Return to Kaduna

10/17/2018

By Elaine Chagnon

I was able to sneak away from the hospital to photograph our students in classes. It was wonderful to peek in and I always forget how much they all love to be “snapped”!
The eagerness that these young people show for learning is inspirational and encouraging.

The outreach ended at 2:00 p.m. We all grabbed a quick lunch and boarded the school bus for the trip to Kaduna! The bus was full of Kaduna friends who were to be dropped at various locations. Bob and I were to stay overnight in Kaduna before an early pick-up to travel on to Kafanchan, the next leg of our trip. It was important to be on the road and get to Kaduna before dark.

We began our journey, traveling out of Gusau through farmland - fields and herds of cattle. We had been on the road for several hours when the bus began acting up - it slowed to an idle. The electronic throttle was not working properly. We pulled to the side of the road and the hood was lifted, wires jiggled - to no avail. Luckily, we were on the outskirts of Zaria, a large college town. The bus limped along and coasted into a gas station - with a mechanic! It took the mechanic and his electrician friend about an hour to rewire the throttle . . . and we were on our way once again. We arrived in Kaduna around 7:30 and dropped our friends at the the bus transfer stop, continuing on to our hosts, where we were to spend the night. We were welcomed with a delicious meal and were then driven to our nearby lodging for the night - showers and sleep!