CIC Rejection

This picture was taken on 12 June 2008. It is a picture of Eriye and I watching a judge at the Courthouse in Akwanga, Nasarawa State, Nigeria signing our marriage certificate. It was a happy day for both of us, as we anticipated sharing our lives during the remainder of my placement in Akwanga and then travelling together to Canada for a totally new experience for Eriye.

Shortly after our wedding, we submitted our application for a Permanent Resident Visa for Eriye. For more than a year we heard nothing from CIC (Citizenship and Immigration Canada) but continued to hope that something would happen soon so we could come to Canada together at the end of my volunteer placement. Unfortunately, my job ended before we were able to get Eriye's visa, or even to find out where we were in the process of getting said visa.

I had to come home because the College of Education Akwanga had not requested that I stay any longer to continue working with them. It was a sad day on 2nd September when I left Eriye with another volunteer living in Abuja and made my way to the airport to make my way home alone. We did not know what was in store, but continued to have a naive hope that we would be reunited within a short period of time. My plan was to begin working through whatever contacts I could find that might help to move the decision process forward.

Sometime in November, after a few letters and appeals to the Canadian High Commission in Accra, Ghana, we were told that Eriye would have her immigration interview on 9th December 2009. It was hard to keep from getting too excited, as we had no reason to think that Eriye's application would be rejected. We started hoping for a reunion before Christmas.

Eriye travelled to Accra for the interview. It is a two day trip from where she is staying with friends in Port Harcourt, Nigeria - and that is two days of hard travel. We were happy to have another volunteer from Akwanga join her in Accra, and they enjoyed some time together while Eriye prepared herself for the interview. On the designated day, Eriye made her way to the High Commission and faced her interviewer. I say faced, because Eriye came away from the interview feeling very attacked. The interviewer said that our marriage certificate looked fake, like something that I had made myself on the computer and then sent to Eriye for the interview. Eriye did not go with a photo album of our wedding (mostly because we did not have one) or of events that we had participated in together since our wedding. We had no idea that these things would be needed. We know that our marriage is real, and had no reason to think that the Canadian government would not accept the documentation that we provided.

We were both so disappointed with the decision of the interviewer, and with the entire immigration process. Rather than helping us to know what is needed to ensure that our marriage is considered real, we have wasted a year finding out that we did not provide enough. During that year we could have gathered more supporting evidence if only we had known. Now we face an appeal process that might last for another year or longer, with no guarantee that the decision will be reversed.

Eriye left the interview with very bad feelings about Canada and not so sure that she wants to come here anymore. And, with winter settling in and me freezing here at home, I am not so sure that Canada is as wonderful as I have always thought it was. So who knows what is next in our lives.

After the interview, Eriye and her friend went to the market near the High Commission. While there, Eriye's bad was stolen and she lost:
* her brand new passport (about a month old and one that she went through a lot of trouble to get)
* her health card
* bank cards (her accounts, my accounts, etc.)
* money
* her bus ticket back to Port Harcourt
* all of her contact information
* everything else that a woman happens to carry in her bag on a regular basis

I have a feeling that 9th December 2009 will be a day that Eriye will remember for a long time. And all I could do is comfort her as best I could with a long distance phone call.

Eriye is back in Port Harcourt now and making some decisions about what she will do to make a living, since it appears that she might be there for a long time. She will have to look at a place to live, employment or work of some sort, and all those things that are part of having a home. And I am still in Beamsville doing what I can to survive here, while I start working on an appeal to bring Eriye home. We are both suffering from being alone, and hoping to be reunited soon. But neither of us knows what that will look like yet.

On the Way Home!!!

It is now September, 2009. I finished my time in Nigeria at the College of Education Akwanga on 28 August, and left for Abuja to begin my journey home on 21 August. The trip to Abuja was not easy. We were assigned an old van that looked like it would have difficulty making it from the campus to Akwanga town. And we weren't far off in our guess of the health of the vehicle. We actually made it to Garaku, about 25 km, before it broke down. The driver had been given enough money for fuel and something for his feeding, so I had to dip into my own funds for some repairs. These small repairs lasted about 5 km before failing as well. And so we were stranded again. I called the Acting Provost and described our situation. She immediately sent her own car and driver to bring us to Abuja, where we spent a day saying goodbye to our friends there.

