Yola Diocese Combined Choir Practice

This evening the Yola Diocese Combined Choir was practicing out my front door. Background music while I eat my tuna salad sandwich. They are practicing for a choir convention in Lagos this weekend.

Return to Banjiram and Visa Application

Today has been a long day. It started hot and now it is cool. We had a good storm this evening that cooled the place off. Unfortunately, it has also effected the mobile internet. It is now at the slowest mode (GSM) which is too slow to even log onto. We started the day at just after 7 AM loading up the Land-ota. (Land Rover that has had its V6 replaced with a Toyota 4 cylinder The engine mount has already broken a couple time and tonight it sounds like it is broken again.)

We headed back to Banjiram to see it the newest solar pump was in working order and to see if the other borehole we found was actually clogged with roots or just sticks and cornstalks the kids had thrown down

.

We arrived at the school to find that he Principal had gone to Yola for a meeting and he had the only key for the room where the pump is stored. We got the cables from another area and found that one of the wires was loose on the cable. Eventually, we decided to go work with the other borehole while the school staff worked on getting the pump. 

The other borehole appears to be as old as the village. Late 1980’s. It used to be a MonoLift progressive cavity pump spun by a diesel engine. The pump usually, outlast the diesel engine. In this case both were gone and  we found a Afridev hand pump had replaced the MonoLift and it had be converted inside to a India Mark II. I have been told of this conversion but never seen one. Basically, I am told no one here knows how to work on the AfriDev so they take the riser pipe out by cutting it up as they remove it and replace the down hole parts with Mark II parts. The problem is that the AfriDev pump stroke is 225 mm long and the Mark II cylinder is made for a 125 mm pump stroke. The Afridev have a heavy duty pump handle that can put a lot of force onto the connecting rods. There was a rod and cylinder sitting near the borehole. The rod was bent in a couple of directions.

We had made a grappler out of some wire and two connecting rods. The camera last week had stopped at 10 feet down and showed sticks and corn stalks. The homemade grappler was much smaller and went down to 20 feet before hitting a pretty solid barrier. With a little work it seemed to penetrate into the obstruction but did not grab anything to bring to the surface. We decided to add the rod that was on site. We were pounding hard with the three rods, when a man came up and confirmed that it was roots and probably a layer of rocks, sticks and other things. He had been working with a driller that was hired to drill another borehole on the edge of town. He lost his drill bit down the hole . The rig is sitting there by the village but driller has left. The man explained that the driller brought his compressor over to blow out the hole. He got past the blockage and hit water at 8 meters. Lots of roots came up out of the hole. We wish we had talked to him last week. The borehole appears to have a 6-inch steel casing. If we are able to cut the roots out think we might be able to insert a 4-inch steel casing inside the 6-inch casing past the roots and then use a cement groat to seal the area between the casings. This way we may be able to get this borehole working at a fraction of the cost of a new borehole. We will need to make a root cutter and have the men of the town use it to cut the roots.

View from the top of the water tank.

We went back to the school. They had been able to get the door open and get the pump out. It did not look promising. The underwater electrical connection looked corroded and had been taped up with electrical tape. After not being able to get it to start with the existing solar panels we decided to take to the repair shop in Yola and see if it is repairable.(picture is from the top of the elevated tank. The line for water extends another 10 or fifteen feet out of the picture. The wait for someone arriving now is about 4 hours.There seems to be a constant argument going at the water point.

Leaving Banjiram no worse than they were when we arrived we headed back to Yola about 1 PM. We stopped in Numan for a late lunch at a Mama Safayia Memorial Restaurant.  They only serve Nigerian here and only had a fish today. I had fish with pounded corn and a green soup (sauce). This is the same soup as I had when I eat with the Easter Campers at the Deaf Centre. The difference was this was better. It had less potash in it. It tasted like spinach.

