LamikayTy

I started out on Saturday morning to visit my sister at the Baptist Medical Centre, Ogbomoso.

Thanks to the rain and multiple traffic jams along the way, it took me 7 hours to get there. I finally got to Ogbomoso after having to hold my breath half of the way, the driver was apparently moving fast to get to Ilorin early enough to watch the WYC match.

Ogbomoso struck me as a rustic old town but with very good roads and drainage to go with it. Immediately I stepped into the grounds of the BMC, I knew I was in a different place! Clean, very neat, well manicured lawns, shrubs of flowers, many trees. I was impressed. Most of the hospital buildings are painted pink and though you could tell that it had been a while since they were painted last, they still looked good. (Honest contractors must have done the job). The houses are old type European style and they all looked good.

What struck me most was I could have been blindfolded and dropped into the hospital and would not have realised that I was in one because “There was simply NO SMELL!” Not event the tell-tale smells of a disinfected room! I was tripped to say the least.

Anyways, my sis was over the moon to see me and I could tell everybody around had been expecting me. “E ku alejo” was repeated as we moved to her room. My sister the Doc! It was amazing to see even very old women kneel to greet her and thank her most profusely for taking care of their patients.(She told me that even if you gave only 10 Naira, you would be inundated with “Thank Yous”) If I was younger, I think I would have gone to study medicine. Real respect!!! (Nah, was only kidding there) I cannot stand the sight of blood, talk less of all the other stuff you get to see.

I got to her apartment and wonder of wonders! It was nice, clean, spacious, a 1-room apartment. I could swing a cat in it! And she pays only 600naira monthly. What a lot people in Lagos are looking for and are willing to pay thousands for!! I kept repeating “Oyinbo gbon”. (The white men are wise) The place was run by American missionaries and their touch was still very evident. It has been taken over and is now run by Nigerian professionals who are committed to the place. For them I believe it is much more than how much they take home, it is a calling.

I woke up the next morning to the sounds of birds singing and crickets chirping and squirrels jumping on the roof. Nature! It was so cool, I was almost shivering. Apart from those sounds, it was quiet, No noisy loud blaring generators, no noise of near by stereo sets whose owners are almost deaf, Nothing just quiet!! No horrible smells or the fumes from generator sets that should have been scrapped a long time ago. It is a lovely place and I intend to go back more often, leave the noise and stress of Lagos and take a retreat.

I almost forgot! Asking for directions to the place, I was told to put my hand out and stop a taxi, and say I was headed for BMC. I did, the taxi stopped and I got in. No rushing , no running! and it was only 20 Naira.

Getting out of Lagos is what I intend to do a lot more!

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