Andee’s dream to have a amateur radio station has come true. Students, staff, and university students can converse with the world, especially Europe from the radio room at the Hope House.
In the back of my mind I wondered can we make it happen to talk to the US from Nigeria. Not just to the East coast (which was done only twice during my stay) but to Kansas and my station. That is a long haul and with the low sunspot activity we are experiencing now, everything would have to be at optimum. The antenna would have to be working as advertised and it was over 30 years old. We would only know in time if our rebuild job was good enough to meet the original design specs. We needed maximum gain from the antenna. The cable power losses from the antenna to the transmitter would be a factor as well as the rotor working to point the antenna towards the US. We would need all of the 100 watts the transmitter was capable of to make it to the antenna. This meant there could be no damage in the cable and good connections at the splice points in the 125 foot span to the antenna from the radio room.
During my stay at the Hope House all of Europe was strong and loud. From Moscow to the Mediterranean and all points in between, strong signals were an early indication that the equipment was indeed working well. We received signal reports that were consistently good if not great from almost all stations that we talked to. But I heard very little state side activity when pointed to the US, more reason to wonder about the likely hood of making it work and on a regular base.
Andee and I had decided to try a schedule after I returned to Kansas. A frequency of 21.230 mhz and my local time of 11 AM on a Saturday was agreed to. I made many calls at the appointed hour and frequency but heard nothing from Nigeria. I decided to tune lower in the frequency and listen for any activity that might indicate there was propagation to Africa. On Morse code, I weakly heard a French station so I thought ‘well I can hear Europe maybe there is hope I can hear Africa farther to the South’ I tuned back to our scheduled frequency, pointed my antenna to Nigeria and still heard nothing. It was then I decided to hook up an amplifier that would boost my signal from 100 watts to 1000 in hopes maybe Andee could hear me if I was not hearing his 100 watts. It took all of 10 minutes to get the amplifier hooked up and things turned back on. Then I heard a signal on the 21.230 frequency, and I heard Andee’s call sign, but it could be another station calling him, still no reason to believe it was him. Then the signal became louder and I recognized the voice, it was Andee in communication with a European station!!
I broke in and Andee returned to my call right away, things were working! I got Doris on the phone so she could hear our friends on the other end of the radio. Thomas, Emanuel, and the rest of the staff were present in the radio room at the Hope House to say hi to me, what a thrill. I have been a ham for over 45 years and this ranks as one of my best contacts, better that contacting the space shuttle better than bouncing signals off the moon. We talked for a while and then all of Europe again wanted to make contact with Nigeria and the Hope for the Blind station. I listened to Andee for almost an hour make many more contacts in Europe, all the time with a BIG grin on my face!!!
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Third input 9/22/2006
On arrival in Zaria and Hope for the Blind School, we moved into the two-bedroom guest house across the courtyard from Andee’s house. And we didn’t know it yet, but we had seen the last of recognizable food. Surprisingly, the beds everywhere were pretty good, and we had actual real toilets. The showers were iffy and sometimes there was no hot water. The ladies who helped run Andee’s house made sure I had a kettle of hot water whenever I wanted it.
If we thought things would quiet down, we were mistaken. The first “disruption” to tranquility was the man who heads up the whole amateur radio society in Nigeria. He had heard about the new radio station we were going to install and wanted to be there. So he invited himself. In Nigeria there is a strict and important code of hospitality and generosity and you offer lodging and food to anyone for as long as the visitor wants. He was the only rude Nigerian we were to meet. He was loud, bossy, pushy, didn’t listen, gave long didactic lectures about religion, radios, nuclear energy, what’s wrong with the world, waved his arms around, over-ruled others deisions and made us all grit our teeth. And no one was sure when he’d leave. Three long days.
The second thing that kept us busy was much more fun. Andee had gotten word to the big university in town that any technical students who might be interested were to come help and learn at a “tech clinic” that Pete and Andee taught. Five delightful, intelligent and hard working students showed up as well as a man who worked for the government and his wife. ( Pete has done a great job describing the work on the radio and antennas and cables and the tower and the guy wires elsewhere in the blog.) We started Friday morning, and were talking to people in Europe by Sunday night. There were lots and lots of smiles that day. My favorite moment was hearing a man named Mike in Portugal say to Thomas, a blind craft instructor, “all of Europe is listening to you tonight”.
The 2 cooks/house keepers go to the market every morning. They were not only feeding Andee, Pete and I, but also the Ham guy (who ate for 3 or 4), and the staff who lived at the school and their families, but the students also. One morning, I asked them if I could go with them—just to see. They weren’t sure that was a good idea and told me it was a long walk and very hot. I ended up going. Another time warp. Stalls with tin roofs, water and mud in the narrow alleys, open bulk food everywhere, thousands of stalls of grains, soaps, flipflops, phonecards, vegetables, live chickens, meat on tables. Lots of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, carrots, yams, onions, cassava, ground pumpkin seed, fish, beef, chicken, eggs, and lots of things I didn’t recognize. Sounds OK when I type it but by the time we ate it, it had “changed”. We were glad that Linda had told us to bring snack bars and peanut butter. Haggling over prices is expected everywhere.
Needless to say, I was the only Caucasian for miles. The Nigerians are very polite and didn’t openly stare, but moved a little slower when we stopped to look. By the time we were ready to go home, we all had heavy parcels and left the market area. I looked back and about a dozen small children (4 to 7?? years old) were following us at a distance to get a better look. Lots of smiles and waves. If everyone’s experience of being a minority were this pleasant, the world would be a better place.
