Drive Time
Lagos - Abeokuta (Ogun state) 1.5hrs
Abeokuta - Oloke village (Ogun state) 45mins
Oloke - Iseyin (Oyo state) 1.5hrs
We have done 7,487km to date and at the end of today we would have covered 33 states out of Nigeria's 36 + the Fecderal Capital Territory, Abuja.
After visiting Primary Healthcare centres across 80% of all the states in the Federation, a certain predictability has crept in. You know what to expect. A centre with little or no electricity. And the ever-present lighting substitues such as a kerosene lantern, a local bush lantern, a torch, a candle, and inventive contraptions such as the boxed battery atached to a CD, with light points on the circumference of the CD!
Joined by Loveth Azubuike, our officer in charge of Rural Women Solar Engineers, we set out for a refreshing angle today and we got lucky.
Our first discovery was a traditional borth attendant, Christy Nwachukwu, who works out of a small room, split into two sections by a curtain. At the front end is her chemist where she sells an array of over-the counter-medicines (she's a trained nurse). At the back end of the room lies a narrow bed where Christy delivers women of their babies. The fact that her mini labour room is sometimes lit by a lone candle does not diminish the influx of patients, but Christy tells us the candle factor is always at the back of her mind as an accident waiting to happen.
At the Isalu Maternity Centre (Oyo state), the midwife, Mrs. Titilola, is so excited to receive a solar lamp/phone charger from us. She takes us in to chat with a lady who had had a baby the night before. Mrs. Titilola repeats a recurring comment we've heard along the way - that poor lighting is not only dangerous to the health (kerosene fumes are linked to chest infections), the eyes (bloodshot eyes), but that it has also become increasignly linked to post-natal depression. The new mother agreed that she would sleep and recover better if she didnt have to potter about in the dark when the candle goes out.
The golden find of the day was the Garri maker in Ogun state, Chief F. A. Saliu. This 72-year old man is the Baale (chief) of Araromi (Oloke LGA, Ogun state), yet he still actively works at making garri out of cassava.
Chief Saliu regrets that his eyes have gone bad from years of straining over pans of garri and using a small bush lantern as a light source. He showed us 4 different frying points for processing garri(it is fried in a deep oval pan over firewood), and said the one solar lamp he had just received from us would really light up the processing area for quicker and better output of garri. It would also help in protecting the vision of his younger co-workers.
At the end of our visit, Chief presented us with an ample bag of garri.
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