“The human spirit lives on creativity and dies in conformity and routine.”
― Vilayat Inayat Khan
Well, nearly 4 months in and still trying to find that routine. The quote above exemplifies though that my routine is not about conformity but about discovery and experiences. Lucky me, I found and joined a group that will allow me the opportunity to create a routine of discovery.
The Nigerian Field Society (NFS) is a national organization founded in 1930 with branches in several cities across the country which depend entirely on local interest and volunteer commitment. The first edition of NFS’s publication, “The Nigerian Field”, was published in 1931. This journal still continues and is one Nigeria’s oldest continuous publications. For more information go to http://www.nigerianfield.org/.
I just completed my first trip with them to Makoko, the stilt village. I was able to visit this community of about 100,000 people and experience what their daily life is really like. At least as much as one can in a single tour.
This village was initially established as a fishing village in the 18th century and has been referred to as the Venice of Africa. From the A-frame school house I was able to interact with some of the children and was also given the best overall view from the 3rd floor of this structure at the immenseness of this”village”. Mouth-dropping really to see how expansive this stilt city was. To think that there were over 100,000 people living here. Out of the 100,000 people, we were informed that only about 350 were lucky enough to go to school.
For the children who were not in school, they would help transport food through the village, learn to fish, do a multitude of other tasks, or simply hang out and play.
It was amazing to see this completely different side of Lagos. You can see a very interesting article from CNN world that gives you more details of this village. Postcards from home: documenting Nigeria’s floating community
A trip to the stilt village was added by another member of this tour group. The video gives you a slightly different image with sound perspective. I hope you enjoy.
Other routines you might find interesting.
rfljenksy - Practicing Simplicity 
Wonderful pics, very well captured… 🙂
A great tour!! I keep trying to post fewer pictures, but I really LOVE the pictures.. will be doing a tour every week until the end of Feb. Then I will evaluate if I can keep up that pace!! Thanks for commenting.