Kiva

Hi-

This week's entry is about Kiva.org. I first read about it in a book by Bill Clinton called 'Giving.' It is a microfinancing group. You go to Kiva.org and there you can chose from various businesses to support for a loan of $25. You pay with your credit card. The money is then sent to a local partner in whatever country the business is in. They are responsible for handing out the loans and getting repayment. Most of the loans are for 3-6 months. You get monthly updates the progress of the business. When the loan is repaid back, you can either keep it or lend it again.

My Aunt Lesley and Uncle John we nice enough to give me 2 gift certificates for Kiva. I just made one loan before I recieved this, so there are 3 business in my portfolio. They just raised the funds, so as of now there is no updates yet.

Here are the 3 businesses I chose. It should be fun to watch. At least as fun as fantasy baseball :)

The first is in Nigeria...
Magdalene is 32 years old and married with 3 children. She sells provisions, drinks, wine, and cosmetics. Magdalene needs the loan amount of N50,000 to purchase more products to sell. She hopes to meet the demand of her customers. She says thank you to all who made this loan possible.

The second is in Sierra Leone...

This is Magret S. Thoronka. Magret was born in Bafodia, about eighteen miles from Kabala. She is twenty-eight years old. She is married to a teacher. They have four children together. Magret sells cotton and ground-nuts. She has been in this business for six years. Magret is requesting a loan of Le 2,000,000. This will be her very first loan from SMT. With this loan, Magret will expand her business by buying more goods to add to her current stock. She will use the loan to buy cotton and ground-nuts. She will also use some of the loan for transportation and other expenses relating to her business. She buys the ground-nuts from a make-shift business center, or “luma,” called Bamoi, about 160 miles round-trip from Makeni. She buys the cotton from Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city, a 390 mile round trip from Makeni. A bag of ground-nuts costs her Le 180,000 at Bamoi, and a piece of cotton costs her Le 25,000 in Freetown. She estimates that she’ll be able to get a least five bags of ground-nuts and thirty-six pieces of cotton with the loan. Although her business is doing well for Magret on the whole, she does, face one great challenge: bad debtors. Some of her customers refuse to pay her on time; some do not repay their debts at all. This instills fear in her as a businesswoman, making it difficult for her to know who to trust and who not to trust. With this loan she receives from SMT, Magret is expecting a vast improvement in her business and an increase in the amount of profit she makes. An increment in profit means making her life a happier one and generating additional business.

and my third loan is in Paraguay...
The group "Mujeres Emprendedoras" is from the city of Limpio. This group was formed with the help of a woman that assited group forming meetings in the city of Limpio. The group had four meetings before requesting the loan where all interested members looked into the program "Comite the Mujeres Emprendedoras." In these meetings, the women shared their experiences with their businesses. The first meetings were attended by 17 women, 16 of whom agreed with the responsibilites of the group. They are currently in their ninth cycle of the program and have 17 members. The loan will be used by the various members to purchase tools for their work or to purchase merchandise or prime materials to make the products which will eventually be sold. The majority of the members of the group dedicate themselves to their independent work such as: sale of food, clothing, sliver jewelry, fruits and groceries. Their specific businesses are the following: 1- Lilian Noelia Ocampos Lopez - Sale of groceries 2-Raquel Arguello Alarcon - Sale of clothing 3-Teresa Pino Rodriguez - Sale of clothing (not in this picture) 4-Maria Lourdes Coronel Duarte - Sale of drinks 5-Jessy Evelin Ocampos Lopez - Sale of coal 6-Ceferina Fernadez Vera - Sale of clothing 7-Maria Vera Alfonso - Sale of hardware 8-Delia Mercedes Rodas de Alarcon - Kiosk 9-Albina Torres Isasi - Sales (not in this picture) 10-Petrona Noemi Barrios de Paredes - Sale of vegetables 11- Nelba Antonia Gonzalez Torres - Sale of hardware 12-Cintia Carolina Alarcon - Sale of clothing 13-Valentina Fleitas de Alarcon - Sale of candies 14-Carolina Beatriz Ruiz Diaz - Sales 15-Eloiza Alarcon Vera - Sale of clothing 16-Norma Liliana Gonzalez Nuñez - Sale of clothing 17- Nidia Esmilce Lopez - Sale of food

So check out Kiva if you are planning on making a donation this holiday season, It allows you to see the impact your money makes unlike giving to a large NGO. Also, 100% of your money is given as a loan, there are no administartive fees.

BOTSWANA!

Hi All-

Last week of we very busy. We had visitors the whole time from our Global Team, so that lead to some late nights. However, for the rest of December Nigeria pretty much shuts down and I am just waiting for the holidays now. The only thing to do before I leave is to finalize my work plans for next year.

I am going to go to Botswana over Christmas and New Years. I will arrive in Johannessburg on December 19th and stay there a few days with a friend I met while in the Peace Corps. Then I will fly to Kasane! I met a friend here in Nigeria who has his family there. I will stay there through Christmas with him and see so many elephants and hippos and stuff. I hope to sneak over and see Victoria Falls as well. Maybe I will go bungee jumping there or some other crazy thing. Then I will travel by road back south through Botswana and visit old friends and my old village. I am really looking forward to it.

Haj's Wedding

Hi All-I have been today that some of my postings are a bit wordy, so this one will just be pictures. This is my coworker's wedding with the whole staff in Jos. I think the bride is so beautiful. If it wasn't for this one guy... Anyways, enjoy.

Jos

Hello All-
I am not sure of the reports you are getting from Nigeria on TV, but I saw this article in the New York Times. NO NEED TO WORRY! Now, I was in Jos on the 27th and 28th for a wedding, but not too close to the riots. I returned safely to Abuja during the early afternoon Saturday. Abuja is about 3 hours from Jos, so I am far from the unrest now. I am pretty safe here (well, at least as safe as in Detroit).

Here is the article from the NYT:


December 1, 2008
Deadly Nigeria Clashes Subside
By LYDIA POLGREEN
DAKAR, Senegal — On Sunday morning, Sani ibn Salihu went to

pray for the dead. Even as he arrived at the central mosque of

the Nigerian city of Jos to join a throng mourning 364 people

whose bodies he said had already been taken there, the

battered corpses kept coming: 11 in the hour he spent praying.

