CHIBOK: WITNESS OF DRIP IRRIGATION

          INTERCEP has invested much in the 2 drip irrigation workshops and the food preservation workshop held in Maiduguri since August of 2007.  With much investment comes evaluation making our trainees the principal instruments of assessment.  Our first drip irrigation workshop last year was primarily for Borno civil servants in the agricultural sector.  The purpose of the inaugural workshop was to honor the State ministry of agriculture as the vehicle that could empower the citizenry.  However, we have not been surprised by the lack of any tangible progress by the trainees at the inaugural workshop because of the government worker entitlement mentality.

          Nevertheless, during our 2nd drip irrigation workshop in February of 2007, we decided to invite those from the grassroots.  Therefore, our target audience was the almajirai (Quranic students who often beg), the malamai (Quranic teachers), and the parents of the almajirai from distant villages.  INTERCEP also invited a coalition of youth-related non-governmental organizations entitled the “Borno Youth Empowerment Forum.”  Yet, the final group of trainees were some believers from the southern region of Borno State.  After an invitation to visit Chibok in southern Borno last week, we decided to visit their progress in gardening since the workshop.

          Immediately when one leaves Maiduguri toward southern Borno, the vast land plagued by desertification is simply overwhelming.  On this trip, we witnessed hundreds of camel herds who have migrated from Niger and Chad to find edible scrub-brush.  There were also several signs posted by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) indicating their farms focusing on “Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa.”  Once we left the paved road at Damboa in central Borno to travel toward Chibok in southern Borno, we noticed a pronounced increase in available green vegetation.  Thus, by the time that we reached Mbala town (under Chibok local government area), we were glad to have some relief from the “bumping and grinding” of the bush road. 

          The trainee from Chibok that participated in the February 2007 drip irrigation workshop was Luka Kyari.  After driving to his home to rest for a few minutes, he immediately revealed to us his “family-size survival garden.”  We witnessed an area fenced by guinea corn and millet stalks containing growing vegetables therein.  The 5 gallon drip bucket was elevated 1 meter of gravity above 2 raised plant beds as was taught in the workshop!  Each raised bed was mulched with white grass to prevent lizards and sun scorch from destroying the new vegetables as the trainees had been instructed.

          Sweet corn, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes were all blossoming on these beds!  This was a trainee from our workshops that has actually gone home to immediately apply the principles of drip irrigation.  Luka shared that the entire town of Mbala has been in awe at how one may grow vegetables during the dry season!  Hence, drip irrigation has become a witness to the entire community of Mbala of the Almighty’s grace.  Praise be to the Most-Merciful for leading us to His servants who apply the principles of compassion! 

Luka and His Family Inside the Garden

One of Luka’s Raised Beds

A VISION TOWARD SELF-RELIANCE

          During our February 2007 drip irrigation workshop, a couple of our trainees from southern Borno approached INTERCEP in Maiduguri concerning their vision.  Luka Kyari and Yusuf Buba are the primary visionaries for a center that will equip believers toward self-reliance.  This project has been running as a 6 month training program that has simply taught disciples principles of faith.  However, these followers now hope to take this project to the next level as a full-fledged 2-year curriculum.  Therefore, they invited me to assist in their curriculum development, vision, and integration of INTERCEP into their development.

          To demonstrate the commitment of these saints to the vision, they have already constructed a lecture hall and a structure with 2 offices without the roof.  The available land surrounding the perimeter of these edifices is also quite vast for further development.  There are actually 15 communities of faith meeting with Chibok and Askira/Uba local government areas in southern Borno.  Each of these congregations may or may not have a capable proclaimer of the good news.  Every group of believers is also producing many young servants who hope to share their hope in both Hausa and English languages.

          Nevertheless, the uniqueness of the vision from this center will be to integrate agriculture into the training for self-reliance.  Unfortunately, most proclaimers of the good news depend on the local congregation, foreign support, or rainy-season farming for the livelihood.  Most small faith communities offer an abysmal contribution each week that leaves precious little to support a proclaimer.  The system of foreign support is fraught with difficulties because of the lack of accountability, the resultant entitlement mentality, and the immediate authority ascribed to the one receiving overseas currency.  Rain-fed crop production in Borno State is hardly lucrative with the limited showers that fall even during the peak period of the wet season.