The last several weeks at the college were very busy. One of the lecturers found out that I was soon to leave so took the initiative to arrange for training to take place. So I spent about 6 weeks teaching/training 6 hours a day along with personal assistance before and after the scheduled classes. It was what I had wanted to do since I first came, so was happy to be busy as I ended my time at the college.


This is a picture of most of those participating in the training. The class consisted of a wide range of ages and a wide range of computer knowledge. I feel confident that all gained something from the trainings, which concentrated on Using the Internet, Using Email, Word Processing, Spreadsheets and Presentation software. Open Office was installed for everyone to use, as many had trial versions of MS Office and I wanted to be sure that they had something they could use going forward. That added some difficulties to the training, as I had to discuss MS Office 2003, MS Office 2007 and Open Office at the same time.

I am now in London on a 21 hour layover. I am taking advantage of high speed internet access to do a little catching up and posting of updates. I will be back in Canada Thursday afternoon, and will be quite busy sorting out things when I get home so that I can take a trip to North Carolina to visit my daughter there.

Thanks to all that have been keeping up with me on this blog, though I have not updated it as often as I would have liked. Until the next time.

WASA - West Africa Strikes Again

West Africans love mnemonics. A popular one is WASA – West Africa Strikes Again. As I tell you of the past weekend, see if you can tell where WASA applies.

One of Eriye’s friends had her white wedding (church wedding) scheduled for 30 May, so I took advantage of the off day to make a long weekend trip. I took an extra day to travel to Port Harcourt on Thursday to meet Eriye there. She had been in Port Harcourt doing her business here since early May, so we had not seen each other for some time. She had arranged for a bus from Jos to pick me at the college gate. I watched the first bus pass and called her to tell her that. She said to be patient because I was scheduled for the 2^nd bus. The 2^nd bus came some half hour later and also drove past. I had been trying to call the driver for some time but he would not answer the call. Somehow the manager finally got through before the bus left Akwanga, but he had to come back to the College to pick me. That was the beginning of the weekend. Other than that the trip was uneventful and I arrived in Port Harcourt about 6:00 PM. We then tried to enter the Shell Residential Area for supper but because of security issues in the Niger Delta, they are much stricter about letting strangers enter the compound – even white strangers. We had celebrated my birthday there last year about this same time but we were denied entry this time. We called my friend, Cliff, and arranged to meet him at another location and enjoyed dinner and some good conversation before retiring to our hotel for the night.

Friday we had some business to take care of. Eriye had arranged to have new clothes made for the wedding and had told the tailor that we would pick those clothes by 8:00 AM on Friday morning. We went to his shop past 9:00 and found that he had only just then started working on Eriye’s dress. We told him the urgency of completing his work, as we needed to catch a bus to Calabar by noon. He said to come back at 11:00. Meanwhile we had hired a taxi for an hour, and basically wasted most of the expense for that taxi. We dropped to see one of Eriye’s friends who has been helping with her sales. And then we went back to the hotel to rest a bit. By 11:30 we returned for the dress but it was still not completed. Again, we had spent money on a taxi but would not be able to complete our business during the time we had hired it for. We had him drop us at another friend’s house where we could wait until the tailor called to say that the dress was ready. In the meantime, I was getting more concerned that we would not get a bus to Calabar at the time we wanted it. Finally the tailor called. Eriye’s friend has a car so the husband brought us to pick the dress and took us to the bus station.

We arrived there about 1:30 and the bus was scheduled to leave at 2:30. We got the last two seats. We showed the attendant our luggage and were told that it would be okay. Past 2:30 the bus started loading. When they saw one of the bags, which contained Eriye’s products, they said we would have to buy another seat for the bag – even though others had already loaded bags of the same size. A bit of an argument followed as to how the bag could be loaded without inconveniencing anyone, but the bus line refused. So we decided to take our chances with another bus line. Fortunately all of our money was refunded, though it took some arguing to make that happen. Then we had to find a taxi that would take us to another bus line, and hope that they had a bus still going to Calabar. At various points through this, Eriye decided that we should just forget the whole thing, stay in Port Harcourt another night, and then come straight back to Akwanga.