“There were women and children, old men,” among the bodies,

Mr. Salihu, a peace activist and journalist, said in a

telephone interview from Jos, the central Nigerian city where

two days of ferocious violence between Christians and Muslims

after a disputed local election has left hundreds of people

dead.

A tense calm returned to Jos on Sunday as soldiers wrested

control of the streets from armed Christian and Muslim gangs

that had roamed the city, slaughtering people with guns and

machetes and torching houses, churches, shops and cars,

according to residents. The sudden and vociferous explosion of

religious violence was the worst Nigeria has seen in at least

four years.

Religious and health officials gave varying accounts of the

death toll but agreed that at least 400 bodies had already

been recovered and more probably remained in the charred

churches, homes, cars and alleyways that had been no-go zones

until Sunday. The Red Cross said that about 7,000 people had

fled the most violent neighborhoods and that they were living

in shelters.

The clashes began suddenly, taking the city by surprise in

both the swiftness and ferocity of the bloodshed, despite a

long history of religious violence in the region. The trouble

began Friday as results of elections trickled in for important

local government posts that control hundreds of thousands of

dollars in government funds.

Elections have not been held in Jos for years, in part because

of fears that the political parties would split along

religious lines, which is in fact what happened. Even before

the results were announced, gangs on both sides began

rampaging, anticipating defeat. Christian gangs claimed that

the governing party, the P.D.P., was being cheated of victory,

while Muslim gangs claimed that the opposition A.N.P.P., which

is identified largely with Muslims in the north, was being

robbed of its win.

Nigeria’s 140 million people are about evenly divided between

the Muslim and Christian faiths. People of both religions live

all across the country, often cheek by jowl, usually in

relative peace.

But the religious divide in this nation of more than 250

ethnic groups mirrors a geographical one, between a

historically Muslim north and a Christian and animist south,

as well as deep political divisions that cross religious

lines. Beyond that there are conflicts over land and political

power, which are often intertwined as a result of traditional

customs that hold the rights of indigenous people over those

of migrants from other parts of the country. Religion is

almost always a proxy for those grievances.

The fissures are so profound that it takes only the smallest

tremor for a seemingly peaceful community to descend into an

abyss of bloodletting. In 2002, a dispute over a perceived

insult to Islam during a beauty pageant led to riots in which

hundreds died. In 2006, riots over Danish cartoons depicting

the Prophet Muhammad led to the deaths of nearly 200 people in

several Nigerian cities, more than in any other country that

experienced violence in the global backlash against the

cartoons.

Nigeria’s Middle Belt, a band of fertile land that straddles

the largely Muslim north and the Christian south, has always

been a hotbed of ethnic and religious violence, and Plateau

State, of which Jos is the capital, has borne the brunt.

Most of the state’s original inhabitants come from tribes that

are almost entirely Christian and animist, but the farmland

and grazing pasture has attracted migrants for centuries,

especially Muslim Hausa and Fulani people from the more arid

north. In Jos, a picturesque city set on a verdant plateau in

central Nigeria, 1,000 people died in religious riots in 2001,

and in 2004 hundreds more were killed in a nearby city of

Yelwa. Jos became a balkanized city, with Muslims and

Christians retreating to separate neighborhoods.

Despite the history of religious bloodshed in the region,

residents, officials and activists said the city had come a

long way toward healing divisions. Interfaith commissions set

up to improve relations between the faiths and ethnic groups

after the 2001 riots appeared to help cool tensions. “Things

had really improved in Jos,” said Nankin Bagudu, a Christian

and state government commissioner who had worked with the

League for Human Rights. “Nobody expected this kind of

violence this time.”

Mr. Salihu, a Muslim, said that the violence threatened to

undo years of careful bridge building between the communities.

“As someone who has been involved in a peace work between

Christian and Muslims, this has set our work back 10 years,”

he said. “It will take us a very long time to rebuild the

confidence.”

MORE OBAMANIA!

Ok, I am still not over the election. Nigeria isn't either. The last article received a good reaction, so here is another. It is from a site called Nigerian Muse, published on November 12th.

Obama and the Nigerian Dream

In the past few weeks I have found it difficult to put pen to
paper. With Obamamania and the message of hope and change
rising in crescendo against the suffocating gradualism and
annoying hypocritical realities of the Nigerian state, I chose
to proceed on a self – imposed intellectual exile. I lapped up
the historical drama unfolding in North America and indulged
in some reminiscences on the Nigerian Dream. The Nigerian
Dream? Yes, the Nigerian Dream! That was the title of an
article I wrote in my column in September 2007. In that piece
I examined the Nigerian Dream in contradistinction to the more
popular global reference point: the American Dream.
Until the gangling forty – seven year old senator from
Illinois, Barack Hussein Obama, trounced tight – lipped fellow
American senator, John McCain, and broke a 230 year old jinx
on November 4, 2008 to become the first person of African
descent to be elected as President of the United States of
America, the idea appeared audacious and partly illusory.
Today, Americans have brought home to us in living colour the
reality and the power of that fortress of hope called the
American Dream. Now Nigerians at home and in Diaspora have
saddled themselves with a new jigsaw puzzle: can Obama happen
in Nigeria?

Nigerians of all shades of opinion and, I dare say, on all
sides of the moral spectrum, have striven to proffer an
opinion on the possibility of an “Obama” emerging within the
Nigerian context: that is, whether it is possible for a
simple, well – educated, visionary person brimming with ideas
and charisma plus a large dose of the gift of the garb to
present himself for election into a leadership position in
Nigeria - and for such a candidate to be elected on the sheer
strength of his popularity or public acceptance of his
candidature.

The answer to that question seems pretty obvious. With
opportunism, mediocrity and nepotism holding sway, many of
those vested with public office in Nigeria seem to be persons
anointed by all kinds of pretenders that masquerade as
‘leaders’ and political godfathers. When Harold Robbins titled
his famous novel “Dreams Die First”, he probably never even
heard of Nigeria. But those words depict the Nigerian reality.
Nigeria is a country where the party, the government in power
and the electoral umpire advertently and inadvertently combine
to scuttle dreams and kill visions. At each election, they
mouth empty promises of providing “a level playing field for
free and fair elections”. At the end, the playing field is
hardly level and the elections are neither free nor fair.
Political parties in Nigeria have an unflattering record of
including only those they want in their primaries: other bona
fide members of the party are excluded for no apparent reason.
For aspirants, obtaining, filling and returning nomination
forms are a nightmare. During the campaign process, violence
is common, popular candidates run the risk of being
assassinated, deported to some country to which their ancestry
is suddenly traced or simply rigged out not through any
scientific ingenuity but through crude allocation of voting
figures.

