Thursday, August 26, 2010
Amsterdam
I had about 30 hours in Amsterdam before returning to DC. Here are some pix of Amsterdam - and good friends! - in the morning, daytime, and evening:
Airport
When I got to the Kano airport Monday night there was no power; they switched on the generator and the lights went on as we entered. At first I didn't flinch because when I was in Kano and Kaduna, the power went out five times a day at the very least. Then I remembered I was at an airport and that of all places, it's relatively important for airports to have constant supplies of power... Anyway, everything went smoothly as I left Nigeria and I landed in Amsterdam on time.
Here I am, traveling in style:
Here I am, traveling in style:
Market
My final stop before leaving Kano was to a market to get hot pepper for Tom Lawrie and my dad. I got their pepper then took a quick run through the rest of the market.
There were more tomatoes and onions than I've ever seen in one place:
Although I always ask before I take people's pictures, here they got sick of me asking and they were like, "Don't ask, just take it!" Some thought it would mean good luck for their photo to be taken by someone from the U.S. - that if their picture went there, then they might end up there someday too.
Although I always ask before I take people's pictures, here they got sick of me asking and they were like, "Don't ask, just take it!" Some thought it would mean good luck for their photo to be taken by someone from the U.S. - that if their picture went there, then they might end up there someday too.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Religion in Kano
Kano is a predominantly Muslim city although there is a sizable Christian population as well. A coworker estimated that Kano is 80% Muslim / 20% Christian so in a city of several million people that still leaves a large minority. From my experience here, no matter what religion people subscribe to, they're devout.
When sharia law was adopted in Kano State in 2000 (eleven other Northern Nigerian states adopted sharia law as well), there was anxiety that it would exacerbate tensions between Muslims and Christians. A New York Times article from 2007 and an Economist article from 2010 both report that sharia law has not been applied with the severity that some people feared. My experience showed the same - I was of course treated like an outsider but it was more because I was a white Western woman than because I was a non-Muslim.
Still, you can feel the effect of Islam every day. On my first Friday in the country, as we visited a project site outside Kano city, we were twice stuck in traffic jams caused when men stopped their vehicles on the road to say Friday prayers, which they also did on the road. In those instances I realized that I was the only woman in crowds of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of men.
Here are some men and boys performing ablutions on the roadside:
And saying Friday prayers:
On one occasion I saw a line of Muslim girls leaving school. They stretched so far down the street that I guessed there were several hundreds of them.
And wherever you go in Kano you see road signs like this, painted with Islamic phrases:
According to one coworker, Kano hasn't experienced religious violence for several years. In 2004, when an episode violence broke out, he sheltered 30 people in his house for two weeks until the violence settled. When mass killings happened last August in Bauchi State and in January in Jos, he said that things were tense in Kano but nothing occurred.
I went to church when I was in Kano (everyone here goes to church or mosque). One Sunday - the same Sunday that a priest noted in his sermon that he saw me, a non-Nigerian, in the crowd! - prayers were said for congregants to "appreciate the presence of the Holy Spirit at work among those of other faiths." I wondered if the violence that religion has fueled in Nigeria has also made some Christians and Muslims have more accepting attitudes toward each other.
When sharia law was adopted in Kano State in 2000 (eleven other Northern Nigerian states adopted sharia law as well), there was anxiety that it would exacerbate tensions between Muslims and Christians. A New York Times article from 2007 and an Economist article from 2010 both report that sharia law has not been applied with the severity that some people feared. My experience showed the same - I was of course treated like an outsider but it was more because I was a white Western woman than because I was a non-Muslim.
Still, you can feel the effect of Islam every day. On my first Friday in the country, as we visited a project site outside Kano city, we were twice stuck in traffic jams caused when men stopped their vehicles on the road to say Friday prayers, which they also did on the road. In those instances I realized that I was the only woman in crowds of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of men.
Here are some men and boys performing ablutions on the roadside:
And saying Friday prayers:
On one occasion I saw a line of Muslim girls leaving school. They stretched so far down the street that I guessed there were several hundreds of them.
And wherever you go in Kano you see road signs like this, painted with Islamic phrases:
According to one coworker, Kano hasn't experienced religious violence for several years. In 2004, when an episode violence broke out, he sheltered 30 people in his house for two weeks until the violence settled. When mass killings happened last August in Bauchi State and in January in Jos, he said that things were tense in Kano but nothing occurred.
I went to church when I was in Kano (everyone here goes to church or mosque). One Sunday - the same Sunday that a priest noted in his sermon that he saw me, a non-Nigerian, in the crowd! - prayers were said for congregants to "appreciate the presence of the Holy Spirit at work among those of other faiths." I wondered if the violence that religion has fueled in Nigeria has also made some Christians and Muslims have more accepting attitudes toward each other.
Millennium Village
When I first came to Nigeria with SIPA in 2008, we were supposed to visit one of Nigeria's Millennium Villages at Pampaida in Kaduna State. That part of the trip was canceled once we got to Nigeria so we were bummed, although the rest of the trip was great.
