Day 2 - Meeting my new boss!

Arrived at VSO Nigeria headquarters and met the staff and completed the many, many forms required for 'expats' to be able to live and work in Nigeria.

The Lady Mechanic, Mrs. Sandra Agbuebor-Ekperouh, made a surprise visit and gave me a very warm Nigerian welcome hug! There was lots of laughter and excitement -- so nice to finally meet her! We met with the VSO Nigerian Country Director briefly and promised we would finish the 'paperwork' later in the week. Then we were 'off' to a series of government meetings and auto-shop site visits. Firstly, with the Ministry of Labour to discuss partnership collaboration to encourage more young ladies/women to participate in the auto-mechanic trade. A 'monitoring and evaluation' bureaucrat chap joined us for the next 3 shop site visits to assess the successes. Here are some pics to show the lovely ladies in their work environments. They have powerful life stories.

An incredible first day on the job!

Damilola and Lady Sandra sharing a
moment together at the shop.

First visit [left] - Damilola 20 years, entered the Lady Mechanic program when she was just 16 years old. She's now a graduate and fully employed as a certified auto-mechanic!

Second visit [below right]- 4 lady mechanics pausing in the 100F heat, showing a clutch being replaced, at Cross Country shop.

Me, Lady Sandra, Kesiya, Ilyasu, Ekwu, Amika,
Bright and Cross Country owner

Bright [above] happily works as the lead mechanic
at Cross Country, a large trans-Nigerian trucking company

3rd visit - Mechanics Benita and
Nancy at their field workshop, behind the
Ghanian Embassy. Proudly donning their
new coveralls, caps and steel-toed work boots.
Safety first! 

Day 1 in Africa!

Arrived safely into Abuja, Nigeria on Canada Day, 2013. Needless to say, I didn't see many Canadian flags but the VSO-Cuso Nigeria staff gave me a very warm welcome. The 6-hour flight from London was smooth, flying due south over France, the Mediterranean, Algeria, the massive Sahara desert, Niger and Nigeria. Fantastic British Airways 777 journey, with great 3D interactive mapping tool ! Would love to explore the desert sometime...

Have checked into the Crystal Palace Hotel, in Abuja for a few days. Modest, safe and has the basics.

Wonderful music playing nearby with strong African rhythms, which may partially explain why I'm awake 'blogging to the beat!'

Thank you to all family and friends for your bon voyage wishes, travel advice, gifts and support for this crazy mission of mine. It's truly appreciated.

Being this is my first blog post, I'll sign-off now and see if it works.

Warmest regards to all,
Jennifer

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