Arewa Aid

WE HAVE MOVED TO OUR NEW BLOG HOME

2008-03-03T10:56:00.000-08:00

We have moved to our new Blog Home! Be sure to change your bookmarks when you arrive at the new location.

This Blog location will remain online as an archive of past articles by Brad and Jen, but no new material will be posted here. So CLICK HERE to be taken to the new AREWA AID Blog.

AIMING TO AID THE ALMAJIRAI

2008-02-29T07:10:00.001-08:00

The INTERCEP office in Borno State is located near the city center of Maiduguri with a lot of daily traffic. This includes a daily parade of the almajirai (Hausa for “disciples”) stopping in front of our front door. They stand momentarily to view themselves in our sliding glass door that serves as a mirror. They hold their plastic bowls making faces, dancing, and cleaning themselves. Most guests get quite a kick out of observing the behavior of these boys pausing to have a little fun.

Nevertheless, there is really nothing funny about the life of these boys between the ages of 5 and 15. During our first 4 ½ years living in Jos and Maiduguri, we failed to even recognize the plight of these lads by psychologically lumping them in with the “beggars.” It took the February 18, 2006 Maiduguri crisis where people were killed, church structures were burned, and businesses were destroyed to inquire about the cause. As I was beginning my course work at the University of Maiduguri in sociology (criminology), the dilemma of the almajirai was often highlighted. During this time, Jen would casually employ these youngsters in our home to watch with shock as they would “inhale” any food given.

As my master’s thesis professor connected me with the premier research on almajiranci (Hausa for “discipleship”) in northwestern Nigeria, the themes of itinerancy, seasonal migration, and dry-season idleness kept recurring. At the same time, we were struggling to mobilize the INTERCEP drip irrigation farm at Pompomari. This created a passion to reduce the level of migration among these migrant malamai (Hausa for “teachers”) followed by their seasonal almajirai. This concept caused me sleepless nights as I pondered over the agricultural roots of this entire system. Rather than creating a greater burden on the teeming urban centers, it merely appeared logical to relieve this load by encouraging the malamai and almajirai to remain in their villages through dry season farming.

The events rehearsed above led to the recent drip irrigation workshop for Borno youth on February 18-22, 2008. In 2007, the Borno Youth Empowerment Forum (BYEF) invited me to participate in their new NGO coalition further requesting me to be their president. Thus, when the difficult challenge of courting the malamai to bring their almajirai for drip irrigation training, two prominent educators serving with BYEF proved to be our greatest recruiters. The skepticism of the malamai was blatantly obvious on the workshop’s first day but their uncertainty turned to joy as we constructed our first compost. Each malam personally met me to emphasize how grateful they were and how much they hoped for this training to continue in their tsangaya (Hausa for “Quranic schools”).

Nonetheless, the highlight of the week was the participation of 2 almajirai: Abu-Bakr and Muhammadu. These 2 boys worked tirelessly each day, ate heartily during lunch, and listened intently to the Hausa translation to pick up every little bit of insight on drip irrigation. Each of these lads wore the same clothes every day showing up promptly at 8:30AM to receive the day’s instruction. INTERCEP really hopes to visit these 2 youngsters in their tsangaya to monitor their progress in not only drip irrigation but life. As the Messiah intimated, “Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all---he is the greatest.”

FOR MORE PICTURES CLICK HERE

CAMEL HUMPS AND CRIMINAL THUMPS

2008-02-28T08:08:00.000-08:00

As we serve in the northern Nigerian context, we experience “mountaintop” moments, “the valley of the shadow of death”, and everything in between. Traveling within northern Nigeria is always an adventure as Dave Goolsby, Randall McAdams, and I witnessed on Saturday, February 23, 2008. We began our approximately 6 hour journey at 6:30AM from Maiduguri hoping to reach Kano at midday. Nigerian highways are a far cry from Interstate 40 with clearly marked exits, self-service filling stations, and drive-through restaurants. In fact, the Nigerian driver has to always be aware of: 1) uneven road conditions; 2) potholes; 3) slow vehicles traveling less than 30mph; 4) police checkpoints; 5) market days at roadside villages creating long traffic jams.

The long sojourn from Maiduguri to Kano has none of the scenic beauty of the Smokies, Rockies, or the mighty Mississippi. It is purely a redundant scene of sand, cows, scrub-brush, goats, and thatched villages. The only unique tree is the rugged baobab (“Kuka” in Hausa) that legend asserts were demons thrown from heaven landing upside down. As we stop to refuel, we are normally met by a line of vehicles forcing us to wait patiently to fill our tank. Therefore, the eyes of travelers are always gazing through the scrub-brush to find any unique image.

Fortunately, Dave, Randall, and I found such an “eye-popping” portrait in Bulkachuwa, Bauchi State as we witnessed a herd of camels. This caravan was beginning a 7 day journey from northern Nigeria into Niger at their village of origin. These Niger indigenes were extremely friendly communicating with me in Hausa. They even allowed Randall to ride a camel which led to him buying a local ax off of their leader. This was such an exotic experience for a couple of Westerners who have never been able to encounter a camel caravan in the open range.
From this “peak”, we entered Kano in the early afternoon sharing a nice lunch together. What occurred after this was absolutely unpredictable but entirely sensible to one having traveled Nigeria’s urban thoroughfares.

Randall was sitting in the back passenger side of my vehicle with his camera lightly resting on his right knee. As we were waiting at a major intersection, we shockingly heard someone screaming, “WHY DO YOU WANT TO SNAP ME?” From then, a crippled young man on a rectangular skateboard pulled himself through Randall’s window to swipe the camera. In the process, not only did he smash the camera but whacked Randall’s elbow and face. Thankfully, Randall understood how to handle himself in a third-world context and refused to be baited into a retaliatory scene. As the street hawkers gathered around the paraplegic, they attempted to calm him but he successfully dented my vehicle with one last swipe as we drove away.

In the second chapter of the second letter to Corinth, our Master reminds us to be aware of our adversary’s schemes. We are grateful to the Most Merciful for preparing Randall to handle himself with such grace in this ugly scene. This event merely reminds us of the darkness that prevails over northern Nigeria’s largest city (7 million). Our prayer is that the Holy One will prime us for attacks from the evil one that are yet to come. The light of the Most Compassionate shines brightest in the darkest corners.

WAY UP OVER MY HEAD

2008-02-27T12:15:00.001-08:00

I remember as a kid traveling from Arkansas into Texas and seeing water towers dot the landscape. Every little Texas town had its own water tower with the local high school mascot emblazoned. This was a symbol of honor to every small Texas community even after the tower was no longer used for water. In Americana, the tallest structure is always a symbol of identity to that locale whether it’s the Sears Tower, Empire State Building, or former World Trade Center. Therefore, every tiny Texas municipality prided itself on these emblematic overhead reservoirs.

During the food preservation workshop for Borno women from February 11-15, 2008, the INTERCEP overhead water tank was constructed. After several consultations with our architect, solar engineer, and farm manager, we agreed on a height of 7 meters. On two occasions, inferior iron bars were brought to the Pompomari farm site for construction. Thankfully, Ebenezer Udofia was there to immediately reject these substandard materials. Poverty stricken contexts are known for using low-grade equipment which cannot withstand the test of time.

As Dave Goolsby and Randall McAdams observed the welder bonding the galvanized steel pipes together, his work demonstrated quality craftsmanship. As the pipe structure was set upright, everyone began to be in awe of the welder’s handiwork. Eventually, the pipe framework was positioned into 6 deep holes and carefully cemented to insure its durability. As the wooden planks were laid on top of the pipe rectangle, it was difficult to keep the workshop trainee’s attention. Then, the 6,000 liter plastic tanks were carefully lifted on to the wooden planks which could be seen from a kilometer away.

Now that the drilling of our INTERCEP farm borehole is nearly completed, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our solar accessories in mid-March from the United Kingdom. Once the solar equipment is installed, we are excited about the steady flow of water that will supply these overhead tanks for our drip irrigation farm. Additionally, we are enthusiastic about converting our current ground reservoir into a fishery. The nutrients from this fish pond will equally supplement the Borno sandy soil with needed trace elements. Yet possibly the greatest effect from these water tanks will be the thirsty Pompomari citizenry who will gather to fetch their “cup of cold water.”

The Almighty discusses how an illuminated city set on a hill cannot be hidden. This is the sheer visual impact of these plastic overhead tanks on the Pompomari community. Not only does it tell the neighborhood that we care about their need for water but that we hope to share the Water of Life. One of our Wulari shepherds recently suggested that both the Arewa Aid and Healing Hand’s logos should appear on these overhead tanks. Our ultimate hope is that as the local indigenes look overhead that they will look to the One from whom our help comes.

FORMING FRIENDSHIPS THROUGH FOOD PRESERVATION

2008-02-27T06:04:00.000-08:00

Cackling women having a blast under a tent in the dusty harmattan of Maiduguri. This was the scene during INTERCEP’s inaugural food preservation workshop from February 11-15, 2008. At first there was a bit of timidity in warming up to the concept on a workshop designed to prevent food spoilage. However, after Ruth Gadzama began sharing the first concept of cooling food underground via a clay pot within a clay pot, these reserved women became rowdy with glee. Every day a new concept was being introduced that could really revolutionize their world if they could make it affordable, practical, simple, and sustainable.

On Day 2, solar dryers were set out under the hot late morning and early afternoon Borno sun demonstrating how to dry tomatoes, pineapples, and peppers. Most of the women attending continued to be amused, laugh, and tease each other about trying this at home to show that it really works. Questions abounded concerning the practicality of this method. It was continually revealed that with due diligence, attention to hygiene, and observation, one could easily dry and experience the same taste with “leathered” foods. Barriers were being broken down as women continued to share ideas, crack jokes, and discuss potential means of carrying this simple method to rural women.

Smoking was the topic of Day 3 and Randall McAdams worked to construct a small smokehouse for these women to envision how they might replicate this in their own homes. This is frequently practiced in the southern part of Borno State but the indigenes of central Borno and northern Borno have yet to see its value. As Randall kept the temperature at 170F, the aroma was so appealing to all onlookers that they preferred gathering around the smokehouse rather than the tent. When the meat was finally placed in the center of the smokehouse, every woman was licking her chops waiting to get a sampling of this deliciously smell. Any skepticism as to the usefulness of this workshop had evaporated, as women from different faiths, languages, and tribes were thoroughly interacting in casual conversation.

