FON news Spring '13.pdf - Friends of Nigeria

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Letters to the EditorLetters tothe EditorDear Friends of Nigeria,First, thank you for your generouscontribution to Ashoka. Your supportenables us to find the next leading socialentrepreneurs in Nigeria and around theworld.As you may already know, Ashokais the world’s leading organization thatsupports social entrepreneurs—individualswith innovative solutions for solvingsome of the world’s most pressingsocial challenges. For example, OluseunOnigbinde is a social entrepreneur andAshoka Fellow from Nigeria who isleading a movement to increase transparencyand accountability in the budgetingprocess in Nigeria and make complexbudget information easier to understandand increasingly accessible to citizens.Our network consists of nearly 3,000social entrepreneurs like Oluseun whoare working in a wide range of sectorsincluding health, education, economicempowerment, and civic engagement.Over the course of our 30 year history,our mission has evolved to not onlysupport the top social entrepreneurs likeOluseun, but also to create a world whereliterally every individual has the skillsand resources they need to be a changemaker within their own community. Weknow it is a lofty goal, but we sincerelybelieve that it is achievable, especially ifwe partner with organizations similar tothe Friends of Nigeria group who shareour values and vision.As volunteers who have served inNigeria, we know that you have deepknowledge of the country and a passionfor positive social change. We would loveto partner with you to support socialinnovation in Nigeria in a few differentways:1. Help us find the next leadingsocial entrepreneurs in Nigeria.2. Connect change makers and socialentrepreneurs to resources.3. Enable Ashoka to find and amplifysocial innovation.Your financial gift, no matter howsmall or large, can help us achieve ourmission of finding the next Nigeriansocial entrepreneurs such as Lucy Kanu,a Nigerian Ashoka Fellow who hasdesigned a process for economic empowermentthat prioritizes local aspirations,introduces outside resources withoutfostering dependence, and is replicableacross sub-Saharan Africa.We look forward to working withyou and the Friends of Nigeria group.Megan Coolidgemcoolidge@ashoka.orgDear Editor,I enjoyed so many things in the Fall2012 newsletter, especially the two “Reflections”(one by my friend Bob Criso)and all the Letters to the Editor. So Iwant to pass along a recent experience,knowing that many FON readers havehad something similar surprise them intorecollections of their PCV days.I’m on Amtrak after a visit to friendsin NYC. I hear the woman in front ofme speaking an African language into hercell phone. No, actually she is weavingback and forth between - could it beIgbo? - and English. Then, I hear a windingdown and an Igbo word I recognize,“odemma,” before she hangs up.“Are you Ibo?!?” I practically screamat her after getting up and moving toface her.“How did you know?!?” she practicallyscreams back. I end up sitting withher until she gets off the train. She is theprincipal of a school in Worcester, Mass.(I live in Amherst.) She’s even a distantrelative of my Igbo tutor during training,Ifeanyi Menkiti, who ended up aphilosophy professor at Wellesley. (Myfriendship with Ifeanyi taught me someof what I know about being a poet.)When Rose Mgbojikwe gets off the train,a woman across the aisle says how muchshe enjoyed Rose’s and my conversation.So now I am in another non-stop conversationuntil we get to Springfield.Did Peace Corps lead me to the ForeignService or an international aid job?Nothing like that. But does it, almostfifty years later, keep expanding my horizonsand enriching my life in unexpectedways? Oh yes.Penny Callan Partridge (23) 66-67Dear Editor:I recently read Adam Kirsch’s reviewin the NYT Review of Books of SaulBellow’s 1959 novel, “Henderson theRain King”. This was one of the booksincluded in our Peace Corps footlockerof books. I read it pretty much as aninteresting story fifty years ago. Uponreading Kirsch’s review, I realize howappropriate the book was for us whowent out, like Henderson, to a remoteAfrican village. Kirsch notes that oneof the refrains of the novel came from apoem by Shelly: “I do remember well thehour that burst my spirit’s sleep.” LikeHenderson, we PCVs were having newexperiences that ‘burst the spirit’s sleep’,that opened us up to new thinking aboutlife and society and created a desire toshare these new insights with others; thisnew consciousness of the world aroundus mightily influenced our lives after thePeace Corps.Regarding the footlocker of booksitself, I have mixed feelings. On the onehand it was great to have somethingto read on lonely days and nights, andmuch of my understanding of contemporaryAmerica today comes from thebooks I read under the tilley lamp fiftyyears ago…Malcolm X, W.E.B. Dubois,Eldridge Cleaver, Ralph Elison, JamesBaldwin etc. What an education! Nevertheless,the culture around us was the4 FON Newsletter Spring 2013
