. Grappling with realities like this is always hard. And, a part of you goes untouched because you don't know what it's like to be infected. You can only observe. Putting faces to statistics makes the reality all the more real, though.

Our visit may have had little impact, but it allows these people to be known. They will not die unnoticed. There are people who care. We can provide as much as we can, extending their lives and providing a semblance of comfort. Dying alone is a horrible thing, an injustice that no man, woman or child deserves. If nothing else, these clinics provide a community where that does not happen. 

If there is one thing that has come out of this visit, it is awareness. And as benign as that may sound, it has provoked a fire within me that cannot be silenced. People must know.

With knowledge comes action, and with action comes results. Results are what these communities need. They need more medication, they need more staff that can care for them, they need education and they need skills to make a living and support their families. They need to know that they are not alone. They are not immoral. They are not dirty. They do not deserve the stigma that has been unduly placed upon them. They are like you. They are like me. How can we turn a blind eye to our own, our brothers and sisters? As we live our comfortable lives back in the States, it's easy to forget about these people. It's easy to keep their memory locked up in a TV box, having no more reality than the last big box office hit. But these people are more than characters on the TV screen, they are real human beings, living a breathing. We must do more. Money is not enough.

The Children of Jos

You'll have to accept my apology for not posting as frequently as I normally do. The internet in our compound was "discontinued," so I have to travel to the nearest internet cafe to check email and blog. So, I will probably be posting blogs two at a time, as I will write them while I'm home, and bring them to the cafe to copy and paste. Just bare with me, I'll make sure to keep y'all informed. Now, for the photo of the week:


This is one of the children that I see every day on my way to the clinic. We got to sit down with the kids the other day and chat for a bit and take pictures. Most of the kids love to hide from the camera, and then there are a few who strut their stuff and show off in front of the camera, trying to get the most shots. This girl was caught in the middle and wasn't sure how to act in front of the camera. I snapped off a couple of shots before she joined the crowd of children.




Here is one of the pictures of the kids who were hiding from the camera. A lot of the kids are shy. I wish I could just take them all home with me...

Easter Weekend

I know I haven't posted in about a week now. The day after I gave my lecture I became sick (not malaria, thankfully). Today was my first day feeling somewhat “normal.” Despite my maladies, however, I was still able to enjoy the long Easter weekend, a four-day holiday here in Nigeria. We joke that Nigerians have far too many holidays (a consequence of balancing and pleasing the people of two separate religions).

On Friday Nikki and I went to the Jos museum shops. As we made our way to the individual shops, we could hear the loud buzzing of fruit bats in the mango trees above us. If you’ve ever been in the south when the cicadas are in full swarm, nesting in the trees, then you have some idea of the sound these bats make, only louder and deeper. The bats are huge. They are about the size of a crow, and they all hang from the mango trees, their sheer numbers bowing the limbs as they settle in for an afternoon nap. The bats will linger here for some time, at least until the mangoes are eaten and they must migrate onward to more fertile grounds.

The museum shops were very quaint. They are like little huts, scattered here and there along the trail leading to the history museum. They have all sorts of tribal apparel and gadgets that they sell. As we made are way through the shops, looking at the tribal masks and leather sandals, we came upon an old hut that was covered with paintings. The whole hut was full of oiled canvases, bright green and blues spattered up and down the rafters with deep, colorful hints of reds, oranges and purples. The woman had myriad interpretive collections - some very realistic, while others resembled the wide influences of Van Gogh and Monet. The paintings were truly beautiful. All of them were very dark, with a bright flourishing of color, as if life were springing off the canvases out of the darkness. I intend to make another visit to this woman’s shop before I leave and purchase a painting or two. Nikki pointed out my natural attraction toward the green and blue tones that tend to dominate my own paintings.

That evening we stopped by Blessings home and she made us vegetable soup with Semol (a starchy corn meal). It was fun watching her make the soup in her make-shift kitchen outside on the balcony. The soup was very good, and it was great seeing her and her boys.

On Saturday, our friend Rotex took us on a hike to Sherri Hills. Sherri Hills is a rock quarry on the edge of town, nestled up against the mountains that cradle the city of Jos to the West. We climbed a rock formation called Dogg Magog. Rotex couldn’t tell us what it meant, but it sounded menacing nonetheless. And it proved to be a pretty tough climb.

