An African encounter in Nigeria

‘No Health without Mental Health’ the signboard read as our well worn car trudged towards the entrance. An eight hour journey from Abuja ended in the rust red roads of Edawu. A team of 3 mental health professionals from UK trying to make a difference to mental health services in Southern Nigeria was an experience that leaves a mark on one’s life.

The lush green fields around Edawu mental health rehabilitation centre brought an air of calm to the setting, more therapeutic than any psychiatric ward I have seen in the UK. The air was fragranced with lemon blossoms. ‘You have to see the stars,’ said one of my colleagues who had travelled there before. ‘They appear huge and there are shooting stars every five minutes’. The way to experience this was apparently an early morning walk. It took me a day or two fight off the jet lag and fatigue. One morning I set my alarm at 5 am and shook off the slumber to take to the dusty roads. John had been right. The stars were huge, unlike anything I had seen before, blazing with a fire that seemed to light up the chill in the air. A few minutes and I had seen my first shooting star with delighted glee. I was not alone.

There were workers building a tarmac road. They had huddled around a fire with cups of tea. As I passed them, they shouted out good morning greetings in the local language, reacting with pleasure when I shouted back in their own tongue. I might have been invited to share a cuppa with them but I would not know- my Igedi language skills ended with the basic greetings. The sky turned lighter as I kept walking, a rosy hint lit up the horizon when I decided to turn back. This time it was a Chinese man in a white van who stopped to say ‘Good morning’. Yes even the roads in Edawu were being ‘Made in China’. The Chinese contractor seemed relieved when I explained the reason for my presence in the area- no competition to him. I stopped in my tracks to watch a brilliant sunrise. John had not told me that even the sun looked bigger here. I might have looked a little lost, or maybe my jaw was dropping but a kindly village woman with a basket of wood over her head stopped near me to say hello.

What she said next was unexpected. ‘Do you believe in God?’ ‘What!’ was my first slightly surprised reply, wondering if I had heard right. After all, it is not everyday that strangers stop by you and ask about your beliefs. ‘Yes,’ I answered after a moment of hesitation. ‘Always keep your faith in God and you will overcome every trouble,’ she ended with an indulgent smile and a pat on my shoulders as she continued on her journey. I looked back at her disappearing figure, faded mended skirt, worn slippers and callused feet. Suddenly my Adidas sneakers felt a little out of place.

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