Day 4 presented a perspective in canning foods in water, salt, vinegar, and other solutions allowing some vegetables to be preserved for months at a time. Several jars holding the vegetables and preservation solution were placed over an open fire displaying pressure cooking. One jar even shattered under the high temperature allowing us to exhibit the need for proper seals on glass jars. Around mid-day, it was difficult to gather most of the women back under the tent because everyone wanted to make sure that pictures properly captured the memories. All of the ladies knew that the workshop would soon come to an end and wanted to savor the moment.

The last day was a time of celebration as different foods were tasted, certificates were presented, and everyone left with special gifts. On evaluation of this week, many Borno State women left with a tremendous feeling of satisfaction about the work of INTERCEP in northeastern Nigeria. Additionally, we have learned how to downsize the scope of this workshop to focus on a few simple methods of food preservation. Also, we witnessed a transformation of many of the women who were reluctant to mix and mingle with other women from divergent religions, ethnic groups, and languages. The cumulative effect of this positive feedback cannot be measured as the impact of compassionate service to lift up Messiah continues to burn in the memories of nearly 100 Borno women.

DRIP IRRIGATION DEEPENS INFLUENTIAL DEVELOPMENT

2008-02-26T08:37:00.000-08:00

INTERCEP’s 2nd drip irrigation workshop from February 18-22, 2008 in Maiduguri, Borno State targeted the indigenous people at the grassroots level. Our hope was to train the “almajirai” (disciples) who often beg the streets scavenging for food. However, to access the “almajirai”, one has to first seek the approval of the “malamai” (teachers) in their “tsangaya” (Quranic school). Therefore, we equally invited a number of “malamai” along with their “almajirai” to insure that everyone was comfortable with the training arrangement. One graduate professor at the University of Maiduguri in sociology also encouraged me to invite some of the parents of these “almajirai” from distant villages which we did.

To additionally encourage the participation of the “almajirai”, we requested for the assistance of the Borno Youth Empowerment Forum (BYEF) in recruiting these “malamai”. BYEF is a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) in Borno State committed to launching self-help services that will decrease the rate of unemployment among Borno youth. 2 of the members are close friends of mine: 1) Bulama Abiso, who is a principal of government primary school; 2) Ahmad Shehu, who is a lecturer in the College of Agriculture in Maiduguri. Bulama and Shehu were absolutely instrumental in securing the permission of these “malamai” not only to allow their “almajirai” to attend but to insurance their participation along with parental involvement. Other groups invited to attend were 10 members of BYEF, 6 proclaimers of Messiah from southern Borno, and 3 members of the Wulari youth group.

On the first day of the workshop, the caution, reservation, and timidity could be witnessed throughout the tent. However, everyone sat up to take notice as the Hausa translation kicked in to the key elements of successful farming: 1) sun (rana); 2) water (ruwa); 3) air (iska); 4) soil (kasa); 5) animals (dabobi). Finally at the end of the first day as we entered the field to gathering composting materials, every person felt a measure of accomplishment. On the 2nd day as we began constructing our compost heaps, all eyes were gathered around the manure, kitchen scraps, and green vegetation. As we raised our first plant beds by the end of the 2nd day, all participations could easily harmonize the interaction between composting and the new beds.

On the third day, the “malamai” began approaching me concerning extending INTERCEP’s drip irrigation training into their “tsangaya”. The drip irrigation kits began to be constructed on the newly raised beds and the joy of all trainees was uncontainable. Discussions broke out everywhere concerning forming a “Cooperative Society for Drip Irrigation.” On the fourth day, tender care was taken to carefully transplant our seedlings into the newly raised beds to the excitement of all participants. Later that evening, I was approached by a group of proclaimers from southern Borno State concerning the integration of drip irrigation and curriculum development in their school.

Nevertheless, the greatest highlight of the week was the graduate ceremony at 11:00AM on Friday when we called out the “almajirai.” There were 2 special “almajirai” of note who couldn’t have been more than 10 years old, without their parents, but worked tirelessly throughout the week. As I uttered the name of 1 little “almajiri” boy, “Muhammadu”, the entire tent was almost blown off the stakes with the volume of applause, jubilation, and shouting. “Muhammadu” represented what INTERCEP’s 2nd drip irrigation workshop was all about: empowerment of “the least of these.” We will never forget the seed planted in little “Muhammadu” and “Muhammadu” will never forget the seed of faith planted in him.

(Muhammadu is pictured above)

BIG HOPE OVER BORE HOLE

2008-02-26T08:25:00.000-08:00

The thirst for water can never be overemphasized in the semi-arid climate of Borno State. As I was traveling back from Kano to Maiduguri on Sunday, I noticed a bore hole and overhead tank in one village. Dozens of young men pushing carts with plastic cans line up to wait their turn to fill their receptacles with this precious liquid. As I continued driving from at least 1 to 3 kilometers, I kept seeing one cart after another being pushed to and from this village bore hole. If this much water is being pushed around in February from this distant bore hole, how much more will be consumed during the excruciating heat of March, April, and May!

On February 21, 2008, Zarma Water Services began drilling at the INTERCEP Pompomari farm site in Maiduguri. This caused quite a commotion during Day 4 of our food security workshop for Borno youth. However, Dave Goolsby used the background noise of the initial drilling to inspire hope in the trainees concerning the success of drip irrigation farming. The drillers from Zarma Water Services worked late that night to meet their goal of hitting the first artesian aquifer. To our surprise, on Friday after the workshop’s conclusion, they hit the first aquifer at 30 meters!

Nevertheless, as I traveled to Kano with Dave Goolsby and Randall McAdams on Saturday, Ebenezer Udofia reported that the Zarma drillers hit the second artesian aquifer at 42 meters! By the time that I arrived back in Maiduguri on Sunday, the drillers had hit the third aquifer at 62 meters! Then on Monday morning, they hit the fourth aquifer at 70 meters guaranteeing a steady supply of water for many years! They are now installing the 5” casing and screen into the bored hole to create a chamber for the PVC pipe. All along, one of our trainees at the August 2007 workshop, Ibrahim Ngamdu, was present to insure the quality of the project.

This is so thrilling to our farm manager, Ebenezer, that he is anxious to start supplementing the drip irrigation project with livestock after his marriage in early April. Our first target is to convert the existing water reservoir into a fishery with 200 fingerlings. Ebenezer testifies that the lucrative nature of Nigerian fisheries cannot be underestimated. Our farm assistants, Ephraim and Justina Tsesar, are equally thrilled to have a continuous water source to supply the drip buckets for vegetable production. Finally, our days of thrice weekly purchases of tankers to deliver water to the farm are nearing an end.

Also, we are looking forward to connecting a pipe from the newly completed overhead tanks to the outside of the wall. This will enable Pompomari residents to access clean drinking water during daylight hours. The hottest months of the year are just around the corner as we enter March, April, and May. This means that nomadic Fulani herders of cattle, goats, and sheep will be making regular pilgrimages through Pompomari in western Maiduguri to find greener grass in southern Borno state. This external pipe supplying water to the world outside our farm will be a witness to the amazing grace of the Almighty!

The Morale Boost of Visitors

2008-02-09T04:16:00.000-08:00

Africa regards the elderly in high esteem. To have 2 older men sitting with me at a bore hole negotiation is a huge asset. The presence of Dave Goolsby and Randall McAdams has been unbelievable here over the past week. We are finally beginning to solve our water problem at the Pompomari drip irrigation farm because we have a well. This project is no longer about one person but about an entire community benefiting because of the assistance of older qualified personnel.

When we go for our Saturday workdays out at the farm, there is always advice-sharing that occurs. However, when Brother Dave speaks everybody listens and our conventional wisdom is put in perspective. This again gives us a tremendous advantage as we approach people in the community who revere gray hair. One can never underestimate the presence of sages from a far country who come for technical support. Without the presence of Healing Hands personnel, INTERCEP would look like an operation run by local yokels.

Our house has been a beehive of activity this week with 7 expatriates but truly we have loved every minute of it. Our children wake up every morning with such joy that they can play with Uncle Randall. We have been blessed by the Greek cuisine of Eleni Merrylitou. The playful nature of Alissa Merrit has given our kids something to look forward to when they get home from school. All of our little ones are ever-ready for a tickle from Uncle Dave.

This team of 7 from Healing Hands is just the beginning of groups that may comes for a mutual learning experience in agriculture. Even if just 1 or 2 expatriates can pop into Maiduguri from time to time, the impact from their moral support is immeasurable. Just to sit down with Brenda McVey and hear about her 20 years of experience serving in Ghana is awe-inspiring. Taking Dr. Willa Finley out to the farm to hear her wisdom on methods of preventing pests is thought-provoking. Listening to Janice Goolsby's tips of food preservation could mesmerize one for hours on end.

What are we saying? PLEASE COME VISIT US IN MAIDUGURI! The impact of a 2 week stay really lifts us up for weeks after you're gone. Please plan your trip now to visit in 2008 or 2009. Your faith will be strengthened and you will strengthen our morale.

Agriculture Activated with Altruistic Assistants

2008-02-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

Today I was informed about another agricultural project in another part of Nigeria that has become a field of weeds. This is like most capital-intensive ventures that start with pomp and circumstance in Africa. Europeans come and announce that they are going to invest thousands of Euro to create a self-sustaining work that will benefit the masses. After they foreigners leave, the funding is handed over to seemingly trustworthy people who are instantly pressurized by their local families. Before the grandiose plans can be actualized, all of the revenue has been exhausted to relieve immediate suffering bankrupting the program.

INTERCEP’s agricultural project at Maiduguri, Borno State in northeastern Nigeria is progressing because of committed personnel. Enough credit cannot be given to the INTERCEP executive agricultural administrator, Ebenezer Udofia, for handling himself with absolute integrity. When a leak emerged in our water reservoir, he immediately assumed full responsibility for the challenge and resolved to correct the problem from his work fund. Only when the problem became intolerable, did he come to the INTERCEP office in Maiduguri and request additional funding to permanently correct the leakage. He additionally handled a delicate conflict between a couple of believers with maximum grace to insure that the same conflict from a year ago did not re-emerge.

