And then the doors closed...

Last Saturday I got in a lift, and pressed number 6, as the doors closed I panicked a little and questioned my sanity.  I can’t even remember when I was last in a lift.  If you have ever been stuck in a lift or lived in a country where electricity may disappear instantly you will I am sure understand where I am coming from.

But there was no problem, I arrived at the sixth floor and visited my friends Thessa and Bash, who have just moved into the famous 1004 estate in Lagos, and very nice it was too!  I didn’t “snap” the inside but here are some views from the window. 

Apparently when the government was based in Lagos, Senators stayed in this estate and it was notorious for having no water or electricity and generally not functioning.  Thessa pointed to the enormous power plant that is feeding the complex, so it is safe to get in the lift at least for now.

So after spending a couple of hours, I left via the lift! 

Last time I saw a lift was in June, I was staying in a very nice hotel in Abuja, I was only on the first floor so didn’t take such a dangerous risk!  That hotel had very good electricity but it wasn’t constant, there was at least a few seconds gap between NEPA (grid electricity) and gen (generator).

My Work

I realise I haven’t written much about my work, maybe because it feels like it is taking me such a long time to achieve anything.  Anyway here goes:

NEST stands for Nigeria Environment Study Action Team, it is situated on Awolowo Avenue, in a lovely house as you will see. 

My official role is Climate Change Technical Writer, NEST is implementing a 5 year project and in the final writing up stage of lots of reports that will be read at national level and beyond.

The project is called Building Nigeria’s Response to Climate Change (BNRCC).  It aims to enhance Nigeria’s ability to achieve equitable sustainable poverty reduction through more effective governance: by developing policy – a national climate change adaptation strategy and building capacity of government civil society, individuals and networks.  It is doing this by working on socioeconomic research into the impacts of climate change, scenario development, and pilot project adaptation projects which feed into policy and communications work.

So now in English!

I think this project is really exciting, it has done some great things, made two documentaries about climate change in Nigeria, and worked with vulnerable communities to help them to adapt to climate change, and helped to take the learning from these communities to national government level.  The adaptation strategy National Adaptation Strategy and Plan of Action for Climate Change in Nigeria, is in its final stages, and NEST are working with Federal Ministers to get it finalised and approved.

I have been involved in writing some Executive Summaries of the Pilot Projects so will shortly post a few highlights in order to give you a feel for what is really happening in Nigeria as a result of climate change.  You can watch the videos here

http://www.nigeriaclimatechange.org/

So I have five things to do at NEST

1.       Support writing for final reports from BNRCC

2.       Lead NEST Organisational Development process

3.       Conduct an Energy Audit

4.       Support proposal writing

5.       BNRCC programme evaluation

I’m busy, will give you an update on each of the above shortly!

PS I do have some colleagues, but don't want to post their pictures without their permission!

NEST Organisational Development Plan - almost there

About a month ago I wrote about the challenges of getting from an OD assessment to an OD plan, and how I had just had a week of useful meetings with a small team, but was worried about the next stage.


Well the next stage was good, feedback on the plan was generally supportive, and it is now very close to being finalised.


It sets out a plan of action between now and Dec 2012, of building the capacity of NEST.  The main aims are a new strategic plan, which I will lead, fundraising, HR and IT, all of which  require external support.  This may be provided by future VSO placements.


Last week I also completed six months at NEST and had to report to VSO on whether I had build capacity of individuals or the organisation.  I asked my colleagues, those involved in the OD planning meetings all said that I had built their capacity by improving their knowledge of concepts, increased confidence and team-building skills. 

Being a professional

Earlier today I wrote a blog post, about feeling very small against the big hierarchy that is Nigeria, about how an incident had made me feel, and that depite the fact that I could see that the incident was culturally normal, I was struggling not to take it personally, and felt rejected and undermined.
I know that one of my weaknesses is a tendency to take things too personally, even when I can see the rational argument of why something is as it is.  I hope I am improving. 

I wrote the post very carefully considering who may read it, my blog is very easy to find, even by mistake, and at first was happy that it was an objective report of the incident, and it didn't matter who read it.  I liked what I wrote it and considered it honest and personal but objective.  However on reflection, and an email from a friend, thank you, you know who you are, I changed my mind and removed it.