When we got back to Yola it was only 2:30 PM but I was hot and tired. I took a quick ½ bucket shower and changed into a tee shirt. At 3:00 we drove to City Internet Café as the raid approached. For the next almost 5 hours we did what would have take less than an hour in the US. We completed the online Visa application for Yakubu to come to the US. We had started the application the previous day and had spent 3 hours at another Café and were almost finished. The storm affected both the Zain mobile internet and the internet at the Café. We jumped back and forth between the Zain modem and the wireless internet depending on what was working. The system had a time-out security feature. If you did not complete a section in the required time you had to log back in and start the section over. I could not even guess how many time we logged back in. Finally, we finished the application and started on the online Visa Interview Appointment process. We got to the point of entering the information of the bank receipt for the $140 application fee. Here we are stuck. The bank receipt is almost a year old and is good for one year. The US Embassy had now switched banks from UBA Bank to GT Bank. GT has an online system that registers your receipt. Our receipt was not found. It was too late to contact the Embassy so we went to the Feedback page and left a message explaining our problem and we emailed the website. We hope to hear back by Friday and finish the Visa Interview Appointment Request. 

Power came on at midnight and the modem is working slowly. So I have edited this post a little and uploaded some pictures.

Banjiram Village Survey, April 29, 2011

When Kiri Dam was built in the late 1980's to provide irrigation for the Savannah Sugar Plant cane fields the villages of the Banjiram District had to be relocated. The Federal government constructed a new village with blocks laid out in a grid pattern with raised roads of a firm gravel. What they did not give the people was water. The map shows the main village of Banjiram and Old Banjiram near Lake Kiri. Much of old Banjiram is under the lake. Now that Old Banjram is at the edge of the lake the Malaria and mosquitoes are a problem.

(Click on the map or double click to make it and all the images larger. The hit the back button on your browser to return to the blog.)

 These two boys will rent a cart for 200 naira a day and take 8 - 25 liter jerry cans to the river at the bottom of the map from the church. The trip is a little over 5 kilometer round trip. They can make two trips in a day. The push the cart with 200 kilograms (440 lbs) of water. The cost is 0.5 naira per liter. The older boy is 10 and the younger 9. They are students in Primary 3 and 2. The other choice is to buy from the people that go to the river for you. They charge 1 naira per liter. (In Jimeta I pay 0.4 naira per liter.) In the Chanhassen the first 6000 gallons is $1 per gallon and there is a $5.01 quarterly billing fee for sewer and water. For 6000 gallons water in a month you pay $6.84. That caluclates to 0.045 naira per liter. They pay 11 to 22 times as much for water as we do. They also use a lot less.

Collecting warm water from Banjiram borehole.

The School near the top of the map is a large residential secondary school. Currently, school is in recess so the people of Banjiram are at the water source 24 hours a day. When school is in session the student get the water first. The water from the borehole is artisan. It flows to the surface at a very slow rate. Women sit here for hours waiting to fill their containers. Currently, the borehole has a 220 volt 3 phase submersible pump and is wired to a generator over at the school. The gen is run by an old diesel engine that also operates a grain grinder. The problem is that there is no budget for fuel. Problem number 2 is that the pump is not working properly. The pump mechanic that installed it told them it was bad. We were told that it was donated by the Guyuk Local Government and it was the only one they were going to get.

In 2004 the Ministry of Education had a deep borehole drilled at the school and an overhead tank. It is over 1000 feet and the water that come out is feww flowing at a very slow rate and hot. Probably around 100 degree F. Originally, the pump was a Gundfos Solar with a bank of solar cells. That had a box that the people call a converter that was stolen a few years back. Some NGO brought in a different pump and wanted to use different solar cells. They installed the pump and they moved the solar cells to the roof of the tank. That pump worked for a while and quit. The water may be too hot for the pump. The people went back to getting water from the overflow pipe. We did not measure the flow but it looked like maybe 5 to 10 liters a minute (1.3 to 2.6 gallons/min).

Then the people went to the local government and the setup of the diesel motor that can be used for grinding or for generating power was arranged and the Guyuk LGA gave them the defective 220 volt three phase pump. The cost of fuel to run the generator to run the defective pump is not budgeted for the school.

They still have the first Grundfos pump that is reported to work if we can connect it properly we may be able to return the system to its original operations. This helps the school but does not do a lot for the community. To increase the water capacity of the system we many need to add more solar panels, batteries and store energy to continue pumping into the evening.

