FORMING FRIENDSHIPS THROUGH FOOD PRESERVATION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.