Tiny Sunbirds Far Away

For those of you interested in the travelogue side of things, I’m now in Nevada with the family, having driven down from Salt Lake City to Bryce Canyon on Tuesday and then arrived in Las Vegas via the Grand Canyon today. All a bit surreal in some ways –  visiting unbelievably spectacular scenery at Bryce and Grand Canyons during the day, and then on to the unbelievably ostentatious brashness and loudness of Vegas for the night. I know which I prefer, but it is an integral part of this bit of US, and we were just passing through!!!!

Anyway, I’ve just finished reading a book that I would like to recommend to anyone interested in life in Africa, or specifically Nigeria. Entitled ‘Tiny Sunbirds Far Away’ and written by Christie Watson, it tells the story of a Nigerian family through the voice of the 12 year old daughter, and charts their journey through life as it becomes impacted by the father having an adulterous relationship, and the subsequent fall from grace for the mother and children who have to return to the rural home of the maternal grandparents.

As the story progresses, we get insights into many aspects of life in rural Nigeria, some of which I recognize from my travels to other African countries, and some of which are unique to Nigeria.

Set in modern day Nigeria, it covers issues such as access to education for children in poverty, realities of living in a rural setting and the massive contrasts with urban life, female genital mutilation, practices of traditional birth attendants and medicine, impact of rural faith systems, polygamy, and the issues surrounding the impact of the Nigerian oil industry that is run by Western companies but so acutely affects local economies, politics, and ways of life.

It’s certainly a thought-provoking book, and has a good mix of humour, reflective moments, and some sad times. I found it to be very hard to put down once I’d got going, and I hope that others of you who have a love of Africa will get as much pleasure from reading it as I did.

Trips do benefit the local partners

Over the many years I’ve been involved with short-term overseas trips, I’ve had lots of conversations with people about the impact of such trips. Some people are very positive about them, and can see how such experiences are good for participants and local projects alike. Others can be more skeptical about the benefits of short-term trips to the local project, see the trips as only bringing a feel-good factor to those who go, and feel that it would be better for the money raised to take part in the trip as being given directly to the partner. And then of course there is every opinion in between those two extremes.

Over the past couple of days I’ve received a number of e-mails which, between them, reinforce the fact that the trips do benefit the local projects, and not just the participants. So for any folks out there who are skeptical about short-term trips, I hope that the following helps to prompt them to review their thoughts.

The first e-mail was from the Women at Risk office in Addis Ababa. I had e-mailed them with an evaluation form for them to fill out regarding the recent team that went out there, and I received the completed form the other day. They had some very useful insights into how we could improve next time, so I know they were being honest, and not just saying what they thought we wanted to hear. The final question asked what, if any, benefits the team had brought to their project, and I was very encouraged to see a number listed, including:

1. Creativity, fun, love for others.

2. Experience sharing

3. Relationship building

4. Language and communication skill development

5. Art and crafts, lessons

6. Identify their talent and capacity

And chance to refresh and play because as you had seen they have no chance getting the game materials or the space to play and have fun.

7. Home visit and one-to-one chat with the children has left a great impact both on the children and on us because it has showed them that you are not here to just take a picture, play and live but you care, listen, understand  and share their pain and emotions, it  really meant much  more than you can imagine .                                                

The other e-mails that I received related to team members wishing to continue to support one or more of the young people in the Women at Risk project and I am currently liaising with the relevant staff at W.A.R to determine how best to do this.

Both the evaluation report from the staff, and the e-mails from team members, reinforce the fact that the local project benefits. From resources and new ideas for the staff, to the positive message we were able to impart to the families we visited, to the longer term support now available for some of the most needy families – all of this wouldn’t have happened if our team hadn’t gone out there and spent a week getting involved with the project and having their hearts broken and lives transformed.

I know I will continue to have conversations with people who are skeptical about the trips, but through experience as above, and first-hand endorsements from local partners, I have plenty of gentle ammunition to fight back with.

Blessed is the one who considers the poor (Psalm 41 v 1a)

I had a lovely moment of realization today about the truth of Psalm 41 v 1a. We were out with our friends from Utah, boating in a reservoir near to Salt Lake City, up in the foothills of the Rockies. The surroundings were beautiful, with mountains rising up around us, and variably blue skies or fascinating cloud formations. Whilst some of the group were enjoying tubing and wake-boarding, I sat at the front of the boat, enjoying the views, the sun, and the relaxing time.

At first I felt guilty about having such a good time, as I thought of people like Gasha, Free, Tukano and the street kids in Rwanda. ‘They never get opportunities like this’ was all I could think, and I wondered if it was OK to be enjoying myself whilst so many in the world are not. How I would love to find a way to let some of those guys experience some of what I had today.

