Always Smile, Caroline. LCCN Deaf Centre End of Term, March 4th.

Click on picture to enlarge.

Today was a double celebration. First was to celebrate Caroline. Caroline was killed in a traffic accident in Denmark. Her grandparents are members at the Deaf Church in Copenhagen, Denmark. They held the funeral services at her grandparents church. Money was contributed in her memory and the family sent it to Nigeria for the LCCN Deaf Centre to use it as they wished. They decided to buy sports uniforms with the money and school supplies. The shirts had Caroline's picture on the front with "Always Smile". The back says LCCN Deaf Centre.  The children were very happy to have sports uniforms like the kids at the Cathedral Academy. 

When most of the kids had shown up the went out to the open area and the teacher lead them through some stretching exercises and then they tossed a ball around the circle, then each tossed it high into the air and tried to catch it. The little kids did not toss it very high. 

  

Pastor Ruth got her sports uniform on and joined the fun with a little volley ball without the net.

After the sports time we were waiting for parents and other dignitaries to show up for the end of term celebration. A former teacher who had left to have her second baby came around the corner and the kids rushed her. Later, I learned that she is married to the present teacher. The baby is being held by another staff member while the kids surround their former teacher for a picture.

After the parents showed up we started the program. There had been some confusion on the dates of the program. It was scheduled for Saturday be too many people could not come. So it rescheduled for Friday. About half of the parents were able to make it. It started with a prayer and then they gave all the parents a copy of the story about Caroline and read it while it was translated into sign.

The children then sang a song about dedicated to Caroline.

The teacher addressed the parents and thanked them for forming a PTA and introduced the officers of the PTA. He encouraged them to participate with the school and their children's education.

(At this point a little disclaimer. I have not reviewed the videos of the parents speaking. I believe what I have written below is mostly accurate. I hope to put together a more accurate presentation after I return to the US and have access to a better computer for video editing and high speed internet.)

Next the parents were asked if they had any comments they wanted to make. Several parents stood and thanked the teachers and the staff. They all said their children were communicating with them and with others better, they were studying hard and were eager to learn. Some of the comments included that their deaf children are learning more at the Deaf Centre than their hearing children are at the public schools. Also that these children have special talents that the teachers have brought out in the. One father, who is Muslim said that his child has more problems than his deafness. That the doctors told him that his would not be able to learn, would probably not be able to walk and play. But he has blossomed. He is communicating, running and playing with his deaf friends. He is even learning to read and some writing. It was inspirational to hear what a difference this deaf school is making in these children's lives. One parent is a Pastor and evangelist that was sent to Yola to start a Four Square Church. His son got sick and lost his hearing over a short period of time. He is so thankful that the LCCN had created the Deaf Centre and his son is now the one the communicates the most with whoever comes over to their house.

Farah James with Pastor Ruth

One non-parent was in attendance and also spoke on how with her work in the community she has gotten to know many of the Deaf and the children attending the Centre are prospering more than other children. She said that all of these children are Special. They have special talents and qualities that other children and the hearing public will never understand.  (They are Special Children, Not Special Needs Children. That was my interpretation.) Farah James is the director of a local HIV/Aids program, Spring of Hope and has recently been recognized as a leader in the field. She reminded me that I had missed her support group, Spring of Hope HIV/AIDS Support group meeting last Saturday. Their next meeting is after I leave.

After the parents made their comments, I was suppose to interview the parents and ask them if the school was having any positive affects on their children. But they had answered all my questions in their comments. So instead I thank them for their comments and encouraged them to continue to be part of their children's educations and to support the Deaf Centre and its mission to help all Deaf People. I also said a word or two about the reality of funding for programs like the LCCN Deaf Centre and other charitable programs. That funding was being cut back in the US and Denmark. That more programs will require higher matching funds from parents. The more the parents support the Centre the more successful the Centre can be in seeking funds from other sources. The Deaf Centre is a mud block building from the 1950's or earlier. It some structural issues and it is located next to the pit latrine of the public school next door. I hope that it replacement and relocation will be the next project after the Church project is finished.

