The Largest Market in Africa.

Today we went to Onitsha. It was part market-research, part cultural-shopping-adventure.

Anytime we leave our cloistered oasis, there are multiple steps involved. It is not arduous, so much as it requires a fair amount of organization. So sometime mid-morning, we boarded a wooden boat bound for Otocha where we docked at the ferry landing. The boat is best described as a long wooden canoe powered by a motor and bamboo pole. The captain drives the boat from the back with the first mate giving gestures and occasional verbal cues indicating upcoming obstacles - water hyacinth, fishing nets, driftwood. Once we docked at the landing, kids began to gather. White people are not a common sight, I suppose, and staring is socially acceptable. The kids were generally smiling and entertained by us, although only a few of them spoke english so communication was limited to body language and eye contact.

Otocha has a market that runs every day, with a large market rotating every four days. It is an interesting cycle based on the four days of the Anam calendar. You have to find out when the last big market was and calculate when the next one will be in order to figure out when to shop. Today was not one of the larger days so we got oriented while someone collected the cars and our vigalante escorts. The vehicles are now stored in Otocha since they cannot be stored at the site due to the wet, muddy road conditions.

We then drove for about an hour to Onitsha where we took in the market. We started with the food sections and then traveled to the heart of the market. It is said that if you cannot find it in Onitsha, you cannot find it in Africa. The scope of the market is expansive and quite ordered. There are separate sections for food, meat, clothing, books, electronics, construction goods, etc.  This gives you the opportunity to comparison shop as well as take in as much sensory stimulation as you can handle. We had wonderful escorts and trying to maneuver seven interns and a number of staff through narrow stalls of goods is an adventure on its own.

After an afternoon of shopping and exploring market organization in the hot sun, we piled back into the van for the drive back to Otocha. It started to rain as we were driving back, which is not optimal when you still have a significant boat ride home. We tried to wait it out for a short period, but between the sun setting and the rain clouds darkening the sky, we needed to collect all of our groceries that had been purchased and head home. For this we needed a bigger boat. One of my favorite things about the ferry is that you just park your wooden boat and it will stay there. There is no security, nor any patrol of the boats. People generally know who's boat is who's (they are also labeled) and it brings bad fortune to you if you steal someone's boat. So it just doesn't happen.

Anyhow, we made it home in the cold, dark rain with food to feed 12 people for a week - 4 chickens and 8-20L water jugs included.

Location, location, location.

We have been here for almost a week which is hard to believe.

Before arriving, I was under the impression that we would be staying in thatched huts on the site. As with most things construction, there were delays. The huts and the staff quarters are not finished. So instead we are bunking in the Chife's house. It is really more of a mansion, a Trasarco McMansion, and we are really more like squatters. The house is brand new, almost completely finished, with floors and fixtures from Ikea and romanesque columns everywhere, and absolutely huge. Someone said the other day, "Nigeria is like Texas. They like everything to be bigger."

It is common in Nigeria that when someone from a community makes it big, becoming a Big Man, they build a large house in their village. Right now this white semi-Mediterranean style house stands out amongst the waddle-and-daub huts that dapple the countryside. Dr Chife grew up near here and his community raised money to send him to college. In addition to the New City Project, he has created programs, such as scholarship programs, that help to repay their support by reinvigorating the future of Anam. He models the principles that many aspire towards: success, generosity, vision. I look forward to hopefully meeting him this summer.

Anyhow, as far as where we are...Ebenebe is one of the eight Anam Communities located in Anambra State near the Ezichi and Niger rivers. It is primarily a farming settlement and some people live here permanently, while others just live here when they are farming. The landscape can be described as a forest-mosaic. What this means really is that it is part jungle, part forest, part farmland, part flood plane.

I share a sleeping room with two other interns, one from Spain and the other from Oregon. We all have foam mattresses and that are draped in mosquito netting each night to protect us from the mosquitos and their potential diseases. The room is part of Dr Chife's future office for the times when he is here. My suitcase is my dresser and I am grateful to be able to hang my toiletry organizer. We take bucket showers because although there is indoor plumbing, the electricity goes off for about six hours per day. The state put up power lines in the area years ago, but there is no power coursing through the wires. Instead, everything is run by generator.

Our office is the future living room and we have three large tables with various models of computers available for usage. Everything is open and studio-esque. The ten-week program has been reframed as a workshop, which emphasizes the nature of our work and the collaboration of everyone here because certainly everyone here has a lot of insight and knowledge to share. There are seven other interns total, six of whom are here. Five of us are American, one spaniard, one ghanian. I am really grateful to be a part of such a visionary and educated group.