About an hour later, we reached the top. It was beautiful looking down at the city of Jos that spread out before us. Even with the dust and haze obscuring most of our view, it was still a wonderful site looking down on Africa from the heights of the mountains. I’ve pictured moments like this for many years now. And even though my sweat and aching hands took me out of the would-be “cinematic moment,” I still had an overwhelming feeling that I was living some dream that has long awaited me. We lingered at the top for some time, eating PB&J sandwiches and enjoying the cool breeze that comes with higher elevations. We chatted for a while, talking about our families and our future dreams before making the trip back down the rocks where the van waited to take us back into the city.

On Easter day we were invited to Nurse Jane’s house, a woman that works closely with Dr. Chris as he consults with his patients. We sat in her home with her husband, three children and some family members. We sat back and played with the children as we enjoyed a warm African beer, a pastime I’ve grown to enjoy quite a bit. I forced myself to eat the food that Jane graciously prepared for us, even though my stomach was not in any place to be eating food. The meal was great, despite my queasy stomach.

Later that evening we met the medical students I lectured to last week. Dr. Chris gave them money to plan an Easter celebration at Faith Alive so that we could get to know the students, and we could also share a little about ourselves. This was another meal my stomach was demanding I turn down. But out of politeness, I forced myself to eat again, an action I came to regret later that night as I was doubled over the toilet, wishing I could throw up.

Our time with the medical students was really good, probably one of the most memorable moments so far. They asked us several questions, ranging from our educational background to our impressions of Nigeria and the culture. It was the first time I was able to formulate my thoughts into words.

I’ve lived in Harlem for three years now. I’ve grown accustomed to being a minority in a community dominated by African-Americans and Dominicans. So, coming here was not a far stretch from home. What I wasn’t aware of was that during those three years I have allowed the stereotypes of my community in Harlem to entrench my view of the true character of the global black community. Coming here, I was afraid of having nothing in common with the people of Nigeria, a fear that was quickly dissolved the moment I arrived. People here are so welcoming and so generous. A generosity I don’t see in the US, even in the church. I find that our common faith unites us, as well as our desire to serve those who are poor and under served. My racial interpretations and boundaries have been expanded, and in some sense dissolved. When I think of the friends I’ve made since I’ve been here, their skin color does not factor into my thoughts of them. In fact, you kind of forget about it after awhile. You only notice it when you see the random white person on the street, and you see how out of place they look.

My trip here was worth it merely for that discovery. The ability to see people through new eyes, being able to see what unites us and not what divides us or makes us different, is a gift I didn’t really expect to receive on my journey. But, it’s an unexpected pleasure that I am grateful for.

Monday I spent the day sleeping, recovering from the weekend and regaining some of my strength from being sick, trying to re-energize myself for another week of work. Thankfully I’m feeling better, and I’ve been able to get some things done on this nutrition project.

Shaking things up

Last week Dr. Chris approached me with a task I wasn't sure he was serious about giving to me. Fortunately or unfortunately, I said yes. He wanted to pass some of his medical school lectures off to me. Now you see why I didn't think he was serious. Oh but he was. He gave me the topic of nutritional disorders. I guess a fitting lesson plan since I came over here to work with malnourished children.

I am, of course, in no qualified position to be giving medical students lectures. Even as a public health "professional," I'm not exactly equipped for such a task. Well, I didn't really have much choice. If any of you know me well, then you know that the last thing I like to do is get up in front of people. I don't exactly get a kick out of hearing myself talk. So, this last week I prepared for the lecture while continuing this malnutrition study I'm working on (a post I'm still planning on writing very soon).

I didn't really know what to expect, except that the class was an hour and a half long and I should make it "interactive." Thankfully it was just a small group of people, about 20 students, so I was able to sit down and "lead a discussion" rather than give a straight out lecture. Trust me, a role I was willing to give up. Anyway, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and Dr. Chris enjoyed it enough to hand off another lecture for me to do next week. He wanted to hand off three of them, but I have my hands full with this malnutrition study, so I opted for one.

The last 10 minutes of class, Dr. Chris lead a discussion about the Easter season. Now let me tell you, JUTH is not a Christian university. Bringing up religion in such an overt way would be a serious "no, no" in the states. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Chris, and these 10 minutes made me respect him all the more. There were two Muslim women in the room, and they celebrated the birth of Muhammad on Wednesday (it's a national holiday here in Nigeria). He asked one of the women to explain about the holy day and why they observe it as a holiday. He then asked one of the Christian students to talk about and explain the holiday of Easter and it's importance.

