Youth Catering

 Ever-improving BRiCC borehole facilities. Now the public taps are cemented in, the hardstanding improved and a sturdy platform across the drain provided.

BRiCC regularly offers three month long skills classes to adults. For the last week of the schools' Easter break we've had a giggling group of girls and young women who've come to learn a few basic baking skills.  They each paid N500 (approximately £1.30) for a week long course with Vero and Mary and have produced some tasty doughnuts, bread and cakes.  From all the laughter that's been emanating from the classroom, the happiness hormones are flowing too.

Borehole

If you're trying to run catering classes and a cafe a good supply of water is essential. Many buildings in Nigeria do not have running water.  Households rely on sending out their children (usually) with heavy containers or buying large yellow plastic tubs from wandering water sellers. BRiCC was also in this situation (we had to buy water, not send out children for it) but now we have our own borehole. Not only will this make life a lot easier for the women's skills department but it'll generate income when we start selling to the locals.  At the moment, until the water runs clean, we're giving it away to the delight of the children nearby.  A most welcome bonus is the prospect of getting a flushing toilet and not having to wait until the major rebuilding work starts.

How can I sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

Music is a necessity. It can lift you out of a low mood or reflect and intensify the emotions you feel. Some mornings I have to listen to Bring me sunshine to remind me what I should aim for each day; other times I need to start with a Requiem. Sometimes it's better to avoid listening to darker albums; other times their complexity can enhance life without further depressing. Sometimes you have to self-medicate, moving from dark to light until your own mood changes (only being careful not to get stuck).

Music is important - evocative, enhancing, challenging. My prayer has always been that my life would be a paean of worship to God, a brightness of melody in this dark world. It isn't easy for any of us as broken instruments sound discordant notes, external and internal influences try to stifle and new and different sounds need to be woven in.  It's hard for those who march to the beat of a different drum. It can be especially challenging in a foreign land or even just an area of life where you're not comfortable, but our songs need to be sung, even if we feel there is no one listening.

I find life in Nigeria is not particularly conducive to the free singing of songs. Excessive noise, dishonesty, corruption, lack of trustworthiness, standards, taking responsibility and consideration for others, a disregard for the consequences of one's actions, an unwillingness to allow others to rise above their fellows, all these things conspire to grind down and oppress. There seems to be little thriving here, only surviving, whether you're expat or national.

Isn't it in such a place that beautiful songs are most needed? Even a glimpse of brightness shows that there is an alternative. The locals I know who are trying their best to shine in difficult circumstances, to live with problems that the West scarcely registers, who are hard-working, loving and generous, they bring hope and light. The challenge for us all is how to sing the song the Lord has given in the unique way he wants to hear it from each of us; wherever we happen to be.