The Patron of the LCCN Deaf Centre and the Cathedral Deaf Church, Mrs. Bidil Lautrai wife of former Bishop William Lautrai spoke next,  about Caroline and how the Deaf Church in Denmark will be happy that Caroline is being honored here today. She also encouraged the parents to support the Deaf Centre and the Deaf Church project. She also challenged the Vicar of the Cathedral Church to show more financial support for the Centre and the Church project. It was good that the Vicar was in attendance to hear about the good work the Centre was doing for the children. The Deaf Centre for years was just that building out behind the Cathedral on the Mission Compound.

Finally, we had closing prayers. The Vicar Rev. Thiophilus Shadrach said a prayer followed by a prayer from one of the Muslim parents. The schools has about half Christian and half Muslim children.

Pastor Ruth Ulea with the supplies purchased with the money left
over after the sports uniforms were purchased. 

I am writing this on after the Sunday Service. There were 25 people in attendance at the Deaf Service under the tin roof on the patio of the Deaf Centre. At the end of the service most of us walked over the the Specialty Hospital to visit one of the young ladies father who is seriously ill. On the way back as we walked down the street with everyone signing a boy yelled out to us that his little brother who was hiding behind him was deaf and attended the Jada Special School. School is out and the children are on break until after Easter. We stopped and Pastor Ruth asked him his name. He clung to his brother's leg and did not respond. He was either frightened by all the attention or he has not learned any sign. Pastor Ruth said there are over a thousand students Jada and they do not have enough teachers or even enough food to feed the children. The school is free but unless you already have some signing ability you cannot learn. She had hoped things would improve since the Governor's First Wife is deaf. But she has not been able to improve things there. The Governors Second Wife is a doctor and has been put in charge of HIV/AIDS funding. Still the best programs are operated by local and national charities like Farah's program.

Click to support Jay with your donation and by sharing.

Now if you have read to here and you appreciate the work I am doing and wonder how you can help. It is simple, help me by clicking and donating to the Deaf Church Walls Fund. We are trying to raise $5,000 from small individual donations. It is really going slow. This fund is just to build the block walls of the Deaf Church. Just as important as donations are so is SHARING. When you donate you can help to multiply that donation by clicking the Facebook or Tweeter or other sharing  buttons. Tell your friends that you have donated and that they too can help the Deaf see the Word of God. Please Donate and Share. At the current rate we will be in the rainy season before we reach our goal.

Blessing of the Foundation, Cathedral Deaf Church, March 26th

Below is a short video of the Deaf Sunday Service from March 30th at the LCCN Deaf Centre, in the LCCN Mission Quarters, Jimeta, Nigeria, The video is only bits and pieces of the service. It took two hours to upload this 5 minute video. I hope you enjoy it. 

Click to go to Go Fund Me

Bishop Amos starting the Blessing Ceremon

The above video is a four minute version of the 25 to 30 minute Blessing of the foundation for the Cathedral Deaf Church. It is as big as the blogger would allow. I will put the 8 minute version up on U-Tube when I go to the internet cafe. (I went to the internet cafe and the 8 minute video is too large for them. They have a limit of 150MB and it is over 200.)

Children in blue are students at the LCCN Deaf Centre

This was a formal ceremony officiated by Bishop Amos Yakubu of the Yola Dioceses. It was mostly in Hausa so I did not understand what was being spoken. I am told the blessing is to pray that the foundation will build a strong and fruitful church. Also that the congregation will find the funds to complete the church. Many churches take several years to build once the foundation is started. They will build until they run out of money. Then save money until they can build the next part of the church.

Pastor Ruth in trench as Bishop gives his remarks.

The ceremony opened with a prayer and a hymn. There were several readings from what I am calling the book. I believe it is a book that has the blessings and prayers to be offered on most occasions. The ceremony was started outside the foundation and after a while the Bishop got into the trench and continued reading from the book, read some scripture and prayed. Then he laid the first concrete block. Reitred Bishop William Lautai laid the second block to form the corner. Bishop Lautai was instrumental in convincing the Cathedral and the Diocese to build the church. His wife is a former Danish missionary and is helping to coordinate the funds from Denmark. Pastor Ruth then laid the third block.