If there is anything that Barack Obama’s victory has done, it
is to bring to the fore the stark difference between the
American Dream and the Nigerian Dream. It has become axiomatic
that, in deed, America and Americans are fascinated by the
power of ideas! On the contrary, Nigeria and Nigerians are
captivated by the idea of power. They seek it viciously, cling
to it ferociously, flaunt it shamelessly and by the time they
realize how illusory it all is, they are saddled with many
enemies that they ought not have made in the first place.
Those who are captivated by the idea of power become captives
to power.

The average Nigerian politician who relentlessly pursues or
tries to ensconce himself in a position of power sees power as
an end in itself. He sees it as a position of self –
enrichment and self – aggrandisement. Often, the typical
Nigerian public office holder, as a result of the process
through which he emerged in the office, has little or no value
to add to the system or to the improvement of the living
conditions of the poor masses whose interests he is supposed
to protect. Instead, he struts around like an ostrich and goes
to any level to satisfy his obscene appetite for luxuries and
personal acquisitions at the expense of the people. The
Nigerian elite generally, to say the least, are guilty by
association. The Nigerian public, paralysed by poverty,
weighed down by the rat race for survival, or confused by a
warped value system that glorifies impunity grumble a bit and
go about their business with suppressed angst.

Only in America can the son of an African immigrant rise
through the social and political ladder to be elected to the
highest office in the land. And no one is going to court to
use some procedural, legal, immigration, or electoral
oversight to snatch the victory! With over $600m USD, Obama’s
campaign war chest was hefty. But most of the money reportedly
came from over three million small and large donors – not from
one or two political tin-gods as we frequently have in Nigeria
who would later turn around to grapple with the candidate
after victory is won over appointments, allocations and other
perks of power.

It is commonly said that nothing can stop an idea whose time
has come. Indeed. It may be said that a man of colour in the
White House is an idea whose time has come. But everyone knows
that Barack Obama won the 2008 US Presidential Election more
for the power of his ideas and his personal charisma than the
colour of his skin. Even if every single brother and sister
was registered as a voter, all the African Americans in the US
could never muster the numbers to single-handedly make Obama
or anyone else President. Obama won because he is Obama – an
idea whose time has come. It is that simple.

By their reactions to the historic election of Barack Obama as
President of what is undisputedly the strongest country in the
world, Nigerians at home and in Diaspora have expressed
disdain for elections that produce outcomes that show the
unseen hand of the piper or the man that pays the piper. In
spite of the seeming discordance, most Nigerians, deep down in
their hearts, are clamouring for a Nigerian Obama: a man of
ideas with a pleasant personality who will fizzle with
brilliance and dazzle with his eloquence. Nigerians hunger for
a man whose campaign will be transparent and based on issues
all the way and the outcome of whose election will truly
reflect the wishes of the people. To that extent, Obama is the
Nigerian Dream.

uchebush@yahoo.com; 0805 1090 050
Uche Ohia contributes articles to NigerianMuse.

OBAMA!

Last week I went to a party hosted by the US Embassy and a
friend's house to watch the election results for most of the
night. WOO HOO! I am glad it was such a landslide.


Many have asked about Nigeria's reaction to the election.
Here is an article from a Nigerian Newspaper called The Punch,
published yesterday, about the Obama's victory:


Significance of Obama’s victory for Africa By Oyewale Oyepeju

Published: Thursday, 6 Nov 2008


Americans are on the verge of making a remarkable statement
and changing the course of history as they elected the first
African-American president. For a moment, the world stood
still for a man of honor, a man who had demonstrated a good
understanding of today’s problem as it affects the common man.
What makes Obama presidency significant is not because he is
black; it is because he is one of the black men in the world
with dignity, conscience, a sense of patriotism and direction.
Obama’s model of change has restored the hope of the common
man, he has demonstrated a good understanding of the problems
that the average American faces and exhibited how best to
tackle these problems.


Is it his tax plan for an even distribution of wealth or his
plan to stimulate American economic growth that is not worth
appreciating?


In a world widely dominated by the capitalists, I think
Obama’s plan will go a long way to make the much anticipated
effect as regards even distribution of wealth among Americans.
With an Obama presidency, we will see a different America that
will fully take back its place as a world leader, making it a
country that will experience a real change in all
ramifications.


What lesson can Africa learn from the Obama victory? In a
continent where politicians play to the gallery, engage in
political gimmicks without the interest of the common man at
heart, having Barack Obama as the American president should be
the beginning of an end to the mess that has been the hallmark
of governance in our beleaguered continent.

Imagine the sheer patriotism and passion that characterised
the presidential campaign. Who will ever know that a ‘common’
plumber will be the centre of attraction during the U.S.
presidential campaign? The lesson from this is that it is time
our leaders had the interest of the common man at heart;
Leadership is not by writing and formulating policies that
cannot have the desired effect or by making promises that we
all know cannot be fulfilled at any point in time, all because
those that make the promises have no intention of making them
good to start with.


Our leaders should know that modern governance is beyond
godfatherism, personal interest or launching programs that
lack the required bites. Africans at large should see an Obama
presidency as a reason for a change in our individual
orientation, a change in the way we think.

Most of our problems actually started from our different
homes, as a person’s upbringing usually determines what manner
of leader he will become in future. What manner of leadership
will come from a child who was brought up in an environment
characterised by unusual corruption? Our leaders should
emulate the American system, the excuse that the systems has
been in existence for two centuries doesn’t hold water;
rather, having the right set of people at the helm of affairs
is the secret.

Yet, Africa is blessed with talents –– professionals that have
made their mark in their respective fields, but despite all
that, we are still faced with fundamental problems. We have
idealists and impressionists at the helm of affairs and until
the status quo changes, we will still go by the demeaning tag
‘developing nations.’


