The Beginning

Hello Everyone! 

Thanks for stopping by on the blog today; I hope you enjoy your time here today. See previous posts titled "Camp Chronicles", if you haven't done so already.

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The last day of camp was stressful. We woke up around 4:00 am to turn in our mattresses and to complete other tasks. I hardly got any sleep the night before and I wasn't feeling too good. During one of our "lectures" the day before, it started to rain. As the rain began to fall, we all began to make a dash for our rooms; but the camp commander stopped us dead in our tracks; she threatened consequences if we moved another inch. She reminded us of the NYSC anthem that we sang every morning:

Youths obey the clarion call

Let us lift our nation high

Under the sun or in the rain

With dedication and selflessness

Nigeria is ours, Nigeria we serve.

Members, take the great salute

Put the Nation first in all

With service and humility

NYSC for the noble youths

Make Nigeria a great nation.

Far and near we come to serve

And to build our fatherland

With oneness and loyalty

NYSC for unity

Hail Nigeria, our great nation.

She put emphasis on the 'rain' part, as she took cover under an umbrella. To say that I was upset was an understatement. When she finished her insignificant speech, she dismissed us. By that time I was drenched. I arrived in my room to see many of my roommates chilling; one of my friends asked why I bothered going. 

Shortly after I arrived in my room, my once peaceful room quickly turned into a war zone. One of my roommate’s cell phones mysteriously disappeared while she took her bath outside. Everyone was stunned; we were in the “good room”. And we managed to make it to the end of camp without any drama, unlike other rooms. Our room leader called a meeting and encouraged the person that took the phone to return it; but no one budged and there was tension in the room.

The owner of the phone had a suspect, she was sure it was her bunk mate (she slept at the top of the bunk bed and the other lady slept on the bottom bunk). She stated that they had been bumping heads since the first day of camp. Her bunk mate lost her phone a few days prior and had been accusing her of stealing it. We all went to sleep on pins and needles that night; it was a horrible way to end our time at camp. I also spent most of the night sneezing and coughing. 

The next morning, an official report was made about the stolen phone. Security officials arrived at our room bright and early the next morning and started searching people randomly. We couldn't leave the room until the phone was found. Tempers were flying, and people were yelling back and forth; pleading with the theft to turn herself in. We knew that It was definitely someone in the room because it was left on her bed. 

After a few minutes of random searches there was till no phone. So the security officials had to take her bunk mates and the closest people to her bed to their station. After arriving at the station, the bunk mate (the original suspect) admitted that she stole the phone. Everyone was livid, first of all she wasted everyone's time, secondly everyone's mood was messed up and lastly she was an older woman (she looked like she was in her late 30s). We were all disappointed and ready to go.

We then proceeded to the field for the closing ceremony. We had to wait for the governor to arrive before commencing the ceremony. We waited hours on end; doing absolutely nothing (it was during this time that I went to have lunch with Mr. Stalker). Only for the governor to send a representative. The rest of the ceremony was rushed; don't ask me because I can't recall what happened. 

Next up was our posting letters, these letters informed us about which town or city we'd be serving in and where we'd be working (place of primary assignment). It took forever and a day to receive our letters, of course there was no organized method for distribution. When I finally got my letter, I almost cried. I read "Ile Ife" and thought where is that? My place of primary assignment was "Obafemi Awolowo University", I had never heard of either place before.

As soon as we received our letters, there were numerous buses waiting to take us to wherever we were posted to. Everything happened so fast, people were rushing to get seats. I frantically looked for my friends but everyone was scattered. The few that I found were posted to different places, I was crushed. I automatically felt lonely. 

I ran into Mr. Camp Official and he asked where I was posted. With fear in my eyes and anxiety laced in my words I told him. He and His friend (who was nearby) and exclaimed "That's good nau!" Mr. Camp Official proceeded to say, "I'm the one that worked it for you. Ife is a good place, you'll enjoy it." I didn't believe him, nonetheless I said thank you and gave him the rest of my food items...it was too much for me to carry around. 