          Thus, the vision of this center is to promote self-sustainability for proclaimers begins with dry-season farming.  This is where drip irrigation, food preservation, and small-scale livestock agriculture buttress the hope of self-reliance.  Proclaimers who diligently apply the principles of drip irrigation during the dry season will have enough vegetables to feed their families with crops left over to sell in the market to pay their children’s school fees.  Food preservation will allow the wives of these servants to store the vegetables for months without spoilage.  Small-scale livestock projects will augment vegetable crops with available manure to increase soil fertility.

          There are schools all over the world that teach faith in a vacuum apart from the realities of everyday life.  INTERCEP’s hope is that the principles of holiness will be integrated with the challenges of sustainable development.  Such a center will be a tremendous testimony that the Almighty’s grace is shared when believers work to empower their communities.  As the livelihood of proclaimers is strengthened, they will have the means to share blessings with their villages.  We pray that the Most-Humble will keep meek as we pursue this vision together. 

Outside Mbala Hall for Lectures

Inside Mbala Hall for Lectures

Mbala Offices

SWIMMING WASHES AWAY RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

        

    When I returned from the U.S. in December of 2007, my right knee began to swell up like a balloon.  At first, I thought that I had a swollen hamstring that needed serious attention.  Hence, our first line of treatment was to assume that there was an infection in my knee.  However, after a week it was obvious that the swelling was reducing very little.  Thankfully, 2 servants among the Wulari believers, Dr. Anietie and Dr. Eni administered a “Rheumatoid Factor” test that revealed the presence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

          Following the disclosure of RA, a “Magnetic Resonance Image” (MRI) was performed on both of my knees to further investigate.  It was revealed that I had some cartilage degeneration in my right knee while my left knee had little deterioration.  Therefore, Dr. Eni faithfully administered 9 doses of “Synject” into my knees to restore any cartilage disintegration.  He also recommended daily consumption of “ArthoCare” to rebuild cartilage erosion.  These 2 medicines has reconditioned my joints allowing me increased mobility.

          Nevertheless, exercise is what I really have missed and longed to renew to reconstruct the strength in legs.  Fortunately, much information about RA on the web revealed that swimming is the best exercise for those suffering with this condition.  Thus, I began to survey the 2 swimming pools available in Maiduguri for recreation.  The first was the International Hotel where I took Ibrahim and Rahamatu for swimming.  Unfortunately, from the first to the last time that we used this pool; the water quality had become so poor that we couldn’t use it until it was cleaned.

          After this frustration, Musa and I went to the Mashidimami Water Company that formerly supplied the INTERCEP farm with water tankers to fill our reservoir.  After finally locating the site, we went into a pool with clean water adjacent to a gym and badminton court.  It costs us an expensive $4 each time that I take one of the children to swim with me but it is well worth it feel the strengthening in my joints and the smiles on our kid’s faces.  Last Tuesday after I took Rahamatu to the swimming poor she said, “Daddy, this the very best day that I have ever had with you.  I love you so much!”  Needless to say, the strain that swimming puts on our budget is well worth it to hear this expression of joy.

          Last Saturday as our family went to the INTERCEP farm for our weekly workday, they decided to wade into the reservoir to keep cool.  The hottest period of the year in Maiduguri comes during March, April, and May.  All of a sudden, Jen and all of the kids decided to dive into the water for relief from the heat.  It’s almost as if swimming is quickly becoming the favorite recreational activity for our family.  We give the Almighty the glory if He has used the pain of RA to remind us how important it is to recreate. 

 

SWEET SATISFACTION FROM SOLAR SOURCE

When we first started composting at the Pompomari farm in western Maiduguri in April of 2006, we borrowed water from the earthen cistern owned by our Methodist neighbor.  As we raised our first plant beds at this site in August of 2006, we rented our first tank of water to be dumped into the Methodist’s cistern.  This lasted no time as all of the Fulani shepherds came to fetch water for their cattle, goats, and sheep.  Thus, when Arewa Aid first formed in February 2007, our initial priority was to create a permanent water source at the INTERCEP farm in Maiduguri.  We researched diesel, gasoline, hand, and winds pumps but any Borno resident knows that Maiduguri is known for continuous sunlight.

