ZARIA....more adventure....

Ok, well, it was just supposed to be a simple 2-day trip up to Zaria to check on the progress of the construction of a building for vocational training for VVF patients that Family Care has been working on for a while now.....
But as this is me we're talking about, I should've known that as soon as I hit the African road, the adventure would begin....
We left our house at 7 in the morning, but arrived in Zaria at 2:00 p.m.--it was supposed to be a 3 hour ride--the reason it took so long? Read on...
We'd prayed for safety & protection, that the whole trip would be a success & that the Lord would go with us & all.....but not 15 minutes into our trip the front of the car started to sort of wobble/shake like one of the tires had gone flat....ended up not being LIKE one of the tires had gone flat--1 of the tires HAD gone flat. We pulled over to the side of the road & since we had the jack & spare, we would have been able to change it ourselves, but according to Simon this was the first time he'd had a flat--ever--in this vehicle, so the spare hadn't been used, (like, ever) so it needed to be balanced.
There was a little "vulcanizer" boy close by who we were able to summon who wheeled off the spare tire while Simon walked behind...I waited with the car for what would turn into half an hour of Praise Time, breakfast & Prayer time. Soon enough he was back, "vulcanizer boy" put the newly balanced spare tire on the car, & we were on our way.....for a few more minutes that is...
"BANG!!!"
"WHAT NOW??"
This time, wobble turned RATTLE & was coming from the back of the car instead. Of course, we pull over again, & now it's the back-left tire that's into SHREDS....I couldn't believe it?
"What is the Lord trying to tell us??" we both asked at almost the same time.
Since we were now slightly further up the road, it would be yet a little while further to the gas station where we would have to go, seeing as we'd already used our spare & would have to buy another tire now....but we figured that the tire couldn't get any worse & the gas station was so close....so we drove (ever so slowly) to the next gas station only to have to wait nearly 45 minutes or more for the lame-o that took off with our money &....couldn't find a tire? I don't what happened to him, but he had some excuse....we sure were mad at him by the time he came back, though.
If nothing better this gave us time to pray earnestly & ask the Lord what He was trying to tell us in allowing these 2 flats in so short a space of time at the start of what was barely our trip so far. He showed us that He was keeping us from some other imminent danger up ahead & delaying us, time-wise, on purpose. He also said that it doubled as a warning for us to pray at every step along the way & be vigilant in spirit (1Pet.5:8-9a) lest we meet that imminent danger at some other point n-e-way. He also told us to call the rest of our team back home & ask them to pray for us & claim the power of the keys as well...which we did right away.
So at about 10 a.m. we were finally off & didn't really stop till we reached Zaria @ 2 p.m.--safely, btw, TG!

At the project site


This is an excellent project that the Lord has already used hugely & will continue to for a long time to come....I'm quite impressed with it.
(warning: the following information is slightly graphic in parts....not recommended for wimpy readers)
VVF (Vesico Vaginal Fiscual)is a problem that mainly affects poor girls in the villages here in the North of Nigeria. Here's a description from one of Family Care's project update pages on the VVF situation in Nigeria:
"Imagine if you were sold to be married, got pregnant, Had a miscarriage, developed VVF & were abandoned by your husband, family & village....all before the age of 15, many times younger."
This is something that many girls here in the North of Nigeria face & is common place in these parts. Because there's such poor medical care in the villages, the women (or girls in the case of a lot of them) often don't have doctors present during their deliveries & when complications arise (baby being too big, tearing, etc.) some "local-yokal" attempts to do the "doctoring" for them, often resulting in the cutting of their urinary tract, or somewhere else, causing them to get major infections & swellings & to leak urine or faeces from then on.....this is of course, an embarassment for the family & village who see the women as having brought "shame" on them....so the girl is kicked out of home & left to fend for herself through begging, prostitution, etc., etc.
The center that the Family has built here is adjacent to the hospital & will run in conjunction with proper hospital staff & local doctors who have agreed to help these girls with surgery...then the girls will be able to stay at the VVF center that was built by Family Care for as long as they recover & can also enroll in "Vocational Training Programs" such as sewing, in which they are taken through a whole sewing course & given certificates & sewing machines on completion....this way they will be able to make a living for themselves decently whether back in the village or in the city itself.
Similar projects like this have been running in other towns in the North of Nigeria for years already & many girls have recieved the surgery needed & graduated from the sewing courses already. Please continue to pray for the Zaria project that it will go just as well & that it will be a help to many....it officially opens at the beginning of next month (February). Thanks so much!


Simon, next to the temporary sign-post, placed when the construction first started. He's been managing & co-ordinating of this particular project since it's inception towards the end of last year (I visited this place mid-January....see how quickly it was set-up??...it's almost finished)


I didn't get any pictures of the VVF girls & very few around town, due to my batteries running out during the first day I was there. But here's a few. I'll go again at some point & will take lots more then...


This one in the "old town" section of Zaria....



Also in old town....these donkeys are used for transporting sand or cement used for building, or firewood used in ppls homes 4 cooking. Some of these kids are the ones that "work" the donkeys....