But then I remembered the first line of Psalm 41, and my thought process moved on to recognizing that it is OK, and that indeed today was a blessing from God. Just because I have met with the poor, and have their stories in my mind, doesn’t mean I have to be sad on their behalf all the time. God wants us to have good times, especially when we spend time ‘considering the poor’ in various ways.

I’d still love to find more ways to bless those who have so little, and will continue to have that as my life aim, but in the meantime having taken that on board my thought for today, I got in the water with the others, smiling and laughing, and thanking God for life.

Am hoping and praying that the rest of the CRED teams, who also considered the poor, are feeling equally blessed.

Youth speaks: Sam's story

It’s the weekend, so it’s a ‘youth speaks’ blog and the chance to hear from one of the young people I’ve taken out on a trip this year.

It’s a real privilege to be part of these trips with young people, and to witness the life-transforming effect that the trips have. It’s one of the great aspects of the CRED team trips, as they go and get involved in voluntary work, learn about life in that country, get inspired by the projects and return to the UK with a renewed or even new focus on life.

Today’s blog tells the story of one young man who came on a recent trip to Uganda. I’ll call him Sam, for confidentiality reasons, and after a bit of background about him and his life circumstances, will give his thoughts on the impacts of the trip, both immediately and then a few months later.

Sam has a younger brother, 4 years his junior, who has foetal alcoholic syndrome and ADHD. He also has an older sister. His mother is an alcoholic and Sam’s only memory of her is when she was drunk and bringing home a different man each night.

When Sam was age 5, he and his siblings were removed from the mother’s care and went to live with the grandmother; they stayed there for 5 years until grandma had an emergency health scare with her liver resulting in sudden hospitalization. Sam and his siblings then went to stay with his maternal uncle who opted to foster them long-term, so as to ensure they stayed within the family. They have been with the uncle, and his male partner ever since, although Sam’s sister has now moved out and lives independently.

Sam, who has had about 20 social workers in his time, has been cited many times as a success story regarding fostering as he has never been in trouble and has done well at school. He progressed through the education system in the regular fashion, and has just completed year 13. He has a conditional offer at University to study Educational Studies and Physical Education and will be the first person in his family to go to University

When chatting about the Uganda trip, the highlight was knowing that the team have potentially made a change for the better in the lives of some children, and that they can continue to help when get they home through financial support of projects and raising awareness.

Sam spoke of chatting to lad at a street kids centre where we helped out for a week, and the lad had said how he really wants to be able to go to school again. Sam was able to do some worksheets with him and help him with some educational input and at the end of the day the lad came up to say goodbye and Sam used the chance to really encourage him in keeping on trying to get back to school – ‘it felt good to be able to have the chance to encourage him in that way’.

‘I just feel so so lucky to be here doing this’

At the end of the trip, Sam summed up how he thought the trip had changed him: ‘the way I think about things, what people need in life and the path I’m going to take – all that is changing in me, and in the way I think’.

He’d like to get on another trip like this one so that he can continue to change lives in such a positive way.

Three months later, I met up with Sam and we chatted about what the longer-term impacts of the trip had been.  Here are his thoughts:

The lasting change this trip has made to my life is that I should make the most of what I have, be happy with what I have, and value life, because I’ve seen children living on the streets. When I look back to myself months before the trip, moaning to my uncle I wanted my room decorating, I feel really disappointed in my behaviour. This trip has taught me a lot of things and changed the way I look at certain things. This trip will forever be in my memory and it won't be my last trip. The trip gave me a hunger to help and get back over there. Every little bit of work we put into the build up seemed effortless when we got out there because we realised that how they live is tough, we have it easy!

When I asked him what changes his family has seen in him, he responded thus:

My uncles saw that I was a lot less wasteful! Whether this be electricity, food or water I would not waste like I did previous to the trip. I was a lot more thankful for what they had done for me, I appreciated them and what we had more because I know families in Uganda have next to nothing and are fighting to survive. It just made me realise how lucky I am to have a home, a healthy life, and a loving family. He was happy that I saw what I had because he knew that I had changed my behaviour and mind set.

Finally I asked Sam how did he see the trip having any further impact on his life, and this was his reply:

This trip has made me hungry to go on another trip just because I know we have made a change to people lives for the better. Also I think when I am older and I have children when they are a similar age to me I would try and persuade them to be a part of a trip like this because it changes how you act and think. It's the perfect opportunity to find yourself and realise where you want to be later on in life; and a trip like this makes you want to keep on working till you succeed.

 Well done Sam! A great team member, and may the impacts live on in you.