Our initial barrier to the solar powered bore-hole (well) was the appearance of an exorbitant expense.  This is because few understood that the solar system was guaranteed to endure for a minimum of 20 years.  With the recent fuel scarcity in Maiduguri, a gallon of gasoline is now selling for nearly $8.  To power our home gasoline generator at night for just 4 hours, we need at least 3 gallons.  One can easily calculate where all of our household money is going and we were determined not to let the farm fall into this same trap with a gasoline powered generator.

 Several recommended working with a hand-powered bore-hole (well) pump but many of the Wulari believers countered this assessment.  UNICEF has drilled many hand-powered bore-holes in northern Borno State only to find that few of them are still functioning today due to the poor maintenance culture.  We also had no idea of how deep we would have to drill to find water while hand-pumps don’t function beyond 85 meters.  I witnessed hand pumps in usage in northern Adamawa State but this was several hours south of Maiduguri in a different climactic zone.  Hand-pumps are certainly far cheaper but there is no guarantee concerning their durability.

A wind-powered bore-hole pump was certainly a consideration but the local M & W distributor informed us of its limitation.  As long as there is wind, the water may be pumped to the surface continuously.  However, if there is no breeze, then there is no means of pumping water for farm utilization.  In this semi-arid climate, the Sahara Desert winds blow frequently but during this hot March through May period, there is hardly a draft.  We may use wind in the future as an alternate source to solar energy but it appears unwise to use it as a primary source of power.

Today, April 5, 2008, at 1:30PM, our first water was pumped up from the bore-hole using the solar-powered system.  It is difficult to contain our excitement now as this long journey has reached its conclusion.  Our vegetable crops will now experience such a relief as we are free to create a “river-bed” environment.  Through the assistance of Healing Hands International, our supplemental livestock will commence in May with this permanent water source from sunlight.  Ultimately, we pray that this will be a tool for the light of the Almighty to penetrate the hearts of those in darkness.

Solar Panel Construction Team In The Foreground

Under Construction

Bore Hole and Storage Tanks In The Background

April 5th. Harvest Team

 

IBRAHIM: 3RD CULTURE KID STRUGGLES

 

Until today, the end of every school term for our children, Ibrahim and Rahamatu, was thrilling.  We always enjoyed getting their report cards, going through their grades, and congratulating them on their hard work.  Ibrahim is only in kindergarten and Rahamatu is only 4 years old (pre-primary 2 on the British system).  However, we have taught them to attach value to their preparatory studies.  Thus, every time they would bring home their results, we would reward them at Mr. Biggs (Nigerian version of McDonalds) or Oasis Bakery (closest thing to Dunkin Donuts).

However, today I was shocked out of my seat when I saw that Ibrahim had dropped from 1st to 13th in his class of 37 children.  I began to analyze the fine details and saw that he had dropped in moral instruction, writing, and social studies.  As I looked through his exams, I saw that most of his mistakes in moral instruction and social studies were due to merely social dissimilarities.  For instance, one question on his moral instruction exam read: “When elders are in the room, children should keep quiet.”  Of course, Ibrahim answered that question by underlining “No” instead of “Yes” reducing his score on that test.

On another exam in social studies, he was to fill in the blank, “There are ______ types of family.”  Unfortunately, the nature of the teaching in this primary school is through rote memorization without conceptual understanding.  Therefore, he only knew to write “Daddy” because his teacher’s explanation of “2” didn’t make sense to him.  If his teacher would have explained “nuclear” or “extended”, he would have understood.  However, the answer “2” just appeared to be too simple of an explanation to him.