Mr Yakubu Bulama givng remarks.
My house is in the back left.

After a final prayer and the Lord's Prayer. Bishop Amos gave a short informal address and asked Mr. Yakubu Bulama to also say a few words. Yakubu Bulama is the Secretary of the Cathedral Deaf Church Building Committee but he is not a member of the Cathedral Church. He is also the Water Program Coordinator for the Health Services Board, the LCCN Projects Coordinator (volunteer position), and too many other volunteer assignments to name. He spoke on how he thought the Deaf Church would help the Deaf Community of not only Jimeta and Yola but of all of Adamawa State and Northeast Nigeria. He also slipped in a pitch to the Cathedral and the Bishop that the Cathedral and the Dioceses at some point should help financially.

After Mr. Bulama spoke Bishop Lautai spoke a little more briefly and more direct to my camera. Thanking the supports in American and Denmark for their support of the Deaf in Jimeta and this project. After the informal speeches some Malta and Maltina beverages were given out and my bag of M&M with peanuts was consumed.

Retired Bishop William Lautai remarks.

By the end of the day the Engineer and Mason has laid out all of the corners. The next step in the process will be to start the support columns and continue the foundation blocks.

Currently, they have enough money to continue another week or two of construction. There is a money transfer from Denmark in the process. When it is received they will be able to continue working and complete the foundation, wall columns, bring the foundation blocks up to floor level, fill the foundation and complete the floors. Work will then stop until they receive more money to build the walls.

Pastor Ruth giving out the last of the M&M's.

There are three ways you can contribute to the building of the walls. You can mail a check to Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, 301 County Road 18, Excelsior, MN 55331. Be sure to write Deaf Church Fund in the Memo line. 

The second way is to click the link below and contribute online with Go Fund Me.

Go Fund Me, Deaf Church Walls or click on the picture below.

The third way is for those in Denmark.
Man kan støtte byggeriet gennem Mission Afrika på dette nummer: 5061 1060018 og øremærke gaven Døves Kirke konto 2114. DER ER BRUG FOR DIN HJÆLP.

Beyond contributions you can help by praying for completion of the church, sharing this posting on your Facebook page or Twitter account, of just email it to all of your friends.

Click to go to Go Fund Me

Corner Block have been laid on march 27th,

March 13th, Women Cooking for Women's Convention, Deaf Church Design Review

As I was walking over to the little Lutheran Youth Fellowship Shop at the Cathedral I passed these women,e working hard. I think the pot had gotten too hot. They had just pulled the smoking log on the upper left out from under the pot. They were busy stirring this like this for several minutes. When I came back 15 minutes later they were packaging the pounded yams up into individual servings in plastic wrap. The portions will be stored in an insulated container and will stay hot for a long time. They will be served with the beef that was cooked yesterday and a soup. In the US we would call their soup a sauce. It can be a tomato base or greens based. I lot of times it is thickened with a little pot ash.

Deaf Church Design Review

Today has been mostly working on review of the design of the Deaf Church. I got the plans from Buluma last night. I had been told that new plans were coming last week so I assumed these were the new plans. They were not. It turns out these were the first draft. The committee had given the architect directions for changes and he has not yet provided the new plans. Tomorrow I will print up my comments and have Buluma review them and then give them to the committee to see if they want to pass them on to the architect.

Click to Enlarge

This top sketch is my interpretation of the architect's drawing. The pastor stand on the floor in front on then Altar. The Audience is on benches. There are two rows of benches on the floor and two rows on each of the three step going up to the back of the church. The second picture has the Altar reduced to two steps. I understand this was requested by the building committee when they reviewed the first draft.
The bottom sketch is my idea to change the first Altar step into a stage. The first step is widened and extended out towards the audience and acts as a stage. The light colored area is 1.5 meter (4' 11") deep stage. The set of lines shows the stage area extended out to 2 meters.

In the picture above there is a grey door. This leads back into Pastor Ruth's Office.

Late in the afternoon, Pastor Ruth said she would like to have the entrance from her office come in from behind the Altar. I spent the rest of the evening until power went out creating this sketch to show that it is possible. Her office and store room will be smaller and the WC would be moved to the center. This may add a thousand dollars to the construction.