So I won't display it here, but the jist of it is here, sometimes in another culture, things happen that may be normal in that culture, but to me are not.  Sometimes these things are a challenge, and rather than accepting them as normal, I take them as a personal attack on myself, very unprofessional!

Where are all the children?

Today was a good day, in this case because I chose to speak honestly, this is what happened.

As I was walking to meet one of my colleagues for a drink, I looked at the children I passed on the way;  busy washing clothes, fetching water, or trading, and realised I really miss seeing children being children, to me that means being safe, protected, having fun, not being self-conscious and enjoying their innocence while it lasts.

When I met my colleague, for a drink or two, I mentioned that now I have been there nearly six months, I have to report on my progress and whether I have built capacity of individuals or the organisation.  Now I know I have done lots of small small things, but I didn’t expect anyone to notice them, but he responded that I had built his capacity.

Then I went home, but popped out to my “corner shop” and perhaps emboldened by two beers, told the mama, despite the fact that two of her children aged around 7 and 12 were there, that Nigeria was making me sad because I didn’t see children having fun!  She said it was true, but they do have fun at Christmas, Easter and Eid.  The younger one then told me that she had had fun yesterday at her end of term party.  Somehow this “risky” conversation turned into a much deeper one, about what all their names were and what they meant, and did I know Sarah?  Sarah was here two years ago, but I knew her when I was in Abuja, so I said yes, I was in email contact and tomorrow I would come with a camera and “snap” them and send it to Sarah.

Then when I got home, thanks to the internet, I managed to chat with my good friend Irma, I’m not sure when we last spoke but it’s certainly not since I left the UK early in 2010, I last saw her about a year previously.  Irma is a very great long term friend, but there is an extra connection, her husband Okey is Nigerian, and therefore their children part-Nigerian, but based in the Netherlands!  For me chatting to a friend at the end of the day, particularly a long term friend, with an extra special interest in Nigeria was as the British would call “the icing on the cake!”

More rain

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that the road near my office often floods when it rained, so today, much to my surprise, it only rained gently for a couple of hours, it flooded, and I got some good pictures, enjoy!

Don’t go out there, it’s raining!

When I was first in Ibadan and still staying at the luxury Davies Hotel, one evening Abdul, a member of VSO staff was also staying there, and I had arranged to go and visit Karen and Brent (former volunteers), it was their last evening in Ibadan.  We met at reception as arranged but when we got to the door we found torrential rain.  Like a true Brit, I said, “wait I’ll fetch my umbrella”, I did, but Abdul persuaded me that we couldn’t go.  If I had been alone I probably, would have tried, and got drenched waiting for public transport that never came, and would have either been forced to take an okada (motorbike taxi) and get wetter in the process, or to give up!

Since then there has been heavy rain while I have been at work, fortunately this has stopped by the time I had to leave, but on a number of occasions it has left the nearby river flowing over the road instead of under it, with cars forced to turn around, and people wading through.  Fortunately I live in the opposite direction.

On Sunday, I was enjoying an Indian meal at a fine hotel, two bus / taxi rides away from my house, it was only when we came to leave that we realised it was raining, it was also already around 8pm so pitch dark. Four of us ventured to the main road where we hoped to find a taxi, at one point ankle deep water was flowing across the road. 

We found a taxi going to Mokola or roundabout, a central location in Ibadan, from here we were due to go in different directions me to UI, and them to Bodija.  I was busy negotiating for the guy to take us all the way home, my fellow passengers were complaining, it’s too expensive we’ll just get another shared taxi, look out of the window I said do you want to step out into that lake, don’t worry about the money!   They agreed.

It’s hard to describe it now, but it was hairy, I know that cars can get stuck, float away, and people can get carried away by fast flowing water, and of course, you don’t know what is under the water, or in the water, and it was dark! 

Eventually we got home safely, and I paid the driver and entered my dry house, washed myself with running water, and was able to enjoy electricity.  It made me realise how heavy rain can be dangerous, disruptive, or just unpleasant, and if I like most people, was unable to pay extra, I could have been stranded in pouring rain until the next morning.