Justina Tsesar and her husband, Ephraim Tsesar, are 2 highly reliable farm maintenance assistants at the INTERCEP Maiduguri site. They arrive early in the morning to see that all crops are watered by 7:00AM and insure that the drip irrigation is functioning optimally. They build trellises for vine crops that enables their maximum growth so that each fruit gets adequate sunlight. They create additional space for compost fertilizer to supplement the plant beds so that crops receive the nutrition needed. Finally, they tenderly care for the young seedlings that are planted in the starter beds like a mother nursing her children so that transplantation is an effortless task.

Last year, INTERCEP requested the services of a caretaker that gave little effort and begged for large sums of money. This year, we have personnel that could make much more money working in other economic sectors but choose to work among fellow disciples. From September through November of last year, much money was wasted on crops that never grew, water that was never administered properly, and compost fertilizer that was never correctly applied. This year, we can go to sleep every night knowing that the principles in the Healing Hands food security manual are being followed to specifications. Investing in quality human capital is not a small investment and we’ve learned that human resources of integrity are absolutely priceless.

Altruism is a word not often used that carries the connotation of selflessness, sacrifice, and pursuit of a goal behind personal gain. These humble servants of the Almighty understand these concepts and are therefore able to actualize them on the farm because they are already at plan in their lives.

Please continue to pray that the One who grants harvest will raise up these type of workers to go out into the harvest fields to gather the abundant harvest awaiting us. In the meantime, we will continue to serve with these unselfish servants and spread the news that working for the benefit of others brings glory to the Creator of heaven and earth. This message resonates with those who seeking a religion of true monotheism not one that only recites His oneness but demonstrates that compassionate altruism.

Entrusting Trust with the Trustees

2008-02-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

There is probably not any word that can be overstated in human relationships more than trust. Trust is what a marriage is built on without it a husband and wife cannot dwell in unity. Trust is what banks leave with their customers as their credibility rides on their handling of money. When a Muslim mother in Maiduguri left her son with us, she openly announced that she was handing him over to us as an “AMANA” (which in Hausa is “trust”). You can’t trust anybody and the circle of people that one builds around them must carry this single abiding factor of trust.

The board of the International Centre for Peace, Charities, and Human Development (INTERCEP) in Jos has been more than “trustees” to the Blake family for a long time. The Executive Director, Clement Iornongu, and I served on a television program for nearly 3 years discussing issues of faith. Clement’s wife, Onyinye Iornongu, is a humble serving in Jos running a primary for orphans and underprivileged children. Our best friend in all of Nigeria is Dr. Dimis Mai-Lafia who singlehandedly brought us back into Nigerian in August of 2004 and has seen to our long-term strategy for serve here ever since. The final member of this magnanimous team is Barrister Tinna Muhammad who is a powerful lawyer, gentle servant, and has a compassionate heart for the poor masses.

Last weekend, we held an INTERCEP trustee board meeting with Jen and me to clarify the developing relationship between Arewa Aid, INTERCEP, and the Wulari believers. It was a meeting that we had all been longing for because we had never had a full meeting with the entire trustees assembled and ourselves. The meeting actually arose because parameters in the interrelationship between all three parties needed to be clearly defined. The conclusion of the meeting allowed us to define the roadmap forward allowing decisions to be enacted with the consideration of all parties in view. We are hoping that this meeting will only prompt other meetings to be held on a consistent basis to keep all stakeholders in complete participation.

Today we conducted a meeting with the INTERCEP executive director, Barrister Clement, and the leadership among the Wulari disciples. It allowed the headquarters of INTERCEP in Jos to express some apprehension concerning demands of the Wulari followers. However, the Wulari believers were able to share their concerns with INTERCEP that continuity always be the focus. Before 2008, INTERCEP in Maiduguri was merely Brad and Comfort at the office addressed No. A9 Open Air Theatre. Now, INTERCEP has grown to a team of 7 members serving at the agricultural project and the office in Maiduguri town creating the infrastructure for continuity.

This trust created between INTERCEP and the Wulari disciples lays the groundwork for other partners like Arewa Aid and Healing Hands to strategically partner. With the local Nigerian NGO and local followers working in perfect harmony, our US stakeholders can share resources, manpower, and expertise to accomplish the goals of: 1) agricultural development; 2) rural health care; 3) skill acquisition for the unemployed; 4) educational development for the poorest children; 5) empowering proclaimers with compassionate tools. This allows us to consider other subsidiary development areas that we have to fully implement like food preservation, livestock production, and well drilling. Where there are other strategic partners, there will be additional wisdom to craft the long-term vision of serving the world’s poorest with compassionate proclamation. Nevertheless, this can only be accomplished through a partnership with truly, trustworthy trustees.

The Cheapest in the World

2008-02-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

When I heard these words from the head of the department of radiology at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) attached to his fee for an MRI, I conjured up so many meanings. I knew that he meant that one could not find a $385 MRI done at any hospital anywhere else in the world. Yet, knowing Nigeria, another meaning that I subscribed to was the cheapest “quality” MRI in the world. Still, considering our context, another connotation was that it be performed with the “cheapest” MRI technicians in the world. At that point, I just wanted my knee to get under the Magnetic Resonance Image (MRI) device and discover the real “bone of contention.”

I first consulted with the radiology department at UMTH about their MRI just after Christmas and we booked an appointment for the beginning of January. 10 days later I was under the MRI for 40 minutes listening to the magnets “grind away” to capture resonant images of my knee. By the next week, the head of radiology, Dr. Ahidjo, insisted that they had to perform another MRI on my left knee for free. Now I wondered if they didn’t get it right the first time, the images weren’t clear, or they just enjoyed looking at “Bature” (European) knees. However, the second MRI on my left knee a couple of weeks later was uneventful and we hoped would give us a comprehensive picture.

When we finally received the CD, hard copies, and analysis from the radiology head, Dr. Eni (deacon among Wulari believers) recommended that I begin a series of six injections in my right knee called Synject, begin arthritis long-term medicine called ArthoCare, and take consistent anti-inflammatory. The MRI showed some cartilage degeneration in my right knee due to a bone spur but very little damage to my left knee. However, after receiving the first Synject in my right knee, my entire right leg began swelling up at the knee and ankle. After a week of unmitigated left leg swelling, Dr. Eni decided to now inject the swollen left knee with Synject. Only a couple of days after this left knee injection, I was forced to lie down on our bed for 3 days without movement due to severe pain in my left knee, left calf, and left ankle.

Just yesterday, Dr. Eni decided to synergistically supplement the Synject with a steroid called Kenalog and the relief was pronounced. Although my left knee is still tight, the flexibility is returning and I’m hopeful for a better range of movement in a couple of days. My right knee will receive another Synject injection today with the hope that cumulative shots will create restoration in the synovial membrane surrounding the knee. All of this highlights that life is short, our bodies are frail, we cannot take tomorrow for granted, and our need to make the most of today. An old friend in the Memphis inner city ministry used to tell me, “sometimes brother the Lord has to lay you down …”

Ultimately we are not in control of anything and our lives are totally in the hands of our Creator. MRI’s, injections, arthritic drugs, anti-inflammatory, and orthopedic doctors are tremendous blessing but they are not ultimately the healers. I’m always reminding when walking through the hospital that 99% of the people there are in far worse condition than me. This only drives me to the belief that we need health care mobilized in rural areas for the poorest villagers. The cheapest medical care in the world must be coupled together with the message of the costly sacrifice of the Gentle Healer.

What Exactly?

2008-01-12T09:36:00.001-08:00

I have recently been appointed as International Marketing Coordinator for INTERCEP. So I asked, what exactly is my job? The answer, “Anything pertaining to that which effects marketing and sales.” Oh. That clears things up.
So, I’m doing a little bit of this and a little bit more of that. Mostly right now I am scrambling to get our stuff in gear for the upcoming workshops in February.
Being the first month of the New Year, I have just received my first salary. It is gone already! It went to make seven new doors for our boy’s quarters (B. Q.) where Ebenezer, our new Executive Agricultural Administrator, will be staying until his new house is ready on our farm land. Presently he is staying in our guest room until the B. Q. is ready.
I appreciate the opportunity to use some of my gifts other that wifing and mothering for a change. Not that I don’t love doing those two things. I do. I also appreciate the salary so that I can contribute to the household economy.
Pray for me. Off I go on this new adventure.
Jen

If You Can't Stand The Heat ...

2008-01-12T08:30:00.000-08:00

I used to love Billy Joel growing up. One of my favorite songs was "You've got to learn to face yourself ... PRESSURE ... you're just like everybody else ... PRESSURE." For those of you who followed the pop icon of the 70's & 80's you know what I mean. I also loved to play the position of point guard on my elementary, junior high, & high school basketball teams. I can still hear Coach Don Walker's screams ringing in my ears, "BRAD, MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN." I don't know if I'm a glutton for punishment but I seem to get caught up in stressful situations.

Yesterday marked the countdown of 1 month until our 1st of 2 workshops with Healing Hands International from February 11-22. The first one will be brand new for all of us on "Food Preservation for Borno Women." It will involve underground pot-in-pot storage, solar drying, smoking, canning, and pickling. The equipment needed for this workshop is far greater than any materials that we ever needed for our first drip irrigation workshop in August. Therefore, Jen is running "helter-skelter" throughout the town with Comfort Misari (the INTERCEP secretary) searching for the needed supplies and personnel to create them.

I'm also feeling quite a bit of tension right now in raising the necessary funds for our leaking water reservoir, the upcoming food preservation workshop facilities, & the operational expenses for both workshops. Additionally, to manage the 4 way partnership between INTERCEP, Arewa Aid, the Wulari-Jerusalem church of Christ, and Healing Hands is delicate. We see the unbelievable potential here for influencing the local people to consider the implications of following the Gentle Healer but everyone has expectations. For people mired in Nigerian poverty, it's difficult for them to even consider taking on volunteer ministry. Most people in Africa are merely struggling to survive to feed their families, thus, to ask them to give of their time, resources, and sweat is an amazing sacrifice.