Some of the rhymes like “Ding Dang Bell” are hardly intelligible to us because they are sung in the local English accent.  “Ding Dong Bell” would sound to us a bit more familiar but the intonation is far from recognizable.  Other songs like “Tick says the Clock” are equally difficult to decipher with all of the “O” sounds being pronounced as a long vowel.  We laughed when we first heard Ibrahim say that he wanted to go outside and play “boll” not “ball.”  It was equally funny to us to hear Rahamatu say that we wanted to go to school with her “bige” (with a long “I”) not “bag.”

After reading this, my first reaction was to pull him out of this school and strictly began home-schooling.  Then, I thought about how much he would miss out on the blessing of socialization.  Shortly thereafter, I considered surveying all of the “American-based” schools in Nigeria to reduce his cultural frustrations.  Yet, I knew that simply putting him in a “homogeneous island of American children” might not be the best for him either.  These are struggles of the kingdom in which parents of “third culture kids” must wrestle.

Thank you for wrestling with us in prayer for the Great Teacher to bless all His servant’s children who are grappling with their identity as “bi-cultural children.” 

Ibrahim and Rahamatu In Their Uniforms

Ibrahim and Rahamatu Picking Green Beans

Ibrahim and Rahamatu’s School Pictures

Ibrahim With His Birthday Cake

MARRIAGE IN THE NOONTIDE HEAT

There’s a song that we used to sing at Camp Wyldewood in Searcy, Arkansas that used a phrase I never understood which was: “A home within the wilderness, a rest upon the way, from the burning of the noontide heat and the burden of the day.”  After Ebenezer’s wedding last Saturday in the pre-rainy season heat of Abuja, I appreciate this phrase more than ever.  In the sweltering assembly hall of the Lugbe believers off of Airport Road in Abuja, Ebenezer Udofia and Regina were married.  Ebenezer’s best man and Regina’s maid of honor were constantly fanning the hot bride and groom because of the high temperatures within the venue.  Nevertheless, after 5 hours in this hot house of marital celebration, Ebenezer and Regina deeply appreciated the wide participation in their union.

It’s important to note the ultra-conservative nature of the saints within Nigeria that believe that weddings inside houses of worship are unscriptural.  However, Ebenezer and Regina wanted full involvement from all disciples in Abuja to demonstrate the viability of such an event.  Interestingly, there were some followers there who ordinarily offer long treatises on the lack of scriptural support for such a celebration in the assembly hall of a local congregation.  Yet, as the acapella singing began, there were no cries of scriptural illegitimacy that could be heard within the venue.  Everyone seemed to be fully engaged in an event where all believers felt comfortable celebrating the unification of Ebenezer and Regina.

Still, the greatest witness to Ebenezer and Regina’s wedding was its simplicity.  A cultural factor in many Nigerian weddings is witnessed as young couples spend more money than they can afford.  In fact, often Nigerian weddings are overwhelming displays of ostentation that appear to be nonsensical in a context of poverty.  Nonetheless, Ebenezer and Regina’s wedding was simple because it was held in an assembly hall for believers with no electricity.  The only power entering the building was from a small gasoline generator that amplified the sound system.

The other impressive characteristic of Ebenezer and Regina’s wedding was the socio-economic diversity of those who attended.  In the Nigerian context, brides and grooms typically invite highly-placed people in the society who will create an aura of prestige.  Therefore, at a typical Nigerian wedding, politicians, traditional rulers, and religious leaders often come late arriving with much fanfare.  Yet, at Ebenezer and Regina’s wedding, the well-dressed sat with those clothed in casual attire.  Actually, there were also several Muslims in the environment who felt respected by the front seats given them.

The wedding of Ebenezer and Regina was a powerful testimony to a couple committed to values of faith in a hot environment.  Any new marriage which puts the Almighty first will gain tremendous blessing despite the climactic conditions in which they find themselves.  Husbands and wives committed to simple living will avoid the multiple pitfalls of our wealth-driven world.  A God-fearing couple will give honor to those from poor and affluent backgrounds.  Faith, simplicity, and empowering the poor are the key concerns of INTERCEP which will now only be augmented through this couple committed to the Most-Compassionate.

Ebenezer and Regina – Wedding Cake

Wedding Party