Nigerian women “of a certain age”, namely mine, don’t wear slacks. So I wore a skirt whenever we went out.
Other impressions were of the animals, the fabulous fabrics, the trees, the rock formations, the barnyard of pets in the school compound, the grains drying on the road, knitting with the visitors and blind staff and neighbors, my interviews with the post cataract patients, watching satellite TV with versions of the news we don’t see, the turkey who woke us up every morning.
Pete will write the next part and tell you about what happened yesterday!
Thanks for listening. Doris
If we thought things would quiet down, we were mistaken. The first “disruption” to tranquility was the man who heads up the whole amateur radio society in Nigeria. He had heard about the new radio station we were going to install and wanted to be there. So he invited himself. In Nigeria there is a strict and important code of hospitality and generosity and you offer lodging and food to anyone for as long as the visitor wants. He was the only rude Nigerian we were to meet. He was loud, bossy, pushy, didn’t listen, gave long didactic lectures about religion, radios, nuclear energy, what’s wrong with the world, waved his arms around, over-ruled others deisions and made us all grit our teeth. And no one was sure when he’d leave. Three long days.
The second thing that kept us busy was much more fun. Andee had gotten word to the big university in town that any technical students who might be interested were to come help and learn at a “tech clinic” that Pete and Andee taught. Five delightful, intelligent and hard working students showed up as well as a man who worked for the government and his wife. ( Pete has done a great job describing the work on the radio and antennas and cables and the tower and the guy wires elsewhere in the blog.) We started Friday morning, and were talking to people in Europe by Sunday night. There were lots and lots of smiles that day. My favorite moment was hearing a man named Mike in Portugal say to Thomas, a blind craft instructor, “all of Europe is listening to you tonight”.
The 2 cooks/house keepers go to the market every morning. They were not only feeding Andee, Pete and I, but also the Ham guy (who ate for 3 or 4), and the staff who lived at the school and their families, but the students also. One morning, I asked them if I could go with them—just to see. They weren’t sure that was a good idea and told me it was a long walk and very hot. I ended up going. Another time warp. Stalls with tin roofs, water and mud in the narrow alleys, open bulk food everywhere, thousands of stalls of grains, soaps, flipflops, phonecards, vegetables, live chickens, meat on tables. Lots of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, carrots, yams, onions, cassava, ground pumpkin seed, fish, beef, chicken, eggs, and lots of things I didn’t recognize. Sounds OK when I type it but by the time we ate it, it had “changed”. We were glad that Linda had told us to bring snack bars and peanut butter. Haggling over prices is expected everywhere.
Needless to say, I was the only Caucasian for miles. The Nigerians are very polite and didn’t openly stare, but moved a little slower when we stopped to look. By the time we were ready to go home, we all had heavy parcels and left the market area. I looked back and about a dozen small children (4 to 7?? years old) were following us at a distance to get a better look. Lots of smiles and waves. If everyone’s experience of being a minority were this pleasant, the world would be a better place.
Nigerian women “of a certain age”, namely mine, don’t wear slacks. So I wore a skirt whenever we went out.
Other impressions were of the animals, the fabulous fabrics, the trees, the rock formations, the barnyard of pets in the school compound, the grains drying on the road, knitting with the visitors and blind staff and neighbors, my interviews with the post cataract patients, watching satellite TV with versions of the news we don’t see, the turkey who woke us up every morning.
Pete will write the next part and tell you about what happened yesterday!
Thanks for listening. Doris
Friday, September 22, 2006
Second Input from Doris 9/21/06
Second Input from Doris 9/21/06
Some impressions definitely linger…the 125cc motor bikes that are all over like ants, the beautiful babies and women, the downpouring rain, the food, the lack of mosquitoes, the Durbar and the markets! And I spelled Naira wrong—the currency.
An unbelievable day came on the Tuesday after we arrived. We were told to pack an overnight bag and that we’d travel about 50 miles north to Andee’s school and would see a special event. We had no clue what it was and were not in the least prepared for the time warp that was to envelop us! The Durbar is a traditional exposition of ancient Islamic culture, dress, horsemanship, fighting technique, animals, characters, music, drumming and WOW. It took place at the palace of the Emir of Zazzua and we were invited as special guest and had front row seats. The Emir was asked to stage this special event because the Commonwealth of Nations was meeting in Nigeria at the time. I think we had better seats than the 8 giant bus loads of dignitaries who were disgorged from huge Mercedes busses. I might have guessed there might be camels, but hyenas?? You just gotta see the pictures to believe it. When it was over, I felt like I had visited the 5th century.
Back in Kaduna, at the end of the SICS training, we all had a big banquet and awards ceremony. Hence our instructions to bring clothes for a cocktail party. Our hosts and friends were in traditional dress and out-classed us all. The Nigerians love certificates of appreciation, of completion, of accomplishment, etc. They use them like distinguished references for the future. Pete and I received 3 fancy ones while we were there and I treasure them. We were also gifted with Nigerian clothing and carvings.
Dr. Linda Lawrence and the team for ORBIS and SEE, the two international eye health non-profits that helped sponsor the trip, left on Thursday; Andee gave a talk at the Nigerian National Ophthalmologist Convention and had so many people interested in his work, we ended up staying one more night. That same week, Andee’s school and his father, Dr. Bitrus Gani-Ikilama, were featured in two large newspapers, a university alumni magazine, and the National Teachers Assoc. awarded Dr.Gani, as he is called, the Educator of the Year Award. They are getting long-overdue recognition.
