CBPHC Trip to Dingai April 21, 2011

Sarah & Jay in Dingai

The Community Based Primary Health Care team went to Dingai on Thursday April 21^st. We were a little late starting as Dr. Chidama was a little late and we were having trouble finding ice for our cooler. This trip there were four of us going. Yakubu Bulama, Dr. Chidama, Mrs Safiya I. Thomas and I. We drove from the compound over to Police Round About to meet Dr. Chidama. As we were waiting we got a call from Fidelis  Anansu that he was almost in Yola and wanted to come along. Now we were five. Fidelis is the Secretary of the Medical Board. Yakubu is the Project Coordinator in the Office of Projects and Development. Dr. Chidama is the Head of Adamawa State Disease Control and a consultant to the CBPHC. Safiya is a retired nurse and will be the Health Development Officer at Dingai. She is married to an Appeals Court Judge and is from the Gombi area. We eventually, got everyone together and headed north for Gombi to meet with the Bishop from Shall-holma Diocese.

The roads to Gombi are nice paved highways with few pot holes. We are able to keep the Hi Lux cruising around 120 KPH when we are not behind an overloaded truck or one of the many “Lazarus” cars. The Bishop was not feeling well and decided not to come with us on this trip. We drop off the pavement in Gombi and headed west on a dirt road. At the edge of Gombi the road becomes a wide compacted gravel road. The road is being rebuilt from Gombi to Fotta (about 45 kilometers). Yakubu had not had breakfast and had brought food along to eat. We switch and I drove while he had breakfast of rice and spaghetti with red sauce and chicken. I drove at about 80 KPH along the new gravel road. When the nice road stopped,  a bit short of Ga’anda, Yakubu took over for the rough road over the rocky trail. The area east of Ga’anda is a hilly area with more rock than dirt. Ga’anda is in a valley between two sets of rocky hills with an area capable of farming to the west of the town.  





Dingai Church



A ways after Ga’anda we pass through Boga the home village of Bishop Benjamin Fuduta. Then we turn off the rough road unto a smooth farm trail leading to Dingai. Dingai is the home village of Sekenwas Briska a Ph.D candidate at Luther Seminary. We meet his Uncle and proceed down to the Church to meet the District Pastor and the other member of the Mobile Leadership Team. Emmanuel Kumso will be the Community Development Officer. He has made several visits to the village and is already becoming a part of the village. (Emmanuel was my guide and interpreter during my 2008 visit to Shall-holma Diocese.) This is the first visit for Safiya to Dingai.

Dingai Church

We hold our meeting in the Primary School room. At the back of the room is a pile of wood planks that used to be the desks and benches. Most of the schools are converting to steel framed desks with wood tops and an intergrated bench. (The UNICEF school desk program. I have seen 3 or 4 welding shops in Yola welding the frames together and several trucks piled high with the finished desks. I am only guessing that this is same project that I saw on Public TV about school desks in Kenya. These are the same basic design but not quite as sturdy as those I saw on the TV show.)

The meeting was all in Hausa and the local language. Everyone in the room introduced themselves and where they were from. I told them I was glad to be in the village of my good friend Sekenwa. One your lady, Sarah (I did not catch her last name) introduced herself and said she works for UNICEF in Gombi.

Dingai is the largest village of a cluster villages. There are 9 smaller villages around Dingai. Google Earth has a high resolution aerial photo of the area. The next larger town is Fotta.

After the meeting we had rice and chicken at Catechist Briska’s home. As we were leaving Sarah the young lady that works for UNICEF asked me to give her brother Sekenwa greetings from her and the family. We sat down and had our picture taken. I posted it on facebook.

We drove back to Gombi with three people hitching a ride in the bed of the truck. We let Fidelis off at the Gombi Dispensary and went on the car repair park where we were going to tow the Arewa Diocese Bishop’s Land Rover to Yola.Dr. Chidama and Safiya both got out here to go to their villages for Easter Holiday.

Yakubu had been driving the Land Rover the previous weekend when its engine mount broke. The mechanic at Gombi welded it back in place. But then the transmission would not shift out of first gear. While we were at Dingai the mechanic found out that a pin was missing. He replaced the pin and now it works. I drove the Land Rover back to Yola. The Land Rover was purchased in Abuja as a gift from members of the Diocese that live in Abuja. There are no Land Rover repair people in Adamawa. When the engine failed the estimate to fix the engine was ridiculously high. Yakubu instead took it to his mechanic and he replaced the V6 with a Toyota 4 cylinder and a Toyota transmission. No air filter, no PVC valve but it runs. This little 4 banger in this large SUV has no acceleration but eventually get cruising above 100 KPH. It is a smooth riding vehicle but you smell exhaust and fuel as you drive. Most of the warning lights are lit and the temperature gauge is always maxed out. At least the fuel gauge works. The mechanic that changed the engine is yet to be paid. He has a few more things to do it get it working good. (Air filter would be nice.) I have the feeling this car will be spending as much time at the mechanic at it will on the road. The way people drive here and the lack of maintenance is a real problem.

On Wednesday I met Bishop Amos Yakubu the new bishop of Yola Diocese. He has a newer Jeep. We discussed the need to keep the air filter clean and change the oil. Also to keep antifreeze coolant in the radiator. I told him that dust, heat and dirty oil are the things that kill American car engines. We took out his air filter and it was already in need of changing.

GPS Coordinates:

Yola House: N9.280456, E12.448382

Gombi: N 10.15615, E 12.73609

Boga: N 10.13184, E 12.39765

Dingai Church:  N 10.127197, E 12.339342