 Currently, they have raised less than $10,000 for this project. This will allow them to start the foundation and walls. They are currently buying the materials for the foundation. They may have enough money to build the foundation here in Nigeria. When the money collected in Denmark is forwarded they will start the walls. When more money is collected and forwarded they will add the roof. This is typical construction here in Nigeria. I have seen smaller churches take three years to build.

Their current funds will not be enough to put a roof on it before the rainy season. They will need another $15,000 to $20,000 for the roof. The roof is one of the more complex and expensive parts of the building. The current cost estimate is for the completed building to cost between 6 and 6.5 Million Naira. At current exchange rates this is about $36,000 to $39,000.

There is a small group of people working on raising money in Denmark. The BOLD Church in Minneapolis, a small Deaf Church, has raised $500 and Citizens Into Action has designated $1,100 from its last two Fair Trade Fair donations to this project. I have committed to a 2014 goal to raise $10,000 from the US.

I am not a professional fund raiser. Anyone who wants to help or has some advice can comment to this blog or email me at jaycia@mchsi.com.  I need to get a 501 C 3 organization to start a fund to accept money in the United States. I will ask if out local synod if they will do this or one of our local churches.

My trip to the bush on Saturday to flush a new borehole that is giving cloudy water has been cancelled. There was no need for a team to go. Adams will accompany the driller.

March 12, Paperwork, Cooked Cow Head, Women’s Convention, Deaf Church Design

The day started out, not very interested but ended up with cooked cow head.

This morning and into the afternoon I was working of creating forms for the repair team to use when they go to repair a pump and for the community to have to use during the routine testing of the pumps. I took a break from this and decided the wind was good for cleaning the screens on the windows on the south side of the house. The wind was blowing out the house on the south side. So most of the dust from cleaning the screens was blown outside. I had cleaned the north side a few days back.

Mid afternoon the power went out and I decided to walk up the street to HDM Digital Solutions, the new Internet Café to print and copy the forms I had made. I got about half way to the Cafe when I realized I had not removed the three books from the computer bag. I was wondering why it was so heavy. HDM is a three room business on the second floor of a fairly new building about 200 meters up Mohammed Mustapha Way from the Cathedral. This puts them only 1/2 kilometer from my house. I had previously been walking 2 kilometers to City Cafe. This is a new business owned by a young lady. She teaches basic and advanced computing in one room and has the internet Cafe in the another room. You get a good dose of carbon monoxide as walk by her portable generator running in outside her second floor office.

3 Cow Heads Cooking

When I got back to the LCCN Mission Quarters Jimeta (I found out today that was the name of what I had been calling LCCN Compound Jimeta.), I saw Bulama’s truck outside his office. The meeting that had been going all day was breaking up. I gave Bulama his copies of the draft forms and discussed them with him. He  gave me the designs he had received from the Architect for the Proposed Deaf Church. Took them back to the house and had a quick look. I realized I would want to draw all over them so I dropped my computer and headed back to the Internet Café to make copies of the drawings.

The Yola Diocese Women's Convention Cooks

I took the back route where a group of women were cooking something. They said they were cooking cow heads for the Yola Diocese Women’s Convention that starts tomorrow. They laughed with they saw the expression on my face when they said cow heads. I asked if they cook the brains. They said they throw the brain away and cook most everything else. Basically, they chop the head into little pieces and cook it all. They got me little piece of meat on a plate. It was quite tasty. I started leave and they stopped me and gave me two more little pieces. The meat will be stored in an insulated container and will be added to a soup and served with rice or pounded yams, corn, rice or casava. 

The women's convention will be at the Cathedral for the next four days. Their theme is "Just A Little Oil" ftom II King 4:2. Women from the far parts of the diocese will sleep on mats in the various buildings. If I were not here the house would be full of women. 

Deaf Church Design

Original design on left my suggestion on right.