Some impressions definitely linger…the 125cc motor bikes that are all over like ants, the beautiful babies and women, the downpouring rain, the food, the lack of mosquitoes, the Durbar and the markets! And I spelled Naira wrong—the currency.
An unbelievable day came on the Tuesday after we arrived. We were told to pack an overnight bag and that we’d travel about 50 miles north to Andee’s school and would see a special event. We had no clue what it was and were not in the least prepared for the time warp that was to envelop us! The Durbar is a traditional exposition of ancient Islamic culture, dress, horsemanship, fighting technique, animals, characters, music, drumming and WOW. It took place at the palace of the Emir of Zazzua and we were invited as special guest and had front row seats. The Emir was asked to stage this special event because the Commonwealth of Nations was meeting in Nigeria at the time. I think we had better seats than the 8 giant bus loads of dignitaries who were disgorged from huge Mercedes busses. I might have guessed there might be camels, but hyenas?? You just gotta see the pictures to believe it. When it was over, I felt like I had visited the 5th century.
Back in Kaduna, at the end of the SICS training, we all had a big banquet and awards ceremony. Hence our instructions to bring clothes for a cocktail party. Our hosts and friends were in traditional dress and out-classed us all. The Nigerians love certificates of appreciation, of completion, of accomplishment, etc. They use them like distinguished references for the future. Pete and I received 3 fancy ones while we were there and I treasure them. We were also gifted with Nigerian clothing and carvings.
Dr. Linda Lawrence and the team for ORBIS and SEE, the two international eye health non-profits that helped sponsor the trip, left on Thursday; Andee gave a talk at the Nigerian National Ophthalmologist Convention and had so many people interested in his work, we ended up staying one more night. That same week, Andee’s school and his father, Dr. Bitrus Gani-Ikilama, were featured in two large newspapers, a university alumni magazine, and the National Teachers Assoc. awarded Dr.Gani, as he is called, the Educator of the Year Award. They are getting long-overdue recognition.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Input from Doris: September 16, 2006
We’ve been home for 2 days and are just beginning to make some sense of over 1000 photographs and 5 rolls of video. I hardly know where to start with stories and impressions. Nigeria is a country packed full of courteous, kind and hospitable people. We made lots of new friends in a short amount of time..and most of them wanted to exchange email addresses.
We saw parts of 4 cities and the main highway that connects them—Abuja, the capital, Kaduna where the National Eye Center is, Zaria where the school for the blind is and where we helped build the radio station, and finally, Kano, the most northerly and the most polluted. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and there were crowds everywhere.
Our new adventure started in Amsterdam when we met up with 3 other members of the surgical team that we assisted at the NEC. Our friend Dr.Linda Lawrence from Salina was the facilitator for that group and introduced us to Andrew Gani-Ikilama last year when he was in Kansas. He’s the Executive Director of Hope for the Blind Foundation and School. Before we left home Linda gave us many helpful hints about making our trip easier—clothes, habits, food, water, money, visas.
I guess Pete told you that the first hotel was surrounded by razor wire. Guns are not allowed in Nigeria by security guards, so we didn’t see a repeat of all the weapons of Honduras. The team had mountains of luggage because all the docs brought surgical tools and microscopes and supplies with them as well as regular stuff. We carried 4 suitcases of medical supplies in addition to our own 2.
The National Eye Center looks a lot older than it is and is obviously hard to maintain and way too big for the activity that goes on there. It’s a government property so requisitioning anything is a huge nightmare of red tape. The techs we met were very frustrated that they didn’t have the tools and resources to do their jobs and coveted our computers, cameras and camcorders. Pete was able to “work around” many of their problems to set up microscopes, video displays and even fixed an air conditioner and looked at their internet connection and their generators. He was a real popular guy. It was my job to take pre-op and post-op photos of many of the patients and get some of their stories. I also acted as sort of logistics person who kept track of stuff..
It is common for electricity to go out 2,3, 4 times a day and can stay out all day at times. It went out in the middle of eye surgery!!! A very classy lady is the Chief Medical Director: Dr. Mrs. Pamela Ozemela. Breakfast break was at noon with coffee, tea and meat pies, lunch at 1:30 to 3 PM with full hot meal tho we weren’t sure what we were eating at times. Some of the food was very spicy,,, too much for me. Ask us how much we liked Spinach Soup …ugh. Dinner was after dark and seemed like about 8 PM most days.
We got ferried back and forth to the Hotel in various cars and vans. The Hamdala was known far and wide as the best hotel in the city. Our room probably rated a 1 and that was when the hot water was actually coming out. We had to figure out the switches for the hot water heater and the AC switch was in a strange place. Only one towel provided. Phones a mystery. The best food (most recognizable ) was in the hotel—eggs, shrimp, chicken, pancakes, fruit salad, yogurt and toast all available, none of which was ever seen again after we checked out and moved to Zaria.
We didn’t handle too much Nigerian money—the nara.. One dollar was worth 125 nara. As recently as last April one dollar could buy 140 nara…. The declining value of the US dollar is really hurting overseas charities. We gave our cash to Andee and he paid our expenses for us as well as being our professional haggler at all the vendors and shops where we bought small gifts. I’ll stop for now and add another segment soon, Doris
We saw parts of 4 cities and the main highway that connects them—Abuja, the capital, Kaduna where the National Eye Center is, Zaria where the school for the blind is and where we helped build the radio station, and finally, Kano, the most northerly and the most polluted. Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and there were crowds everywhere.