Hence, to make these upcoming two workshops on food preservation & drip irrigation for Borno youth a success we need one thing right now: PRAYER. Jen & I spend many a sleepless night tossing & turning wondering how all these issues will be resolved: funding, inter-agency partnership, integration with the local church. The One to whom we pray is in control of all of these matters but we need to be reminded that He is. We know that the LifeGiver has all of the financial resources in the world and will open the storehouse of heaven if we are faithful. The Prince of Peace can resolve any conflicts of interest that occur when competing assumptions meet concerning how each party will benefit.

On the night of February 22nd, we will be kicking back with Dave Goolsby & Randall McCadams reminiscing on the topsy-turvy moments from these two workshops. However, until then we really need all of you reading this to be on your knees on our behalf. The resources needed seems overwhelming, the cooperation for all 4 partners needed appears to be quite a stretch, and the ultimate impact in Maiduguri and Borno State is unknown. We believe that the more that we intercede before the Maker of Heaven & Earth that these issues will begin to resolve themselves. Please approach the throne of grace requesting that we will trust and obey ... because there's no other way.

Creating Connections with the Community

2008-01-05T08:31:00.001-08:00

They came in a large group of 6 this morning. Bounding through our black entrance gate, the eyes of these 5 women and 1 little girl were transfixed at every corner of our drip irrigation farm. They couldn't believe their eyes. Tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, sweet corn, and zucchini growing in the middle of the dry season. They ended up staying for an hour asking about how all this really works.

Most of us struggle mightily to stay connected to our neighbors. We pass them and extend greetings and talk about the weather. Yet, there's little to keep the conversation going because we are so busy. Maybe a discussion about our children may keep us talking a few minutes longer but we are really ready to get on to the next item on today's agenda. Still, there's something amazing about agriculture that really keeps the conversation going that we've discovered.

All of us have to eat. In Maiduguri, we can't just run out of the house to Publix, Kroger, or Aldi & pick up something to cook for supper. In Borno State, you have to plan your meals and be very selective of the open air market food that you buy. Most folks in northeastern Nigeria buy every commodity based on a relationship not simply on the value of the item to be purchased. This has made our drip irrigation farm all the more signficant: we are not only selling vegetables ... we are building relationships that will last!

The notoriety of the INTERCEP drip irrigation farm in Maiduguri has reached a level that there is a daily line of people at the INTERCEP office requesting to be on the list for our next workshop. Borno State agricultural development project men are begging to be invited to a women's workshop on food preservation! Culturally, men & women don't mix at occasions like this in northeastern Nigeria but these men know the value of the instruction that will be imparted. As goodwill continues to be fostered with our local community, people begin to ask questions about the force behind our efforts. This opens doors for conversations concerning the One who gives water, sunlight, and healthy soil to all.

We have a community in the western suburb of Pompomari in Maiduguri that is hungry for decent daily meals. We also have neighbors that are thirsty for drinking water during the long dry season from November to May. Our friends surrounding this small 2 1/2 acre piece of land are always inquiring about how they can be involved in sharing the good news of vegetables in the desert. The local people are beginning to see the value of teaching self-reliance through hard work, ingenuity, and diligent management of resources. All of this leaves us with an incredible network of people yearning to know more about the Bread & Water of Life!

Treasures

2008-01-01T09:05:00.000-08:00

The last time I was in the States, Brad, his sister, Lori, and I helped my mother-in-law to clean out her garage. So many of the boxes in the garage were filled with books. Books that belonged to her late husband, Tom, and herself. Brad and I were interested in several of the books and Mom Blake graciously allowed us to help ourselves to the treasures. And treasures they really did turn out to be.
While Brad and Musa were most recently in the States and the rest of us were in Nigeria I had time to read many of those books. It’s amazing what you have time to read when you don’t have a husband to “distract” you in the evenings!! (But, oh, how I love to be distracted now that he is back!)
The following are my thoughts on some of those books as well as others.

So Helpless, Yet So Loved

Some time back I read Abba’s Child by Brennan Manning. The outstanding point to me in his book was the idea that if you know that you are truly loved and accepted unconditionally by someone, it frees you to show almost limitless compassion to others. The confidence you gain by the knowledge and deep heart understanding of that love is powerful. I realized how much God wants to spend time together with me. I likened my time together with God to time I spent relaxing with my baby sleeping on my belly. Nothing can compare to that bond. I came to an exhilarating comprehension that God’s love, unlike human love, is unfailing. And I realized that if I could try to show unconditional love to those around me then I could help free them to also be more compassionate and loving people.
While Brad was gone I took on many responsibilities that were new to me. I gained a confidence in my ability to accomplish things I did not know I could do. All the while I knew it was only God’s power that enabled me as I met frustrating challenges of the third world. I knew just how helpless I really was without Him.

Confidence or Pride

However, I struggled with the feeling that my newfound confidence was somehow prideful. Yet I knew I was giving all glory and praise to God. Then I read something in one of those treasure books that put my feelings into the words that I could not find. It is a book by Joy Turner Tuggy. She quotes Douglas N. Sargent, “It is one of the deep paradoxes of the Christian life that such acceptance of self must go hand in hand with a genuine despair of self. It is this despair which leads to that utter and complete dependence on God Himself which enables Him to mould us, by His Holy Spirit, into the kind of saints which He would have us to be.
“Confidence in self despair” as Charles Wesley put it.

Will My Real Husband Please Stand Up?

As a side note, I have to say that I now understand what is meant by God being a husband to the widow. I am not a widow, but I was without my husband for a few months, which was not fun. I can tell you that during those three months while Brad was gone and I was here with two little ones in a third world country, I was never afraid. I never felt alone. I was never at my wits end as to what to do. God protected me and sheltered me from all harm and fear. He made a way in the desert. That is what a husband does.

Falling in Love with Brad…..again!

One of the books from Grandma’s garage was Love Life for Every Married Couple by Dr. Ed Wheat. It is an old book, so I wasn’t sure it would have much to say that I had not heard a million times before, but something in the title “Love Life” made me pick it up.
I was wowed! According to Dr. Wheat every married couple can experience those tingly feelings and warm fuzzies, flying sparks, racing hearts and twinkling eyes with each other. Is he serious? As I read, I discovered, yes, he is very serious. It is what God intended for us.
I was excited. I literally started falling in love with Brad all over again just from reading the book even while he was all the way on the other half of the world. Amazing! People started saying things to me like, “Jen, are you losing weight?” “That new dress really suits you.” “You look fantastic.” “You are really getting excited for Brad to come home, aren’t you?” I found myself driving down the street in the middle of mad traffic with a huge grin across my face and no help for it. Of course, you know what was happening. I was falling in love!
Now that Brad is back please pray for us that we can take Dr. Wheat’s advice and make this romance a long term reality. So far, so good! Get the book!!!

Quirky People

I love the Mitford series by Jan Karon. Karon is among my favorite authors. I think I am not alone. Living in the third world makes me homesick for small town American life some days. The Mitford novels make me feel like I’m home for a little while. I re-read them now and again.
I once found myself wishing that my life could be more like that of Father Tim and his pretty wife, Cynthia, with all their interesting friends and small adventures and ordinary days. Then, a revelation. Wait a minute. That is my life. All those quirky people with their annoying habits. Those are the interesting people. All those unexpected and frustrating things that happen. Those are the small adventures. And all those boring days when I feel like I’ve not accomplished enough. Those are the ordinary days.
I began to appreciate my life and the quirky people in it a little more. Those quirks are actually the endearing traits that make folks more interesting and lovable. It’s all in the perspective.

Not My Business

One book I thoroughly enjoyed and would love to read again someday is Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret. It is amazing to me that he went about his life’s work never making requests for funds or workers from anyone except God. And God never failed him. All that was ever needed was always provided on time.
I wondered if I could have as much faith. Then I read a concept that almost floored me with it’s truth. My book is actually with a friend so I cannot quote for you, but here is the idea. Whether you send your servant for a small item that costs little money or for an enormously expensive item, it makes no difference to him. The money is yours and he will bring the purchase to you. He is only the servant. It is not his business how little or how much the item costs.
You know where I am going with this. I am that servant. Whatever God asks me to do, he must provide the means. Whether little or much, whether easy or difficult. God cannot deny himself. If I am doing his will, then it is not my business how he will provide. Mine is to trust and obey.

More than a Story

2008-01-01T09:03:00.000-08:00

The walls in our house are quite bare and drab. In fact, they are in sore need of a thick coat of new paint. But, lacking the funds to paint at the time I decided on an alternative. As I read Bible stories to the kids and practice reciting books of the Bible, instead of putting the visual aids back in the cabinet for the next time, we now post them on the walls as a daily reminder of what we have learned.
The kids love this little twist on Bible story time and enjoy telling curious visitors about the stories. Just the other day our wash lady, who happens to be Muslim, was studying the pictures and talking to our teenage girls about the stories. We told her the version of the stories from the Bible and she told us her understanding of the stories from the Quran.
I was curious about her interpretations and decided to read the accounts in the Quran for myself. I realized that her versions of the stories were not really in the Quran but were simply folklore. Most Muslims do not actually know what is in the Quran, but rather, simply follow tradition. The Quran actually tells Muslims that if they want to know more about these things they should seek out the people of the book (Christians).
As I continue to teach Bible stories to our children, perhaps visitors like our Muslim wash lady will find interest in the beautiful story that unfolds before them on our no longer drab walls.

Children Pray

2008-01-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

I love to hear my children pray. With bowed heads and eyes closed, holding the hand next to them, they pray, “Thank you, God, for this food that Mommy cooked. Use it to make us strong to serve you. Please heal Daddy’s leg. Bless Grandma and Mom-ma and Pop-pa in America. And thank you for that special day when we picked up Daddy and Musa from the airport. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
They don’t understand it yet, but they are little children kneeling before the throne of a great King, pouring out their hearts. My heart is full as I kneel there with them , also silently praying that the great King will draw them to himself, giving them knowledge and understanding that I cannot give them.
May my own prayers always be as simple and heartfelt as those of a child.