After we finished a the school we drove around the village and found this other broken borehole. Originally, this borehole had a diesel engine that powered a monolift pump. In 2007 the hand pump was installed. We did not get the story of why is was not working. In the background in a Mark II cylinder with some rods attached. I have been told that people install Mark II heads into these AfriDev pumps because they are only familiar with the Mark II. The AfriDev pump has a 225mm stroke length and the Mark II is only 125mm. It would not take long to destroy the piston or break a rod with this setup.


We are going to look at several short and long term solutions and then discuss them with the community. Then talk with the village about what resource they have to put towards the solutions. After that we will need to do fund raising to complete the long term solutions.

Sabon Gari "B" Borehole Repair, April 28, 2011

Sabon Gari "B" is a district on the edge of the city of Mayo Belwa. It is actually, not in the Mayo Belwa Local Government Area (similar to our Counties, but they do not have any lower formal government.) It is in the Fufore Local Government Area. The town of Furfore is probably 2 hours away. They get little services from Furfore and nothing from Mayo Belwa. Their biggest benefit of their location is that the Governor is from Mayo Belwa. Mayo Belwa and the surrounding area get a lot more hours of power each day than most of the rest of Adamawa.

History of Bad Contractors: The people of this area got together and formed a water committee, raised money and hired a contractor to drill a borehole. He was not an good contractor. He drill down and told the people that he had drilled 150 feet and could not drill any more. They talked him into drilling more. So he did a little. Now he told them his pump was not strong enough to take the drilling mud out of the hole. So he put in casing and screens and left a pump behind. Of course nothing he did was correct or true. We found the bottom of the casing at 112 feet. The pump stand was not buried in 16 inches of concrete but just in loose rock below a thin slab. He never install the pump. Later the committee had another contractor come and air lift the borehole to clean it out and they installed a pump. The second contractor only did a little airlifting and went away. He did not know how to install the pump the first contractor had left behind so he got an old India Mark II from Jimeta. Because the pump stand installed by the first contractor was not properly aligned with the casing the second contractor cut a large hole in the bottom of the pump head for the pump rod to go through. This eliminated the seal between the pump head, tank and rising main. The pump worked poorly giving a muddy water. The concrete slab broke and the pump rocked with each pump stroke. In 2009 I gave the water committee $800 from profits for fair trade sales made by Citizens Into Action to repair the pump and start a fund for a future overhead tank. I recommended that they flush the borehole again but for a longer time, replace the entire pump with completely compatible parts and rebuild the pad with a proper foundation using Adams from the LCCN Projects Office to supervise. Unfortunately, I am told that the chairman of the committee got the money from the treasurer and left town.

Global Health Ministries provided some funds. Adams brought out a contractor we trusted an flush the borehole, reinstalled the existing pump with a proper 16 inch deep foundation and a much better reinforced concrete pad. They did not have the funds to replace the pump head. The stand still has a little misalignment with the casing. The misalignment is mostly caused by the casing not being vertical.

The new flushed borehole and re-installed pump worked for a while. Then it jammed. Someone, as adults we suspect children, had pushed rocks into the drain opening for the pump head, through the hole and fell down the riser pipe into the cylinder. The rocks jammed the piston in the up position.

Yakubu, Adams and I got to the borehole about 9 AM and got a man to find some young men to assist us in removing the pump and the pipes. Adams and Yakubu had not been able to contact anyone to tell them we were coming. We just showed up. Around 10 we had a crew together. Including a young strong motorcycle mechanic that will make an good borehole mechanic in the future. Adams has his name an phone number.

Yakubu holding the riser pipe.

We were hoping that what had been dropped down the riser pipe had jammed a rod near the top. So we would only have to remove one or two pipes and rods. No such luck, The rocks were small and had gone all the way to the cylinder. With the cylinder jammed in the up position  the junction of the pipe and the rods were not the same. We had to have someone stand on a barrel holding the pipe high in the air and some standing and overturned grain mortar to unscrew the rods.