Our new adventure started in Amsterdam when we met up with 3 other members of the surgical team that we assisted at the NEC. Our friend Dr.Linda Lawrence from Salina was the facilitator for that group and introduced us to Andrew Gani-Ikilama last year when he was in Kansas. He’s the Executive Director of Hope for the Blind Foundation and School. Before we left home Linda gave us many helpful hints about making our trip easier—clothes, habits, food, water, money, visas.
I guess Pete told you that the first hotel was surrounded by razor wire. Guns are not allowed in Nigeria by security guards, so we didn’t see a repeat of all the weapons of Honduras. The team had mountains of luggage because all the docs brought surgical tools and microscopes and supplies with them as well as regular stuff. We carried 4 suitcases of medical supplies in addition to our own 2.
The National Eye Center looks a lot older than it is and is obviously hard to maintain and way too big for the activity that goes on there. It’s a government property so requisitioning anything is a huge nightmare of red tape. The techs we met were very frustrated that they didn’t have the tools and resources to do their jobs and coveted our computers, cameras and camcorders. Pete was able to “work around” many of their problems to set up microscopes, video displays and even fixed an air conditioner and looked at their internet connection and their generators. He was a real popular guy. It was my job to take pre-op and post-op photos of many of the patients and get some of their stories. I also acted as sort of logistics person who kept track of stuff..
It is common for electricity to go out 2,3, 4 times a day and can stay out all day at times. It went out in the middle of eye surgery!!! A very classy lady is the Chief Medical Director: Dr. Mrs. Pamela Ozemela. Breakfast break was at noon with coffee, tea and meat pies, lunch at 1:30 to 3 PM with full hot meal tho we weren’t sure what we were eating at times. Some of the food was very spicy,,, too much for me. Ask us how much we liked Spinach Soup …ugh. Dinner was after dark and seemed like about 8 PM most days.
We got ferried back and forth to the Hotel in various cars and vans. The Hamdala was known far and wide as the best hotel in the city. Our room probably rated a 1 and that was when the hot water was actually coming out. We had to figure out the switches for the hot water heater and the AC switch was in a strange place. Only one towel provided. Phones a mystery. The best food (most recognizable ) was in the hotel—eggs, shrimp, chicken, pancakes, fruit salad, yogurt and toast all available, none of which was ever seen again after we checked out and moved to Zaria.
We didn’t handle too much Nigerian money—the nara.. One dollar was worth 125 nara. As recently as last April one dollar could buy 140 nara…. The declining value of the US dollar is really hurting overseas charities. We gave our cash to Andee and he paid our expenses for us as well as being our professional haggler at all the vendors and shops where we bought small gifts. I’ll stop for now and add another segment soon, Doris
Hardware going up!
Raising the tower. The tower has a hinged base that allows for this type of installation. Once standing, guy wires are attached.
Pete and Andee pulled up the antenna and clamped it to the mast. The antenna can rotate 360 degrees to cover any part of the world. By the way the view was spectacular.
The results. Thomas, who is totally blind, is being assisted by Steven, a local university student, to speak to a Russian ham radio operator. The mere fact that not only this is a historic first for Thomas by expanding his world, but the compassion showed by the sighted students towards the blind students as shown in this picture was very gratifying.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Re-building the beam antenna...
With the antenna that was donated by a inactive ham, we started to re-build it. The antenna covers 3 amateur radio 'bands' and will be a great addition to the station versus a wire antenna. It was in good shape but needed cleaning and replacing of all wires.
Cleaning small parts with a wire brush and kerosene from a lantern. By the way, these lanterns are used all over for a light source.
New skills were learned by all who came to learn about amateur radio. This woman is stipping wire to be used in re-building the antenna.
New wiring was installed and in this picture the final connections were being made.
Anntena is assembled and using a test meter we could see that it is working ok.
Doris and Andee taking a short break in between patients.
This young man has a typical cataract in his right eye, the tape notes the eye to be operated on.
Doris is in the 'waiting area' where the patients in groups of 5 waited for their turn to walk into the operating room. They will have a cataract removed and walk back to their ward for an overnight stay. She is collecting pictures to use in a before and after study and getting the patients' stories, she had a great calming effect with the people she talked to.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Were back!
Dateline, Thursday September 14,2006
All flights went smoothly and landed in
The radio system is a success! All the hard work done by the university students and staff have paid off with them talking to many countries in
More to come…..
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Last of Sunday posts
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Today the winch truck is coming to raise the tower. The base will need to be leveled so we have dug around the base to facilitate moving it a few inches to get is squared. Remember they dug up the base, which was 6 feet deep and brought it to use in this new location. We would have poured a new base, right? Were in Nigeria. Saturday we went into town and found a hardware dealer (read a store in a hole in the wall selling new and used stuff) and bought rope and used cable clamps along with a new hack saw blade and some bolts. Nothing even close to a ACE store anyplace. All most all stores are open air or 12 foot wide side by side in a building next to the street. NO PARKING LOTS, park at the edge of the street. I had brought new turnbuckles with me from the states, they would have been hard to find here. Truck shows up and we discuss where to hook the chain up to tilt the tower up, the operator knew exactly where to attach it. We started up and then the winch truck needed more hydraulic oil......The tower then went up with no problems and we spent the rest of the time attaching the guy ropes (3/8" stiff stuff) and then tighten things down. We had heavy rains last night and need to wait for the dirt to settle and dry out before climbing. So the antenna will go up tomorrow.