All in all, it is a pretty good set up. We sleep, work, and eat in the house. We are close to the river and it is easy to explore the site. Things are off to a good start.

Goat feast.

Today was the awaited Goat Feast.

Yesterday Mercy and Rose, our dutiful cooks, brought a goat back from the market. The goat was 2-3 years old, brown, and scared out of her mind after being transported in a car for a few hours. She cost about 150,000naira, which is approximately $100. I am not sure what the market rate is for goats at home, but for the amount of food that we are getting this seems like a deal!

Sparing the details of the processing, nothing from this goat is going to waste. Much of the meat was roasted over an open flame. Half of it was frozen. Some of it was stewed. (Goat head stew is a famous dish in northern Nigeria.) And some of it, I do not want to eat. It was quite delicious and more tender than I anticipated. I may not want to eat goat for a while after we finish everything, but for now I am really excited about this novel protein source.




One other note about today: A few of us went for an afternoon run and part way through a few kids began to follow us. There is a strange contrast to our need to go exercise and be physical after sitting most of our work days to the active lifestyle of the families in this area who are primarily farmers and laborers, but kids are a different story. They began to imitate us and we played along. We taught them some stretches and calisthenics and twirls for good measure and they practiced their new moves, laughing and smiling. Then we went down to the river for a quick swim and the kids watched us from the bank. One of their mates came along and we watched them explain what we were just doing, acting out the running and stretching and calisthenics. It was precious to see them laugh as they described what we did.

Also, my fingers are still burning from where I touched fresh chilis cooking last night. This is a true testament to the strength of the spiciness.

Site Tour and Context.

Day Two of Orientation focused on creating a context for the ideas of designing a new city. After arranging the tables and computers in our workspace, we began with a site tour after a hearty breakfast of eggs, oatmeal and nutella. (Mmmm...chocolate for breakfast.) We walked the 4km (~2.2 miles) from the north to the south end of the area designated for New City development. The site tour was helpful to develop an understanding of the land, its current uses, and to imagine the potential development of the city. We saw where the future hospital will go among a grove of mango trees; we stopped at the high grasses that are being cleared for the brick factory; we rested on the bamboo stoop of a neighboring family and counted 21 kids for the 4 women that were present. It is hard to explain what we are encountering. I wish I could post photos to highlight the natural beauty that surrounds us and the excitement of the people that we have spoken with. Even with photos, the kinesttic quality of being here is hard to describe. Everyone that I have encountered is fully committed and engaged in making sure that the New City is a success. They are passionate about making this a better place for their families to live and return to for generations and generations. There is palpable meaning in what we are here to contribute.

After concluding the three hour tour to the south end of Ebenebe, we took a boat back to our starting point. It was refreshing to see the land from a different perspective and it helped me understand the magnitude of how people here adapt to a changing landscape. For instance, farmland where yam and cassava are grown is dry right now, but soon will become flooded and the mounds of yam will be underwater. The tall grasses that border the river will be submerged in months time. It became easier to conceptualize that when the road gets flooded, people adapt. There is still access to neighboring communities by river. Essentially, the river becomes the road.

To celebrate the river, a few of us took a sunset swim in the murky waters at sunset. It was quite an adventure through someone's cassava mounds to get to the river, but we made it and had a glorious swim. It is hard to believe that we have only been here for two days as there is so much to see and comprehend. But I am beginning to see how things fit together and the specific possibilites of this collaborative project.

Ruban Workshop Begins.

After a full day of travel on Tuesday, we began our workshop on Wednesday.

I would like to start by describing our travel from Lagos to Ebenebe. Here's the plan: leave the hotel at 10am, fly from Lagos to Benin City at 11:40, drive for 2 hours to Anam, begin orientation. Sounds like a full day, but nothing too strenuous. I don't ask a lot of questions and I am up for anything, which is lucky. After breakfast at the hotel, we all load in the car and leave the hotel by 10:30am. Wondering if we are going to be late for check-in, we drive all of 100 yards to the airport. Realizing that we could have walked this far, we check in for our flight without showing any IDs. I wish I had taken a photo of the situation because well, it was unique. I have some photos from the arrival in Benin City (courtesy of Isabel). Anyhow, we make it through security with full water bottles. We were asked to take a drink from our bottles to make sure that it wasn't acid or something dangerous and then we proceeded to the boarding area. I think TSA could take a clue and follow this strategy instead of throwing out useful things all the time and banning water.