On the way to visit a grantee last week, we passed a sign for the Pampaida project so we made a quick detour to visit it. This totally made up for the missed trip in 2008! I was psyched - it was a totally SIPA moment.
We saw a health center, village hall, elementary school, school kitchen, and other places built with funding from UNDP and coordinated out of Columbia's Earth Institute (someone from SIPA, correct me if this is inaccurate).
Here is a health center and a school kitchen at the MV site:
On the way to visit a grantee last week, we passed a sign for the Pampaida project so we made a quick detour to visit it. This totally made up for the missed trip in 2008! I was psyched - it was a totally SIPA moment.
We saw a health center, village hall, elementary school, school kitchen, and other places built with funding from UNDP and coordinated out of Columbia's Earth Institute (someone from SIPA, correct me if this is inaccurate).
Here is a health center and a school kitchen at the MV site:
Site Visits (II)
Some of our site visits took place not at the location of grantee activities, but at the offices of the organizations, like these:
When we did go to the field, we caused a bit of a scene. Any of our staff get extra attention on site visits because our staff are obviously outsiders in the small villages where our projects are located. When a white woman from America shows up in a big SUV, I draw a little more attention, I suspect.
At this site, a crowd of kids gathered to stare because I was probably the first white person they'd ever seen. When we arrived some of the kids, mostly girls, were bringing jugs to the taps in the background. They filled the jugs when the water began to flow because most houses in the village likely don't have running water. I'm not sure how often water comes to these public taps but it comes from the bore hole located at the left:
When we did go to the field, we caused a bit of a scene. Any of our staff get extra attention on site visits because our staff are obviously outsiders in the small villages where our projects are located. When a white woman from America shows up in a big SUV, I draw a little more attention, I suspect.
At this site, a crowd of kids gathered to stare because I was probably the first white person they'd ever seen. When we arrived some of the kids, mostly girls, were bringing jugs to the taps in the background. They filled the jugs when the water began to flow because most houses in the village likely don't have running water. I'm not sure how often water comes to these public taps but it comes from the bore hole located at the left:
Food
People in Kano are proud of the fact that their suya is the best in the country. I can't tell the difference between suya from the North and suya from the South but I like it all. Suya is thin strips of beef grilled on an open fire with chilli pepper, groundnut powder and other spices, and served hot with fresh onions, cabbage or whatever else.
One night a coworker got suya from this place. Some places cook suya in the open like this, and some are like restaurants that cook it over a big grill. Can you see the cow head in the background?!
Another day, on the way back from a site visit, we stopped to buy maize for a snack. Maize is often cooked on an open grill without husks so it becomes chewy but it keeps a lot of flavor. We bought slices of fresh coconut to eat along with it.
Kids selling maize on the road:
Two cute kids posed next to the maize, one of whom wanted to go back with us:
Maize and coconut - yum!
One night a coworker got suya from this place. Some places cook suya in the open like this, and some are like restaurants that cook it over a big grill. Can you see the cow head in the background?!
Another day, on the way back from a site visit, we stopped to buy maize for a snack. Maize is often cooked on an open grill without husks so it becomes chewy but it keeps a lot of flavor. We bought slices of fresh coconut to eat along with it.
Kids selling maize on the road:
Two cute kids posed next to the maize, one of whom wanted to go back with us:
Maize and coconut - yum!
Kano (II)
I saw more of Kano this weekend when a Nigerian coworker took me on a tour of the city.
We visited a few distinct neighborhoods of Kano, including the Ancient City, a walled-in medina-like area populated uniquely with Muslims. A museum inside the Ancient City is housed in a former emir's palace that dates to 1420. Inside the Ancient City is Dalla Hill. From the top of the hill you can look down onto the Ancient City and the rest of Kano that expands beyond it.
Here is a mosque outside the former emir's palace, men on horses inside the Ancient City, and a painted door to the museum:
And some views of Kano from Dala Hill:
The Christian area of the city is called Sabon Garri. Christian Nigerians live here or come here to drink and do things otherwise forbidden by Kano's sharia law. Sabon Garri is the Lagos of Kano - the streets are overcrowded with okadas (motorbikes) and exhaust from okadas is think in the air.
We visited a few distinct neighborhoods of Kano, including the Ancient City, a walled-in medina-like area populated uniquely with Muslims. A museum inside the Ancient City is housed in a former emir's palace that dates to 1420. Inside the Ancient City is Dalla Hill. From the top of the hill you can look down onto the Ancient City and the rest of Kano that expands beyond it.
Here is a mosque outside the former emir's palace, men on horses inside the Ancient City, and a painted door to the museum:
And some views of Kano from Dala Hill:
The Christian area of the city is called Sabon Garri. Christian Nigerians live here or come here to drink and do things otherwise forbidden by Kano's sharia law. Sabon Garri is the Lagos of Kano - the streets are overcrowded with okadas (motorbikes) and exhaust from okadas is think in the air.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Shopping
On Friday I bought 6 yards of 5 different fabrics each:
I might have gone a bit overboard buying 30 yards of fabric but I think they're gorgeous and there are so many things to do with them!