Doris and I now have a Nigerian radio licenses. The Secretary General of Nigeria radio society showed up and inspected the station and my credentials and after showing him my license and passport I am now 5N9SJA and my first contacts with the dipole antenna were with Sweden and the Czech Republic, cw & ssb on 20 meters. Doris's call is 5N9BGD. We got pictures showing him the radio donated by my home club in Kansas (Central Kansas Amateur Radio Club) and he will make up a letter of appreciation to bring back with me. Also Doris and I are life members of the Nigerian Radio Society, cool. This will help on future travels carrying equipment into the country.
This afternoon we are going to the market and some shops in town. I feel very safe here, people are very friendly and eager to learn and help. We will be back.
Doris and I are in an internet cafe in Zaria getting to use well worn keyboards (some letters are not visible) to post to the blog and check emails. A truck just threw a load of chickens on the side of the street, someone's supper tonight.....
Bye from the explorers..... pete & doris
Today the winch truck is coming to raise the tower. The base will need to be leveled so we have dug around the base to facilitate moving it a few inches to get is squared. Remember they dug up the base, which was 6 feet deep and brought it to use in this new location. We would have poured a new base, right? Were in Nigeria. Saturday we went into town and found a hardware dealer (read a store in a hole in the wall selling new and used stuff) and bought rope and used cable clamps along with a new hack saw blade and some bolts. Nothing even close to a ACE store anyplace. All most all stores are open air or 12 foot wide side by side in a building next to the street. NO PARKING LOTS, park at the edge of the street. I had brought new turnbuckles with me from the states, they would have been hard to find here. Truck shows up and we discuss where to hook the chain up to tilt the tower up, the operator knew exactly where to attach it. We started up and then the winch truck needed more hydraulic oil......The tower then went up with no problems and we spent the rest of the time attaching the guy ropes (3/8" stiff stuff) and then tighten things down. We had heavy rains last night and need to wait for the dirt to settle and dry out before climbing. So the antenna will go up tomorrow.
Doris and I now have a Nigerian radio licenses. The Secretary General of Nigeria radio society showed up and inspected the station and my credentials and after showing him my license and passport I am now 5N9SJA and my first contacts with the dipole antenna were with Sweden and the Czech Republic, cw & ssb on 20 meters. Doris's call is 5N9BGD. We got pictures showing him the radio donated by my home club in Kansas (Central Kansas Amateur Radio Club) and he will make up a letter of appreciation to bring back with me. Also Doris and I are life members of the Nigerian Radio Society, cool. This will help on future travels carrying equipment into the country.
This afternoon we are going to the market and some shops in town. I feel very safe here, people are very friendly and eager to learn and help. We will be back.
Doris and I are in an internet cafe in Zaria getting to use well worn keyboards (some letters are not visible) to post to the blog and check emails. A truck just threw a load of chickens on the side of the street, someone's supper tonight.....
Bye from the explorers..... pete & doris
Saturday, September 9, 2006
Saturday morning the students interested in ham radio began showing up to find out about the entire goings on Andrew's foundation. Most of the day was spent putting the 4 element beam together. A retired local ham that has not been active for a number of years donated this antenna, also a 50 foot tower came with it. All the elements were disassembled and cleaned then reassemble with a ant-oxidant compound. All wires and a new choke were installed with the students doing most of the work. They are learning about soldering and installing coax connectors, all of this is a first time experience for them. The rotor was checked out and is working great. Next the antenna was raised off the ground to check it with the analyzer, all indications were normal. As soon the tower is raised on Sunday we can get the antenna up and going.
Saturday late afternoon we installed the G5RV antenna to get on the radio as soon as possible. A rope was delivered to the top of a Mango tree via a very able climber. At the other end, a tree of unknown species was used to support the antenna. The antenna was pulled tight and coax ran into the house to the ham shack room. Showing some of the students the end of the coax and what will come out of it was totally foreign and when the first signals came out and we talked to Germany, it was like wow! It was neat to hear the world from the other side of the ocean but no state side signals were heard....The students are totally into this form of communication and are spending a lot of time here at the Hope for the Blind foundation compound.
Late Saturday evening a new 40 kva generator was delivered, it is much needed as the power goes off everyday for hours at a time. So far the water has stayed on.......The gen set has a Perkins engine and a name plate stating it is a Massey Fergerson unit from the UK.
Drank some of the local water and either that or the palm oil that is used in cooking did not set well with my stomach but today (Sunday) I'm back to old self.
Saturday morning the students interested in ham radio began showing up to find out about the entire goings on Andrew's foundation. Most of the day was spent putting the 4 element beam together. A retired local ham that has not been active for a number of years donated this antenna, also a 50 foot tower came with it. All the elements were disassembled and cleaned then reassemble with a ant-oxidant compound. All wires and a new choke were installed with the students doing most of the work. They are learning about soldering and installing coax connectors, all of this is a first time experience for them. The rotor was checked out and is working great. Next the antenna was raised off the ground to check it with the analyzer, all indications were normal. As soon the tower is raised on Sunday we can get the antenna up and going.