Inside the terminal, there were kiosks selling sundry goods from books to watches to edibles. Interestingly, the books mostly focused on bettering yourself in business, like focusing on management strategies or being a better consultant, or self-help/religious topics. I think I saw a medical dictionary too. We waited and our flight was delayed 30 minutes. Then 45 more minutes. When I asked our kind guardian and shepard Emmanuel if they gave a reason for the delays, he looked at me and laughed saying, "It is delayed because they are Nigerian!" I should point out, he is Nigerian and lives in Lagos. We eventually boarded the 40 minute flight and were greeted in Benin City by cars armed with police officers to take us to Ebenebe. The police officers are our security. They carry large personalized guns and scan the streets and onlookers for possible perceived threats. I feel extremely safe, but like a fish in a fish bowl.

Everyone I have encountered thus far is extremely nice and hospitable. It is hard for me to imagine anything going wrong. And at the same time, we drive for almost four hours and there are innumerable checkpoints where police stop cars and want money from vehicles that don't have security. So better safe than sorry. We stop at a market to pick up some mosquito nets and while a couple of people venture off, all of the new arrivals (the seven interns) stay in the van. We quickly become a spectacle. White people in a car in a town that may never have had a caucasian visitor. Kids run and tell other kids until there is a swarm of kids looking and watching. It is a little like we have paparazzi sans cameras. Thus the feeling of being in a fishbowl.

Our final destination is Ebenebe in the Anam region of Anambra state. We made it to our final destination after dark, perhaps around eight at night. This is one of the last days the road will be passable by car. Soon the rains will start and will flood the road making the river the only way to access the area. Already the road is rough and the vestiges of inadequately funded state road make themselves apparent as we pass from smooth developed road to mudholes that could swallow a car.

A feast awaited us upon arrival: greens, yam, casava, plantain, and fresh fruit for desert. We were exhausted and hungry after our day of travel and gratefully inhaled the deliciousness prepared for us. After dinner, we had brief introductions and watched an inspiring video from Dr and Mrs Chife welcoming us to the project. Then after settling into our rooms (which I may describe more later), we went to sleep.

The next day, the Rurban Workshop began.

When someone tells you that they are designing a new city that can serve as a model for African development, you know that it is going to be a big project. You assume that the project has immense potential to make a difference in the world and the lives of the individuals who will live there. But you don't really know how large the project is until you grapple with the master plan and the topics and concerns that have been discussed for years leading up to this moment in time. This project is especially wide in scope because it is so unique in evolution. The people in Ebenebe are building this city from the ground up, with every factor being weighed by the community elders. Our first day of orientation was all about understanding the Master Plan and the evolution of this project. After one day, I have a lot yet to understand.

Departures and Arrivals.

Life is good, and it only gets better.

The past few weeks in Austin have been fantastic. Not only do I feel like I am really starting to belong to the community here, but I am also learning how to utilize the resources and wealth of knowledge surrounding me. I went to a beekeeping class, kayaked on town lake, and tubed down the river in San Marcos. I have eaten some of the most delicious food on the planet. And I have enjoyed spending time with people I love. Needless to say, I am pretty glad that I made the move from Hawaii to Austin in February.

Timing is a funny thing. Just as I was starting to feel established and comfortable with my life in Austin, it was time for me to leave for the summer to go to Nigeria. I accepted a position working with the Chife Foundation to help develop a public health care system in a new city in Africa. This opportunity provides a chance to make a difference on a larger scale than a private practice while working with visionaries. The goal is to create a model for future African development. While I have lots of ideas about what I will be doing and what to expect, there are more unknowns than knowns. Here's what I do know:
-I will be living in rural Nigeria for two and a half months, doing a combination of surveying (health surveys, etc) and collaborating with other experts to make recommendations for the new city project.
-Stacy will be there. And seven other interns, whose names I have seen in an email.
-I will have a chance to work with other really amazing people (interns, Chife employees, Anam community members).
-I will get to learn about Nigeria and have to opportunity to make a contribution.

So on May 29, I boarded a plane bound for Lagos.

About an hour into the flight, there was an announcement over the loud speaker: "We are looking for a doctor or nurse to help with a medical situation. If you are a doctor or a nurse, please contact a flight attendant immediately." After a brief moment of hesitation, when I wondered if I was really prepared to declare myself so publicly on a plane, I made eye contact with a flight attendant who asked if I could help. After introducing myself as Dr. Strickler, I quickly felt that I had control of the situation and the moment of hesitation was long forgotten. Luckily we didn't need to reroute the plane, nor did I need to perform any drastic measures. A simple exam with questioning and some paperwork later, everything was in order. It was a good reminder of how comprehensively I was trained for myriad situations. It also made me wonder what was in store for me once we landed in Nigeria.

