Some Final Thoughts on Nigeria

I've been sharing bits and pieces of the trip on the blog from journal entries. I have to admit, that while this trip was definitely outside my comfort zone, I have gained a new appreciation of what it means to live in this country, with all the blessings that we have and take for granted every day, and also gained an awe and respect for the people of Nigeria. Everywhere I went and everyone I met would say "You are welcome here." and meant it.

While I was in Nigeria, I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Jess Lowenburg-Deboer. He's the professor here at Purdue that has been instrumental in the PICS project and the one I have to thank for this opportunity to spend a few weeks in Nigeria. He asked me if I'd figured out how I was going to tie the project back to Indiana agriculture. At the time, I was honest, and didn't have a clue how I was going to do that. Africa agriculture is different in every way- the soils are different, the methods are different, the crops are different, the way they are harvested and utilized is different (they use hand tools and ox vs our tractors and combines!). How in the world was I going to relate this problem of cowpea storage in Nigeria and the solution we have found to my producers in southern Indiana? It's not as if we have a large demand to store soybeans in airtight, triple plastic bags. While I was in Nigeria, I joked with my teammates that this could be marketed as "organic" cowpea storage. It wasn't until I got home that it dawned on me... that was it. It was organic cowpea storage...and that it's really quite simple.

Regardless of who you are or where you live, what we all need in life is food. We also want our food to be safe. Here in the U.S. we are wondering what the effects of a ppb of insecticide on an apple has on our health long term. In Nigeria, they are wondering if the cowpea they have purchased at the market is free from deadly doses of insecticide. Producers here in the U.S. are utilizing pesticides to more easily control insects, weeds, and diseases in their fields so that they can maximize their yields and make the most profit. Farmers in Nigeria want to make money on their crops too. The PICS bag allows them to that in a way that is safe for their consumers. The needs and wants and the expectations are all the same. It's simply the way they get there that is so different.

My teammate, Segun Ojekaiye, would always ask the group "Are you getting it?" as he gave his presentation. Well, Segun, I think I'm finally getting it!

Workshops Begin

As we were going over the training manual, both here at in Nigeria, I wondered how it would take two days to cover the material. It appeared we would have enough for a half day of presentations, and the rest of the day for the role play and demonstration. I figured one day would be plenty of time.... But I soon learned why we needed two days.
When we arrived at 8:45am the morning of the first training (scheduled to begin at 9am), we were greeted by a grand total of 5 people. We were expecting 50. Since we were a few minutes early, there was still plenty of time. We got everything set up, registered the people who arrived early, and the director of the center gave me a tour of the facility. By 10:30am, less than half of the people had arrived for the workshop. We started at 11:30am. We had asked the site to provide some cowpea that we could use during the demonstration portion of the workshop. But the cowpea they brought was so infested with bruchid insects that there was no way we could use it for the demonstration. I could actually hear them chewing inside the bag! It was unreal...
I had an extra ziplock bag in my backpack, so I saved a few to use as a teaching tool during my presentation on the bruchid insects- so it actually wasn't all bad!
When people finally did arrive, Dr. Musa, our team leader, was less than pleased and gave a 20 minute speech about how it was important to arrive on time and how can we ever teach our children responsiblity if we are not responsible ourselves, etc, etc. It was AWESOME! Then, he repeated the speech in hausa, just to make sure they got it. Everyone arrived on time the next day.
One thing I did notice, though, even though they were late, they were excited about the workshop and the front rows filled up first. They were attentive and engaged in the presentations. It was actually quite refreshing.
We ate lunch at the workshop site. We had steamed rice with a quarter chicken covered in a spicy red sauce. They gave me enough rice for about 4 servings. Oh, and Fanta orange pop.
After the workshop, we took a group picture. This would end up being a tradition at the workshops. One man asked for my business card, so I gave it to him. You would have thought I was handing out gold! I had a much longer line than I had cards, so I wrote my contact information on the blackboard...and made a note to mention it to the office in case one of them called!

On My Own

Sunday, my Purdue co-workers traveled out in the various directions across Nigeria, which meant that I was left in Kano (where a majority of my trainings were held) without the companionship of my co-workers. Tahirou, the man organizing PICS for all of Nigeria, took pity on me and invited me over to his home for dinner. He did his MS and PhD at Purdue. His wife, Amina, also lived here in the states for several years. They have four boys ranging in age from 16 to 4. Amina asked what I thought of Nigeria. I was honest and said that it was very different from home- different in almost every way, but that I'd found the people to be friendly, helpful, and in general, with good senses of humor. Because I knew that she had been in the US for awhile, I asked her the same question- What did she think of the U.S.? She was very honest, and I have to say that I don't disagree with her answer. She said that Americans are not as welcoming (very true), although people were usually friendly and interested to know where they were from once they heard their accent and it was difficult to get used to our food. The food is bland (where I thought they could have backed off the spice just a tad!). We use too many preservatives and the meats have too much fat. We also eat a lot of boxed and processed foods. In contrast, they go to the market every day to buy the items they need for their meals and I don't think I saw a box of macaroni and cheese anywhere. One thing I found ironic- here in the US, there is a push for local farmers' markets. In Nigeria, they want more grocery stores. I had a great time chatting with Amina and got a better understanding of the culture in Nigeria. They are very family oriented- many times extended families live very close to each other and relationships with family and friends is important.
Oh, and did I mention that the boys speak four languages?! They go to a french school, so they speak french, english, hausa (the local dialect in Nigeria), and zulu (native tongue from Niger).
I can only speak one...

Meeting our Teammates and Nigerian Chinese Food

Saturday we met with our teams for the first time and discussed the agenda for the training workshops. The highlight of the day - or at least the training- was lunch. I was hoping for a similar lunch I'd had the day before- some fried rice, maybe some chicken- but everyone was encouraging me to try the agoussi soup and pounded yam. Because I promised my mother I would try new things, I reluctantly gave in. Maria decided we could share... The pounded yam was in a ball and tasted sort of like a dry version of heavy mashed potatoes. The agoussi soup had white stuff (later identified as ground up melon seeds) in a yellowish colored spicy broth with hunks of fish. It did not look appetizing. Maria doesn't like fish, so she was no longer "sharing" it with me. I tried a little of the broth and the melon seeds...but then someone mentioned that the fish HEAD was the best part. No thank you... The melon seeds and the broth were edible, but fish HEADS were a deal breaker and I lost my nerve. (picture below is "borrowed" from my co-worker Bill's facebook album so it's small...but you get the idea).

After the workshop was done, we headed across the street to get some snacks at the bakery. Crossing the street is no joke in Kano. It was similar to playing a game of frogger...only we were the frogs and didn't have an extra life. The bakery was wonderful- cakes, pies, cookies, bread, sandwiches, you name it- they had it. After stocking up on snacks, we again played frogger. There were several people outside the bakery that had asked us for money. The median in the road required Maria and I to hike up our skirts so we could jump up to safety. We get to the median and Maria says "I didn't give them any money, but showed a little leg!".
That evening, IITA took us out to dinner at a CHINESE restaurant called the Pink Flamingo. I traveled thousands of miles and had Chinese! HA! After experimenting at lunch, I wondered what we would have for dinner, but it was VERY good. We had rice, egg rolls, chicken and veggies and they had a grilled fish that was delicious and all parts were located where they were supposed to be and easily identifiable! It tasted DELICIOUS!