We decided to proceed. We got to the other bus line and found that their last bus left at 4:00. It was a bit more expensive but they didn’t charge us for the extra bag. Past 4:00 we started to load the bus. About 4:30 we left. We had to enter a go-slow (traffic jam) leaving the garage, make a U-turn and re-enter the go-slow to leave Port Harcourt. Not long after leaving we entered a fuel station queue and spent close to an hour to fill the tank. Leaving Port Harcourt, we entered at least two more go-slows so it felt as if we did not really start our journey until sometime past 6:00. During all of this time, it was raining heavily. In fact it rained during the entire trip to Calabar. We were also travelling in the dark, which is not the safest way to travel in Nigeria.

We encountered several road blocks along the way. They were all official road blocks and we were usually passed straight through. There was one army blockade somewhere around Uyo in Akwa Ibom State where the officer pulled the vehicle over. He then came to the window where Eriye was sitting and knocked. When Eriye opened the window he asked me if I was safe and would not let us go until I confirmed that I was. Since we were at a road block with the army, it seemed like a good time to step down to ease ourselves (since I had felt that I had to pee since leaving Port Harcourt almost). None of the other passengers had mentioned a need but all took advantage when I made the request. And for some reason, trying to pee in this line of men made me bashful and I couldn’t relieve myself well. That took care of all the men. Only a little further down the road, the other lady on the bus asked to relieve herself so we had to make one more quick stop. We finally arrived Calabar about 9:00 PM. The lady who was keeping us for the weekend had been waiting for our arrival since about 6:00. We had told her of our situation so they were not just sitting and waiting. We called them when we landed and they came to pick us a few minutes later. They had already eaten, per our request, but took us to a restaurant and watched us eat now.

It was during the trip that we found out that she could only keep us for one night. While we ate, we asked the reason, as we had planned to stay over the weekend and travel home on Monday. Her house is a one-room, bed sit. She had planned to give us the use of her house while she stayed with a friend. But the friend had travelled so she had no place to stay herself. She had gone to a hotel room for the night because she had promised us a bed. But we could not expect her to pay for a hotel while we enjoyed her house. She is a volunteer, just like me, so hasn’t extra money for such extravagances. We did enjoy the night in her house but had to make alternative arrangements for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday morning we rested some but had to get out to a tailor for some adjustments to Eriye’s dress. We also had to find a hotel for ourselves and make arrangements for our return to Akwanga. We both found it very hot in Calabar, though the heat is more from the higher humidity in the south. We had a fairly relaxed morning, anyway. We got the dress altered, found a hotel just across the road from where we were staying, I travelled to the bus station and bought our seats for the next day and returned to the house. Sarah was making some lunch and then we were tired and rested until past time to leave for the wedding.

The directions we had for the wedding venue were not very detailed. We were given the name of a Catholic convent on Calabar Road. We were told that any okado (motorcycle) driver would take us there. Sarah’s friend was taking us in his car and we found no sign for the convent. People we asked didn’t seem to know where it was either. We finally stopped an okado who took us to the spot. It was hidden inside a girls school, so there was no way that we would have seen the name of the chapel from the road. If we had been given the name of the girls school we would have found it immediately. As it was, already late, we spent a good half hour or more trying to get to the venue. After we arrived, many others were still coming. So it seems that many came for the reception and bypassed the actual wedding ceremony itself.

The wedding was nice. The reception was good. The food was served buffet style. There seemed to actually be some order to the serving. Our table was finally called. There were typical foods, with the choice of entre being either fish or chicken. The lady before me took the last piece of chicken and I didn’t feel like taking the fish. The fish that was being served seemed to be all fish heads, and I knew that I would not enjoy trying to find enough fish meat to eat. There was also some beef pieces so I did get some meat. Despite this small setback for me in the food, the evening was nice. It was hot and humid. We were sitting under awnings that somehow kept any breeze out. I found a little later in the evening that it was much cooler outside the awnings where there was some breeze.

