Drive Time:Jos – Bauchi 1.5hrs
Bauchi – Gombe 2.5hrs
Gombe – Yobe 3.5 hrs
Another great day of travelling to far out-of-town areas to deliver solar lamps. The reactions of rural recipients of these lamps are always the same – pure undiluted joy. It keeps us going.
The 10th stop on our journey is Wurno village in Tafawa Balewa local government area of Bauchi state. We were welcomed to the capital by Rev. Dan Amaria of ECWA, who handed us over to Rev. Ezekiel Abasu (secretary to the District Church Council – DCC) and Jackson Dankombo (Medical Supervisor of Bauchi) for the ride to Wurno. My word, Wurno is a little over 1hr away from the state capital, Bauchi! The area’s basic healthcare centre is connected to the power grid but has not had any electricity for years. The clinic head, Danladi Adamu, says the solar lamp gift be perfect for their drive to improve maternal & child health.
We seem to be covering ground fast. From Wurno, we set off for Gombe state. As we had only the one lamp to give out in every state, it was hard deciding who the lucky one would be (two centres had been nominated as beneficiaries of the Solar for the Masses scheme). Eventually a logistic glitch decided the matter. The recipient of our 11th lamp was the Ture Balam primary healthcare centre, situated in Ture Balam community in Kaltungo local government area in Gombe state. Here, our favourite picture had to be the one of a huge, rusted, old kerosene lantern which sat helplessly atop one of the walls of the clinic, looking battle weary. This clinic is also connected to the grid but has had no light in the past 5 months.
Connectivity
Internet: good enough GPRS signal strength from GLO in Yobe.
Mobile phone: MTN & Glo work Ok in town. However, in Wurno, there are only ‘patches’ of connectivity. To make a call on the MTN network, I was asked to go to a spot underthe tree. To get Glo access in the same area, I went to the backyard of the clinic!
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