We finally, got all 10 pipe removed and disassembled the cylinder to remove a few rock and peanut shells. Before we reassembled the pump suggested that we make something to cover the hole. We decided to take the pump head into Mayo Belwa to the shoe repair and sandal  maker to have him make a large rubber gasket with a smaller hole to make it more difficult for the kids to jam the pump. While Yakubu was off on that task we asked one of the young men to go to the plumber and get tape for the pipe joints. He came back with electrical tape. So one of the men told another young man where to find tape. I jumped on the back of his motorcycle and we drove to the auto repair area where they had electrical tape. I explained to the owner we wanted tape for plumping like toilets and pipes. He told the young man where to go. We drove to a small shop that sold hardware but not plumbing. They told him where the plumber was. We drove over to the plumbing shop. It was closed. The called the number on the board in front of the shop. He said he would come right over. A half hour he walked up. He first showed my electrical tape and then in the back of the shop he had the expensive stuff, teflon tape. 300 naria ($2). Off we speed back.

I got some people busy taping the the pipes and getting ready to re-install the pump. The retired pastor who lived near by had his wife and daughter fix us some rice with red sauce and meat. We went over to his house and had some lunch. Before we reassembled the pump I took out the plastic bailer I had made last year and sent it down to the bottom of the borehole to see if there was any more mud. It came out clean. So we sent the camera down with the long light hoping to see how many screens were in the borehole. The water was too cloudy to see anything.

We re-assembled the pump with the new hole greatly reduced by the piece of rubber that the shoemaker had made for us. We taped all the joints and choose the weakest pipes to go on the bottom. We were are the beginning able to pump 25 liters per minute. As we pumped the level in the borehole dropped by 20 feet. We stopped pumping and waited 5 minutes. One pump and we had water. This is the first pump I have seen in Nigeria that held its water. We will see how it is doing next year.

While we were there we saw that two compounds had outside taps where people were fetching water. I forgot to ask if the homeowners were charging for the water or if they were giving it away. The area currently has a lot of hours of electricity. The homeowners had boreholes with electric pumps and overhead tanks. From the reactions of the people in the area to the hand pump being fixed I suspect that they have to pay.

Yakubu spent a while with the Treasurer of the old water committee. Telling her that now that the pump is fixed they need a new water committee to oversee the operations and to raise money for maintenance and repair. Also to establish rules for the use and cleaning of the area. We also met with a local Community Health Worker that lived next to the pump. He is the unofficial pump supervisor. If he spots people washing their dishes or clothes at the pump he chases them away.

We headed home after a long day and a lot of sun. On Friday when we go to Banjiram I am going to take my wide brimmed herder hat.

Thought we were going to Jada, Ended up in Ganye to Buy Honey

Goat Droppings on my porch.

After breakfast of cereal and coffee and cleaning the goat poop off of the front porch (some goats found my front porch a nice place during last night's rain. From the amount of poop I think there were a couple hundred goats!), I went over to say good bye to the people that were at the Easter Camp for the Deaf. They were having their last program (Hidden Realities), to be followed by breakfast (tea and bread). After the program I told them that I was happy to met with them and made new friends. The I had a cup of tea with Ruth and Pastor Raimi. Pastor Raimi is the pastor at the Christian Mission for the Deaf Church in Lagos. He had been preaching here each night usually after a local hearing pastor has spoken through an interpreter.

We were talking about getting copies of the pictures I had taken when Ruth said she and Pastor Raimi were going to Jada to see the school Ruth used to teach at. I said I would like to see the school also. So they said come along. The also talked about the Pastor wanting some honey before he went back to Lagos. I did not put the two together. Ruth speaks pretty good and lip reads as well. Her Hausa is much better than her English. She was 15 when she lost her hearing.

We headed over to get on Adamawa Sunshine Express. Fairly nice van (they call them buses here). It had four rows of seats behind the driver and two beside him. We had lots of room only 3 people per row and the driver's helper. Pastor Raimi was fascinated with the cattle and was asking Ruth lots of questions. They do not have cattle herds in Lagos. It is a huge urban center. Seeing people fetch water from wells and pumps seemed to interest him also. I do not think he has spent much time on the farm.