There are few people experienced with designing specifically for the Deaf. I have been studying it but in no way am I and expert. Lighting, sight lines, and not having the congregation tilting their head back  to watch the signer seems to be the basics. The plans were pretty much for hearing church except the seating was on four steps. The people seated in the back row would have a horizontal view of the Pastor at the Altar which is three steps higher that the lowest seating level. I have written up some suggestions. Including making the Altar only two step up from the lowest seating area and converting the first step into a stage area. I have eliminated the pulpit. The sermon will be signed from the stage area. Hymns can be signed from the stage and I think we could fit a fairly large choir on the stage level and a step down on the lowest seating level.\\

The drawings had on details on interior finish. At this point they are concentrating on the exterior and basic floor plan. I drew up a sketch of what I think the front wall of the Sanctuary could look like. The large white area is for video projections of scripture readings, creeds, confessions and other announcements. On that side we would eliminate the upper window.

East and West Side Views

The heights of the window is based on the inside floor height. I think it looks odd this way. I have suggested that all the windows are at the same height on the exterior. I also suggested that they add another set of window near the ceiling and extend the roof. These upper window will allow heat to rise out of the building and provide more indirect light. The extended roof will reduce the heat load on the sides of the building and minimize direct sunlight from entering the upper windows.

North and South Side Views

I had just finished cooking dinner when the power from the church generator went out. I had only just begun my review of the Deaf Church plans. I got my little generator out and it started right up. Then quit a few seconds later. I tried to restart it but gave up after a few minutes. I went inside and ate supper by the light to my flashlight. After supper I gave the generator another couple yanks. It started. It has been going for over three hours now.

The internet is not working right now and I just heard gunfire out on the street. Usually, at this time of night (10:30PM) the police have caught some smugglers who resist. It was small series of single shots. If it had been automatic fire I would have already shut down the lights. It has been quite now for several minutes. I will try to send this and add the pictures in the morning. At 4:30 the power came on for about a half hour. I uploaded the pictures and blog, made a few edits. I will post it now and go back to bed as loudspeakers blast out the Call to Worship and morning message. It must be sun up in Mecca. 

Sunday March 9, Sunday Service at Cathedral and at LCCN Deaf Centre

Sunday March 9, 2014

It is Sunday Noon as I start this postings. I went to the English Service at 8 this morning. They ring the big church bell at 6 AM to remind everyone that it is Sunday and service is in 2 hours. Then again at 8 at the start of the service. I and about half of the people wandered in after the start.

After the English Service ends they ring the bell for the Hausa Service. Last week was a combined service with an attendance of 3600 including the Sunday School. Today they had a Pastor who is a teacher at Bronnum Lutheran Seminary presiding and providing the sermon at both services. The picture I took from the balcony is deceptive. You can only see part of the center section and the edge the two side sections. The church is wedge shaped. This picture probably shows less than a third of the seating. The balcony probably hold more than 500. The upper balcony is the choir. During combined services people are seated outside listening.

Pastor Ruth sermon on Temptation.

I skipped out after the sermon and during the offering to go the Deaf Centre where they were holding their service. The Deaf Centre is on the adjacent compound and directly behind the Cathedral. They do not have a church yet. They meet on the porch of the Deaf Centre. During the week this is where the young children are taught. One of my tasks here is to work with the architect on the Deaf Church design to incorporate a solar power system.

 I arrived for the end of their service. After the Deaf service ended Pastor Ruth got out her laptop and showed the video I made of the Bread of Life Deaf Church Service in February. We had about a dozen people mostly young adults, crowded into the small class room trying to read the sign on the laptop screen. There was a lot of laughter and discussions about the signs used in the US. ASL was introduced into Nigeria in the 1960's by Andrew Jackson Foster. I won't get into the linguistic differences between the ASL they use here and the ASL used in the United States. I am not qualified to do that. ASL like any language has regional variations. The ASL in Boston is as different from the ASL in San Antonio as the English in Boston is different than the English in San Antonio. One of the biggest differences is the use of the Exact English version of ASL. They use the same construction as used with English. ASL in the US does not follow English. It is not English done with signs. The way a sentence is formed is different. For example, in the US ASL there is one sign that in English would be "I" or "Me" and "am" or "the" are not used. Here they have a sign for "I" and a different sign for "Me" and signs for "am" and "the".  There are also a few British Sign and some regional Nigerian sign. Also the evolution of the language here has been isolated from the evolution of the the language in the US for 50 years. This is similar to what has happened to the English spoken in the US and England. I use paper and pen to do anything more than a greeting. After 10 months away from signing I have forgotten the few signs I learned last year.

