Back to school

The first week back at school is over.  James is settling in to high school but his involvement in football three times a week means that we have eleven hours between leaving the house in the morning and getting back at night (me too when I go to Hausa lessons and BRICC in between dropping the children and picking them back up).  Ruth is enjoying being back with those of her friends who are still in Nigeria (many have returned to the USA) but she's picked up a bad cold already. I blame the travellers who bring bugs from the planes.  I'm enjoying my one-to-one tuition in Hausa although it'll take a lot of practice before I'm speaking naturally.  We're all in some kind of education except Fraser but he's busy helping students in the library, sorting out the cataloguing and working out how to get reliable and affordable internet access for the college.

Our new terms (or semesters as I'm supposed to get used to calling them) have just started but the current BRICC women's skills class is coming to an end.  Their examinations are taking place this week so on Monday, Wednesday and Friday a third of the women are doing their practical baking test.  BRICC is a family: everyone wants to be involved and support other departments so Madam Vero's call for volunteers to taste and grade the women's efforts unsurprisingly didn't go unanswered.  I missed Monday's test but yesterday I was there along with a good number of the BRICC regulars to help assess the cakes, doughnuts and bread.  It's great to see the enthusiasm and comfortable mingling which goes on and which I'm sure will be repeated on Saturday when people turn out to support the education department's graduation event.  There's still one group of women due to be tested on Friday with cookies and cakes the rumoured subjects so I'll have to do my best to go along and lend a hand.  It's a hard job...

BRICC Sallah

Ramadan ended on Thursday and today there was a sallah (holiday) meal of rice and chicken in the meeting room for the BRICC family.  It was lovely that Fraser, James and Ruth had received a special invitation as none of them had been to the meeting room

at all and many people in BRICC were sceptical that James even existed.  The four of us turned up in our Nigerian clothes to bask in the love that always emanates from such BRICC gatherings: Christians and Muslims eating together, talking together and building the relationships that are the only way to secure peace for the future.  Fraser, as a special guest, was prepared to be asked to give a short speech.  I, although I shouldn't have been, was completely taken aback when Siddiq called on me.  My few words were highly commended as being very short, not always a quality evident in speech-making but one that I value.  Just about everyone there, including neighbours and representatives from the neighbourhood watch, had something to say about the value of the work BRICC is doing.  Fraser's illustration of the two communities being like hands went down especially well.  Hands can clash as two fists; they can move together as in clapping - touching but not really involved with each other; or, as is the case with BRICC, the fingers can intertwine as the hands clasp, each fully connected with the other.  Long may our hands clasp and multiply!
Alhaji is always very pleased when Ruth comes along to BRICC and makes sure she gets in the photographs.

On a completely different subject: our puppy, Luach, has had a tough couple of weeks.  He got the second of his puppy vaccinations and reacted badly, hardly eating and spending most of his time sleeping or curled up (preferably on someone's knee) looking thoroughly miserable.  Now he looks on all Nigerian men as the vet coming to do something nasty to him and barks his little head off at any who approach.  Yesterday was the first day he improved and started to show more of an interest in life.  Unfortunately yesterday was also the day of the very strong wind coming from an unusual direction.  Luach has a pastic crate to sleep in on the back porch which we put inside the huge box from the washing machine for extra protection.  Yesterday afternoon Fraser heard him whining and went to investigate.  Poor Luach was sitting where his house should have been, staring forlornly as his entire dwelling place sailed off across the garden.  So we don't have to change his name to Toto it's now weighed down with a very heavy rock.

Harvest

Many years in Scotland I planted pumpkin seeds more in hope than expectation.  Every year they'd start to grow, somtimes they even produced a few flowers, but then the Scottish climate would swing into action and my poor plants would shrivel in the frost and damp before they ever had a chance to fruit.  The Nigerian climate is somewhat different.  I planted seeds and pumpkins tried to take over my garden.  It's so exciting (OK, I lead a quiet life) to go out and play "spot the pumpkin" among the leaves.  Perhaps next year the novelty will have worn off but at the weekend I was so proud to harvest my first proper pumpkin ever and as Fraser pointed out, it was as heavy as a set of twins.

Recently I've often been praying this prayer from the Nothumbria Community morning liturgy (www.northumbriacommunity.org).  Since we arrived in Nigeria a year ago God has been walking closely with us and this prayer encapsulates that.

Christ, as a light

illumine and guide me.

 Christ, as a shield

overshadow me.

Christ under me;

Christ over me;

Christ beside me

on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me,

lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;

in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.

This day be within and without me,

lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light;

Christ as a shield;

Christ beside me

on my left and my right.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with us,

wherever He may send us.

May He guide us through the wilderness,

protect us through the storm.

May He bring us home rejoicing

at the wonders He has shown us.

May He bring us home rejoicing

once again into our doors.

 

One year on

We did share the cakes - honest.

Twelve months ago we were asleep, or as much asleep as we could be with the Jos mosques running overtime for Ramadan.  We'd arrived in Abuja that morning after an overnight flight, completed the four hour drive to Jos, met most of the Mission Africa folk living nearby and collapsed into bed at the Baptist hostel.
Today we had tea and cakes in our new outside room to celebrate surviving our first year.  Especially at the start it did feel like surviving although the small kindnesses and signs from God to reassure us we were where he wanted us to be were very encouraging.  There have been ups and downs; some aspects of life in Nigeria are definitely easier to cope with than others, but we have seen so many prayers answered and consider ourselves extremely blessed to be out here.