We made our way back to the hotel, then visited with our friends for a bit, and came back to the hotel for bed. Everything was good when we arrived. We had opted for a room with a fan only to save a bit of money. We were told that even if there was no NEPA they would run a generator in the night. They were on the generator when we went to bed. About 3:00 AM we both woke suffering from the heat. Other parts of the hotel had lights but our room did not. It turns out that we are on a different phase. The rooms with air conditioners are on a phase that was getting NEPA power so they offed the generator. Eriye went to complain but was told that the other phases were working. At any rate, from about 3:00 in the morning I suffered tremendously from the heat and did not sleep again. Eriye might have slept a little but she too was suffering. We had to get up and pack our bags in the dark. Just as we were leaving the lights came on. I mentioned the situation to as many people as I saw, though I did not meet the manager. Everyone explained about the phases and said they were sorry.

We arrived at the bus station at the requested time. We watched one bus board and leave at the scheduled time. It was a luxury bus going to Lagos. We saw three other buses prepare to load and finally our names were called. Our luggage was loaded and we finally left the garage more than an hour after the scheduled time. The driver seemed intent on making up the lost time by driving fast. He was a bit erratic. He would accelerate quickly and then have to jam the brakes as he came up on traffic. He would veer around cars rather than passing smoothly. He would often pass on blind curves and hills, and then have to cut off vehicles behind in order to get back in line for an approaching vehicle. He would pass fuel stations, and then decide that he wanted to get fuel so would reverse in the middle of traffic. He was a bit scary. I had actually finally fallen asleep at one point and woke as we pulled into a stop. When the driver got out, I asked what we were stopping for and for how long. He came around to the passenger door and said it was best that I keep my mouth shut. We all sat in the vehicle while the driver dropped a passenger and then wandered around the compound for some time without ever saying a word to us about what was happening. When he got back in I asked him whether we were cattle or human beings that he couldn’t tell us why we stopped. At this point the other passengers took this a permission to assert their rights. The driver continued to stop at fuel stations more often than necessary, if he was actually filling the tanks. Other passengers began to question why we were stopping and to challenge him for not telling us anything when we stopped. But we all continued to sit and do nothing when we stopped.

When we dropped in Akwanga, I made sure myself to tell them that we were getting off there, that we would have to inconvenience some of them in order to get our bags out, and that we would be as fast as we could. I don’t know if the driver learned anything, but I hope that the other passengers appreciated us telling them what we were doing.

We finally arrived home about 5:30 Sunday night. We were met by several of the kids who helped us to bring in our bags. We treated them with juice and bananas. There was no lights when we arrived, but thankfully lights returned shortly after that and we had steady power through most of the night. As I am writing this there is no power and I am sweating. But somehow I prefer this northern heat to the southern humidity.

How many instances of WASA did you count? There is no right answer to that question. But maybe it gives you an idea of some of the things that make life interesting here. We are safely home. We are getting ready to celebrate our 1^stanniversary, perhaps with a goat barbecue. We might go to Jos this weekend to visit friends there before they return to the US, or we might go to Abuja to participate in a leaving party for another Canadian volunteer who will leave Nigeria this month. I think we both are tired of travelling and feel the need to save some money, though, so we just might stay home and rest.

Growing Season Update - May 2009

It has been several months since I last updated this blog. It has been hard to access this site for me. We lost our internet access for some month or longer. And when we did have access, the system was so slow that sending pictures was not advisable - if one wanted to leave work that day.

We are well in Akwanga. Life continues to move ahead. There are frustrations and there are joys. There are many good people and events to enjoy. There are times when I am ready to leave without warning - just to get away from life in Nigeria. Overall, it is a good experience and I will look back and say that it has been good for me to be here. But on a day-to-day evaluation, there are some days that I feel are wasted time and effort.

