7 July 2010

It has been a long time since I posted anything here. And I don't really know whether anyone is looking at what I write. But I thought I would add something today, since I am not too busy right now at work.

My company is still trying to find out what we want to be. We finally made a presentation on some software we want to build, and as far as we know the presentation and the concept was well received. Now we have to wait for government appropriations, budgeting, due process, etc. to give us the go ahead to complete the design and build the software. This might take some time so we are thinking of what else we can do to bring in some much-needed funds.

We were supposed to meet with the Secretary to the Minister of Science and Technology one day last week. In respect for the position of the person we were to meet with, I actually wore a suit to work. The meeting did not hold. The Managing Director asked me when would be a convenient time to set another meeting. I said that it didn't really matter to me when the meeting held, as long as he kept in mind that I rarely wear a suit to the office.

Anyway, we took advantage of me being a bit dressed up to take a picture of ourselves. We haven't had too many of us together. Usually one or the other is holding the camera to snap the other. So here is what we look like in July 2010.

Back in May, Eriye took the decision to be baptized. This was not an easy decision for her but one that she made on her own after a lot of personal thought and prayer. Her announcement to me was welcomed and a bit unexpected. She has been attending church with me since before we were married but seemed content to leave things as they were. She was encouraged by many of the people we have worshipped with over the past two years, and especially by some of our friends we visit in Jos when they are in Nigeria each year.

This past weekend we finally returned for a weekend in Akwanga. We came to Akwanga quickly the when I returned to Nigeria back in February 2010, but we didn't meet hardly anyone. Even our friend, Lucy, was not around but had left the key to her flat for us so that we would have a place to stay. It was a relaxing weekend then, and a welcome place to rest after so many months apart, and a long two days of flying for me.

We hoped to meet more of our friends this past weekend. We told some that we were coming and when we would arrive. We left Abuja a bit later than planned, and found that the trip across town to get the bus to Abuja took almost an hour. From our flat, we will now know to plan for it to take 3+ hours to reach Akwanga. There were no problems on the journey there or coming back. It was nice, to me, to get out of cosmopolitan Abuja and back into the real Nigeria. Reaching Nyanya to pick the bus was a reintroduction to me that I am still in a foreign country where English is not the primary language.

This is a picture of Eriye and Lucy enjoying someone's young baby. I have to admit that I don't even remember who the parents are. It would be a family living in the staff quarters of the College of Education Akwanga, and someone well known to Lucy and to us.

One of Lucy's neighbours has a small kiosk outside of their flat. She sells small consumable items, such as sugar, matches, noodles, tomato paste, eggs, etc. You might compare this to a 7-11 or convenience store in Canada. When we left the building was just a brown mud shack. Lucy has used her artisitic ability to pretty the shack up. It is now an attractive little shop and I think will attract more business.

For now, the lady who runs the shop has pretty much closed it down. She is taking her university courses in Jos, about two hours away, leaving her husband and 7 children at home. The children are all old enough to care for themselve, in fact all but three are in university or finished university. She comes home on the weekends, usually, and with some of her older children staying with them now, I am sure the shop will soon reopen. And that will be nice for everyone living in the staff quarters, especially when they run out of something small and need it now now.

We are now back in Abuja and managing. The appeal for Eriye's visa is in process. Everything that we could think of to support our application has been sent to the proper authorities, and we now wait for some decision. We will hear something by the end of July or early August. We pray that it will be good news and that Eriye can soon experience her new family in Canada and the United States.

Heading Back to Nigeria

After much prayer and thought, and after talking with Mom and Dad, I made the decision to return to Nigeria to be with Eriye. My heart was torn between feeling that I might be of some benefit to my parents by staying in Canada, at least through the winter, and of supporting Eriye as her husband back in Nigeria.

After making the decision to return, I felt a load lifted from my shoulders, though I still was concerned about Mom and Dad. I went to the local travel agent and asked about flights. The first suggested date was less than a week from when I made the decision, but i did not feel that I could get everything organized quite that quickly. In the end we settled on flying by KLM through Amsterdam, leaving Toronto on 3rd February and arriving in Abuja at 8:15 PM Thursday night.

When I told Eriye of my decision she was very excited. She had said that she had not realized how difficult our separation would be on her. She immediately thought of Mom and Dad and wrote them to apologize for taking me away from them again. The last couple of weeks have been a bit hard on both of us, I think, maybe even harder than when we didn't know what we were doing next. Counting the days made things real but also made the days seem to drag by.

I have spent the last few days saying goodbye to family and friends, and trying to get things organized for packing. Today was spent getting things into two bags with an individual weight of 23 kg or 50+ pounds. The first iteration both bags were just barely over the limit. So I went back through my clothes and was a bit more harsh in deciding what to take and what to leave behind. The first iteration everything went in the bag. The second iteration several items came back out because I knew already that chances are I would never wear them in the heat of Nigeria. At any rate, I have both bags under the limit now, and with even a little to spare to compensate for any difference between my scales and the airlines.

The next update to this blog will come from Nigeria. I don't keep this updated that often but will try to do so. If you would prefer to receive a more regular newsletter update, let me know at david.perry.ghana@gmail.com and I will add you to the distribution list.

I am now watching Episode 1 of the last season of Lost. It is too bad to start the series knowing I might not see the end of it until later this year when it becomes available in Nigeria. This is a series that many seem to watch regularly (on DVD) in Nigeria. I think Eriye saw only about half of the previous season, so she will be anxious to see the ones that I have with me, and anything I have of the new season.

I didn't tell you what the picture is. Last Sunday we had a meeting after church and that was preceded by a soup and salad lunch. The "church photographer" was kind enough to take this snap of me, Mom and Dad.