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| Photo Credit: listenmoneymatters.com |
It's the end of the service year, and i am still pursuing humanitarian service with saved cash, volunteered at a few NGOs, sought service opportunities with UNICEF as community development service was becoming a growing passion but guidance in this field wasn't readily available or better still i didn't know where to get it. Well after awhile, i got discouraged as i was already out of cash at this point, coupled with the pressures to return home, you know what i mean?
Nobody seems to understand what you're still doing in a "strange land" as it were after your service year. You are expected to come back home & seek job opportunities in familiar quarters.
Amidst all these pressures, I still stayed back. Luckily I got a job with an MTN mobile money franchise & then later moved on to work as a research assistant and data analyst to an Ophthalmic surgeon.
However, I couldn't do this for long because of failed health, and had to obediently return home. Of course, everyone was glad to have me back home and they diligently sent me to all the contacts and opportunities they thought they had but it was all to no avail.
Soon i gave up the job search & started partnership with one of mentors who is a fan of working from home and being your own boss. We've engaged in a lot of ventures till date & one of it was farming.
Agriculture is a very rich sector but with many challenges especially in developing countries like Nigeria. In an attempt to solve one of these major challenges which is farm produce wastage, Rayandmo Farms was birthed.
We are involved in the processing and preservation of fruits and vegetables, currently working at preserving Jute leaves because of its huge potentials.
We are also working at training women in the community to be able to process and preserve these fruits and vegetables in order for them to create a sustainable income for themselves and their family. More on Rayandmo Farms later.
Here is the idea, don't be a complainer, be a problem solver. Problems are Opportunities in disguise.
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| Photo Credit: ask.naija.org |
As residency is to doctors, so is the one year compulsory National Youth Service Corps for Nigerian
graduates, even doctors are mandated to undergo this national service as well.
Let me ask you,
Is this one year compulsory national service a Waste or an opportunity to really serve humanity?
Well, it depends on your perspective, but for me i would say it's an opportunity to do great exploits
and leave impact in the sand of time.
It's a time to reflect as young people and try to proffer solutions to the problems that surround us.
As a fresh graduate i didn't know so much of this perspective as well, however, my problem-solving attitude didn't allow me fold my hands in the face of challenge.
As a mathematics and basic technology teacher at a secondary in Opatu village, Udi Local goverment of Enugu State, Nigeria, i discovered a special student, who at Senior Secondary school year two, could not even write the English language alphabets correctly.
I was marveled and decided to take up the case to see how the boy can be helped, while probing, my discovery shocked me.
The boy was mentally retarded and was allowed to move along his peers to whatever class they were. The school was magnanimous enough to wave his school fees and also provide his uniform but for me it was a wasted investment as the boy does not belong in that circle.
With the help of another teacher who was an indigene of that village, we secured a permission from the school to take the boy to the psychiatric hospital for treatment where we discovered it was a case of insufficient oxygen at birth. The rehabilitation process commenced and we also engage the service of the Human Affairs Commission to ensure his enrollment in a special school where he could learn skills to make his life worthwhile.
Along the line i also discovered they were homeless, his father was dead, his mother was traumatized
and so they were stigmatized as a mad family.
I engaged the community leaders and invited team ideas to design and cost evaluation of a
self-contained apartment for them. This project couldn't be completed before the end of my service year, so i had to stay back to ensure his enrollment in the special school.
I didn't get an award or recommendation for this service because i didn't document or report it to
the appropriates quarters as this was not my motive but i would encourage you to always document your works for future references, i have started doing so too.
As a corps member make your service year worth it by impacting lives and you can also join me in engaging young people in community services, problem solving and in building sustainable businesses.
See what these guys did with their NYSC:
https://techpoint.ng/2017/09/18/seamfix-founders-nsukka-honey-story/
I believe travelling is a good form of Education, Exposure and Networking. I Look forward to opportunities of travelling the world and sharing my experiences.
At that time, i didn't know there was a school like Harvard where great ideas were birthed, i would have stolen to make it there. Lol!
Ironically, great ideas spring from great minds irrespective of their location.
Finally, i got into college, not for medicine sorry to disappoint you.....
Well i qualified for the entrance exams into college of medicine but my name was never released, after endless waiting, i proceeded to study Computer Science which was my second interest.
After settling down in college, i quickly noticed insufficient hostel accommodation for students
and i see that, as a problem, as well as an opportunity.