We got to Jada and stopped at the market where a few people got out. Ruth pointed to the school. I asked if we were going to get out and walk over to it? I knew the bus was headed on down to Ganye. She said no. It is a holiday there is no one there.  Now I am confused as to why are are making this trip. I had assumed we would be able to go in even though I knew it was a holiday. The would have security guards at least. We headed down to Ganye.

Pastor Raimi arriving at Ganye Honey Market

As we continued south, I pointed out Dashen Bible College I have visited several times. Ruth reminded me that she had graduated from there in 1987.

Ruth inspecting bags of honey

We arrived in Ganye and got on motorcycles and headed through town to a compound. I found out this was the Ganye honey market. If I had known that they wanted to buy honey I would not have come along. When the white man shows up all the prices rise. If you are going shopping for a car for your kid you do not show up in a new BMW, if you want a good deal. If you want to buy something in Nigeria at a good price do not show up with a White Man. They wanted 7000 naira for 20 liters of honey. We tasted some and I thought it was weak. Then they took us out to some large sacks and opened them up. Inside were large plastic sacks filled with honey. The first bag we stuck everyone's finger into was really sweet honey. The next bag was not as sweet. They started talking price it was way high. I told the Pastor the it was the White Man Price. He said Ruth had just said the same thing. They decided to go to another part of the compound. I went over by that gate and sat in the shade of a shelter by the Mosque and they went to honey sellers who had not seen me. They found some honey at a better price but it was not as good and sweet as the first bag of honey.

I napped under the shelter by the Mosque and watched as the Call to Prayer was blasted out of the loudspeakers. The older men showed up first at the Mosque and slowly the younger men made their way their. After the call to prayers was over Ruth and Pastor Raimi came back and told me that they now have come down to 5500 Naira for each 20 liter jug of honey. But will take 15,500 for three. This is just over $100 for 60 liters of honey. Actually, not a bad price. $1.70 per liter.

This is wild honey. It is dark and has bits of honeycomb and beeswax in it. Also a slight smokey flavor as they burn the tree the beehive is in to harvest the honey. They gave him a bonus of an extra 5 liter jug. We got back on motorcyles with the 20 liter jug in front of the driver and headed back to the place near the Ganye Cathedral where there were now 2 Sunshine Express buses sitting. Since I knew I had increased the price of the honey I paid all our fairs back (mistake #2). Then I went across the street where I was a light on and a freezer to buy some cold Malta and water for us. In the store I saw a volt meter, solder and other tool of the trade of an electronics repairman. The owner was also a repairman. We talked a bit about electronics repair and I headed back across the street and he continued his rice and chicken meal I had interrupted.


We waited and waited and waited some more. There were more than enough people to fill one of the buses. Then a small car arrived and people piled in. We amused ourselves watching a large lady trying to get in the front seat with one other large person already in there. Finally, she gave up and a smaller lady got in. Then they said they were ready for us. We got up as headed for the buses. But they said no. We were getting into a little car and since it was a private car we had to pay for luggage (White man pricing) another 100 Naira per container of honey. We said fine and gave them the 300 Naira for the honey. Then got into the back seat cheek to cheek and shoulder to shoulder. This was a small car. A thin lady with a baby got in the front seat and then the large lady got in beside her. The thin lady was now on a thin cushion between the two bucket seats. Now another man came up and said 4 people in the back seat and a young man got in the other side. I was now seating on the doors armrest and so was the young man. We protested and said we cannot fit 4 people in the back. We said we have already paid 400 Naira each for Adamawa Sunshine we want to ride in those buses. They said Sunshine is not going back to Yola. If we wanted to go to Yola. 500 Naira each, 100 Naira for each jug of honey, and 4 people in the back seat. We gave them another 300 Naira but said only 3 in the back seat. The head man of the area finally said ok.

If you have ever driven around Nigerian Highways you have seen drivers in a hurry to get to Heaven and take all his passengers with him. Usually, they are cars for hire with young men as the drivers and people and packages stuffed in everywhere. This was that car. Potholes were targets to hit at 130 kilometers per hour (80mph). NASCAR tactics in a car with no suspension. Drafting 5 feet behind the slower car until you do not see any oncoming traffic. Usually, because you are on a curve and you could not see them anyways. The horn blowing at anything that moves or does not move. We made the trip from Ganye to Yola in less time than I have every made it and we stopped for fuel.