I also watched keenly the support that Obama enjoyed from
Africans back home since the day he made his intention known.
Indeed, the Obama phenomenon is like a bug that had bitten all
of us –– from his native home in Kenya to Nigeria, Obama is
widely celebrated. I’m sure some of us did not put so much
energy or faith in our respective national election as we did
to the American presidential poll.


I actively participated in every issue during the long and
unrelenting campaign, and I would have donated to his campaign
organi-sation were it not for the fact that donations are not
welcome from non-Americans.


In terms of stock-taking, inasmuch as we support Obama, of
what significance is an Obama presidency to Africa? Can an
Obama presidency solve our electricity problems, improve our
education sector, have a meaningful effect on our economy?
After all said and done, I don’t think an Obama presidency
will bring about the change that we so much desire in Africa.
Rather, it can only spur our leaders on to bring about the
desired changes. What do you think is the message he passed
when he rejected donations from Nigeria? He is obviously
telling us that we should use our money to solve our national
problems.


It is disheartening that a professor that knows the value of
education will encourage people to pay millions of naira for
table reservation for a fundraiser when the nation’s education
sector has been in a state of decadence for such a long time,
with no one showing the slightest interest in revamping it.
Where is our sense of patriotism?


These are people that condemn the education sector, they are
the ones that will tell anybody who cares to listen that
Nigerian graduates are not employable. It’s time the people
up there realised the need to give back to the society that
made them, instead of throwing our collective wealth
carelessly around, or sending their children to better
equipped overseas schools because they have lost faith in our
education sector. As leaders, they owe this country so much,
else the products of our condemned education system will end
up being the armed robbers next door.

Nassarawa State

Hello All-

Last week I went on a short day trip to 2 hospitals in
Nasarawa State. Nassaraw is a state in central Nigeria. Its
capital is Lafia. I went there and to the second biggest
city, Keffi.

Nasawara was created on October 1st, 1996 from the (today
neighboring) Plateau State. Itis bounded in the north by
Kaduna State, in the west by the Abuja Federal Capital
Territory, in the south by Kogi and Benue States and in the
east by Taraba and Plateau States.

A network of roads exist within the state, linking all the
rural areas and major towns. The Nigerian Railway Corporation
(NRC) operates train services from Kuru, Gombe and Maiduguri.
Each state has nickname. Nassarawa is the "Home of Solid
Minerals." Nasarawa State has agriculture as the mainstay of
its economy with the production of varieties of cash crops
throughout the year. It is also contains minerals such as salt
and bauxite.

The state has a Federal Polytechnic and College of Education
and other vocational training schools.

Sorry, no pictures :(

Igbo Jews

Some of you may remember that the 3 biggest ethnic groups in Nigeria are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. You also might remember that almost all citizens are either Christian or Muslim. However, I just learned that the Igbo people, among others, may actually be Jewish:

The Igbo Jews, are members of the Igbo people of Nigeria who practice the Jewish religion and are said to be descended from North African or Egyptian Hebraic and later Israelite migrations into West Africa. Oral legends amongst the Igbo state that this migration started around 1,500 years ago.

The Igbo are not the only Nigerian group claiming Jewish heritage; there are other communities practicing Judaism in Nigeria that are not of the Igbo people, such as those among the Annang, Efik and Ibibio of Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State. The Sefwi people of Ghana, too, believe they are descendants of Jews who made their way to West Africa. In addition, Messianic Jewish communities have sprung up in Nigeria.

Some sources assert that a Jewish presence existed in Nigeria as early as 638 BCE. It is thought that Jews fled to Africa after the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem and established communities all across the African continent. The population came south into sub-Saharan Africa and west across North Africa, possibly following the path of the Arab conquests. Descendants could also have arisen from migrants from Djerba, Tunisia who had fled to North Africa after the destruction of the biblical Temples.

The Igbo Jews traditionally claim descent from three particular Israelite tribes: Gad, Zebulun, and Manasseh. Some hold that families amongst the community are descendants of Kohanim and Levites, the Jewish priests and their assistants who functioned in the Jerusalem Temple. The Nigerian Jewish community is said to be composed almost entirely of descendants of Kohanim.

Outreach to Nigerian Jews by the wider Jewish world community gained official status in 1995–1997, when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sent a team to Nigeria in search of the “Lost Tribes of Israel.” Western rabbis and educators such as Rabbi Gorin have visited the community at times and Jewish communities in the West support those in Nigeria by sending books, computers, and religious articles. However, the State of Israel has, to date, not recognized the Igbo as one of the Lost Tribes.

Religious practices of the Igbo Jews include circumcision eight days after the birth of a male child, observance of kosher dietary laws, separation of men and women during menstruation, wearing of the tallit and kippah, and the celebration of holidays such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. In recent times, the communities have also adopted holidays such as Hanukkah and Purim, which were instituted only after many of the tribes of Israel had already dispersed.

Kwara State

So, I have been a bit busy planning and budgeting for next year. Now, back to the State Scale Up Program this year. I am going travel back to Kogi and then an to Kwara State during the first two weeks of November. I really want to help the doctors to get more patients in their sites by doing more community outreach for more identification. So this mean community testing days. Anyways, here is a bit about Kwara State:

Kwara State was created on 27 May 1967 when the Federal Military Government of General Yakubu Gowon broke the four regions that then constituted the Federation of Nigeria into 12 states. At its creation, the state was made up of the former Ilorin and Kabba provinces of the then Northern Region and was initially named the West Central State but later changed to "Kwara", a local name for the River Niger. The capital of the state is Ilorin, which lies 306km northeast of Lagos and 500km southwest of Abuja.

Kwara State has since 1976 reduced considerably in size as a result of further state creation exercises in Nigeria. On February 13, 1976, the Idah/Dekina part of the state was carved out and merged with a part of the then Benue/Plateau State to form Benue State.
On August 27, 1991, five local government areas, namely Oyi, Yagba, Okene, Okehi and Kogi were also excised to form part of the new Kogi State, while a sixth, Borgu Local Government Area, was merged with Niger State.