I took up the challenge to attempt to solve this problem in my own little way by securing off-campus accommodations for students. The experience was both exciting and challenging, i stuck with it for awhile anyway.
Attending classes wasn't just enough for me, there was always this desire for more, i bet some people are in my shoes. I soon found a cafe where i offered my services for free, i later found out it is called volunteering, these days, there are a lot of noble courses you could volunteer your free time to even before college.
Then, i found a small cake business off -campus and i decided to promote them to the campus stores. At first, i made no progress here at all but i kept encouraging this business in my own little way such that the business ownership was transferred to me when the initial owner had to relocate. So, i took over the business and it customers, acquired more customers and ran the business until my health started failing towards my last days in school.
I wished i knew the things, i now know, then, or wished someone was there to help me channel my energy properly, i know i would have made better impact and progress.
Do you feel this way, too?
Well, this is not a call for a pity party but a call to help those currently in this situation.
Let's help them channel their energy in a more productive way, that way we can reduce crime and build sustainable businesses.
If you agree, contact me. Let's see how we can impact our communities.
Maybe, you are not like me, who stayed 4 years at home before going to the university, all because
i wanted be a medical doctor and nothing more.
I even refused a free admission into Nursing school, huh! How dogged teenagers can be.
Fortunately for me, the waiting years were not a waste. I remembered vividly, studying for my
matriculation exams that particular year, my eldest brother said to me "there's a boy whose
uncle is willing he learns to read and write and i know you can help him, would you want try?"
Afer considering for awhile, i decided to meet the boy and his uncle and i took up the job as his
private tutor.
Honestly, it wasn't an easy task as i had to start basically from two letter words. It was difficult
but in a short while he started reading and writing that his class teacher noticed it and had to find
out what brought about the miracle.
He interrogated the boy until he traced it to me.
Ironically, he was my neighbor and had to talk to me to confirm the boy's story.
He introduced me to a family i taught their first and second kids who currently are proud college students in Vancouver Canada.
And that was the beginning of my journey as a private tutor till i eventually went to college at 21 years.
I think i am qualified to start a private tutors' training, What do you say?
Have tutors to train? Let's work together.
Want a trained private tutor, we are the go-to guys.
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| Photo Credit: Google |
Yes, i didn't continue as a peer educator but guess what?
Another political agenda!
Polio Vaccination and i was invited, trained and worked with experts
vaccinating children in the neighorhood.
Unlike my first job, i did this for awhile until i graduated out of high school.
And you think i don't have enough job experience to land me a good job after high school?
You must be kidding me. Stop despising your days little beginning, it might just be the Difference you needed.
You don't think so? You are Not Alone
I didn't know so too until my hair is almost turning
grey. lol!
Your Experiences, whether good or bad are vital part of your life!
We can help your package your experiences,
In a way that makes ALL Difference.
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| Photo Credit: Google |
Apart from selling for my petty trader mum, who happens to be my first inspiration and mentor in life. Allow me brag a bit about her. My mum is very industrious and there's no impossibilities in her dictionary, "once your mind can conceive it, your hands can achieve it" is her attitude to life.
Before i digressed a little, i was going to say been a peer educator was my first job ever. I was a teenager in my my first year in the senior secondary school and i was chosen by the political party in my neighborhood to attend a Peer Education Training. I was very excited and eagerly waited for the first day in class.
It turns out to be a very interesting but crashed program, as i had to be there all day for a week.I learnt about the reproductive system,teenage pregnancy and its stigmas, Contraceptives, STDs etc.
As a curious kid that i was, i looked for one of the books mentioned (Every Woman by Derek Llewellyn-Jones) just to learn more. Unfortunately, my experience was short-lived.
I shared with my friends at school and in the neighborhood the things i learnt though it lasted only for a short period as there were no follow-up or encouragement whatsoever since it was just a political agenda.
I wished the experience lasted longer. However, life happened to me, i grew up and almost forgot everything about it, until recently reminded by an experience. One could have only imagined the extent of one's impact in life.
Well, Is NOT too late. I look forward to kick starting this noble course again, impacting teenagers, who would in turn impact their peers.
Anyone in my shoes?
You are not alone, share your experience today, start something. It's NOT too late to start impacting.
Oh! i forgot to mention, we were paid a stipend enough to cover transportation and were fed
during the training.
These Are The Projects I am Working On:
Ebooks
- Starting a peer education training
- Kickstarting my ideas
Research Works
Peer Education, What About It?
Interested in my projects and would like to be notified when ready. Comment and Drop us your email.
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