Daring to Dream in Damaturu

2007-12-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

It's not an impressive sight. When one drives (or most walk), up to the fellowship center of the believers in Damaturu, Yobe State, one wonders what is located here: an abandoned building, a room for animals, someone's uncompleted home. However, when one walks in to sit down, everything changes. Followers are meeting here and they sing with passion. The prayers of the disciples are inspiring as they are uttered in such austere conditions.

The thought first occurred to me to begin encouraging the believers in Damaturu in the fall of 2005 after our family moved to Maiduguri. Dr. Uche Eni, a servant among the Maiduguri followers, performed a week of surgery every month in the far northwestern Yobe State city of Nguru. Dr. Eni would always leave on the first day of the week and had to miss fellowship because of the distant journey from Maiduguri to Nguru. One day I proposed to Dr. Eni that I drive him to Damaturu (closer to Nguru) so that we could break bread with the disciples there. From then on, Dr. Eni and I developed a monthly routine when we would leave Maiduguri by 7:30AM on the week's first day, stop in Damaturu to rendevous our brothers & sisters, then I would drop him at the motor park to finish the final leg of his journey to Nguru.

It has been during these 2 1/2 years of visits to the fellowship in Damaturu that I first met Ebenezer Udofia. Ebenezer was the "Executive Agricultural Administrator" at RNT Farms in Damaturu covering 1.5 miles by 1.5 miles. As Dave Goolsby from Healing Hands International visited Maiduguri, I invited Ebenezer for some discussions. Dave was immediately sold on Ebenezer's credentials and encouraged me to request his services at the INTERCEP farm in Maiduguri. Graciously, Ebenezer recently covenanted to come on board our work with INTERCEP in Maiduguri by developing some livestock additions for our drip irrigation farm: poultry (broilers & layers), rabbits, & rams.

The most impressive site when one enters Damaturu is the new huge mosque just commissioned by the state governor in May of 2007. It is apparently the largest mosque in West Africa and the 2nd largest in Africa only to the Friday mosque of Cairo, Egypt. Damaturu is a state capitol that was commissioned when Yobe State was carved out of Borno in 1996. This immediately put Damaturu on the map and brought it out of obscurity to a commercial center. However, the overriding sense that one is overwhelmed with when one drives through Yobe State is desert poverty.

As INTERCEP has located a branch office in the northeastern Nigerian hub of Maiduguri, one must pass through Damaturu. There has been a fellowship there for a number of years but it has failed to mature due to a long line of proclaimers without the tenacity to endure the harsh conditions of this desert city. Now that Ebenezer is coming to serve with INTERCEP in Maiduguri, we will not forget our kindred spirits in Damaturu. We dare to dream that the Almighty has big plans to bless the brothers & sisters at Damaturu through agriculture, health care, skill acquisition, education, and in-depth discipleship. Won't you dare to dream with us at Arewa Aid to demonstrate compassion to these desert disciples?

Christmas At The Blakes

2007-12-29T12:19:00.001-08:00

Under the Christmas Tree

Opening Presents

Christmas Eve Dinner

Testing the Quality of Life

2007-12-22T12:08:00.000-08:00

Do you notice a difference between Save-A-Lot groceries and Publix fare? How about filling up with generic fuel from 7-11 instead of Exxon? What about purchasing toys that are “Made in China” as opposed to “Made in the U.K.”? This is the dilemma that we face daily as we shop for household items, food, and most recently, building supplies in northern Nigeria. The passage of time teaches us much about how the quality of the materials with which we invest but also the context in which the choices are made.

When the idea was expressed that our farm needed a water reservoir, we immediately thought that a believer serving as an architect could do the job. Between the first estimate until the last dime was spent on the reservoir, the amount of money to be spent had doubled. This caused us little concern if the quality of the materials for the reservoir would stand the test of time. Therefore, after eight months, when Jen wrote in an e-mail that our reservoir had sustained a leak, we questioned the value of the supplies used in construction. The intensity of the desert heat, the ferocity of desert thunderstorms, and the cool desert dry season nights had offered a test that this cistern could not pass.

Unfortunately, this is not surprising in northern Nigeria where the average person lives on $1 a day. Therefore, when faced with a choice of purchasing building supplies that is imported or local, cheap or expensive, and non-guaranteed or guaranteed, the decision is an easy one to make. It’s a bit like asking someone in Nigeria to choose between buying infant formula for their baby or saving for their infant’s college fund. They can’t do both. Tough choices played out in these real life scenarios put one’s decision about the purchase of building materials into perspective.

When INTERCEP needed an office in Maiduguri, we rented a small storefront with no existing electrical apparatus. We had to start from scratch with the power company in purchasing a meter, registering the meter, and paying out first installment. The brother who made the arrangement was given the option of waiting through a 6 month process or getting a meter on the “fast-track” (off the books). We asked what our options were and we were told that practically everybody has to take the “fast-track” to get anything done with the power company. After being in this office for over a year, the power company threatened to cut our light if we didn’t produce a registered meter.

All of this illustrates the need for people to see a quality of life through a series of decisions made based on integrity. The INTERCEP drip irrigation site offers local farmers the opportunity to work through means that are affordable, practical, simple, and sustainable. The upcoming INTERCEP food preservation workshop offers the women of Borno State honest ways of keeping excess vegetable produce reducing waste. The 2008 INTERCEP agricultural addition of poultry, rabbits, and rams will train farmers in upright methods of small-scale livestock expansion of drip irrigation farms. As people envision a work ethic that produces a quality means of livelihood, they will be drawn to the One who gives meaning to all of life.

Counting the Cost

2007-12-22T12:00:00.000-08:00

Wal-Mart seems a million miles away. The ease of walking into Home Depot and purchasing sheet rock, shingles, or tile fades like a distant memory. Everything in Nigeria is negotiable. There are no set prices except for “supermarkets” (one room dry-goods shops). The bottom line: the Nigerian customer is always judged by what they can pay not the value of the items to be purchased.

The research into the expenditures of drilling a bore hole (well) in northern Nigeria easily explain the lack of bore holes: commercial drillers estimate based on the customer’s pocket not the merit of the service to be rendered. Our first question into the bore hole maze surrounded the options available in pumping water from the depth of the first aquifer: hand-pump, gasoline generator, diesel generator, solar-power, wind-power. At the first committee meeting of the believers interested in a bore hole being drilled at our farm, one thing stood out: the idea of using a hand-pump in Maiduguri was comical. Then, Jen and I had horrifying anticipations of most of our financial resources being siphoned off into gasoline and diesel generators. Therefore, the sight of some solar-powered street lights began to give us hope that this was our best alternative for a bore hole pump.

However, when Jen and I looked into solar power as an option for electrical supply in our home, the cost was an outrageous $40K. An elder in Abuja working with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Water Resources encouraged us to approach the Chad Basin Development Authority. After multiple visits to the offices of Chad Basin, we could merely receive an oral estimate on a solar-powered bore hole for $45K. A brother in Maiduguri thought he had friends in high places with the Borno State Ministry of Water. His visit to the state office of water resources yielded an estimate of $40K.

After these frustrating encounters, the fog was lifted through the intervention of Mac Safley, an agri-engineer from the University of North Carolina consulting with Healing Hands. As he sorted through our labyrinth of bore hole options, he asked a simple question: why not use Schedule 40 PVC pipe instead of stainless steel pipe? As it turned out, Mac further revealed that this would not be “stainless” but galvanized steel pipe anyway. This significantly reduced our cost into the $28K range out of the outrageous $40K zone. Bolstered by Mac’s ability to critique the current bore hole proposals in front of us, we felt confident to finalize our plans.

At our first drip irrigation workshop, one of our Borno State government participants, Ibrahim Ngamdu, vowed to help us with our solar-powered bore hole. Ibrahim offered the name and telephone information for Kunduli Mustapha, a solar engineer at the University of Maiduguri, who had drilled 4 bore holes in the state. We were duly impressed when Kunduli thoroughly read all of the information from Mac Safley and designed a solar well for our needs. In northern Nigeria, the proverb “It’s not what you know, but who you know” applies in a market of little supply and tremendous demand. May our ears be sensitive to the One who grants all wisdom as we interact with the good, the bad, and the underhanded.

Strengthening Weak Knees

2007-12-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

I hate being sick. I never thought of myself as a very sickly person until coming to Nigeria. Malaria, typhoid, dysentery, diarrhea, and boils were only a handful of the illnesses to which I grew accustomed. Basically, we thought enduring bouts of bad health was just part of the job description of being a cross-cultural worker. Jen and I even started to appreciate the feverish moments to take it as a sign that we needed to slow down the pace of our work.

But then when we had Ibrahim, Rahamatu, and Musa, all this causal thinking about infection changed. Suddenly it wasn’t “bulletproof Brad” or “jagged Jen” getting sick but these little kids depending on daddy and mommy to get better. I still remember Dimis and Mary Mai-Lafia telling us to give our kids malarial treatment at the first sign of fever. So there I was ever-armed with children’s fever reducer, multi-vitamin mixes, and kid’s malarial remedies. Immediately after Rahamatu was born, I held her little arms and listened to her cries during a blood transfusion that still makes me shudder to ponder it.

Last week, I woke up feeling some pains in my right knee that I thought might have been from excessive walking on our farm. The pain gradually increased until morning I woke up to a tremendous pain behind my right knee and Jen looked at it in dismay saying, “That looks like a softball!” I immediately sent a text to Dr. Eni asking for some tips on urgent treatment. He recommended rest, elevation of the leg, an analgesic, and hot compresses on the swollen area.

After a week, I am still not able to walk normally but I can actually dress myself, walk stairs, and drive without too much pain. With another week of treatment, I expect to be walking without a hitch hailing the Lord’s healing grace.

The Almighty uses our feeble bodies and weak joints to teach multiple life lessons especially in a context like northern Nigeria. On the 3 rounds of treatment that I have spent this week, this would have been half the monthly salary of an average Nigerian worker. Most northern Nigerians endure infections like this until there is no other alternative than amputation. How desperately the indigenous people of northern Nigerian need health care delivered with compassion. With even greater desperation, medical treatment needs to be given with the gentle touch of the Great Physician.

