In Farin Gida

In Farin Gida, we followed his majesty Yarak Jutus through narrow streets walled in by concrete, where goats rested in shade and dogs barked behind iron gates. Farin Gida is a village of seven thousand people consisting of five tribes. Most of the residents here are famers and ex-military personnel, whose small pensions hold them in poverty. I lagged behind the others and talked with Sunday Kalmik, the thirty year old Youth President of the neighborhood, about the challenges his community faced.
Like most young Nigerians, Sunday follows politics closely, works hard, and wants to serve his neighbors. And like most Nigerians, he faces many obstacles. Farin Gida lacks a public school; health clinic; and, most importantly, a clean, dependable source of water. Dr. Amina S. Abdullahi, a professor at Kaduna Polytechnic University, had invited us to see her club’s adopted project for the year, an ambitious project that would provide these basic necessities.
Dr. Abdullahi led us to the neighborhood’s only water source, a stagnant pool of creek water two hundred meters from Farin Gida’s perimeter. The creek delineated Kaduna North from the abutting county, and up close looked insubstantial. This creek, however, is the lifeline of Farin Gida. In the midday sun, small children carried buckets of water on their heads past us and up the barren hill to the village. In order to avoid the trash in the stream, villagers had bored a hole nearby.
I looked down into one of the bore holes. The water was the color of a thick chicken broth. Dr. Abdullahi walked up to me.
“If you brought your electronic microscope you would see millions of bacteria.”
She informed me that the project was being supported by partners in the United States, Germany, and Canada, but only 20% of the project was funded. I turned away and walked up the hill to look at the brick villagers had fashioned from the soil. The rest of our group study exchange remained behind to snap a few photos of the bore holes. Sunday joined me and we resumed our talk about our hopes and aspirations and promised to stay in touch.
Usman motioned for us to load up in the van and soon we were off, driving through the village in an air-conditioned van back to the conference center. The effect was surreal. I thought of all the problems that Farin Gida was up against. The problems seemed intractable. But communities are built on strengths and not weaknesses and Farin Gida has many strengths. Rotarians like Dr. Abdullahi are working hard to build upon the community’s resilient character and determination, which, in turn, forges a strong sense of agency in the process.
Before leaving the neighborhood, we passed a church with no walls or roof filled with men, women, and children dressed in their Sunday best, singing songs of faith and praise.