Saturday late afternoon we installed the G5RV antenna to get on the radio as soon as possible. A rope was delivered to the top of a Mango tree via a very able climber. At the other end, a tree of unknown species was used to support the antenna. The antenna was pulled tight and coax ran into the house to the ham shack room. Showing some of the students the end of the coax and what will come out of it was totally foreign and when the first signals came out and we talked to Germany, it was like wow! It was neat to hear the world from the other side of the ocean but no state side signals were heard....The students are totally into this form of communication and are spending a lot of time here at the Hope for the Blind foundation compound.
Late Saturday evening a new 40 kva generator was delivered, it is much needed as the power goes off everyday for hours at a time. So far the water has stayed on.......The gen set has a Perkins engine and a name plate stating it is a Massey Fergerson unit from the UK.
Drank some of the local water and either that or the palm oil that is used in cooking did not set well with my stomach but today (Sunday) I'm back to old self.
Sunday posts
It's Sunday, September 10, 2006
Been several days since my last update and will try to get things caught up.
Wednesday of last week was the wrap up of the surgeries and leaving the National Eye Center of Nigeria. Wednesday night was a banquet with all the doctors and technicians that were in the training session, a fun and relaxing time. Spent most of my time with the engineers discussing power distribution and with the language issues, it was most interesting. The Northern part of Nigeria the primary language is hausa, one of 2000 languages in Nigeria, and English is secondary, with an accent that is hard to get.Like any other language you try to get the main subject of the conversation and fill in the blanks, I could have made some better choices filling in the blanks though..........
Thursday the official conference opened with ophthalmologists from all of Nigeria were in attendance. Dr. Linda Lawrence kicked off the talks with a new way for them to think about treating the eye, very interesting to a layperson in attendance (me). Andrew's talk was scheduled for 2 but got shifted to later in the day, which would make us late going to Zaria so we decided to stay in Kaduna for another night.
More rain Friday morning (it's the rainy season) we were off early to Zaria about 80 km to the North. It is hard to describe the road / driving rules. First you can pass anywhere, right, left, in-between. With hundreds, make that 1000s of 125cc Chinese motorcycles sharing the road and are burning an oil gas mix that fogs the air, it is a lesson in barely missing them. These motorcycles are used for taxis and cargo carrying. I have seen 6 people on ONE motorcycle also a rider carrying 2 mattresses, and one with a wheel barrel carrying an engine block (rider on back holding the handles). The pollution from these and other diesel sources makes the town streets look light blue color, not good on the lungs. If a motorcycle rider is hit other riders will stop and check out the accident. If the motorcycle rider was in the correct lane (not coming towards the car in the wrong lane) the riders will cuss and accost the car driver and the car driver is responsible to get the rider to the hospital..... if the motorcycle rider was at fault, the other riders leave him....Bottom line, if your horn does not work you can not drive effectively or at all......
Arrived at the Hope House in Zaria mid morning.
Been several days since my last update and will try to get things caught up.
Wednesday of last week was the wrap up of the surgeries and leaving the National Eye Center of Nigeria. Wednesday night was a banquet with all the doctors and technicians that were in the training session, a fun and relaxing time. Spent most of my time with the engineers discussing power distribution and with the language issues, it was most interesting. The Northern part of Nigeria the primary language is hausa, one of 2000 languages in Nigeria, and English is secondary, with an accent that is hard to get.Like any other language you try to get the main subject of the conversation and fill in the blanks, I could have made some better choices filling in the blanks though..........
Thursday the official conference opened with ophthalmologists from all of Nigeria were in attendance. Dr. Linda Lawrence kicked off the talks with a new way for them to think about treating the eye, very interesting to a layperson in attendance (me). Andrew's talk was scheduled for 2 but got shifted to later in the day, which would make us late going to Zaria so we decided to stay in Kaduna for another night.
More rain Friday morning (it's the rainy season) we were off early to Zaria about 80 km to the North. It is hard to describe the road / driving rules. First you can pass anywhere, right, left, in-between. With hundreds, make that 1000s of 125cc Chinese motorcycles sharing the road and are burning an oil gas mix that fogs the air, it is a lesson in barely missing them. These motorcycles are used for taxis and cargo carrying. I have seen 6 people on ONE motorcycle also a rider carrying 2 mattresses, and one with a wheel barrel carrying an engine block (rider on back holding the handles). The pollution from these and other diesel sources makes the town streets look light blue color, not good on the lungs. If a motorcycle rider is hit other riders will stop and check out the accident. If the motorcycle rider was in the correct lane (not coming towards the car in the wrong lane) the riders will cuss and accost the car driver and the car driver is responsible to get the rider to the hospital..... if the motorcycle rider was at fault, the other riders leave him....Bottom line, if your horn does not work you can not drive effectively or at all......
Arrived at the Hope House in Zaria mid morning.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Monday afternoon,
This afternoon I'm going to help Mr Duncan build a video connection from the OR to the lecture hall-something he's been dreaming of for a long time. And when our friend Andee shows up later we have to go to the computer store to get CD labels.
This huge complex set idle from 1983 to 1992 with all the equipment in place. In '92 the eye center took it over and has been plagued with getting the place operational ever since. Then in 93' civil unrest took its toll on the funding for upkeep. There are large parts of the hospitals here which have never been used. And maintenance is a challenge.
We have 3 operating tables going and will operate on 60 patients today. Eight Nigerian doctors (5 women and 3 men) are being trained in a new surgical technique for cataracts and lens replacements. Our team did 30 surgeries the first afternoon for demonstration and the new docs started yesterday and continue today. 30 more yesterday, up to 60 today.