The Genesis of Arewa Aid

2007-10-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

I still remember the announcement in 1985. One of my teachers, Keith Parker, was going to the Bahamas in 1986. I thought, "He'll let me go hang out on the beach." Little did I know that we were going to be out serving folks in abject poverty on the streets of Nassau. After that 2-week experience, Keith asked me how I felt about the experience. I replied, "I think that I want to do this the rest of my life." This led me to Nigeria, Scotland, Zimbabwe, India, and Kenya. Yet, my heart felt the greatest burden for the receptive masses of West Africa especially near the Sahara Desert.

In 1998, I was serving in a work that focused on the poor metropolitan communities of Long Island, New York. At a singles retreat, I bumped into a young lady from Pennsylvania, Jennifer Becker, who talked about her interest in serving the poor in Ghana. Her father had traveled to Ghana and returned with an African doll in 1975 which planted a seed of service. Thus, after Jen and I had been married for a couple of years in 2000, we traveled to Nigeria exploring options for potential service. Northern Nigeria emerged as the location with the greatest need for expatriates with a heart to serve one of the least-developed regions of the world.

As Jen and I began serving the people of central Nigeria in 2001, our favorite work was among the villagers in the rural countryside. These were the places with no electricity, no pipe-borne water, no tarred roads, no clinics, and no schools nearby. As I served in religious education along with the University of Jos, my burden became greater to serve the poorest of the poor. Week-long trips into remote towns of northern Nigeria kindled a greater desire to serve among the most educationally backward. Jen and I began to wonder how the scope of our service could shift to a more humanitarian-based work.

In 2004, the executive director, Clement Iornongu, of the International Centre for Peace, Charities, and Human Developent (INTERCEP) approached us in central Nigeria. His idea was to offer me to serve as INTERCEP's International Development Director in northern Nigeria. As we began surveying which state to locate an INTERCEP branch office, northeastern Nigeria emerged as the most suitable environment. Borno State was known all over West Africa as the "Home of Peace" in Nigeria and Maiduguri was it's capital with a reputation for inter-tribal harmony. Thus, in 2005, the Blake family relocated from the Plateau highlands of Jos, Nigeria to the semi-arid sandy soil of Maiduguri to open a branch office for INTERCEP.

In 2006, our INTERCEP office in Maiduguri was approached with a parcel of land to develop for some indigenes of Borno State. As a significant amount of money was raised to erect a perimeter wall around this field, we were encouraged to create a 501c3 non-profit organization in the USA. This created the dream of Arewa Aid as a humanitarian organization to help disenfranchised communities of northern Nigeria.

"AREWA" means "NORTH" in the Hausa language of northern Nigeria but really embodies a culture. When someone in Tennessee says "The South" they're not talking geography but Cracker Barrel, SEC football, and the Grand Ole Opry. This is what "AREWA" means to someone living in northern Nigeria: Islam, Hausa language, wearing kaftans (long dress), eating tuwo (corn meal mush), singing with the algaita (flute).

Board members from Arewa Aid were recruited from Tennessee, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and Washington. On July 25, 2007, Arewa Aid was granted official non-profit status by the US government increasing the legitimacy of our fund-raising efforts.

The Blake family serves with INTERCEP in Nigeria and AREWA AID in the USA to create strategic partnerships to develop the poorest African people starting in northern Nigeria. Our humble beginnings have mobilized that abandoned Maiduguri field into a thriving drip irrigation farm growing vegetables in the dry season. Our 2008 goals involve supplementing this booming vegetable farm with livestock to create a balanced ecosystem. Our objectives beyond agriculture include a skill acquisition center, rural mobile clinic, and primary education for the poorest children. God is writing our story and we invite you to participate in helping the world's poorest people beginning in northern Nigeria.

Acquiring an All-Star Agronomist

2007-10-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

The Cleveland Cavaliers have LeBron James. The New York Yankees have Alex Rodriguez. The New England Patriots have Tom Brady. Golf has Tiger Woods. Tennis has Roger Federer. All of these men have 1 thing in common. They are all-stars in their respective sports and highly sought after for commercial advertisements. To bring them into your organization is to raise the level of productivity beyond any previous expectations.

INTERCEP (Intl. Centre for Peace, Charities & Human Dev.) needs Ebenezer Udofia to run our farm operations in northeastern Nigeria (Maiduguri). Ebenezer is the son of a retired proclaimer of the good news from southeastern Nigeria. Ebenezer currently runs the RNT farm operation in Damaturu, Yobe State which is 1 1/2 hours west of Maiduguri. The RNT farm operations consists of guava, mango, orange orchards, thousands of broilers, and thousands of layers. RNT farms breeds cows, horses, chickens, rams, goats, sheep, fish, mills grains, squeezes fruit into juices, and grow numerous vegetable crops.

Ebenezer has completed a graduate degree in animal production technology and has written a book on "A Guide to Raising Rabbits." He is currently being pursued by the largest commercial farm in northeastern Nigeria owned by a state governor who is promising to pay him more money that he could imagine. The RNT farm that Ebenezer manages is 1.5 miles by 1.5 miles giving him the responsibility of managing 30 workers in fruit, livestock, milling, and vegetable operations. Ebenezer is a committed believer but those who are seeking his skills could care less about his religious orientation because he can generate enormous revenue. For the past 2 years, I have visited with Ebenezer at assemblies in Damaturu causing my interest to grow as his gifts and humility are obvious.

Recently, Ebenezer assisted INTERCEP in Maiduguri with a proposal to Healing Hands International (HHI) for 100 broilers, 100 layers, rams and rabbits to enhance our current vegetable production through drip irrigation. Dave Goolsby from HHI was so impressed that he recommended that INTERCEP hire Ebenezer away from RNT farms to serve in Maiduguri. At first, I wondered how in the world that INTERCEP could afford one with Ebenezer's talent when we barely can afford to pay a secretary and farm caretaker. I set up an appointment to meet with Ebenezer for lunch in Damaturu and explained to him how we needed people of his caliber. When I first mentioned the possibility of Ebenezer serving as the administrator of the INTERCEP farm, he was obviously thrilled.

However, nothing could prepare me for his response after I asked him concerning his salary need. He replied: "Brother Brad, there is no amount of money that you could pay me to work for God. I know that I will receive double my reward in heaven for doing this work. Don't worry about the money. God will provide. If it is God's will, I will work to see that the INTERCEP farm in Maiduguri is producing enough to satisfy everyone for God's glory." Arewa Aid will labor to pay Ebenezer's salary through INTERCEP until the farm is self-sustainable and we would be blessed through your partnership.

Arewa Aid in Nigerian HIStory

2007-10-10T06:23:00.000-07:00

When I began studying sociology at the University of Maiduguri in 2006, I realized how little that I knew of Nigerian history. The coming of Islam through Arab traders to the Kanem-Bornu empire around Lake Chad in the 11th century was ground-breaking. The "jihad of the sword" from the Fulani (nomadic tribe) Emir, Usman Dan-Fodio, against the dominant Hausa tribe in the early 19th century revived Islam. The invasion of the British into northern Nigeria in the early 20th century was strategic as these colonialists left the Islamic emirate system intact. When the United Kingdom finally gave Nigeria independence in 1960, there was little preparation for the transition from the colonial to post-colonial era.

In the 1960's, northeastern Nigeria was one of several "regions" governed by the federal government in Lagos. The northeastern Nigerian provincial capital was Maiduguri which made it strategic to the northeast and crucial for cross-border trade with Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. By the 1970's, the northeastern province became Borno State offering this new state government more freedom of action. This was the period of Nigeria's greatest oil boom from the southern coastal reserves but this revenue never seemed to create political stability. Through the 1980's, a cycle of civilian rule and military dictatorship began escalating that would re-define the heights of corruption in Nigeria.

The 1990's was the decade when Nigeria's global reputation as the international corruption capitol became a by-word. However, the sudden passing of General Sani Abacha in 1998 renewed the hope for democracy. In 1999, Olusegun Obasanjo was sworn in as Nigeria's first democratically elected president since 1979 reviving everyone's eagerness for change. After 8 years of Obasanjo's top-down approach to democratic government, Nigeria was still without stable electricity, potable water for everyone, and a network of motorable roads free of potholes. When Musa Yar-Adua was elected president in April of 2007, hope re-emerged for a leader from the Arewa to rid Nigeria's government of it's innate graft.

How do organizations like Arewa Aid fit into Nigerian history to encourage integrity, transparency, and trust? Thankfully, our family was invited to serve with the International Centre for Peace, Charities, and Human Development (INTERCEP) in 2005 to encourage the progress of Nigerian history. Since 1999, INTERCEP had been encouraging peaceful resolution to religio-ethnic conflict in the central Nigerian highlands of Plateau State. For years, INTERCEP had been operating a micro-credit loan plan for poor market women to increase their quality of life. After a half-decade, INTERCEP had conducted numerous workshops to reduce the stigmitazation of infectious diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis, and leprosy.

Arewa Aid was formed in early 2007 to enhance our family's ability to establish INTERCEP as a viable entity in Maiduguri. Our hope is that by approaching the Nigerian people from the bottom-up that the citizenry will be empowered to chart their own course. Drip irrigation farming with composting as a central component is one way we seek to lift local Borno people from dependency. Our future plans for a skill acquisition center is another means to assist the Maiduguri people in becoming self-sufficient. We invite you to join us at Arewa Aid in catapulting the indigenous people of northeastern Nigeria as they write a brighter chapter of Nigerian history to honor God.

A Dry and Weary Land

2007-10-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

I like hot weather. Since I developed sinus problems in my 20's, I always seem to function better when it's hot outside. Since my parents moved from Canada to Memphis, Tennessee when I was 4 years old, I've always looked forward to summertime. In contrast, my wife, Jen, grew up in Hanover, Pennsylvania and loves the changes of season in north America especially autumn or the falling of the leaves. Therefore, when our family first moved to the central Nigerian city of Jos in 2001, the highland climate of Plateau State was cool most of the time and pleasant for Jen.

