Tumu

Hello! It has rained for the first time since we came to Nigeria today. Perhaps it means the start of the rainy season, but I hope not. My understanding is that during the rainy season, it pours for like an hour, then stops, and it’s hotter and muggier than ever afterwards, and the bugs come out! On the other hand, everything grows and flowers like crazy, so that is something amazing to see. It’s certainly true that the dust hasn’t been nearly as bad in the last few days. The rain was extra nice today because we didn’t have water today for half the day and I thought that would be how I’d have to showever but praise God it’s working again. We’ve been lucky and though the electricity has gone out almost everyday since we’ve been here, often many times a day, it always comes back on just a few minutes later. Still can’t get our internet to work at home, though!

So I thought I’d tell you about our village trip this weekend. We went to the village of Tumu, which is where our friend Kauna, whose job is partly to take care of us short term assignments (STA’s), is from. Her immediate family is here in Jos but the rest of her paternal family is in Tumu, about one hour outside of Jos. It is a very bumpy ride in a very hot van. The village is exactly what you think African life would be like. It is a small village set in a valley ringed with tall rocky hills, with scrubby trees and lots of agriculture. They live in mud and brick buildings that look like huts but are bigger, and some have thatched roofs and some have tin roofs. Most houses are actually a compound of several buildings all in a square with a courtyard in the middle. Often, there'll be a small granary in the courtyard. There is no electricity or running water, and there are chickens, goats, sheep, dogs, and lizards everywhere. There are also lots of kids, and they are funny in that they are shy and don’t want to actually talk to us or touch us, but they want to follow us everywhere and stare at us. The village is so nice compares to Jos. In Jos, everywhere you go, there are cars, motorbikes, vans, people, people, people, markets, rubbish, noise, etc. It also smells terrible from all the car pollution. People in Jos on the streets, even though they see white people a lot, still stare at you and yell out to you and often you feel like you’re a circus attraction. At the village, they make you feel like you’re an honored guest. They don’t stare and yell out, but instead they talk to you and greet you and bring you to their home to have a drink. When we go walking to see the agriculture (They are growing yams, green peppers, tomatoes, etc), the men stop in their jobs to look but wave in a very friendly fashion when we greet them and suggest places for us to visit. We see a natural bubbling spring, which is their source of water for the crops. We walk along a dusty path into the rocky hills and around the corner is a small lake made from a dam. There is a man fishing; he is floating on a barrel, and when he catches a fish, he throws it into the barrel! There are many fish jumping in the lake and it has a red clay beach. It’s so hot, we want to throw ourselves in, but the parasites waiting for us in there make us all think better of it!

We go back to visit a blacksmith who has a little boy fanning the flames for him with what looks like a woven mat, and he is planning to make some farming tools, I believe. Then we have lunch, which is a potluck of things we have brought. Of course the grandmothers want to feed us their porridge but we’re afraid of getting sick. Did I explain that there are two grandmothers? Kauna’s grandfather had two wives, and though he has died, they live together in the same house with one of the wives’ sons and his family. They are as cute as anything. They don’t let you take pictures unless they are all dressed up, so they go get changed into their best outfits, and they come out wearing the exact same outfit! Kauna’s uncle uses a very long stick to shake some lemons out of their tree for us, and we head back after about 4 hours at the village. It doesn’t sound like long, but when you’re outside in 95 degree weather, it’s a very tiring experience!

This week, Nigeria is conducting a nationwide census. It hasn’t had one since 1991. It is quite the thing. Apparently, the local governments have trained special people to go to each household and count people and ask all sorts of questions. It’s quite confusing, because as you can imagine, in a place where many people don’t have electricity or phones, and if you do, it’s unreliable, and there’s not really a postal service, how do you relay information to the mass public? And, nothing’s ever organized here so no one knows what’s going on. We understand it’s somehow a very political thing; for instance, there’s something about figuring out who speaks what language (Most everyone speaks some Hausa, English, and their tribal language), and what religion you claim to be, etc, but we don’t fully understand the issues. Nigerians identify themselves more by tribe than as a Nigerian, and this can cause all sorts of tension in government. Here in Jos I have seen a lot of Fulani and Ibo people, but of course there are like 250 tribes in Nigeria! Also, religion here is interesting. There are a lot of true Muslims and true Christians (At least, as we think of “true” Muslims and Christians), but also many whose Christianity and Islam are, as one doctor put it to me today, “neither here nor there”, and is all mixed up with their tribal religion. Also, they don’t always correlate the truths they believe in their religion with the way they should live their lives, so there are many Christians, for instance, who say they believe in Jesus and live by the Bible, but are also having unprotected pre-marital sex and don’t think twice about it.

Anyway, the census is supposed to last from the 21st to the 25th, and we’ve heard various things, that there should be no movement at all and everyone should stay home during this time, or no movement only during the last two days, or maybe it’ll get extended two more days. But in any case, many people are staying home and businesses are closed because no one knows, and there’s no good way to get information around so it’s like a week long holiday. Of course, I still hear all sorts of traffic and the hospital is still going. But even the hospital is calling Thursday and Friday a holiday and will run like it’s Christmas. Frank is working from home as a result. Also, the Christian organizations in Nigeria are having a two day strike next Monday and Tuesday to protest against the violence in the Muslim northern states regarding the Danish cartoons, so there’s a whole week for Frank to stay home! It’s nice for him. Also, apparently there will be people posing as census takers but are really thieves, so we’re supposed to be careful who we let in during this time. I’m assuming they won’t come count us but who knows. I don’t intend to be home to find out, as I will still be working anyway (I’m helping to deliver babies this week!), but maybe Frank will have the fun. Well, that’s enough for now, bed time!