Good Neighbor

Instead of going into to the dense crowds of people attempting to glimpse President Goodluck Jonathan in town yesterday, we decided to stay close to home... Rachel, my colleague who also works at CRS and lives in the same compound with her lovely husband, Marco, shares a birthday with Nigeria! We set up shop New Orleans style- brought out the camping chairs, sunscreen, cocktails, and tunes right on to the front porch (never mind the fact that it's more like a sidewalk and not the stoop of a Victorian shotgun house). Throughout the course of the day we met many wonderful residents of our Stallion Court estate...

Let's begin with the most obvious- the children. They are ever present, running in and out of the parked cars, carrying the baby dolls on their backs, riding bikes, playing house and tag. They are the children of the Senator and other residents as well as the children of the house stewards that live/work for the residents. Today they were even sharing their jumbo lollipop.

Later, Jim and Christine from Vermont, joined us. Christine works with the Nigerian government for financial monitoring of sorts (she definitely keeps busy!) and Jim is helping the Nigerian government with logistics and procurement for the elections next year. These two have lived in Abuja for 8 years and have lived on the continent for the last 20 years. They are some of the most hip, funky, and active 78 year olds I've met in a long while. Today they were sharing their bottle of imported red wine.

Next, we met Bola. She is a single mom from Lagos who decided to start fresh in Abuja. She has battled down an incredibly rough road but has managed to come out on top, with three of the most charming and beautiful children. Bola is an observant and caring listener, and can articulate her opinions and faith intelligently and eloquently. Today she shared the contact details of her tailor- an expert at complimenting curves.

Anytime I am able to look back and see the natural integration from various aspects of my life experience, I am ecstatic! Applying the southern habits of relaxing while making yourself available to your neighbors always invites fun. We even started generating a buzz about throwing a neighborhood block party in the next month! Bust most significantly, we planted the seeds of community. With some nurturing here and there, I think we'll have lots of people willing to support and look out for one another.

 Rachel trying to steal a lick of the lollipop