When Jen and I decided to move from Jos to Maiduguri in 2005, we knew that we would have to adjust to a climate change. However, we had no idea exactly how hot that the semi-arid climate of northeastern Nigeria would be. We arrived in the middle of the rainy season which was a bit deceiving as the problem in Maiduguri appeared to be flooding because of a lack of drainage. Yet, when the rains ended in October, we began to understand what every Nigerian talks about when they point to Maiduguri as the hottest spot in the nation. From 7AM to 7PM, no one would be caught out "under the sun" without an umbrella, long clothes for protection from sunlight, or a small plastic bag of "pure water."

Jen and I quickly noticed that all of the green leaves, green grass, or any green foliage was rapidly turning brown. It was as if all of the ground had become sand in only 2 weeks from the conclusion of the rainfall. We hardly saw any open-air market stalls where locals were selling fresh vegetable produce. Big, tall trees that provided shade were few and far between and those few refuges of shade were always occupied with people under their canopies. We began to empathize with the plight of the semi-arid farmer as we planted flowers only to see them wilt away.

Nevertheless, I don't think that anything could have prepared us for March, April, and May in Maiduguri. Immediately when the harmattan sandy winds from the Sahara ceased in February, March brought bitterly scorching days of 120F+ daily. We felt like we were walking around in an oven every single day with no refuge because we had could ill afford to buy diesel for our generator to power our air-conditioner. At night, it was difficult to sleep because we would toss and turn in our own sweat longing for a breeze. The March to mid-April heat was dry while the late April to May heat was humid progressively becoming more muggy each day.

After constructing our water reservoir at the INTERCEP farm in March of 2007, we noticed a unique phenomena. The water hauled in via tankers from a commercial water company would dry up as soon as it was unloaded into the reservoir. As we raised plant beds at the INTERCEP farm in April of 07, any water released through the drip irrigation tape had to be applied by 6AM or 6PM, otherwise, it would quickly evaporate. Our struggle to water the vegetable crops from March until the first rains of June of 07 was unbelievably arduous. Thus, when the first rains arrived in abundance by July of 07, it was a time to celebrate God's provision.

God has blessed us to see his abundant mercy in a dry and weary land as people are able to grow vegetables in the desert through drip irrigation. We would be blessed by your partnership in bringing the water of life!

Where on Earth is Safe?

2007-10-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

As far back as 1989 when I would visit southern Nigeria, I expected to encounter crime. I had heard so many stories about missionaries, foreigners, and expatriates being robbed. At night, I would lay awake at night listening for any possible sound of a thief rustling around the perimeter of the house. Out on the road, I fully expected to be stopped by an armed robber at some point and mentally prepared for it to happen. However, when I first crossed over into northern Nigeria, something put my mind at greater ease.

The most obvious aspect of northern Nigerian (Arewa) culture is the pervasiveness of Islam in all of life. Also, the culture in the Arewa is much more traditional causing people to greet longer, practice hospitality, and exercise greater patience in a traffic accident. Our entry in the central Nigerian city of Jos was an appropriate introduction to the Arewa with a strong Muslim minority. Nevetheless, any illusion of innocence was shattered during the Jos riots from September 7-12, 2001. This tumultuous time gave us unique insight into the way that "Christians" in Jos were willing to kill to "defend their land."

During our 4 years in Jos from May 2001 to July 2005, we witnessed a continual increase of organized crime. We initially were comfortable with our German Shepherd and Rottweiler for security at night. However, the more that our friends, neighbors, and acquaintances were being attacked we increased our security team to 7 dogs. Jos was a cosmopolitan city inviting the best and the worst of people from every corner of Nigeria. It was geographically a part of the Arewa (northern Nigeria) but culturally had become more like the busy, frenzied, and quick-tempered society of southern Nigeria.

As our family moved to the northeastern city of Maiduguri in July of 2005, we immediately noticed the slow pace of life. In Jos, we could go to the open-air market and get almost anything any day of the week during daylight hours. In Maiduguri, our market days were limited to Tuesday through Thursday because on Friday through Monday there was little availability of goods due to Islamic Friday prayers, weekend rest, and the arrival of all imported products on Monday. Our first Maiduguri neighborhood was a close-knit community where the roads were bad but criminals had no easy access. On occasion, we would hear the vigilantees gun's at night to protect the community but hardly heard of a break-in.

On Sunday morning July 21, 2007, my worst fears were realized when Ibrahim (my 5 year old son), 2 friends, and I were stopped by armed robbers on the road close to the Cameroon border. Nonetheless, these north African robbers who spoke only Arabic only wanted money and items of value. They did not touch us, threaten us, or terrorize us but simply told us to "bring money" and open the back of the car to search through our bags. Ibrahim and I sat down on the road waiting for these masked men to finish rummaging around. When it was all over with, Ibrahim, my 2 friends, and I thanked God for his protection during the robbery.

We have learned to trust God because there is no place in this fallen world where there is a guarantee of "safety." The Arewa (northern Nigeria) has called us to serve people in need and we invite you to join us.

Drip Irrigation Promotes Big Dreams

2007-10-07T17:39:00.000-07:00

When the Blake family moved to northeastern Nigeria (Maiduguri) in July of 2005, we immediately felt the August vegetable scarcity. We had lived in central Nigeria (Jos) for 4 years enjoying an abundance of sweet corn, green beans, lettuce, green peas, and broccoli. God blessed Jason Williams to visit us in August of 2005 with my mother, Carolyn Blake. Immediately, Jason perceived that Maiduguri would be a ripe candidate for a drip irrigation project through Healing Hands International. Jason went back to the College Hills church and Healing Hands preaching the need for growing veggies in the desert.

I was eventually invited by Healing Hands along with two believers in Maiduguri to attend a drip irrigation conference at Dakar, Senegal in March 2006. When we got back home to Borno State, we started composting at a piece of abandoned property. We began to secure that forgotten propety in western Maiduguri throughout 2006 with a perimeter wall. God brought $10,000 into that project to "build the wall" around this 2 1/2 acre sandy soil plot in 2006. This set the stage for our 2007 project to turn at least half of the field from a desert into a beautiful garden.

Our 2006 compost heaps were well-preserved providing a foundation for us to begin envisioning plant growth. In 2007, we began raising plant beds to test the viability of composting and drip irrigation. Parcels containing various types of seeds began rolling into our post office box allowing us to experiment with the compost and drip method. This set the stage for a bumper harvest of zucchini, squash, sweet corn, cucumber, and sweet corn in July of 2007. As our first food security workshop was launched for the Borno State Agricultural Ministry, they were deeply impressed at what could be done.

The Nigerian NGO (non-governmental organization) under whom we serve is INTERCEP (International Centre for Peace, Charities, and Human Development). INTERCEP in Maiduguri is now known as the organization impacting people at the grassroots with sustainable farming. Farmers have depended on rainy season crops like sorghum, guinea corn, millet, peanuts, and watermelon for centuries. This always proved risky because the rains only fall in northeastern Nigeria for 3 months a year at best. Now that the word is out on the street that vegetables can be grown in the desert people are excited.

Arewa Aid is our USA-based 501c3 non-profit organization that provides INTERCEP in Maiduguri with the tools that it needs to progress. Phase 1 of our vision is to help promote a sustainable agricultural project for local poor farmers. Phase 2 of our dream is to initiate a skill acquisition center that will train local unemployed youth with marketable skills like sewing, auto mechanics, electrical work, plumbing, and masonry. Phase 3 of our long-range plan is to mobilize a rural clinic on wheels that will travel to the poorest villages in northeastern Nigeria with primary health care. In phase 4 we foresee that a primary school targeting the poorest children with options in arts and computer skills will bless children with no options.

Would you become part of the Arewa Aid family in providing humanitarian empowerment to those the people of northeastern Nigeria?

A Few Thoughts on Water

2007-10-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

I remember as a kid being reminded by my parents not to use too much water for my bath and to turn the tap off while brushing my teeth and such. As Barney says it so well these days “While I’m brushing my teeth and having so much fun, I never let the water run. No, I never let the water run.” I know some of you can sing right along!
However, I have never been so conscious of the use and conservation of water as I am now in this stage of my life. Living in the edge of the Sahara where water will sometimes flow and sometimes not has caused me to appreciate the essentiality of life sustaining water. I have also thought many times about the day to day life of people who survive with far less water than I have.
I thought it might be interesting to some of you for me to share some of our daily life experiences which are sometimes eye-opening, sometimes mundane and sometimes funny. First you should understand that because of our African culture and way of life and because of the design of our house, outside elements are very much a part of our indoor life as well. Wind, dust, rain, gardens, flowers and trees all come inside. And water is almost always used for multiple tasks before being poured out.
We have several courtyards in the center of our house. Two adjoining courtyards are just outside our children’s bedroom doors and each kitchen (I have two) has a small courtyard for outdoor cooking and cleaning grains and various food preparation tasks. In these courtyards we are growing trees, flowers, tomatoes and beans. This is most often the place our water ends up after all its other purposes have been exhausted.
When our children were a little younger I would set a large basin in the courtyard and bathe all three of them there, in the same water, of course, before pouring the water on the plants. Now that our kids are a little older I turn on the shower and tell them to run inside simply because this is easier and less work for me. But I do feel guilty about all that water going down the drain.
One day I was washing Musa’s bottles in a basin of water. When I finished I noticed how dirty my feet were so instead of wasting the water, I sat down and gave my feet a good scrubbing. After all, I hear milk baths are great for the skin! Then onto the flowers it went.
Our bathtub drain is set up so that it runs into the yard instead of into the suckerwell. To take advantage of this we have planted shrubs outside of our bathroom and channeled the water to reach them all. We pour a few buckets of water down the toilet each time we bathe since our water pressure is not strong and the toilet doesn’t flush with much force. If I notice our bathroom floor needs mopped I will do this with my bathwater as I get out of the tub. I will also sometimes carry buckets of bathwater to other thirsty plants in the house or yard.
If our water level is especially low we are in the habit of taking bucket baths. What that means is you have one bucket of water and a small dish. You use the dish for pouring water on yourself, soap up and rinse off. You get real good at estimating just how many dishes of water you can use to wet down and rinse off so that you aren’t left standing all soapy with an empty bucket.
We wash dishes in basins. One for washing and one for rinsing. Once the wash water is too dirty it goes onto the plants or onto the compost pile. Then the rinse water becomes the wash water and the cycle continues. A basin of water can start out as rinse water for dishes, become washing water for dishes, then be used to wash feet, move on to the mop bucket and finally end up as a flush for the toilet. We are not casual about water here.
I often think of the words to a song of which I cannot remember the name. “If just a cup of water I place within your hand, then just a cup of water is all that I demand.” A cup of cool, clean drinking water in this place is no small deal. And even if one cup of water is all you have, if your neighbor comes asking, you do not deny him. That is the heart of hospitality here. In fact, even as I write this I have sent our girls out with buckets on their heads in search of water from a neighbor who may be fortunate enough to have some.
I am grateful to have these experiences so that my heart is full of appreciation for God’s abundant blessings.
I love you all, Jen

Living without fridges & freezers

2007-09-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

Every Tuesday and Thursday are the Blake family market days in our home city of Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria. Jen braves the traffic, parks in a sea of vehicles, walks through sewage, smiles at the beggars, and moves from stall to stall for our groceries. However, the vegetable stall is the most important one because we long to eat fresh veggies. Still, once we get there we find: rotten tomatoes, wilted lettuce, dried-out carrots, cabbages starting to spoil, green beans beginning to shrivel up. These vegetables are almost always trucked 10 hours away from central Nigeria at Jos where the weather is cool, the rainfall is better, and the sunlight is less intense. Every Nigerian knows that the vegetable capital of the country is Jos not some semi-arid desert town like Maiduguri.