Important tourist attractions in Kwara State include Esie Museum, Owu Falls, Imoleboja Rock Shelter, Ogunjokoro, Kanji Lake National Parks Agbonna Hill Share among other attractions.
Ilorin Airport is a major center both for domestic and international flights and as now been built up into a hub for transportation of cargoes.

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy and the principal cash crops are cotton, cocoa, coffee, kolanuts, tobacco leaves, beniseed and palm produce. The state has two universities, two polytechnics, three colleges of education.

OTHER NEWS

Last week a friend of mine, whose wife and kid live in Botswana, had his family visiting. I went with them to a huge back in the middle of Abuja, Millenium Park. I got to speak some Setswana, so that was fun. His kid is pretty cool, here is a pic. You can see me not paying attention in the background:

A different friend had a birthday party. We celebrated at a wine bar near my house.

Lagos

Ok, so this will also be a less educational entry like the last and just a bunch of pictures showing what I have been doing. So I was able to get some rest this past week. The end of Ramadan allowed the office to be closed on Monday and Tuesday. Then, luckily, Wednesday was Independence Day (October 1, 1960).

The weekend did not start as I hoped. I was required to be in a meeting most of the day on Saturday. On Sunday, I finally slept most of the day. Finally, on Monday morning, I decided I couldn't waste this valuable time off and flew to Lagos to meet some friends down there. Here is me very happy to be away from Abuja:

On Monday night I was just given a tour around Victoria Island and hung out at a club owned by some famous soccer player I never heard of :)

On Tuesday I spent the whole day at the beach. It was so packed for the holiday:

Of course I partook in some local cuisine. This becomes much easier with the help of beer. This food was actually pretty yummy, even if does not look or sound good. Here we see a giant snail and some bush meat (Ok, this is called grasscutter, described to me as a giant rat).

I had a blast at the beach. There was horse riding and lots of food and drink. The water was rough with huge waves and that was fun to play in. The weather was really hot and I did get a little bit burnt. Here is just a random picture of some traditional healer with a bell on the beach:

On Monday I went to this kickass place for breakfast called Chocolate Royal. I had chocolate capacinnos and other chocolate cakes and candy. After that we went to the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, a small reserve still inside Lagos. It was pretty hilarious. You walk through the forest on a walkway and there are tons of Mona Monkeys in the trees. Right when we entered we saw a snake so of course I was already swearing. Then there were 3 monkeys who kept following us and weren't scared of my yelling at all! I had to run away. Remember, these are tiny monkeys that weight about 10 pounds. There are many funny videos with would take too long to post on this site, but here is a pic with some monkeys in it. Can you see?

So it was a great time and just what I needed. I think the fun will pretty much be over now until Christmas time when I hope travel some more over a longer period of time. So get ready for more work intensive postings to come.

Other thoughts:

Why hasn't Sarah Palin dropped out yet?

How will Chicago handle it when neither team makes it to the World Series?

How happy am I to miss the upcoming winter in the US yet again?

Can I ever come back to the U.S. if McCain is President?

Anyways, hope you enjoyed

Osun Part 2

Hello All-
Sorry for the delay in posting, but the internet has been really slow or nonexistent lately. Now I will tell you about my visit to Iwo, Osun State.

The purpose of the visit mainly to show an example of a successful state hospital the Foundation supports to members of our Global Team and to some funders. This site is not only exceptational in identifying new pediatric HIV patients, but also in keeping them on treatment.

One of the methods the Doctor uses is called Expert Patients. They are HIV patients themselves and actually go to people's houses to speak with them if they miss any appointments. The Doctor could do this herself, but this is often less effective and can cause stigma. Here is a picture of me with one of them while she is giving medication to her child:


Another part of the program is give small grants for projects than can assist with care and treatment or retention. This site won a grate and used it for 2 projects. The first is to buy five of these pepper grinding machines. The 5 women chosen to receive these machines are widows and are the most in need. They will use the money to eat healther with will make treatment more successful. Behind me you can see the playground that was public. This was to make the hospital more child friendly.


Wait, what is Fountion mean?

Hmmm. The Doctor at the site told me the playground was for the children, not himself!

By all accounts the site is a success. There are about 400 children on treatment and 97% have remained on treatment. The job now is to ensure a successful transition of support from the Clinton Foundation to the State Government. Also, to try to take success they have had there and duplicate it at other State Hospitals.

Currently I am making a workplan for 2009, but also for the last months this year. There will likely be many more visits to write about soon. Hope you liked the pictures.

Osun State

This week was a bit tough with preparation for 2009 and visitors to our office. So this week's bit with be another in a state in Nigeria. I have to learn more about the states so it helps me. There are so many states. Nigeria is much bigger than the other African countries I've been to.
On Tuesday, I will visit a site in Osun State. We will fly from Abuja to Lagos. There we will drive 2 hours to Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital in Ile Ife. I will return the same day. That will be a long one. So about Osun...

Osun State is an inland state in south-western Nigeria. Its capital is Osogbo. It is bounded in the north by Kwara State, in the east partly by Ekiti State and partly by Ondo State, in the south by Ogun State and in the west by Oyo State. The state's current governor is Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who was elected in 2003 along with his Deputy Governor, Erelu Olusola Obada.


Osun State is home to several of Nigeria's most famous landmarks, including the campus of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria's pre-eminent institution of higher learning. The university is also located in the ancient town of Ile-If?, an important early center of political and religious development for Yoruba culture. Other important cities and towns include the ancient kingdom-capitals of Oke-Ila Orangun, Ila Orangun, Ede, and Ilesa.

The modern Osun State was created in 1991 from part of the old Oyo State.The state's name is derived from the River Osun, the venerated natural spring that is the manifestation of the Yoruba goddess of the same name. Oyinlola recently launched and laid the foundation for the groundbreaking of Osun State University with six campuses (Osogbo, Okuku, Ikire, Ejigbo, Ifetedo, and Ipetu-Ijesha) strategically located across the state.

Every year, adherents and non-adherents of Osun, one of the Orisa (the traditional deities of the Yoruba people), travel from all over the world to attend the annual Osun-Osogbo festival in August. Visitors include nationals of Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, Grenada, and other nations in the Americas with a significant Yoruba cultural heritage. Annual traditional festivities and invocations of the Osun goddess are held along the banks of the river bearing her name into which she transformed.