Tonight, I will make sure we have the right tools and materials to do the work at Garaha Larh. Right now I am waiting for Yakubu to bring me the keys to truck we will be using tomorrow and cash to buy fuel. We will have the new truck with the air conditioning.

Dinner tonight will be left overs from with a little boiled rice added for bulk.

Finding out my mission this month.

It does look like I will be doing several things. The main tasks will be to help with the current water program. Help get the compressor up and clean out a couple boreholes we think are plugged and can become functional if cleaned out. Help with moving the sanitation program forward. Help with the review of the design of the Deaf Church. I also hope to get some economic development done do not know what exactly that will be. Maybe, I can get some of the adult Deaf to work on recycling paper into cooker fuel briquettes.

The timing of this visit was not as great but may have been fortunate. I am here at the same time that Dr. Thompson has come for some training of the Community Based Public Health Program. As it turns out Yakubu will be tied up in the training this week. While he is not a direct member of the CBPHP, he is still very involved. It is hard to explain exactly what his duties are. He is the director of the WASH program and the LCCN Projects Manager but is also provides a lot of the logistics and coordination for the CBPHP and others. The plan for the week had been that we would travel north to install a pump pad and pump base for a borehole that was drilled this weekend. The construction frame will be disassembled from the last pump base that was poured last week in Wakka area and be brought to Jimeta tomorrow. We will gather all the supplies and tools tomorrow and early Wednesday morning load up and drive a few hours north to Gombe and then into the bush about an hour. Also tomorrow we will go to the driver license bureau an hopefully they will still have the license I applied for last year. Yakubu tried to pick it up twice last year both times they could not find it. I hope we have more luck. Since Yakubu cannot go with us, I will be driving. My 90 day temporary license expired last May. I have never been asked for a license at any check point but I would rather have a current license. A significant number of drivers do not have a current license. The new system requires and internet application and a print out to take to the bank to pay the fees. Most people do not have access to the internet and a printer.

Foundation for new Church for the Deaf

One of his current projects is the construction of the new church for the Deaf. They have dug the foundation and have started to bring in the blocks. A member of the Jimeta Cathedral is an Architect and plans to have construction drawings ready tomorrow. This being the first church built specifically for the Deaf it will be interesting to see if they take the lighting and sight lines into consideration. The traditional church has a pulpit above the congregation. This will not work will for a Deaf congregation. They would have to look up during the whole service. By the end they would have sore necks. Also the traditional pulpit would hid much of the Pastors body. Sign language uses the whole body not just the hands and arms. I paced off the foundation it appears to have the sanctuary at about 30 feet by 50 feet with a pastor office and a storage room at the back. The building beside the church will become part of the Deaf Centre. The Women's Skills Acquisition Centre is moving out the the Yola Diocese Secretariat Compound. The building on the left in the picture is used by the Jimeta Cathedral for a pre-school.

They did not know that there was a Danish NGO that has offered to finance a small solar installation to help provide lighting. The panels will have to be remote from the church. The picture does not show the tall Neem trees to the either side of the building. They took one tree out. There is not ideal location for the solar panels. If they are installed on a medium tower about 50 feet out in front of the church, they will be out of the shade of the Neem Trees by 10 AM and not be shaded by the two story school building until after 4 PM. These are pure guesses. I have not had a clear day since arriving. There is a combination of Harmattan dust cloud and some higher clouds has kept the sun at bay. I has helped to have fairly low temperatures. Today it only up into the upper 80's.

This picture shows the current Deaf Centre on the far left, the Cathedral's pre-school and the remains of the tree that was removed. It took a lot of labor to dig that big root mass out. I wish I had someone stand next to it. I am guessing it is five feet tall. A future project may be to tear down the current Centre and rebuild a larger building that can house multiple class rooms and work rooms for economic development.