The only other time I have kept a blog was during the autumn of 2008 which I spent working with the wonderful community of Faith Alive in Jos, Nigeria. As an American 20-year-old college kid with no clinical training it was quite an honor to be asked to come, along with my dear friend, Adrie, and be a part of the Faith Alive Family to assist in their medical clinic and programs. I like reading my daily logs again years later but strongly feel the pangs of missing I have for these friends and this place so far away. Six years have passed but I am still Sister Kate (the Owibo).
Biana
informed me last night that if I wanted to I could devote the first half of
this day to helping with HIV testing at the Jos prison. I jumped at the chance
to see something new and help out in a way that I didn’t realize was a
possibility. I met Simon in front of the Clinic after breakfast and we hopped
in the van for a short ride across Jos. We pulled up to the prison and met with
Esther (a young woman from the lab) before walking through a large metal gate
escorted by uniformed guards. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I braced myself
for the worst. Metal bars, mean armed guards, sickly looking prisoners, I
thought I would be walking into a concentration camp. Thankfully that is not
what met me behind the entrance. What my surroundings instead turned out to be
looked much more like a college campus than a jail. A large green was
surrounded by six or seven large run-down dormitories with a large letter of
the alphabet painted on the side. To one side of the lawn sat a row of
classrooms, a small garden, and a chapel. To the other side were some poorly
made wooden buildings where food was being prepared in bulk in the traditional
Nigerian style--with lots of fresh air. Simon led us to the classroom area
where they set up a small testing center (one table with the proper swabs and
needles) and the men filed in immediately. I was sent next door to the chapel
where I would be helping out with registration. I walked in to a room with 75
Nigerian men and realized that this was the first (and possibly only) time in
my life where I would be the only white AND female contribution to a crowd.
What a feeling.
The
man with the paperwork introduced himself as Prince before we quickly developed
a system of patient information processing. Simon told me that I was the
authorized Faith Alive staff for the day, which I found out meant I gave my
signature on every person’s paper next to “Doctor Presiding.” Never again in my
life will I enjoy that level of prestige. Two others jumped in to help and for
the next five hours the quartet of writers took information, copied data, and
got prisoners on their way to free HIV testing. It is really cool to be working
for an organization that, with as little resources as it has, believes in the
power of free services. Most of the men that got tested today would never be
able to afford this important step of their medical life, even if it looks very
cheap to the developed world.
It
was truly an amazing experience as I spoke with prisoners and realized how
happy they were with life. None of them looked depressed or angry or hungry.
They looked like people I would run into on the street in my neighborhood. I
did not get a chance to discuss the Nigerian penal system much today, but
Prince did inform me that most prisoners are only serving sentences for a few
months. There are virtually no women at this particular prison (although I
assume it resembles demographics all over Nigeria) and most of the men we
registered today were in their early twenties. It was strange talking to a
prisoner who said he was 20, my age, and realizing just how different our years
have looked. When we had a lull in the almost-constant traffic Prince asked me
geography questions that he has been trying to figure out. I was able to
explain some of Great Britain’s makeup as well as help him out with learning
country capitals, something he has worked on for a while. In return, he helped
me in his area of expertise; the Nigerian states and tribes. You can learn so
much from former strangers if you take the time to listen.
Around
1:30 we packed up our things, prayed with the staff that helped us, and went
back through the checkpoints. Greg was nowhere to be seen outside so Simon put
his hand on my shoulder and, with big eyes asked me, “Cait, are you able to
walk more than a kilometer?” I realized he was worried about me so I suppressed
a laugh and told him that I was a fine walker, even wearing a skirt. It was hot
but we knew it was going to be our only option when Simon spotted the red Faith
Alive van down the street. I think he was much more relieved than Esther and I.
I made it home for a late lunch and declined the invite of the trio to go to
the Museum Shops in order to get a needed nap. Some days you just need the
extra sleep!
E-mailing
at the Clinic was followed by a nice Baba dinner. We weren’t sure what our
activity for the night should be so Jon suggested turning on the television
where, on our favorite Arabic channel, The Life Aquatic was just starting. Oh
Wes Anderson. So our day ended with a wonderfully bizarre movie and, because
NEPA has neglected us for an entire 24 hours now, we got ready for bed without
the need for any other entertainment.
No comments:
Post a Comment