Osun-Osogbo Grove, the shrine of the annual rites of the deity and an important artistic center, was declared a World Heritage Site in 2005.

So I will include pictures next week.

This weekend I just want to relax. I think I am going to borrow a bicycle and hang out at the pool if it actually doesn't rain for a few mins. ,I think I want to get satellite TV. There is too much funny national news which, includes Kwame Kilpatrick, that I am missing out on.

Ok, here are some random pictures:

I have been really tired!


When I was visiting Akwa Ibom, we stopped to look at the yet to be completed shopping and business center called Tiraba. It is huge!



You gotta be proud, I have been updating this regularly. The posting this week was late due to no internet for a while. More next week...

Another strange week in Nigeria...

Well, this week was filled with tedious proposal writing once again. Not very fun to live through or write about. Luckily, I did get to go to Kogi. I think I see Excel spreadsheets in my sleep... again.

The first picture for you this time of me at the workshop I was at last week. It is pretty funny. That big white guy works for the German Leprosy Relief Association. His name is Klaus. Really. Santa Klaus. He cracked me up during the workshop:


Besides writing workplans and budgets, I did get to actually do what I like best: visiting villages. I visited 2 clinics in Erikirin-Ade in Lokoja state. Here is a picture of one:

I talked with the doctors and got some new ideas for community mobilization activities to get more children tested and on HIV treatment.

One reoccurring problem is that children who get put on Ready to Use Theraputic Food (RUTF) as treatment for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), often relapse to be malnurished after the 2 month treatment ends. This will have to be addressed by some type of secondary food supplement or something.

The reasons Clinton Foundation donates RUTF as part of their HIV treatment are:-HIV causes an increased metabolism, making kids who were having enough to eat become malnourished-Testing kids with malnutrition can lead to more HIV cases detected-Treating the malnutrition helps the ARVs to treat the HIV more effectively. Here is a kid at a clinic with some RUTF:


Here is a picture of me with a Doctor who we support in mentoring other doctors in pediatric HIV treatment and our contact with the State Ministry of Health:

The other pictures didn't turn out too good since it was raining the whole time, but here is one while driving home, you can see the Niger river and some canoers on the right:

So this proposal is due on Monday and I have been working the whole weekend and having meetings about it at the house. I better get a day off soon. I will tell more about it when it gets approved or rejected.


I am annoyed that the University of Michigan got spanked by Notre Dame.


I have been enjoying skyping with people the last couple weeks. I would love if other people could use it http://www.skype.com/.


Hope you enjoyed the pictures, more news next week...

Kogi State

This past week I was in a workshop all Wednesday and Thursday and a bunch of phone calls and meetings. Not too exciting to write about. Instead, I will tell you about where I am going this week. I am going to sign an MOU with the State government of a state close by called Kogi. Here is a bit about Kogi:

KOGI

Kogi is a state in the north-central zone of Nigeria. It is popularly called the Confluence State because the confluence of River Niger and River Benue is at its capital, Lokoja, which is the first administrative capital of modern-day Nigeria. It was in Lokoja, while gazing out at the river that stretched before her, that Lord Lugard's wife coined the name “Nigeria.” Lokoja is 2-hour drive from Abuja.

History and people

The state was formed in 1991 from parts of Kwara State and Benue State. The State as presently constituted comprises the peoples of the defunct Kabba Province of Northern Nigeria. There are four main ethnic groups and languages in Kogi: Igala, Ebira, Okun (similar to Yoruba), and Bassa.

Tourism

Kogi State, by virtue of its geography, offers tourists unique experience. These attractions include natural land features, fascinating sceneries, historic monuments and relics. Being only 2-hour drive from Abuja, tourists can plan day trips to the sites. Important tourist attractions in Kogi State include the colonial relics (such as Lord Lugard House), the confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue, Ogidi (An African town with formations of Igneous Rock mountains and a traditional art & craft industry).

Agriculture and resources

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy and the principal cash crops There are many Farm, produce from the state notably coffee, cocoa, palm oil, cashews, peanuts, maize, cassava, yam, rice and melon.Mineral resources include coal, limestone, iron, petroleum and tin. The state is home to the largest iron and steel industry in Nigeria and one the largest cement factories in Africa is currently being built there.

Sports

Kogi State has produced sprinters such as Sunday Bada and other sportsmen, who have contributed to the growth of sports worldwide. Kogi United and Babanawa F.C. are football teams based in the state. Other sports, such as swimming, handball, and table tennis are actively promoted in the state.

Here is where it is on the Nigerian map:

LANGUAGE

I have learned a few phases from another language, Efik:

Mesere= Good morning

Abariye= How are you?

Idioke= Fine

Also, in Yoruba i have been saying:

Bawo ni shey= How is work?

In Hausa I have added:
ina zaki tefi= Where are you going?

Zen je gida/aiki= I am going home/to work

OTHER NEWS

This weekend I went to the amusement park in Abuja, called Wonderland. It is pretty cool, never seen anything like it in Africa. Rode a log ride, bumper cars, and the pirate ship. Unfortunately I did not take pictures. I did take pictures last week though when I went to a wedding. Here is a good picture of me in my traditional outfit:

Nigerian Languages/Food

Languages of Nigeria

The number of languages currently estimated and catalogued in Nigeria is 521. This number includes 510 living languages, two second languages without native speakers and 9 extinct languages. In some areas of Nigeria, ethnic groups speak more than one language. The official language of Nigeria, English, the former colonial language, was chosen to facilitate the cultural and linguistic unity of the country.

The major languages spoken in Nigeria are Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Edo, Efik, Ibibio and Annang language, and French Adamawa Fulfulde, Idoma, and Central Kanuri. The Annang/Efik/Ibibio languages are actually three dialect of the same language, when add together, they form the fourth major Nigerian language.

Even though most ethnic groups prefer to communicate in their own languages, English, being the official language, is widely used for education, business transactions and for official purposes. English, however, remains an exclusive preserve of a small minority of the country's urban elite, and is not spoken in rural areas. With approximately 75% of Nigeria's populace in the rural areas, the major languages of communication in the country remain tribal languages, with the most widely spoken being Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. Foreign minorities speak their own languages aside from English and/or major native languages as their second languages.

