4th March - 13th March

4/3 – today I took my first coaching session with the future stars of Nigeria football!

The session was good fun and it was good to see the children having fun and mixing with adults (even if they didn’t understand everything I said), something they rarely get to do.

Since I have been imparting my knowledge of London slgna dupon the two other boys, I thought it was time they returned the favour; boys a dear (oh dear) and ‘hanging out’ (a response to how are you) are two of the more notable ones. And they claim that I make no sense!?!

5/3 – We decided to take a well earned break from the endless toils of building the fence by making the 45 minute drive to Ankpa where Liam and Collette live. It was refreshing to eat some British food (well lasagne isn’t British but oh well!) for a change and get onto the internet (however slow it may be). Liam and Collette are in the middle of selling lots of their stuff because they are moving back to the UK after 2 and a half years, we have already bagged the tv!

6/3 – Although setting a routine is usually helpful, the monotony of getting up at 7 every day to finish the fence was growing tiresome. Thankfully that sameness was broken by my first English lesson for the older children. The girls I taught were uiet but had some good knowledge and understood what I taught them. I want them to start writing a longer piece of descriptive writing.

It is such a shame that a country that boasts the 8th fastest growing economy in the world fails to provide a whole region of children with education. Last year alone in Igala, teachers went of strike for a total of 6 months and similar problems are expected to happen this year! It seems like no one in government cares for the future of the country. Unfortunately, too many are only interested in their own gain.

7/3 – Having done the usual (more work on the fence and being dragged out to play football) we were greeted by the team from Jos (Ellie, Debbie, Lindsay, Micah and Emmanuel) who had come down to stay with us for a few days. Despite suffering from a severe case of heat rash, the day was a pleasant one and it was good to meet the fellow gappers, plus, Emmanuel is an Arsenal fan. Result!

8/3 – To my COMPLETE dismay, my planned preach at UEC had been ruthlessly put back to next Sunday due to a joint service taking place today! A special guest speaker had already been invited. To make things worse, we didn’t even get to hear him because the service lasted a mighty 5 hours and our poor little bodies could only cope with 2. We did however sing Blessed be your Name which was received with much excitement.

9/3 – Morning, usual things; fence building, heat rash and football with the boys. The afternoon was slightly more memorable because we were formally introduced to the chief of Ogugu. He wasn’t exactly what I expected though; he was small and appeared very humble…top bloke!

10/3 – After more than a weeks had graft, with sweat and blood (and maybe even a tear shed somewhere down the line) poured out, the mammoth fence was finely finished! Although the level of satisfaction was limited because the fence is completely pointless. This project was forced on Billy by the church and not even paid for by them.

Billy was planning on going back to Abuja today, but the allure of bean cakes and coca cola ensured we had his company for another day.

11/3 – early in the morning and Billy finally made his exit from Ogugu to go back to Abuja. It didn’t take long before the house felt empty. He has been such an amzing help these last couple of weeks, getting us settled in and making us feel at home. Fortunately it won’t be too long before we see him (and Linda) again.

After a quick visit to the market we set about making our schedule. God has already laid on some exciting plans for us and I just pray that we would have the courage and wisdom to respond.

12/3 – Today was a day for sleep. I took the opportunity of getting a few extra hours! I finally woke up at 1.30! How very un-Nigerian. I’m pleased to say I did absolutely nothing today, taking Elder Rueben’s advice to ‘feel free’. I have been motoring through my 6 months worth of books, I’ve never read so much in my life!!

13/3 – Today has truly been the hardest day in Nigeria so far. Despite planning a good English lesson for the older bunch, it had to be cancelled because no one turned up. This only added to the mounting frustration of dwindling numbers at various different clubs and groups. We’ve had to accept that this is partly due to the Africa relaxed approach to turning up to things, however, it has been frustrating that our schedule and timetables have not been properly distributed around the village.