Added Tuesday....
Did not get to the video connection due to other stuff like getting power to projectors for classes. Everything over here is 220 volts.
Spent Monday night in Zaria at the Hope for the blind school. Power went out at the time we were headed to bed. So we lite a candle and put up the mosquito netting and climbed in for a warm night. Big storms rolled in at 2 am....
Time is up on this connection...
bye for now,
Pete
This afternoon I'm going to help Mr Duncan build a video connection from the OR to the lecture hall-something he's been dreaming of for a long time. And when our friend Andee shows up later we have to go to the computer store to get CD labels.
This huge complex set idle from 1983 to 1992 with all the equipment in place. In '92 the eye center took it over and has been plagued with getting the place operational ever since. Then in 93' civil unrest took its toll on the funding for upkeep. There are large parts of the hospitals here which have never been used. And maintenance is a challenge.
We have 3 operating tables going and will operate on 60 patients today. Eight Nigerian doctors (5 women and 3 men) are being trained in a new surgical technique for cataracts and lens replacements. Our team did 30 surgeries the first afternoon for demonstration and the new docs started yesterday and continue today. 30 more yesterday, up to 60 today.
Added Tuesday....
Did not get to the video connection due to other stuff like getting power to projectors for classes. Everything over here is 220 volts.
Spent Monday night in Zaria at the Hope for the blind school. Power went out at the time we were headed to bed. So we lite a candle and put up the mosquito netting and climbed in for a warm night. Big storms rolled in at 2 am....
Time is up on this connection...
bye for now,
Pete
Monday, September 04, 2006 (Posted Tuesday night)
Found an Internet café last night but the speed was so sloooooow that I only got an email sent out. Could not get to the blog site......
Sunday was a busy day copying CDs and taking pictures of the patients before surgery.We visited with the post op patients and took pictures of them and watched as they had their sight checked. Some could see for the first time in many years. Next item will be getting them glasses for the final correction. Happy people!!
Worked on a microscope used in one of the surgeries that had a camera malfunction. The staff found a small extra camera designed for a different brand of scope that I adapted with surgical tape. The focal length was very critical. Ran a cable out to a viewing area and used a projector so the rest of the doctors could watch the procedure. The eye looked as big as basketball when displayed on the screen (wall).
Took a lot of video of the doctors operating when I could get in close to the patient. Doris was busy taking pre op pictures and having fun with the patients.
Food has been good to me, some things I can recognize. Eating a lot of chicken and eggs, I think.....
Staff at the eye center is most accommodating, and have enjoyed getting to know them. They have the same concerns and joys that we have.
Monday morning;
Met with Mr. Hai (pronounced hi ) who is the chief tech officer and Mr. Kayode who is the chief engineer for the site. We toured the facility and discussed the generator transfer issues and the non working UPS system. They have 3 generators here, 2 are 1100 KVA (power just went out so they are manually starting one and transferring to get the power back on. The Doctors in the operating room are sitting still and not moving. Yesterday when this happened there was an instrument in the eye...) now the power is on via generator and sometime they will switch back to the grid. This happens several times daily. Will get the UPS information to them so the microscope lights used in surgery will continue to shine.Back to the generators. The third one is only a 350kw unit feeding a separate area of the complex. One of the 1100 kVA units can easily run this place. When this complex was constructed in 1983 the electrical contactor was replaced and the result was that the automatic generator transfer system does not work. So a person stays here at all times to do the manual transfer sequence when power fails. I would love to start working to get the automatic system operational. The technical specs are; 3kv to the site, then to 1.1kv, then to 415v 3 phase. From phase to neutral it is 220 volts which every thing runs on.Fun stuff to see and maybe work on..
All for now, Pete
Found an Internet café last night but the speed was so sloooooow that I only got an email sent out. Could not get to the blog site......
Sunday was a busy day copying CDs and taking pictures of the patients before surgery.We visited with the post op patients and took pictures of them and watched as they had their sight checked. Some could see for the first time in many years. Next item will be getting them glasses for the final correction. Happy people!!
Worked on a microscope used in one of the surgeries that had a camera malfunction. The staff found a small extra camera designed for a different brand of scope that I adapted with surgical tape. The focal length was very critical. Ran a cable out to a viewing area and used a projector so the rest of the doctors could watch the procedure. The eye looked as big as basketball when displayed on the screen (wall).
Took a lot of video of the doctors operating when I could get in close to the patient. Doris was busy taking pre op pictures and having fun with the patients.
Food has been good to me, some things I can recognize. Eating a lot of chicken and eggs, I think.....
Staff at the eye center is most accommodating, and have enjoyed getting to know them. They have the same concerns and joys that we have.
Monday morning;
Met with Mr. Hai (pronounced hi ) who is the chief tech officer and Mr. Kayode who is the chief engineer for the site. We toured the facility and discussed the generator transfer issues and the non working UPS system. They have 3 generators here, 2 are 1100 KVA (power just went out so they are manually starting one and transferring to get the power back on. The Doctors in the operating room are sitting still and not moving. Yesterday when this happened there was an instrument in the eye...) now the power is on via generator and sometime they will switch back to the grid. This happens several times daily. Will get the UPS information to them so the microscope lights used in surgery will continue to shine.Back to the generators. The third one is only a 350kw unit feeding a separate area of the complex. One of the 1100 kVA units can easily run this place. When this complex was constructed in 1983 the electrical contactor was replaced and the result was that the automatic generator transfer system does not work. So a person stays here at all times to do the manual transfer sequence when power fails. I would love to start working to get the automatic system operational. The technical specs are; 3kv to the site, then to 1.1kv, then to 415v 3 phase. From phase to neutral it is 220 volts which every thing runs on.Fun stuff to see and maybe work on..