I have been able to do some training with one department. It has been hit-and-miss sometimes. There have been days when we have already started class and the director will call the students away for something that is more important - to him, to the college, to the team  members. It isn't always clear who benefits from the interruption, but it reminds me that training is not a priority.

There are other days when I see my students right before class is scheduled to start, but by the time I make it back to the training facility they have mostly gone to get food or to do something else. So it has been rare to start on time or to have a full complement of class members.

Having said that, there are at least a couple of the students that are taking everything in. They are writing notes, they are asking questions, they are going back to their office to play with Open Office Calc - to see if what I told them works the way I said it would, or to reinforce their learning in the class session. So there is some encouragement and desire to proceed.

The picture above was taken at a festival auction. I gather that people contribute from the proceeds of their farming efforts to the church. The church then holds an auction to convert this farm produce into cash. The picture shows plantain, yams, maize, palm nuts, etc. There were also chickens, goats, maybe even a pig. And the auction was interesting as those with money paid much more for things than the actual value, because they knew they were supporting their church.

One thing interesting about the event, which was hosted by a village Catholic church, was that it started about four hours after the scheduled starting time. That is not unusual in Nigeria. The main dignitary was asked to come to the high table, but he chose to sit under a mango tree with several others (including me) who enjoyed the shade more than sitting in the sun. That encouraged others to move their chairs into the shade and out of the sun. And then the bidding began - often people bid against themselves to push the prices up and to give more. It was a festive occasion.

I had the chance to visit another festival in a local village. This is the home village of my friend at the local bank here in Akwanga. This is a picture of a masquerade. You will notice that only a couple of the dancers are fully dressed. I asked about this and was told that there is an apprenticeship to become a masquerade, so many of the dancers in this troupe have bits and pieces of the full costume, and only two men are in complete regalia.

It was interesting to watch the men in costume disperse the audience by just running at them. The men who were supposed to control the crowd could not get people to stand back, and they kept crowding the dancers. The masquerade just had to move toward the people, especially the children, and everyone would run quick quick. It was interesting.

The dancing requires a lot of energy. There is a lot of stamping and body movement. It is difficult to really capture it in a photo, but a video is too large a file for me to upload at this time. And I have found that each tribe has a distinctive method of dancing. This is the Mada tribe and much of their dancing looks like a chicken flapping its wings. The other major trive in the area is the Egon whose dancing is very similar but still different enough to be distinctive.

The big news of recent note is that our Provost died on Friday (22 May 2009). He has been ill for some time with diabetes and high blood pressure. Some said that he was also suffering from malaria and that compounded the other diseases. He is a Muslim man and had apparently prepared for his Friday morning prayers before dying. I found out while I was in Abuja at a VSO workshop. When I called the Deputy Provost Adminstration to verify what had happened I was told that they were already on the way to the burial now now. So I did not attempt to hurry back that day, but did pass through his house on Sunday to offer my condolences. One thing that the Muslims bring to the north is the quick burial of a deceased person. I wouldn't say that the funeral was any faster or cheaper, as I found over 200 people at the Provost's house two days later when I passed through. And I expect that there are still a good number hanging around grieving with the family even now.

It is not known what impact this will have on the school year. We are already behind because of student riots in June 2008 that closed the campus for about 5 months. The students were in exams, but they were suspended for three days in an already tight schedule. The Deputy Provost Administration should become the new Provost, but it is likely that won't happen. First, she is a woman. Second, she has been known to support the opposing political party. The position of Provost is appointed by the governor, so supporting the opposition might be a CLM (Career Limiting Move). Hopefully an announcement will be made soon.

Eriye and I will celebrate our first anniversary on 12 June. We are possibly buying a goat to slaughter and barbecue, and will invite many from church, the college, volunteers, etc. to join us for the event. Meanwhile, we continue to wait (patiently) for Citizenship and Immigration Canada Accra to process Eriye's application for a resident visa. We hope that it will come soon, but will not know until they tell us what to do next. We hope we will not be called to Accra for an interview, which would only delay the process. But we hope that something will happen that will move things along.

Until the next time. Sai anjima!