Fireworks and Follies in Nigeria

I know that this story will be funny at some point (hopefully sooner rather than later), but I thought I'd share our blunder with you and let you decide for yourselves.

Last night we had our last "party" for the interns and staff here in Nigeria. We still have almost two weeks to go, but one of our interns is going home today, the Ramos family (a staff family who have been here all summer) is leaving tomorrow, and a group from Northstar Vineyard in Cincinnati is coming on Wednesday and we will all leave together on the 14th. So, it seemed like good timing to have a superhero themed party last night.

Well, the blunder came early into the evening when we decided it would be fun to light off some fireworks. One of the staff members had seen them lit off a week before somewhere close by, and she had purchased them here in Nigeria. They were the kind that shoot up into the air and then explode with a loud pop. Now, in the United States this would never be an issue, but read my post from a few days ago asking for prayer for Nigeria and you might understand where I'm headed with this. It was just a week ago that there were riots 3 hours north of here and over 400 people were killed. Last November in Jos there were riots between Muslims and Christians and a load of people were killed then as well. Our neighborhood is primarily Christian, and is on pretty high alert most of the time. Enter a bunch of Americans lighting off fireworks. It was only a few moments after we lit them off that there was a knock at the gate with a concerned...no irate...neighbor. We found out that one family didn't even bother to look outside or up in the sky, they immediately shut their lights off and layed down on the floor in case there was gunfire. And still today, after apology texts and letters from the acting director here, there have been a few phone calls from nervous neighbors.
What I've learned from this is that in Nigeria you can never be too careful with how you think about and look after those around you. An example of this is that we always wear long skirts whenever we are headed out around town or to the children's homes. It is culturally sensitive for us to do this as most women are very modest here. In the same vein, we were totally insensitive to the neighbors by not even thinking about what fireworks might mean for their fear and anxiety. I am learning...and hoping to bring this lesson back with me about being more sensitive to those around me and really thinking about how my actions might affect them.