> Before you read this post, I will like you to picture yourself in a new environment where there is no electricity, no good and stable phone network, no access to clean and quality water, the road is very bad and such a place still practice open defecation. I could imagine what you are thinking right now. Well this is where the call to serve my father land send me to.
Hi Hivians!!! Welcome once again to my blog, I’m glad you are here again. Today!! I want to share with you my NYSC experience.
NYSC stands for National Youth Service Corps and is a one-year program organize by the Federal Government of Nigeria for graduates to live their environment and their comfort to an entirely new environment. There you will live and serve for one year. It is like an army personnel send to duty..
I was initially posted to Ebonyi State Nigeria to serve but I later relocated back to Nasarawa state. During my camping in Ebonyi State, I experience regimented training, waking up 4:30am every day, undergoing training by army personnel on how to match (parade), the compulsory SAHED lectures of 6-7 hours’ daily and the social activities at night. Camp was fun and we had a great 3 weeks’ memorable experience.
I later relocated back to Nasarawa state and received my posting letter that I’ve been posted to a school in a community. At first when I saw the name of the community, I thought it was a location just within the city but it wasn’t.
Normally when you are posted to any organisation, you will have to report to the head of the organisation so he/she can accept you. The time came for me to report myself and I arrange myself and luggage’s to set for my journey.
When I reached the state, I began to ask for direction so I could locate the community. To my greatest surprise, no one knows the location of the community. I was confused and began to ask myself did I miss the road, I’m I at the right place?. Well I kept asking around until an old woman told me that the community is not within the city but outside the city and I have to book a car to take me to a first location before taking a bike to the main community because public transportation with cars don’t go there.
It took me about an hour to get to the first location with car, I then dropped to take a bike. I never knew I’m about to embark on a fresh journey. One hour on bike we were still going and I wasn’t getting close to my destination and I began to ask the bike rider if he actually knows where we were going. In my mind I was saying hope he didn’t kidnap me.
My phone network was fluctuating and bushes were all around the road. He laughed and said we are almost close.
After about 40min -1 hours again (that is almost 2 hours) we finally reached the community.
(The place I was posted to)
The first thing I did when we get to the entrance of the community was to check my phone network and electricity around, to my disappointment, there was no electricity, what they are using was solar energy and only a few houses have access to it. My phone network went black, only in some specific areas can you find network. Honestly speaking, I don’t know when tears began to drop from my eyes. I couldn’t hold it. I went to the location that has network and began to call my family, complaining to them that I don’t want to serve my father land again, I want to return home.
My family encourage me to stay and that if after three months I’m still not comfortable with the place, then I should apply for change of location.
On getting to the school I saw some fellow corps members like me and I was like wow, so copers can actually stay in this community, why then I’m I been disturbed. I decided to stay.
Though it was easy but I decided to remain there. There were many challenges that I faced during my stay in that place like the issue of electricity. There is no power source, only a few houses with solar energy. Imagine going to charge your phone in someone’s house daily, the worst part is having a phone whose battery capacity don’t last.
Then here comes the issue of network. Imagine living your lodge to a different location, sometimes to the hill just to have access to network. Like I was disconnected from reality, from happenings around the world, no social media, internet. Then you have the issue of water. Like there was no access to clean water. We mostly buy the sachet water to drink. The water use by the community comes from a small hole on the ground and you will have to wait for the hole to full before you can fetch the water.
Then you have the issue of transportation. Imagine spending a quarter of your monthly allowance just on a single transportation. Our monthly allowance was 33k and you are spending 8 – 10k on a single transportation. That is not even the problem, the road is so bad. There are times you will have to cross the river to get to the other side especially during the raining season.
(We encountering a river on our way for biometric)
We have encounter a situation one day when we were going for our monthly biometric, our car almost roll-over a small cliff, we had to drop down and look for big stones around to make way for us to pass.
(Trying to make the road so that we can pass)
Then you also have the issue of language, it was a serious barrier because over 80% of the student and people in the community don’t understand English. Thank God for some of us who understand little of their local dialect (Hausa and Eggon language), at least we were able to communicate a little.
Despite all the challenges though, I get to enjoy my stay in the community. They are very hospitable, friendly and very respectful. This is where even elderly men who are old enough to be our fathers’ will bow to greet you. There are times I’m even ashamed to receive such honour of greetings from elderly men, like reverse should be the case. They are mountains around and since I love hiking, I use to go on a walk on those mountains.
(When I went for hiking)
I even had a mother there who took me as her own son. This is a woman that will never allow me get hungry or be in need. Like before I returned from school, she has prepared food and keep, she will ask her children to go and fetch water and fill every jar for me. Went I saw living, different people from the community brought stuffs like raw crops they harvested from the farm.
If I’m to narrate a detailed explanation of my NYSC experience, it will be like a project work. It was indeed a memorable experience. The question is if you were posted to such a community will you stay and serve there??