Nigeria's linguistic diversity is a microcosm of Africa as a whole, encompassing three major African languages families: the Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and the Niger-Congo A branch of the Niger-Congo family. Nigeria also has one unclassifiable language, Cen Tuum, spoken by a few old people among the Cham in Gombe State. This may represent an intriguing relic of an even greater diversity prior to the spread of the current language families.

I have learned more Hausa than the other languages. My favorite sayings to date are:

-Ina kwana= Good morning

-Ina wuni= Good afternoon

-Yaya aiki= How is work?-

-Aiki da godiya= Work is good

-Yaya gajia= How is the tiredness?

-Ba gajia= No tiredness

-Na gode= Thank you

-Aboki na= My friend

-Sai anjuma= See you later

-Said a safe= Good night

-kadon-kadon= small small (a little bit)

-Zucachi abinci= come and eat

Here is a bit about Nigerian food:

Nigeria is one of the world's most ethnically diverse countries. The Hausa and Yoruba make up around 21 percent of the population; the Igbo/Ibo, 18 percent; the Fulani, around 11 percent; and Ibibio, 5 percent. Various other groups make up the remaining 23 percent.

Nigeria has such a variety of people and cultures that it is difficult to pick one national dish. Each area has its own regional favorite that depends on customs, tradition, and religion. The different foods available also depend on the season: the "hungry season" is before the rains arrive in March, and the "season of surplus" follows the harvest in October and November. Fruits, however, are enjoyed year-round. A large part of Nigeria lies in the tropics, where many fruits are available. Some of the popular fruits are oranges, melons, grapefruits, limes, mangoes, bananas, and pineapples.

People of the northern region (mostly Muslim, whose beliefs prohibit eating pork) have diets based on beans, sorghum (a type of grain), and brown rice. The Hausa people of this region also like to eat meat in the form of tsere or suya (kebabs, which are chunks of roasted, skewered meat). Muslims love to drink tea, making coffeehouses popular places to socialize.
The people from the eastern part of Nigeria, mostly Igbo/Ibo, eat gari (cassava powder) dumplings, pumpkins, and yams. Yams are usually eaten in place of potatoes and are an important part of the Nigerian diet. However, African yams are different than Western yams. They are pale, barely sweet, and are not commonly found in United States supermarkets.

One of my favorite foods is goat head. It is actually really good. Check it out, this is from a trip to Benue State:

Abuja

Here are a few pictures and then a bit about the city I stay in, Abuja:

This is the house I stay at with 3 other co-workers:

This is my driver, Salami: Aso Rock and the National Mosque:
The Mosque at Wuse Market

Abuja, officially Abuja Municipal Area Council or AMAC, is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Abuja is a "planned" city, as it was mainly built in the 1980s and officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing the role of the previous capital Lagos. As of the 2006 census, the Federal Capital Territory has a population of 778,567.

Abuja's geography is defined by Aso Rock, a 400-metre monolith left by water erosion. The Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the town extend to the south of the rock. "Aso" means "victorious" in the language of the (now displaced) Asokoro ("the people of victory").

Other sights include the Nigerian National Mosque and the Nigerian National Christian Centre. The city is served by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, while Zuma Rock lies nearby. Abuja is known for being the best purpose-built city in Africa as well as being one of the wealthiest and most expensive; however, the population on the semi-developed edges of the city are living in shanty towns such as Karu. Karu, built to house the capital's civil servants and lower income families, has no running water, sanitation or electricity.

History

In light of the ethnic and religious divisions of Nigeria, plans had been devised since Nigeria's independence to have its capital in a location deemed neutral to all parties. The location was eventually designated in the centre of the country in the early 1970s as it signified neutrality and national unity. Another impetus for Abuja came because of Lagos's population boom, that made that city overcrowded and conditions squalid. The logic used was similar to Brazil building its capital Brasília.

Construction broke ground and was dedicated in the late 1970s, but due to economic and political instability, the city in its initial stages was not complete until the late 1980s.
The master plan for Abuja and the Federal Capital Territory was developed by IPA (International Planning Associates), a consortium made up of three American firms: PRC Corporation; Wallace, McHarg, Roberts and Todd; and, Archisystems, which was a division of the Hughes Organization. The master plan for Abuja defined the general shape and major design elements of the city, however a refinement of this design was accomplished by Kenzo Tange, a renowned Japanese architect, along with his team of city planners at Kenzo Tange and Urtec company.

Most countries moved their embassies to Abuja and maintain their larger former embassies as consulates in the commercial capital, Lagos.

In addition to a major governmental centre, Abuja is the headquarters of the Economic Community of West African States or ECOWAS. It also has the regional headquarters of OPEC.
Abuja and the FCT have experienced a huge population growth; it has been reported that some areas around Abuja have been growing at 20 – 30%. Squatter settlements and shanty towns have spread rapidly in and outside the city limits. Tens of thousands of people have been evicted since former FCT Minister Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai started a demolition campaign in 2003.

Andy is back in Africa... again

Hello all,I want to do a better job telling you all what I am up to, so I am going to continue with the blog. While my new position will require travel, I should still be able to have internet access often and be able to make a posting once a week.

So first off, here is let me tell you a bit about Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI). Here is the blurb from the website:

"Right now, there are 33.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. More than 90% live in developing countries, where access to treatment is much more limited than in the developed world.

President Clinton established the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative in 2002 to close this gap in access by negotiating lower prices for lifesaving antiretroviral treatment, and by working with governments to improve the national health care systems required to deliver crucial medicines.
Since then, CHAI has expanded its scope of work beyond ARVs to increase access to diagnostics and malaria medicines, as well as to address a variety of issues that must be overcome in order to turn the tide of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, including:
Supporting governments to deliver HIV/AIDS services to underserved populations, such as children and those living in rural areas Increasing countries' human resource capacity to deliver care and treatment Preventing the transmission of the disease from mothers to their children.