I might have gone a bit overboard buying 30 yards of fabric but I think they're gorgeous and there are so many things to do with them!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Site Visits (I)
One of the reasons for this trip was for me to make site visits to some of our projects. Washington staff is supposed to visit each grantee organization periodically and I've visited those that were due for site visits.
Our grantees are generally disadvantaged by having high rates of illiteracy, being located in very remote areas, being physically handicapped, and other factors that may make one assume that their projects would have only limited success. That's not the case in Nigeria. Because our in-country staff give such good guidance, and because of the determination of the grantee organizations, our projects here do really well.
Here are some pix of one project that left a really positive impression on me. The grantee organization is a group of Fulani herders who sell milk from their cattle. Despite the low level of literacy among the members, their project is extremely well organized and really successful.
Our meeting happened in the milk shed that was constructed with funds from their grant. The women who milk the cattle bring the milk here before a large-scale buyer picks it up.
Also funded by the grant were metal milk cans that the women use to carry milk from milking point to the milk shed. Compared to the calabashes that they traditionally use, these cans don't spill as much milk and they're more sanitary. The man in the center of the photo at right is a rep of a Nigerian government-run organization that purchases milk from groups like this, and that also does a lot of development work with them. The work he and this group have done is really impressive.
From what I can tell about Fulani people in Nigeria, men and women have very distinct roles. I'm told that when this specific project started, women were shy to speak up in front of their husbands during project meetings, but that that's changed as women have taken a stronger role in the project. The women weren't quick to speak up during my site visit so I asked a few questions directly to them. One woman commented, "This project has been especially beneficial to the women in the community and we're honored to host a visitor from Washington who is a woman." That was a highlight of my trip!
Our grantees are generally disadvantaged by having high rates of illiteracy, being located in very remote areas, being physically handicapped, and other factors that may make one assume that their projects would have only limited success. That's not the case in Nigeria. Because our in-country staff give such good guidance, and because of the determination of the grantee organizations, our projects here do really well.
Here are some pix of one project that left a really positive impression on me. The grantee organization is a group of Fulani herders who sell milk from their cattle. Despite the low level of literacy among the members, their project is extremely well organized and really successful.
Our meeting happened in the milk shed that was constructed with funds from their grant. The women who milk the cattle bring the milk here before a large-scale buyer picks it up.
Also funded by the grant were metal milk cans that the women use to carry milk from milking point to the milk shed. Compared to the calabashes that they traditionally use, these cans don't spill as much milk and they're more sanitary. The man in the center of the photo at right is a rep of a Nigerian government-run organization that purchases milk from groups like this, and that also does a lot of development work with them. The work he and this group have done is really impressive.
From what I can tell about Fulani people in Nigeria, men and women have very distinct roles. I'm told that when this specific project started, women were shy to speak up in front of their husbands during project meetings, but that that's changed as women have taken a stronger role in the project. The women weren't quick to speak up during my site visit so I asked a few questions directly to them. One woman commented, "This project has been especially beneficial to the women in the community and we're honored to host a visitor from Washington who is a woman." That was a highlight of my trip!
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Kano (I)
Kano is in the far north of Nigeria and has a population, according to the infallible source Wikipedia, of either 3,248,700 or 365,525. People here actually claim a number closer to 10,000,000, saying that Kano State rivals Lagos State as the most populous in Nigeria. Kano is sometimes in the news because it is one of the twelve Nigerian states that in the last decade officially adopted sharia law.
Perhaps because it's been two years since my last trip to Nigeria, or perhaps because I've become used to the hyper-organization of Washington DC, but whatever the reason Kano shocked me when I got here. The congestion, pollution, and state of infrastructure were much worse than I'd expected. Here are some pix from my first two days in Kano.
Sabun Garri market:
Cattle in the city:
Men on okadas (motorbikes):
Flooded streets:
The chaos isn't unbearable though... A week after arriving, I'm feeling used to this place and I'm wishing my stay here were longer.
Perhaps because it's been two years since my last trip to Nigeria, or perhaps because I've become used to the hyper-organization of Washington DC, but whatever the reason Kano shocked me when I got here. The congestion, pollution, and state of infrastructure were much worse than I'd expected. Here are some pix from my first two days in Kano.
Sabun Garri market:
Cattle in the city:
Men on okadas (motorbikes):
Flooded streets:
The chaos isn't unbearable though... A week after arriving, I'm feeling used to this place and I'm wishing my stay here were longer.
Welcome
Friends and fam - I have lots of pix and stories from this trip to Nigeria and don't want to wait until I return to share them with you. Enjoy and share this page with others as you like. XO, Caitlin
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