I began the lesson by gathering three of the elementary
school classes into one room. I figured that it would be smart of me to make
this a school-wide event. You know, to build up the “hype” of the moment. We all
met in the school dinning room. I then handed out materials I had been
collecting/pulled from the trash. I had a plethora of water bottles, toilet
paper rolls (not that I’ve been actually using them…god forbid…), note books,
and plastic bags. Each class was then instructed to work as a team to come up
with a design that they felt would protect the egg from its two-story fall. They
had to figure out ways to manipulate the speed and impact dispersal as it hit
the ground, with the intent that in so doing their egg would survive intact.
The team work aspect of the lesson did not go very well. All
of the students essentially fought amongst themselves for the materials.
Whenever I laid out bottles for each team, students would immediately grab
their own bottle and refuse to the let the other team members hold it. I kept
repeatedly informing the students that they were working as a team and that no
items were the ownership of one individual, but the group. It was very
difficult to get this concept across. It also didn’t help the fact that I had
only two scissors and one roll of tape between 25 kids. You could imagine the
amount of hands that were being thrust into my face. Their pleading eyes and
constant complaints were getting a little on my nerves. Nevertheless, each team
made it through. Their designs were all very well-constructed and thought out.
I was duly impressed and quite surprised, considering the chaos that reigned
for the first 15 minutes of the lesson, as the classes learned what team work
meant.
Announcing that it was now time to throw the eggs off of the
balcony, the students literally got so excited that they were shaking in their
seats (just the slightest change in routine, by the way, can turn a day at
school into one the kids will never forget). I picked the best-behaved students
to do the honors of dropping the egg. But before that, each team had to explain
to me why they felt their design would succeed. Then it was time. I instructed
all students to go to the front of the school and wait for further directions.
The chosen three who were to drop their contraptions followed me. We got to the
railing. I gave a speech above their heads like I was some emperor or
something. The first one dropped. It hit the ground too hard. I suspected that
their design had failed. The children in the crowd were restless and screaming.
Dr. Korieh was holding them back. The second dropped, it landed softer and
looked as though the egg might have survived. We were unsure. The children
pushed through Dr. Korieh’s arms and ran towards the eggs lying on the ground.
They couldn’t see inside the bottles due to the tape and paper. They went back.
The final one dropped. It hit the ground lightly. The egg was safe. I could see
it fully intact. The plastic bag parachute caught enough air to slow its
descent, and the box that the egg was perched in did its job in dispersing the
force of impact. I knew they had won. But I built it up anyway. Upon reaching
the bottom of the steps, it was essentially pandemonium outside. They were
running everywhere. Teachers were outside laughing and enjoying the scene. And
I was announcing the winner. When I told the 3rd graders that they
had won, they burst into shouts of joy so loud that I’m sure people a mile away
heard them. They took their egg and literally marched it around the school
chanting, “We won! We won! Our egg is OK!” I couldn’t believe it. For the other
teams, a few of them cried. Again, I couldn’t believe that either.
All in all, it was a success—a day they surely will remember!
All day I was exhausted and hungry. So at 3:00pm when Dr. Korieh came into my room and asked if I’d
like to get some food, I jumped immediately at his offer. And we left and drove
to the middle of Owerri, where we stopped to visit a friend in the hospital. I
noticed some gray clouds on the horizon but didn’t think much of it. After all,
I am in Nigeria
during the rainy season. It ALWAYS looks like it’s going to downpour. I feel
asleep in the car while waiting in the hospital parking lot. I was awakened
from my mid-day nap by a few drops of water hitting my leg. I shut the car door
and then proceeded to fall back into dreaming bliss. And then the rain grew a
little steadier. It began to smack off the hood of the car rather loudly and
began to wash down the windshield in rivulets. I still tried to sleep. And the
in one instance it began to down pour. And when I mean downpour, I mean
monsoon-like. People were running everywhere. The roads became instantly jammed
with water. The open faced sewers along the roads filled up in about two
seconds flat and began spilling their contents onto the street. A torrent began
to rip up the road in front of the hospital. Dr. Korieh ran out of the
building, jumped in the car, and we started to make our way down the unpaved
road. We got about five feet (literally) from the hospital when ahead of us was
a huge rush of water carrying sticks and debris directly at our car. Dr. Korieh
looked at me and said, “Wow. This is not good.” And that was that. The roiling
current of brown, sludgy water hit our car with a force. The engine almost gave
out. I heard the wheels grinding into the road as we attempted to gain more
traction. At about this moment, I realized that we were literally stuck in a
flash flood. Up ahead, the road curved around a building and all I could make
out was rushing water. It was literally white water. We couldn’t go any
further. Luckily, we cut a sharp right and drove up onto a raised parking lot
platform and ran to shelter. And from there we watched the water roil and boil
down the road, picking up bottles, cans, branches, and then, almost
unbelievably, cars. It kept raining. Lighting was striking all around. And yet
the deluge continued, unabated, for almost an hour. There was nothing we could
do. It was dangerous to walk in the road, because the crush of water covered
the gutters, so if you stepped out onto what you thought was solid ground, and
it was really a sewer, you would have literally fallen into a raging rapid of a
river. You would be a goner. No doubt. After about sixty minutes, the rain
began to subside and we saw women walking against the current carrying all of
their wares on their head. I couldn’t believe it. They were fighting against
the force of mother nature as if it wasn’t a problem. A few of them fell. When
they did, gasps from houses balconies and shops went up. “She is crazy! Does
she not realize she can drown!?” they would exclaim in disbelief. I didn’t even
want to imagine what they’d be stepping one: old trash, animal refuse, nails,
glass, you know, a festering GUTTER!?
But they didn’t seem to mind.
But life goes on here. People wait. They smile. And then
continue on with minimal complaining. Oh, Nigeria !
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