During our first July 2007 harvests at the INTERCEP (Intl. Centre for Peace, Charities & Human Dev.) farm at Maiduguri, we were amazed at what a little compost and a little water can do. Huge zucchini, beautiful squash, gigantic watermelons, thick green beans, plump sweet corn, beefy tomatoes, and hefty eggplant were all growing in this sandy soil. Thus, we began to understand that producing vegetables in raised plant beds, composts, and drip irrigation wasn't a problem. The first day that Jen took the vegetables to the International Hotel they asked her: "When did you come from Jos?" She said: "We are growing these beautiful vegetables 5 minutes away from his building?" to which they were astounded.

We have had no problem selling these vegetables to the hotels, locals marketers, and interested buyers. Commercial revenue has been generated proving to the local believers that we can pay our own farm caretaker from the sales of the vegetables. In August 2007, we held our first INTERCEP food security workshop in Maiduguri with Dave Goolsby from Healing Hands International in Nashville, Tennessee. Our trainees were skeptical at first as to the motivation of these people in bringing them to our farm for a farming workshop. However, after they saw the blessing of composting, they were thrilled to envision how vegetables could grow in the desert.

Nevertheless, a couple of our first workshop participants asked: "How do we preserve all of these vegetables after production?" It was an excellent question that neither Dave Goolsby nor any of the INTERCEP team was ready to answer. Therefore, Jen began to ask: "How could we teach our women to preserve these vegetables through canning?" Dave immediately called his wife, Janice, and discussed with her the possibility of simple preservation techniques. With Jen and Janice now both considering the possibilities, the idea of a fruit and vegetable preservation workshp was born.

If God wills, we hope to lauch our first food preservation workshop for the women of Maiduguri in early 2007. This will be followed by a vegetable production workshop for the almajirai (Quranic students), malamai (teachers), and parents of the almajirai. This will only increase the viability of our non-governmental organization (NGO) in Nigeria which is INTERCEP in Maiduguri. As the credibility of INTERCEP continues to resound throughout Borno State, the impact of self-sustainable agriculture will only be multiplied.

May God Give Us Grace....

2007-09-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine a 5 year old child, alone and begging in the streets? What about rummaging through a gargage pile for food if the begging isn't successful? Impossible as this sounds, this is an everyday occurence in the cities of Northern Nigeria. Males from the ages of 5 to 15 are sent to the Northern cities to learn the Qur'an and a marketable skill. They are solely dependent on the teacher(malam) and fellow disciples(almajirai) for their daily food. Because of the scarcity of food in the area, they resort to begging and pleading for spare change, food or any gift that someone might offer. "Allah ya ba mu alheri" is their begging cry which means "May God give us grace". All too often the response they hear is "Allah ya ba da sa" which means "May God provide". A polite way to say "I have nothing for you".

Poor Muslim farmers who cannot afford to feed their children go through a thought process similar to this "Since I cannot afford to feed the boys here, I will send them to the city where they can learn the Qur'an and get a job." Though they do study the Qur'an for a few hours every day, these boys are unable to find work because they are uneducated, unskilled and have no experience. Their only chance for survival is to flood the streets and beg for handouts from anyone with means.

A major focus for Arewa Aid for the upcoming year is to hold workshops to teach basic farming skills. Our goal is to teach the Nigerians to produce and preserve food to last all year. One of our planned workshops is specifically intended to help remedy the plight of the almajirai. We intend to invite 20 of the students (almajirai), 10 of the teachers (malamai) and 5 sets of parents from the affected villages to come to our farm to learn basic principles for food production.

We plan to hold two vegetable production workshops during the upcoming year. In addition, our plan is hold a food preservation (canning) workshop to help preserve vegetables all year long. The cost of a single workshop is approximately $1,750. We need your help. Can your company, church or civic group become involved and sponsor one of these workshops? Can you help us as we teach these boys and other similar groups in Nigeria to become more independent?

Please help us, so that we can help them.

The Weak say "I'm Strong"

2007-09-29T07:09:00.000-07:00

I first met Ayuba in December 2004 at Chibok in southern Borno State (our home state in northern Nigeria). He was tall, strong, and a great communicator especially with little kids in his local elementary school where he taught. His Kibaku (local tribe) parents were so proud that one of their sons, against all odds, in the village had made it. He was an active believer, successful primary school teacher, and renting his own apartment in the capital city of Maiduguri. He was my translator when I first visited Chibok and he could interpet my words from Hausa into Kibaku with ease.

In July of 2005 when our family first moved to Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria from Jos in central Nigeria, we always asked about Ayuba. He was conspicuously absent at local assemblies and we began to inquire from the local leaders on his whereabouts. One day at a congregational meeting, the subject of Ayuba came up and my best friend, Dr. Eni, began to cry. Ayuba had gone from being this strong, vibrant, and competent elementary school teacher to a crippled beggar. Dr. Eni thought that a local unqualified "quack" doctor might have prescribed unnecessary medicine but it was unfortunately worse than that.

There are so many mysterious sicknesses in Africa that have no explanation and even qualified doctors are giving "their best guess." In Hausa, the word for sickness is "ciwo" and no one ever qualifies the type of "ciwo" because in the local worldview to specify the "ciwo" gives it more power. Therefore, all we knew is that Ayuba was slowly becoming blind, his spine was weakening, and his legs were so incapacitated that he could barely walk. He went to an eye hospital in Cameroon (neighboring eastern country to Nigeria) but they could do little. He even went to his hometown of Chibok to announce to his parents that he didn't know what was going to happen to him now.

However, through all of Ayuba's severe pain, his faith has been a powerful testimony to the rest of the believers. Ayuba in Hausa is actually the name for the most awe-inspiring Old Testament character of suffering: Job. Whenever, I meet Ayuba at assembly, in the office, or at his house, I always ask him: "Yaya jiki?" (How is your body?). His response forever remains the same resilient answer from a man of deeply-held faith in the Almighty: "Alhamdu lillahi!" (Praise be to God!). Ayuba will never let on to how much pain that he is really experiencing with his degenerating eyesight, weakening spine, and shriveling legs but he will tell you: "Mun gode wa Allah saboda alherinsa" (We give thanks to God for his grace).

Ayuba goes to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (where Musa was born) every day for eye treatments and physical therapy. The local believers are assisting Ayuba with nearly $20 monthly but that cannot possibly provide for his everyday needs. Before I traveled, the shepherds approached me about requesting some additional assistance for him. I asked one of my INTERCEP understudies, Dauda Balami, who takes care of Ayuba every day how much he would need and gave me a figure of only $70 monthly. Ayuba would be unbelievably grateful if someone helped to relieve some of his pain but would say as he always does: "Alhamdu lillahi!" (Praise God!).

Ruwan Sama (Sky Water)

2007-09-27T07:43:00.000-07:00

Water is so precious. In the Hausa language of northern Nigeria, you can never just say "water." You have to say "drinking water", "sky water", or "cool water." Water is a treasure. You can't just talk about water flippantly without qualifying what it's used for, where it comes from, or what temperature it is.

I forgot about this last night. When I went to pick up my toddler son, Musa, from bible class at the College Hills church, he was holding a cup of water. I told him it was time to go. He held tenaciously to his cup of water. I repeated "let's go Musa." That cup of water was not budging from his tiny little fingers. When I pryed it from his clenched fists, he bawled. It was then that I remembered. This 23 month old boy remembers how much we valued water back home in northern Nigeria.

I just received a call from our home Nigerian city of Maiduguri. My first question to the caller was "Yaya ruwa?" (How is the rain?). He responded, "Ruwa ya yi gyara." This literally means "The rain is repairing" which really means it is softening up the ground for planting. A Hausa speaker will never say "The rain is destructive" because "ruwan sama" is a gift from God. No one but God can ever control when, where, how, how, or if it falls.

I'm a bit worried because the caller actually said that the rain will soon end. This means that the long dry season will set in. In a good way in Maiduguri, there will be no more flooding, less mosquitoes (carrying malaria), and driving won't involve worrying about splashing pedestrians near the puddles. However, for the majority of northern Nigerians, this will mean that planting is over. This will begin the idleness of the dry season. "The idle mind is the devil's ..."

This close of this year's "ruwan sama" (sky water) will mean that we have to twice or thrice weekly buy water from the companies in Maiduguri who sell it in tankers. Then, the Pompomari community surrounding our drip irrigation farm will beg for water. We can't turn them down because our sign says "Intl. Centre for Peace, CHARITIES & Human Dev." Thus, the perpetual struggle will re-ignite between the need to water our drip irrigation farm and the local needs of the neighborhood. My prayer is that the Lord will provide a deep well with a solar pump for our farm to also help our local people quench their thirst.