I made it safely to Lagos after 14 hours of travel. Before even making it through customs, I met four of the seven other interns, which only contributed to the excitement of arriving. After getting our luggage and yellow fever cards checked, we were swooped from the airport to a hotel, where we ate our first Nigerian meal. I managed to sleep the whole night through even with the time difference (Nigeria is six hours ahead of CST). And prepare for another day of travel before getting to Ebenebe, the site of the new Anam city.

okc marathon.

Following in the tradition of Pheidippides, I ran my first marathon yesterday. It was quite an experience to say the least.

Four months ago, I remembered a promise I made to myself when I was eighteen: I would run a marathon by the time I was thirty. That seemed reasonable when I was eighteen and thirty seemed like forever away. Plus, I was eighteen, resilient, and trail-running regularly. That was twelve years ago and I really had no idea what the impact of being somewhat sedentary through medical school would have on my body. Nonetheless, a commitment is a commitment. And now I had less than six months to follow through.

I trained with the Passmore Racing Team (Stacy and Paul) for the Austin Half Marathon in February. It was great to have the support and accountability of our 8-week training schedule. I think we each pushed ourselves a little harder knowing that we would be racing together. After finishing the half marathon, we all felt pretty good and it was motivation for me to continue training for the full marathon.

So I scripted my plan, laid out days that I would do my long runs and hoped that four months was enough preparation. Turns out, a stress fracture type injury is enough to derail training. Six weeks before the OKC marathon, my left foot started giving me trouble. I pretty much quit training at that point. The longest I'd run was 16 miles. Now I couldn't go more than a few miles without major pain. So I stuck to yoga and swimming and wore an ankle brace. I decided that I would still go to the marathon, and do the best that I could despite the injury.

So, on Sunday May 1st, I completed the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. I am not sure yet how to characterize my mixed emotions about the race. One one hand, I am humbled at the number of people who participate in such events and proud of my accomplishment, while at the same time I think we might all be CRAZY.

When I woke up on Sunday a cold front had blown in creating a thunderstorm that was predicted to last for the day. We went from sunny and 72 on Saturday evening to 42 with 25mph winds and rain on Sunday morning. Thank you Oklahoma weather. Still too excited to process the potential impact this weather may have on the race, I got dressed in warm layers I had luckily packed 'just in case.' The final layer was a 13-gallon trash bag over my clothes. Stylish, I know.

My mom graciously agreed to run with me at the start and finish of the race. So she and I were out on the course at 6:20am ready to go. Unfortunately, we didn't know that the race was delayed due to lightening. So we stood out in the cold rain waiting for the new start time to arrive. While standing there listening to announcements and runners chattering about the weather, feeling the excitement of everyone was energizing. Then, moments before the gun went off, we were all asked to observe 168 seconds of silence to honor the memory of the 168 people that were killed in the Oklahoma City bombing. The only sound around us was the raindrops falling. I cannot express the profundity of 25,000+ people standing in the rain before sunrise, totally silent.

One of the things that I appreciated about the OKC marathon was the emphasis on the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing. We started and ended at the memorial, with tributes to the 168 victims woven throughout the fanfare of the race. The announcer read this quote that is on the entrance to the memorial:
"We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity." I like the sentiment.

As the shot rang out, we started running! (This is a photo of us finishing.) The course took us through some really great parts of the city. My mom ran with me for the first four miles and then Spenser was waiting at mile 11 to run the rest of the way with me. I ran with another racer for a while who was running the half. He told me that he and his girlfriend started training for the half-marathon together and then they broke up two months ago. He was running in the race and she was at home on the couch! Love it!

Overall, the weather was the most remarkable part of this race. The first half was cold and rainy, and then it got colder and rainier and windier, and then colder and windier with hail. During the second round of hail, a nearby racer said, "Seriously, what's next?! A tornado?!"

Seriously, who thinks it's a good idea to run a marathon in 40 degree weather with 25mph winds and hail?! I couldn't feel my hands after mile two, my feet were wet and numb, and I think I shivered for at least an hour after finishing the race. A warm bath, hot water bottles, three blankets and a comforter later, I was finally warm and feeling pretty good.

I definitely could not have finished the race without the all support I had. Spenser, mom and I crossed the finish line together. (Above is Spenser drinking a beer at mile 25.) We all got our hard-earned medals and I got my finisher t-shirt. At one point in the race, I wondered why I was doing this, and recognized that in addition to being stubborn, I wanted that medal and t-shirt. However, the emergency blanket they passed out at the end was a more valuable prize then the medal by the time I made it to the end.

I am so grateful to Dave and Janet who generously hosted us, to everyone that wished me luck and cheered for me, and to the people who stood out in the rain supporting the runners. And I am really glad that I will never have to do this again! Ever.