All for now, Pete
Nigeria #1
Saturday, 9_2_2006 (Loaded Tuesday night)
I'm hoping to find an Internet café somewhere tonight to up load the latest. As I type this it is 5:30 pm and should be 10:30 Kansas time, 7 hours difference. Still have 10 surgeries to go before we head back to the hotel.
Where to start......Flights were all good and luggage made it also. It was dark, around 8:30 when finally through customs and into the bus. Spent the first night in Abuja with our hotel surrounded by barbed wire, (I think it was to keep me off the streets at night).Doris and I met Linda, Mahdavi, and Manolo in Amsterdam at the airport. Mahdavi is an eye surgeon from India and Manolo is also a surgeon but from Peru. Then Jeff the surgeon from California and Tammy a nurse from Detroit were here a day early. Fun group of people and very talented.
Friday morning it was off to the National Eye Center in Kaduna where we will be doing cataract surgery and training for the next few days. Ate a traditional Nigeria lunch with the staff and our group of 7. One of the dishes was called 'vegetable soup' and what I thought was part of a cactus leaf because of the spines sticking out was actually a jaw bone of a fish. I ate around that. Later I found out that the locals eat the bones in many of the dishes, good source of calcium???
Checked into a hotel in the central part of Kaduna which is considered to be the best in town....... Doris accused me of drying with the bath floor mat but then she had to beg the front desk for another bath floor mat so she could have her own "towel" The name is the Hamdala and our room number is 909 but on the 4th floor.....different.
Spending Saturday at the Eye Center setting up video equipment for the Doctors to view the surgery being done by Jeff, Mahdavi, and Manolo. This team of 3 are doing surgery on about 30 people today starting at 4 pm, we will be here till about 7PM. Tomorrow the Nigerian docs will do it themselves and have a tape of their work to take home. In total about 100+ people will have cataracts removed and new lens put in one eye.
Doris spent her time taking pictures of the patients just before they go into the operating room. Bye the way, the patients have been waiting all day and then walk to the surgery staging area which is right outside of the operating room. Pictures consist of a full face so we can ID them and then a close up of the eye that will be operated on, a before and after thing......Power just went out.........running on batteries for the laptop but the operating room is dark, except for the flashlights......power back on now after about 5 minutes of being off. After surgery the patients walk back to their bed and will spend the night here. Tomorrow we will take more photos when the bandages come off. It has been a very long and rewarding day.
I have set up a little work bench in an old lab area which is across the hall from the operating room and just to my right I just noticed a jar full of eyes looking at me! I'm not kidding!More when I get a chance, Nigeria is a fascinating country!!!!!!
I'm hoping to find an Internet café somewhere tonight to up load the latest. As I type this it is 5:30 pm and should be 10:30 Kansas time, 7 hours difference. Still have 10 surgeries to go before we head back to the hotel.
Where to start......Flights were all good and luggage made it also. It was dark, around 8:30 when finally through customs and into the bus. Spent the first night in Abuja with our hotel surrounded by barbed wire, (I think it was to keep me off the streets at night).Doris and I met Linda, Mahdavi, and Manolo in Amsterdam at the airport. Mahdavi is an eye surgeon from India and Manolo is also a surgeon but from Peru. Then Jeff the surgeon from California and Tammy a nurse from Detroit were here a day early. Fun group of people and very talented.
Friday morning it was off to the National Eye Center in Kaduna where we will be doing cataract surgery and training for the next few days. Ate a traditional Nigeria lunch with the staff and our group of 7. One of the dishes was called 'vegetable soup' and what I thought was part of a cactus leaf because of the spines sticking out was actually a jaw bone of a fish. I ate around that. Later I found out that the locals eat the bones in many of the dishes, good source of calcium???
Checked into a hotel in the central part of Kaduna which is considered to be the best in town....... Doris accused me of drying with the bath floor mat but then she had to beg the front desk for another bath floor mat so she could have her own "towel" The name is the Hamdala and our room number is 909 but on the 4th floor.....different.
Spending Saturday at the Eye Center setting up video equipment for the Doctors to view the surgery being done by Jeff, Mahdavi, and Manolo. This team of 3 are doing surgery on about 30 people today starting at 4 pm, we will be here till about 7PM. Tomorrow the Nigerian docs will do it themselves and have a tape of their work to take home. In total about 100+ people will have cataracts removed and new lens put in one eye.
Doris spent her time taking pictures of the patients just before they go into the operating room. Bye the way, the patients have been waiting all day and then walk to the surgery staging area which is right outside of the operating room. Pictures consist of a full face so we can ID them and then a close up of the eye that will be operated on, a before and after thing......Power just went out.........running on batteries for the laptop but the operating room is dark, except for the flashlights......power back on now after about 5 minutes of being off. After surgery the patients walk back to their bed and will spend the night here. Tomorrow we will take more photos when the bandages come off. It has been a very long and rewarding day.
I have set up a little work bench in an old lab area which is across the hall from the operating room and just to my right I just noticed a jar full of eyes looking at me! I'm not kidding!More when I get a chance, Nigeria is a fascinating country!!!!!!
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