Many time we have prayed before journey. This was a time that I believe a higher power was watching out for us. For most Nigerians that take public transit it is just the way it is.

We did have to slow down a couple time. The military had a checkpoint on both sides of Jada. The first check point the soldier wearing American BDU (battledress uniform) only stuck his hand in the driver window to get his payment from the driver. The military check points I had been through recently north of Yola had been professional. They had asked where we were going and looked through our vehicle. They did not ask for money. They were there doing their job due to the election related violence. This was not professional. Their only purpose was to take money from the driver. He never looked inside the car. Just a open hand. A man with a gun demanding money. I shame for all Nigerian soldiers. On the other side of Jada the soldier at least made it look like he was inspecting us as he stuck his hand through the window. We had three suspicious jerry cans in plain sight (honey). But they did not look in the back or ask us what was in them.

As we got to the Yola city gate the Police had a check point. This I thought is good. The day before an election. The Police Officer leaned over and looked in. Then he looked at the luggage and saw the three jerry cans of honey. We told him they were honey. He motioned the driver to pull over for inspection. I thought this is good. This is what should be done for good security in a time like this. Then the driver started forcing naira into the officer hand and he waved us through. So much for security.

In all it was an interesting day.

Update on Violence, Good Friday, Deaf Camp

On Friday I took a long walk up to Luka Shopping Complex by City Cyber Cafe. The worker there is from a village north of Kubi near the northern boarder of Adamawa. He told me that there was much worse riots in Mubi and north of Mubi. Homes were burned and people were killed. I will have ask Yakubu about this. He is from a village in the Mubi area. But here in the middle of Adamawa things have remained calm for a week. I have no problems walking out in the Jimeta area of Yola. Friday's walks covered over 4 miles.

We had power for a while today. I am about out of battery now and will head over to the Deaf Centre to be with them during their Easter Camp. I spent most of Good Friday evening there last night. After sundown I saw that they only had four kerosene lanterns for the area. Ruth told me the other day. For the deaf "No light, No Talk". I took over my largest borehole camera light. It put out twice as much light as one of the lanterns. The pastor from Lagos was having a discussion with two young men. The light made the conversation much easier.

Later the Cathedral turned on its old generator for their Good Friday night service. The service went from 9 PM until after 1 am. They had a Good Friday morning service from 9AM to Noon. With the generator working I went back to the house to plug and recharge my computer. Instead, I decided to take it back to the Centre and show the video of the camera going down the borehole. I had tried to explain what the light was used for but some of the young men did not understand. So I showed them the video and they understood better. Then I turned on the Galludet Dictionary and we spent the next hour looking at signs until my battery ran dead. We went to plug it in but found that there were people sleeping in the office where the only plugs were. The old generator is not as powerful at the new generator. With all the amps and lights at the Cathedral the voltage is too low to run the refrigerator. The compressor starts and runs. But does little cooling before it overheats and shuts down.

Today I got a ride to the big Luka Market over by the Police round about. I bought enough AA batteries to make a 12volt battery pack and connected it to the three 12 volt Ikea LED lights I brought with me in hopes of connecting them the solar cell at Bali.

This afternoon the Deaf Camp had a lesson on Marriage. Most of the participants are young 20 somethings and only a few are married. The pastor from a local Lutheran Church was giving the message with an interpreter. He was also using some sign as he spoke. As the deaf pastor was speaking as the next speaker I realized I was hearing sounds from the church sound system so I returned to the house to finish this blog posting. I will go over to the deaf camp this evening and will attend Easter Services with them tomorrow.

The Cook and her daughter preparing the Okra for the Good Friday Evening meal.

I have been overeating yesterday and today. I had dinner last night at the Deaf Centre. For lunch today they sent over a huge plate of food while I was building the battery pack. Now a bowl of boiled yams with a sauce just showed up. Between the chicken and rice Thursday in Dingai and all these meals this is more than I have been eating in a week. When I have been going to restaurants with Yakubu he would order the traditional Nigerian meals and I stuck with rice and chicken or spaghetti. Now I am eating the traditional meals.

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