Letters to the Editorgreater gift.Does anyone, by the way, have a listof the books we received in that gloriousfootlocker, or know how it was puttogether, and by whom?Charles AhlgrenNigeria 04, Orlu/NsukkaDear Editor,I was in Nigeria as a PCV from ‘61-‘63. I taught at Queens School, Enugu,then married another PV HershelHerzberg and moved to his compoundat Mother Teresa’s School in Nsukka.I taught geometry there for July andAugust, then French at the Universityof Nsukka where about 30 PCVs wereteaching. In the afternoons I developedsewing projects in five villages in thebush.I would visit Father DesmondMcGlade in the bush. He had lived inNigeria for 30 years, spoke fluent Igboand had built two churches; each held3000 people! He was delightful!He had an Israeli engineer drillingfor water and the whole village came towatch the water leap out. I took photosand made him a little album which hecarried the rest of his life!Father McGlade, Father Butler andother Holy Ghost fathers were involvedin the Biafran airlift. During the warthey wrote me detailed letters which Istill have. I was delighted to learn thatsome of the children whom they hadpushed onto the planes have done well. Ialso remember Father telling me that onenight the heavy wooden plank used topush cargo off and the children on, fellonto his head. He had a head wound andknew the Bishop would never let him return.So he slipped into Sierra Leone andthen came back. The Holy Ghost Fatherswere expelled from Nigeria after the waras it was felt by feeding the Biafrans andrescuing the children they had prolongedthe war. He was crushed.Father McGlade was in New Guineafor about a year, but spent the rest of hislife in various parishes in California. Ilast saw him in May 1997-he showed methe little photo album!We raised three beautiful childrenin San Francisco. I thought one of themmight be a Peace Corps volunteer, butthey have gone into medicine, educationand environmental planning.After the review in FON, I got DavidKoren’s book. It was excellent! Howfantastic David, that you were able toreturn and do so much for the airlift! Youlearned more Igbo than I did!!I was glad to see the letter fromGeorge Eaton. You missed the 50th-onlyfour of us showed up. Hi George!Dorothy Crews Herzberg (03) 61-63Dear Editor,In the Fall 2012 issue of the Friendsof Nigeria newsletter, received just today,October 17, 2012, there is a letter to theeditor from James Jablonski (XII 64-66),in which he mentions a (Holy Ghost)Roman Catholic priest named DesmondMcGlade and asks David Koren if hehad contact with Fr. McGlade. It isclear from his letter that Mr. Jablonskithought highly of the good Father Mc-Glade, as I did.I’d like to contact Mr. Jablonskiabout his inquiry. Fr. McGlade livedjust down the road from the high schoolwhere I was the principal: PremierSecondary School in Ukehe, aboutmid-point along the road from Enugu toNsukka. He often stopped by my schooland I often stopped by his residencealong that road for tea or even a meal. Ioften had other PCVs stay at my placeand Fr. McGlade would come by to meetthem and help with the preparations toensure an outstanding meal.In fact, I met Fr. McGlade onthe fateful day that he was headed toNsukka, only to be seized and torturedby Nigerian forces just outside thatuniversity town, never to return to hisparish. I remained at Premier SecondarySchool even after the war had begun andthe Nigerian forces had taken Nsukka,but were turned back by Biafran soldiersjust at the road where my school waslocated, an action I watched as it happened.I also remained behind even afterbeing ordered out by the US Ambassadorin Lagos (not to mention being placedbefore a firing squad by Biafran soldierswho were certain I was a spy) because Istill had students who were from villagesin parts of the region that they couldnot get back to because of the war, andI said I would not leave until they wereall located with village families aroundUkehe, which was finally accomplishedin July 1967.In any event, I would very much liketo make contact with Mr. Jablonski toreview memories of the good Father Mc-Glade. I have tried to find him online,but have been unsuccessful. Would youplease help?Thanks, Rick Machmer,Nigeria 18, 65-67, Ukehe,Eastern Nigeria/BiafraDear EditorI just want to congratulate you,David Strain and others that contributedto the last (Fall 2012) issue of the FONNewsletter. I thought the perspective onthe prominent topic of the Biafran warwas as balanced and thorough as I haveseen - including David Strain’s review ofJosh Arinze’s book and the letters to theeditor. I particularly saw some stuff Idon’t remember hearing before in David’sreview, and appreciated it. I don’t knowhow much of that was directly fromArinze’s book (I haven’t read it) and howmuch was David’s own knowledge orresearch, but if it is based on the bookitself, Mr. Arinze is certainly also to becredited, assuming it is accurate!The Nigeria News section was alsoespecially good this time, I thought,as was the President’s Column andyour own article. Well done! Can youforward this to David Strain and MikeGoodkind too - I would have includedthem in the recipients but don’t remembertheir email addresses.Best,Steve ManningNigeria 12, 64-66, IbadanSpring 2013FON Newsletter 5
Page 1 and 2: Friends of Nigeria Newsletterwww.fr
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Page 13 and 14: In MemorianBy Jim Clark (12) 64-66H
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