Letters from Nigeria - Orientation in London Ontario, Saturday 1972 July 29 - August 2

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Diary

19720729

Our orientation for going to West Africa started officially today. There are about 120 volunteers going to Nigeria, Sierra Leone or Ghana. This part of our orientation is to make us more aware of our personal attitudes toward our own culture and all other cultures. We are all living in one residence building in the basement of which there is a library of films, articles, and books. This morning we played a game in which we were blindfolded, so we could see how it is to learn with a handicap.

19720730

It seems that much more than one day has gone by. We started a “simulation game” which supposes that our plane crashes on an unknown island in the Atlantic on the way to Africa. There are only the twelve survivors of our group and we are to set up a community and develop a culture. In our imaginations we build first shelter, then a house, we find food and start farming; we concern ourselves with clothes and organization and entertainment. This is to show us reasons for cultural differences.

19720731

We continued our group activity today. We built more things on our island and began to feel as if we were living there. Today another island made contact with us and we sent a delegation (including myself) to discuss their culture and to make social overtures. The meeting ended with an invitation for them to come see us. They did send three people later, and we all finally went over for a feast. This is a very odd feeling to be alien to another group. (We started taking anti-malaria pills.)

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Today “Foreign Aid” people came to visit our “island”. This is obviously to let us feel what Nigerians feel when we go there. We indeed felt insulted that they wanted to “study our culture” as if we were bugs under glass. We did not mind talking about our “island” and sharing our new dance which we developed this morning. They – the aid people (who were really two people from another group – appreciated what we had imagined in our minds and thought that we needed no help.

19720802

A slight change today. We played different games much like children play in kindergarten but we have to pay more attention. First we pretended to be lumps of clay (half of us had to make us into something.) Next we pretended we were metal people crouching on the floor and our partners had to unbend us until we relaxed. It is just to get us used to being around other people and to being touched by them.



To a friend

July 29/72

It was so good to get your letter today. I am skipping part of class to write at least part of this letter. You brought back so many memories, I just couldn’t wait. I do feel sorry for you all alone in that big place. I do have more distractions, but feelings of regret keep bubbling up.

Orientation has started. It is 11 PM and I am nearly ready for bed! This is like going to classes from 8:30 AM to 9:30 PM (with regular meal and coffee breaks), plus studying in their computer-retrieval film-vertical-file-book library. My brain gets tired just writing it down, let alone studying.

We started out this morning by being blind-folded & being led about by someone else to “discover” our environment. We were led out of the building into the sunshine (warm!). The girl leading me took me right across a bridge over a brook on campus. There are no stairs on the one side, so I expected none on the second. Unfortunately, there were, and I stepped six inches to the left of where they were. My partner was strong (thank heavens) and pulled me back up. The funniest part was that I wasn’t even scared because I couldn’t tell how far it was to the ground!

This evening we had to tell someone else in the group (while standing up) about some happy recent occurrence. (I had just left home & friends & I’m supposed to think of a happy event!) After a bit the group re-formed. We discussed our mannerisms, and then we had to adopt somebody else’s mannerisms. Shock! Not even I could talk comfortably.

As you can see, they keep us busy. We are leaving next Monday. I am not sure it is reliable, but my next address is c/o CUSO, Aiyetoro Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro, Nigeria.

You should have got my first letter by now. I am never quite sure you are even there. I wish you could come with me.

P.S. I have a dreadful cold. I couldn’t even talk in our discussion group this morning.

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Photos

Job ad for CUSO
Applying without knowling where you will go

Judith before leaving for orientation
Fifty years ago!

Comments

[Isabel Gibson]

What a fabulous idea - and what a trove of memories!

[beentouring]

I am astounded by my young self. Some things I do remember quite well.