Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Prologue 2

(Image copyright of The SubwayNut)

Sorry for the long wind-up, but I thought it would be unfair to start the blog without mentioning the generous help Dr. Onyema (the founder of GEANCO) gave me in preparing for the trip.

When Chess heard of my plan to travel to Nigeria, he contacted Afam (the COO of GEANCO and Chess's friend) and Dr. Onyema, who showed interest in my proposed project. Some emails were exchanged and when Dr. Onyema, who is normally in Chicago, visited LA for a meeting with African First Ladies, I was invited to join him in a lunch meeting he was having with someone else. Since I didn't have a car, the plan was for me to take the Red Line to the intersection of Hollywood and Highland, where I was to be picked up by Afam. Instead of taking the Red Line, a friend ended up dropping me off at Hollywood/Highland, where I waited.

What followed was one of my more surreal experiences in planning for this project. Surrounded by various costumed characters, as well as the usual flock of tourists that seem to inhabit Hollywood Boulevard, I received a phone call from Chess asking me where I was. Resisting the urge to answer, "Between the Joker and Superman," I simply said that I had arrived. I was then told to wait ten minutes for further instructions. Some time later, my phone rang and I was ordered to take a taxi and then given a street address. Though all of this seemed to be straight out of one of those mystery-thriller-type movies, strangely enough, none of this seemed out of the ordinary to me, maybe because of the general atmosphere of Hollywood Blvd. I met Afam and Dr. Onyema and then we proceeded to have our lunch meeting at...IHOP. I think I once had a dream similar to this.

Dr. Onyema was genuinely enthusiastic in helping me plan my itinerary in Nigeria. When I tentatively asked him if there would be a place for me to stay, he promptly started drawing a rough map of Nigeria and then his extended family tree. He said that I wouldn't have to worry about lodging or food; that this was part of Nigerian hospitality. I would be staying with his brother-in-law in Lagos, his brother in Enugu, another brother-in-law in Awka, his mother in Nawfia, as well as with someone in Abuja. Quite frankly, I was impressed and truly grateful.

Afam also threw out a suggestion for another aspect of my topic I could look into. Many NGOs and non-profits want to help in the African health sector but the main problem is that there isn't enough reliable information about the needs of particular regions for the organizations to properly plan how to most effectively help. One thing I could look into would be how to use computers and the Internet to set up a sort of database to help, say "an organization trying to build a hospital know whether they need more maternity wards or incubators". (Chess) Definitely something to check out.

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