It was this perfect interaction between two religions, both learning from the other, gaining wisdom on what it means to remember our faith and honor our God(s). I've never seen religions live so peacefully together as I did in that moment. It was truly a beautiful thing. Dr. Chris, even though an avid Christian, shows so much respect and honor to the Muslim community. He looks for unity and common ground, and he speaks to the heart of what brings us to faith. He seamlessly breaks down the barriers and tensions between many religions, and he gets people to listen. Truly a gift.

Futbol

For this week's photo I've decided to focus on the sport of Futbol. Considering Nigeria is a British colonized country, I guess you would expect soccer to be the sport of choice. Here, every boy plays soccer. usually an abandoned building with walls torn down serves as a great arena.

Every time I walk back from the clinic I see a group of boys who pass around a soccer ball. Whenever we walk by, the boys like to show off and ask me to "snap" them. This boy was trying to balance the ball on his face... Lets just say he needed a little more practice.

Speaking of soccer, yesterday Nikki and I met the youth soccer team that Faith Alive supports. It's a bunch of young men who have finished school and are either working or on the streets. The team was formed as a way of getting these guys off the street and into an organized sport that could teach them discipline and hard work. Daniel, the Nigerian that has helped organize the team, asked Nikki and I to stop by and give a 15 minute talk. Daniel wanted us to talk about the importance of staying off the streets, HIV/AIDS education and of course, in Faith Alive style, share the gospel. Considering that Nikki is headed to Princeton for seminary, I left the preaching to her, and she gave a quick educational talk about HIV/AIDS and prevention. She's a natural.

I stepped in after her and talked briefly about how sports helped shape my life, and how it teaches us skills for our life and career. Cheesy I know, so I kept it short and sweet. Needless to say, Faith Alive provides a great outlet for these young men who would be out on the streets otherwise. It gives them something to look forward to everyday. And it gives them a passion for something that they've known all their lives. Just another aspect of how Faith Alive reaches all corners of this community, providing hope to so many people. It's really great to be a part of it.

Sewing Lessons

If you've kept up with my blog then you know Blessing's story. This is the sewing shop that she opened after she finished sewing school. Blessing is flashing the peace sign. The women in the shop are her students that she teaches. Blessings shop is on the way to the FA clinic, so we stop by every day to say hello and chat for a bit. On this particular day, we walked in to the women chopping fish heads. "Chopping" is pigeon for eating. These cooked fish heads are evidently really good, although I couldn't stomach the smell, and I don't know how I feel about eating fish eyeballs.

I love being in Blessing's shop. Everyone is always laughing and joking. It's so much fun to just sit down and joke with them. Laughter crosses language barriers like nothing else really does. They like to joke around at my attempts to speak Hausa and pigeon English, and I jest back at how their sewing equipment is "Old School," which they always laugh at when I say.

The other week Mary decided to test out my sewing skills and teach me a couple of things about antique sewing machines. I haven't touched a sewing machine since home economics in middle school, and the extent of my skills is limited to sewing buttons on old shirts that I don't want to give to the goodwill quite yet. Needless to say, we all got a good laugh at my attempt to sew a straight line while peddling the machine at the same time. I don't know how they do it.

Mary is one of Blessing's sewing students. A woman in the US just started sponsoring her son so he can go to primary school. We met Richard, her son, the other day and took pictures to send back to the sponsor. They were both so thankful for the generosity that this woman from the US was showing them. So many families don't have the income to send their children to school. Faith Alive sponsors around 60 children who are either orphaned or in extreme financial need. Faith Alive allows many young children who would be working to make a living, and instead allows them to attend primary school. Thankfully, Richard will be able to continue his studies. And thankfully I won't have to make a living sewing dresses and Nigerian shirts.

The vision realized

Some of you I've sat down with over coffee and spent hours discussing my many dreams and aspirations. You know of my many opinions about aiding African nations, too. You know that I see America's, and other nation's efforts of throwing money at a crippled African nation only furthers their dependence on foreign governments. You know that African colonization has only further driven rifts between tribes and nations. And as we left those nations to fend for themselves, we left a people to solve the problems we, in a sense, had a part in creating. I wrote an essay about it, Solving Africa's Health Issues, in my masters program that I condensed and made "reader friendly" if you are interested in reading it. Just click the link.  

I have an uneasiness with organizations in Africa that are run mainly by foreign workers. I don't think that most people from foreign nations truly know what's best for another culture, myself included. It's only those that have lived the culture day in and day out that know what works, and what doesn't. I knew that when I decided to come to Africa I wanted to come to an organization that was run by African people, from the top down.