Our Approach
The Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) applies a unique business-oriented approach to changing the market for medicines and diagnostics and supporting developing countries to scale up HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs through three main programs:

Access Programs: CHAI’s Access Programs work with generic pharmaceutical companies and other suppliers to reduce the cost of lifesaving antiretroviral medicines, testing and diagnostic equipment, malaria treatment, and nutrition. Major Programs: CHAI's major programs specialize in specific areas of need, including pediatric treatment, increasing access to care and treatment in rural areas, strengthening countries' human resource capacity for health, and preventing the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child.

In-Country Programs: To ensure that governments can aggressively expand access to HIV/AIDS care and treatment, CHAI assists national governments and their ministries of health to develop sound health care policies around HIV/AIDS, strengthen management capacity, and implement cost-effective and comprehensive national responses to this epidemic."

So I am the state pediatric program manager, here is my job description:

PEDIATRIC PROGRAM MANAGER, STATE LEVEL, NIGERIA – ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Pediatric Focal Persons’ Network
Overview – National-level network in place to provide a forum for doctors treating children at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. This is to share information and experiences; to dispel myths about difficulties in treating children; to provide a new means of disseminating national policy; and to standardize the quality of pediatric care and treatment across the participants’ catchment areas, emphasizing that pediatric C&T is as important as that for adults. Network members represent all 6 zones and include those pediatricians who the SAPC has identified as state- or zone-level mentors, as well as representatives from sites actually responsible for treating children. SAPC representative will attend, too. At the end of the Network meetings, ~2 presentations per state are encouraged (6-slide, CHAI format) and RFPs provided on how they might improve uptake and quality of services with money from CHAI’s “Small Grants Program.” 3-5 successful candidates are chosen per round.


Tasks
•Provide support on all clinical aspects of the network, including dissemination of job aides, and materials from meetings related to clinical matters.
•Coordinate and plan related presentations and trainings (e.g. in FDCs or RUTF) for sub-sets of the Network.
•Be in constant communication with doctors from the network to ensure information is shared consistently between the primary, secondary and tertiary facilities and staff.


State scale-up of pediatric ART sites
Overview – CHAI participates in scale-up process through partnerships with State governments. Model: each state identifies a tertiary-level ‘mentor’ and three primary or secondary sites lacking support which state’s mentor will visit at least twice a month and mentor/train its staff in pediatric care and treatment. The mentors’ tertiary facilities will provide support to the scale-up sites, e.g. CD4, chemistry, hematology, chest x-rays. Each scale-up site has been expected to bring ~100 new children onto ART within their first year. Currently have 10 States on board (30 scale-up sites). Plans to have 5 more in 2008.

Tasks
•Work with mentors to develop budget for scale-up in their three sites, with provisions for the tertiary level site.
•Coordination and planning of MoU signing process with State and agreements with mentors.
•Constant communication with mentors to ensure that training materials, ARVs, RUTF, test kits etc are in adequate supply, and that delays/problems (i.e. sample transport) are addressed.
•Coordination and planning of ToT for State mentors, including bringing in external experts from CHAI.
•Monthly collection and follow-up/justification of mentors’ reporting. Liaising with Folu to provide aggregated numbers for monthly reporting into KidsStat.

First week
During my first week I was getting an understanding of the situation and my role, but I also traveled to Akwa Ibom state to evaluate the renovations of a new DNA PCR HIV testing laboratory. I flew to Calabar, Cross River State, and then drove to Uyo. Here are a couple pictures:



Bakassi

Interestingly, while I was there, Nigeria handed some land, the Bakassi Peninsula, back to Cameroon based on a UN ruling. Here is a small article about it:


Nigeria cedes Bakassi to Cameroon

Thousands of people have moved from their homes in Bakassi Nigeria has handed over the potentially oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, bringing an end to a long-standing dispute over the territory.


The handover ceremony was moved from the peninsula's main town to Calabar in Nigeria amid security concerns.

Over the past year about 50 people have been killed in clashes.


The majority of the local population considers itself Nigerian, but an international court ruled in favour of Cameroon in 2002.


The BBC's Abdullahi Kaura in Calabar says there are unconfirmed reports that militants have attacked a boat travelling to Abana, the main town on the Bakassi peninsula.

Nigerian security sources said between three and seven people were killed when militants ambushed the boat as it made its way from Cameroon.

Correspondents say security had been beefed up ahead of the ceremony.
On the Cameroonian side, there have been celebrations as people moved back into the peninsula.
In recent years, at least 100,000 people have moved from the peninsula to Nigeria, local leaders say.

The International Court of Justice ruling was based on an early 20th century colonial agreement between Britain and Germany.


Nigeria challenged the ruling, but finally agreed to relinquish the territory two years ago.

"The gains made in adhering to the rule of law may outweigh the painful losses of ancestral homes," said the head of the Nigerian delegation at the ceremony, Attorney General Mike Aondoakaa.

Part of the territory was handed over to Cameroon two years ago.


Revellers
A spokesman for Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua said the process was "painful... for everyone including the president", but added that Nigeria had made "a commitment to the international community and we have a responsibility to keep it".

Bakassi plan stirs tensions

Cameroon said the final handover would mark "the end of a crisis".
On the beaches of the northern part of the island there were parties and celebrations as Cameroonians prepared to go into the last section to be turned over to them.

"We are going straight to the place, and we're going to be happy," one reveller told the BBC's Randy Joe Sa'ah in Bakassi.

But in Nigeria there is still bitterness about the deal.

"The government has abandoned its duties," said Kayode Fasitere, the lawyer acting for some displaced from Bakassi who sought to have the handover delayed.

The transfer of Bakassi had been described by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon as "a model for negotiated settlements of border disputes".

A group of Bakassi leaders have been seeking compensation from the Nigerian government.
About 90% of the area's population, estimated at up to 300,000, is made up of Nigerian fishermen.

About 30,000 of the residents have moved out to an area in Cross Rivers State set aside for them, but it has no access to the sea, campaigners say.
Bakassi has a rich fishing culture and people say the handover has destroyed their way of life.


The Bakassi peninsula juts out into the Gulf of Guinea close to the Niger Delta.
Its offshore waters are thought to contain substantial oil fields - untapped because of the border dispute - which Nigeria and Cameroon will now work together to explore.


Amsterdam
On a side note, during the flight back from the US I had a 7 hour layover in Amsterdam and took the time to get out of the airport and explore. I go got to check out a museum and see many Rembrandts. Here are some pics: