elearning Africa Conference

The eLearning Africa conference www.elearning-africa.com was a mixed bag of stimulating discussion, meeting old friends, making new contacts, African ‘organisation’ and rushing around trying to get to hear all the presentations I’d marked on the programme.

My colleague (from Botswana) George & I, co-presented at the ICT in TVET Summit, held jointly by COL and UNESCO-UNEVOC. We presented the new Flexible Skills Development Initiative that we are working on together with colleagues from TVET institutions in Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. George shared some interesting ideas on quality in TVET and his PPT is in great demand.

We sponsored some ladies who work in TVET from Botswana, Kenya, Zambia and Namibia – and they all made the most of the experience. Luckily, one of them won a new mobile phone in a Microsoft business card draw – that was great! There were more than 1000 people there from all over the continent discussing a huge range of emerging issues in elearning. As always, I missed more than I saw/heard, but I especially enjoyed sessions on mobile learning and open education resources. Shuttleworth Foundation are doing interesting things in literacy with mobiles – i f0rt it was gr8, cuz itz new 2 me! I heard a keynote presentation from Gilly Salmon, whose work I have admired for some years. She told us about the Media Zoo at Leicester University – where lecturers can go to learn and experiment with new teaching and learning technologies. That reminded me that we have a Second Life account and it's about time that I went there to see if we can use it for skills development courses. There was also a rockin’ Bishop from the Gambia who uses Twitter, Facebook, blogs and all the social media to communicate with young people in his diocese.

I met loads of people that I used to work with in Zambia, but also colleagues from Rwanda & UK and new friends from Nigeria that I only met a few weeks ago. It’s gr8 (sorry!) to hear that the groundwork in distance education which we did in Zambia about 6 years ago is standing them in good stead now. I met someone from the Open University of Catalunya - which is a virtual university based in Barcelona - lots of good stuff going on there with the Campus for Peace and we may be able to collaborate with them.

All in all a worthwhile trip – next year we go to Tanzania. Sorry, no pics – I didn’t even get my camera out of my bag. Josiane from UNEVOC promised to share hers with me.

sad story of Jamaica

Before I went to Jamaica, my impression of Kingston was one of violence, drugs and gang rule. If you are a regular reader of V-F-V then you will know that my experience was not like that at all and was very positive.

Now I see in the news that the streets are being ruled by gangs, people are getting killed and the authorities have little authority. All because the US wants a drug lord extradited. The people are protecting him because he provides for them in a way that the government does not. But he does so with money earned by selling drugs to users in the US. It is yet another example of the steps this world is taking towards anarchy and ultimately an apocalypse.

I am thinking of my friends Anita, Gordon, Jeanette, Halden in Kingston. I hope and I trust that they are safe.

Next stop Lusaka, Zambia

I’m on my way to Zambia and then Rwanda – last planned trip for some time (apart from the train journey across the Canadian Rockies – but that’s another story!)

In Zambia we are working with the Ministry to develop national policy that will help technical colleges to introduce more flexible delivery methods into their programmes. The aim is to help increase access to technical and vocational training. We are supporting a national stakeholders’ meeting to discuss a draft policy and strategic framework development by my friend George Herd. We worked together in Botswana for 3 years.

We are both attending the eLearning Africa conference. First we have a pre-conference workshop on ICT in TVET where both George & I are presenting – and we have to manage group work with 80 participants! We will be launching the new COL Flexible Skills Development Initiative – which we are piloting in Zambia, Kenya and Nigeria. Then we get to just enjoy the conference. It will be a huge gathering of people involved in all forms of elearning in Africa. I hope to meet some interesting people and learn about their experiences .... exciting times!

Nigeria is SO Africa ... but SO full on. It's like everything I've experienced in Africa in the past 13 years - all at the same time. Everything is very familiar to me but there is just so much of it. I can't begin to describe the number of people, the cars, the mile after mile.

I was taken to a market today and it went on and on, stall after stall, dark alleyways, drains, steps and bumps, holes in the ground ... water, people ... school children, stall holders, shoppers, barrow boys .... the colours, the fabrics, plastic and tin ... smells, drains and fruit and sweat and heat ... sounds, music, laughing, calling out to me ... Obiyo, Obiyo (muzungu in Kiswahili) We were only there for about 15 minutes because it was just too intense.

I have to be on the road in 8 hours and I still need to sleep and finish about 4 emails and pack 2 suitcases and a backpack ... better get on with it.

Had a great final day at the workshop today – haven’t read the evaluation forms but they said some very nice things about me and the work we’ve done together & I think I’ve helped them to get where they’re going. They held a party for me and there was dancing and singing and we’ve had a lot of laughter this week – so that must be good! Nigerians are really the most hospitable people and good fun to boot!

BTW - I wrote this last night but the power went off so I'm posting it from Lagos airport - and this version of Blogger comes from an arabic country - so all the commands are in arabic. I didn't think I'd be able to sign in - until I realised it reads right to left - then I guessed and found the right button - yay!

International consultant? Pah!

Post script to yesterday’s post – now there’s a mixture of ancient and modern language – does it make sense?

After seeing the fatal accident and the style of driving here, I now know why Nigerians always wish you ’journey mercies’ when you are travelling! I thought they were just being polite and hospitable ... but I think they mean it.

My years spent living in Rwanda have prepared me well for my work. I’ve learned to wash when there is water, read when there is light ... sleep when there isn’t! I know how to flush a toilet when there’s no running water and how to bathe when I only have a bucket. There is a geyser in my room and it has a red light on it – but I’ve yet to find out how to get the water out!

Last night I had to make a pillow for my bed by wrapping some clothes in a kikoy – because the bed pillow is about 10 inches high and made of stone! I know my Red Cross friends will say I’m a softie and I don’t have to put up with anything like what they sometimes go through, especially when they are in disaster management situations, but ....

My evening meal has just arrived and the toasted sandwich I ordered seems to have mutated into a plate of chips with tomato ketchup ... ah well, be grateful for small mercies – at least I have food. And I’m sure there’s a bar of chocolate somewhere about my baggage!

And I'm grateful to have internet ... even if it is a wet piece of string ... I have strategies for blogging in developing countries too. After losing so many posts because the power goes just as you hit 'publish' - I've learned to write my posts in Word before I put them on the blog - yay!

And I love being here in Africa even if Nigeria puts a whole different spin on it ... am I weird or something? I’ll still be glad to get home though ... especially as the wrinklies (aka my parents) will arrive in Vancouver next week. They’re on their way to Toronto first to visit Niagra Falls – thanks Danielle, I owe you plenty ... then they come to us. Look out Canada!

Traffic in Nigeria

I always seem to be talking about traffic – it does kind of fascinate me .. perhaps because I spend a lot of time on the road?

Road use in Nigeria is VERY different from elsewhere. The roads are pretty good around the metropolitan areas – especially Abuja. But there are no white lines painted anywhere. And after careful study of driving for about 10 minutes, I realise why – no-one stays in any lane. They all drift (or dash) across the road so they can get further a few milliseconds faster. There is a definite lack of robots (traffic lights to my non-South African readers) and people have to edge their way across 3 lane highways to cross them – nightmare. Having said that, the traffic flow in Abuja is surprisingly good – and the volume not so high.

Lagos is another story. The city is much older, with smaller, less well maintained roads and the traffic jams are legendary. The drivers just edge and push and won’t wait or give way for anyone. Everyone I met over the last couple of days was late for meetings because of traffic grid locks. I am now about 300kms north of Lagos and the driver who brought me here did so at an average speed of 120 kms/h ... often reaching 160 or 180 kms/h. And the road was full of massive, heavily laden lorries and we experienced several bursts of torrential rain. The speed wasn’t too bad near Lagos but once we got out into the rural area and the potholes started, he would swerve across the road alarmingly and aquaplane wildly in the rain. By the time we arrived, I had jumped on the brakes so many times and I was so tense that my shoulders were nearly attached to my ears!

Sadly, as we neared Ondo, we passed a recent accident where a motorbike had lost control and both the driver and passenger were dead on the road. A very sobering sight.

Remember ladies and gentlemen, better to arrive late than to be late.