So, when I came across Faith Alive, I was instantly intrigued. Faith Alive was started by a Nigerian doctor named Chris Isichei. He and his wife have created a multifaceted clinic and ministry that serves well over 2,500 people. It is run almost entirely by Nigerians. And those positions that aren't, are seeking full-time Nigerian replacements. Dr. Chris has a vision for this country that looks much like the early church. Not only does the clinic serve the health needs of those near and far, but they also rehabilitate broken homes, give housing to single mothers and provide skills for those who want to make a better life for themselves and their family.

It provides jobs for an eclectic group of men and women, most of them around my age, just starting out in their careers. It provides volunteer opportunities for those looking to make a difference in this country. But, more than anything else, Faith Alive gives hope to everyone it touches. It shows patients, volunteers, government officials and countless employees that someone out there is fighting for their community, their village, their city, their country. As Faith Alive expands, it builds satellite clinics throughout different states in Nigeria. It's almost like the birthing of a unified health system. It's only just the beginning. The beginning of something organized enough to provide a semblance of stability for a country that has been torn apart by years of conflict and hopelessness. 

Home-based Care

On Tuesday I went with a group of people to experience the home-based care program at Faith Alive. The program is for people too weak to come into the clinic on their own. Instead, we come to them, providing care, medication and prayer. We drove for about an hour, pavement eventually turning into gravel roads. Gravel roads gave way to rocky paths and deep ravines carved out during the rainy season. When we could drive no further we went on by foot; hiking into the small bush village where we would meet the woman we came so far to treat.

For this trip, we were going to visit a woman who was recovering from TB. Not only was she infected with TB, but she was also positive. When Ashom, the man who heads up home-based care, first arrived in the bush village some months back, this woman was bed-ridden. She was just skin and bones. Ashom carried her on his back and hiked to where he was parked, which was a good 2-miles away. He then took her and her husband by motorbike to Faith Alive. They started her on anti-TB meds. It has now been 8 months since his first encounter with this woman. She has been on ARV's for about a month, and she has shown great improvement, although she still walks with a cane. We sat around an ashen campfire while Ashom  recounted the story to Nikki and I. As you can see, the woman is still frail. There are so many people like this woman, dying of AIDS and other diseases. If it weren’t for clinics like Faith Alive these people would die in silence, another victim to poverty and disease unaccounted for. Not only does Faith Alive give these people hope, but they also give them a face, a name and a  feeling that someone out there is fighting for them. As Danny our guide put it “It is our duty, not only as Faith Alive staff, but as children of God to help these people, because God first helped us. If we don’t do it, who will?” Before we left I was asked to pray for the family - a custom I’m still not completely comfortable with, but an honor I accepted nonetheless.

Religion and spirituality are ingrained into the fabric of the African culture. Talking about God is like talking about the weather – it’s an accepted fact, not a distant doubt or a taboo around the dinner table. Praying with complete strangers is not only a non-offense, but it is welcomed and considered a blessing to most. Religion is the one structure that remains stable in this culture. It is reliable and consistent. Without it many of these people would have nothing. There is a beauty that comes with such simplicity, I have discovered. My problems here seem somehow less complex, somehow trivial to what it means to fight for survival every day. I find comfort in that simplicity.

As we walked back to our vehicle, the busy marketplace at the base of the trail broke the somber mood that had settled upon us. People bustled by,  greeting us and shaking our hands. As we passed by, everyone wanted us to snap them. The children’s faces lit up as we passed them a gaze of recognition, smiling and waving as we left. Even though we came primarily to pray for this woman, we left her with a small glimmer of hope – a hope that God has not forgotten her, and she is not alone. Sometimes this is all one needs to gather the strength needed to survive.

Two photos for this week

So, I've decided to start a new category of posts where I will choose one photo a week that I think is the best and post a little background behind the photo. For this week, I have two shots. They are of the same girl, as you can see, but their images speak something differently. I couldn't decide which one I liked more, so I thought I'd give both.

The first picture I shot first. The girl wasn't sure what I was doing when I brought out my huge camera. She was very inquisitive. You can see in the second shot that she covers herself. It's interesting. It's almost as if she is hiding from the camera, in a way. Most children in Nigeria don't react to cameras the way that Americans do. As you can see, they don't really know to smile for a picture. It gives you an opportunity to really capture the moment. You can see the other girls beside her, all of them sharing one seat. I shot this at the wedding I was at this last weekend (an event I will blog about shortly).

The girls head scarf provided just the right shade to eliminate the harsh sunlight that can cause pronounced shadows. It was a very bright, sunny day, so I knew shooting this girl with head covers would create a perfect opportunity to get some really quality shots. I liked how they turned out. Hope y'all enjoy...