Dennis’ story about giving FREE lessons to Christiana in Nigeria

My friend Andrew Sorg is giving free trumpet lessons to a gentleman in Nigeria, and asked me if I would be interested in giving free lessons to their friend in Nigeria. “Of course!” was my reply. We set up a lesson time and we were about to meet on Facebook Messenger video, and I asked her what kind of saxophone she had. She replied, “I don’t have a saxophone. Is that a problem?” and so they saga continued.

Leonard’s Music in Bedford, MA offered to donate the saxophone so that the free lesson could happen, and The Musary offered to help keep track of the saxophone and repair it. Almost there!

Ever tried to ship something big to Nigeria? It’s NOT cheap! Everywhere I went it was $2000 or more to ship the instrument - much more than the instrument was worth!

One day I was telling this story to Debbie at Leonard’s Music, and she said, “why don’t you sell the saxophone you have and give her the money to buy an instrument over there?” That got me thinking. So I posted the instrument on Facebook Marketplace, and got started looking for saxophones for sale in Nigeria.

This was way out of my league, shopping on sketchy websites in Nigeria for student alto saxophones. I found many “gold professional alto saxophones” that had brand names like Yamaha and Selmer on them, but looked nothing like the instrument—completely counterfeit instruments! Eventually I stumbled upon a a student yamaha saxophone for sale for 95,000 Naira - $250! The same instrument new in US costs over $1000! I couldn’t believe it so I texted the shop that was selling it to confirm. The serial numbers confirmed: it was a real Yamaha-23! So I began to work out payment and delivery of this saxophone, as I had finally sold the saxophone on Facebook Marketplace after offering a super low price of $275. I was now ready to get the saxophone!

Ever tried to pay someone $250 in Nigeria? It’s not easy! The seller guaranteed me that the saxophone was real via WhatsApp, but I didn’t believe him - what proof did I have that he wasn’t just selling me a picture of a saxophone, and that once he had my money, is entire website wouldn’t disappear.

I was able to convince the seller to deliver the saxophone first, then when my student was holding the saxophone and able to verify the serial number, I would pay the seller. One catch: I would have to pay for the delivery. I agreed to the extra delivery fee of 10,000 Naira.

The seller said, “OK, I’m giving the saxophone to my biker now.” Biker?! Yes, BIKER. This man strapped a saxophone to his back, got on his bicycle, and biked ALL DAY across the city of Lagos, Nigeria, to the address of my student. Upon delivery, I asked my student to verify the authenticity of the instrument. The pictures from her camera were almost impossible to make out, but I had convinced myself through a mix of these blurry pictures, my student’s observations, and a LOT of hope, that this was indeed an authentic Yamaha saxophone.

So I got on my computer and completed the wire with my bank, and hit the TRANSFER button.

My bank kindly informed me on the next screen that it would take 3-5 business days for the money to clear. The seller couldn’t leave the saxophone with her unpaid! So the delivery man took the saxophone back, and began his 5-hour trek BACK across Lagos with the saxophone, leaving a heartbroken saxophone student who held the saxophone in her hands for only 10 minutes only to have it taken back away from her.

We were devasted, but I was determined to right the wrong! SO I took some of the money from my grant Salem Cultural Council (thanks Salem!), and told the saxophone seller that I would pay for the biker to take a 2ND TRIP across Lagos on his bike once I figured out how to transfer the money.

Another week went by while I waited for the money to go from Chase Bank to Nigeria, but it never did. It turns out TransferWise is the best way to transfer money to Nigeria. It transferred in minutes, and so that day the biker got back on his bike, travelled across Lagos and earned another fee from yours truly.

Finally Christiana had her saxophone! We have lessons on Thursdays now. Sometimes, she doesn’t have enough data left on her phone for the lesson, other times she doesn’t have electricity in her house and I can’t see her so the lesson doesn’t work. Another time, Daylight Savings kicked in a week later in her country and we missed each other. But when we do see each other on the other end of a grainy, choppy Facebook Messenger video call, the lesson is magical. She takes in every possible instruction she can get and see from her tiny screen on the other side of the world, and I feel grateful that I can teach her Jingle Bells, or whatever song she wants to learn on the saxophone.

Christiana is my star pupil.