I had to choose out of a plethora of buses, I finally settled on one. I sat on the bus feeling terrible, my nose was stuff and my chest was congested. As we drove to Ile Ife, I was overwhelmed with sadness. The road to Ile Ife was not pretty, it was rough and muddy. Originally I had hopes of being posted to Osogbo (the capital of Osun State); I heard that it was much better. I was told that it was more developed and had good electricity. I was looking forward to it.

When we arrived in Ile Ife, we were taken to the local NYSC office. By this time I was exhausted and hungry. We were given a packaged meal and a drink. There were a number of speeches; I paid attention to none of them. But I remember a portion of one of the NYSC official's speech. He told us that Ile Ife was a great place. He also mentioned that we should not be concerned about the amount of jazz (voodoo/witchcraft) that is said to take place there. He said that he's been living there for a while and there was nothing to worry about. After hearing that, I tuned out completely. Was the information supposed to make me feel better? Well it didn't.

During one of the speeches, a beautiful tall lady walked in. She sat next to me and after a few minutes, she said "Hello, do you have anywhere to stay tonight?" I just looked and nodded my head; I did not want to be bothered. She handed me a flyer, and said that her church would place me with someone until I found my own place. I took the flyer without responding. I thought to myself, "She just wants me to join her church." I wasn't interested but my options were slim.

My other options were to get a hotel room or stay at the family house of one of the Christian organizations. I didn't know my way around; neither did I want to spend any money so a hotel room was out of the question. I was over staying in a room filled with a bunch of people, so the family house was a no. After the numerous speeches, we were dismissed. As I walked out of the office, I prayed secretly "Father please lead me to where you want me to be." 

I walked to the bus that brought me from camp to Ile Ife to get my belongings when the beautiful tall young lady appeared again. She said, "You're coming with us right?" Before I responded, I heard another young lady call my name. "Bunmi! Come with us, it's my church." She turned to Ms. Tall and Beautiful and said. "She was in my room at camp." The funny thing is that I do not remember seeing her in my room. I decide to follow them.

And that's how it all began...stay tuned!!!


You're blessed!


- Bunmi


Wait before you go:



1. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, life won't make any sense, it will be cold and empty. You deserve more! Take a few minutes and click on the 'Come to Jesus' tab at the top of the page and be saved!


2. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!


3. You can subscribe to this blog and receive email updates once a new post is published by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email' section located on the right of this post.

4. You can share this post or previous posts by clicking on the respective social media icon on the right.

5. Follow me on twitter @BunmiAdebiyi_


6. Like my page on facebook: Bunmi Adebiyi

7. Follow me on Instagram: destinationdestiny_mlmt

Camp Chronicles IV

Hello All!

If this is your first time here, I'm glad to have you. Enjoy your time here and do come back! 

If it's not your first time, welcome back! Thanks for the support!

I hope you all have been enjoying the Camp Chronicles series? So many things happened, it is hard to summarize it all but I have given you the highlights. This is the last installment of the series, enjoy!!!

*******

During camp, I got a lot of attention. Once some people saw me, heard me speak and/or discovered that I was “foreign trained”; they wanted to be my friend. To top it off, once they discovered that I was an American citizen; born and raised...I became a superstar. Of course, I did not allow all of it to get to my head. I was there to learn and experience new things, I never considered myself to be better than anyone. I was open and friendly, I wanted to make the best of the situation. Naturally, I shy away from attention. 

My blue passport status attracted a lot of admirers. Members of the opposite sex were going bonkers; some thought that I'd be their gateway to greener pastures. From camp officials to fellow corpers, it was annoying to say the least. I remember telling one of the camp officials that I was not interested in dating him. I told him that I was in a relationship. But that didn't dissuade him one bit. He replied, "That guy is not serious about you; if he was he would have married you by now." I smiled, he pulled the "marriage" card on me, but I gladly declined! He continued, "I'll take good care of you, I am a prince." I laughed, thinking to myself...Everybody in Nigeria is royalty.

He was very persistent, he asked my friends to plead on his behalf. One of them started feeling sorry for him and told me to give him a chance. I looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language. For some reason, people didn't seem to value relationships. In my head, my then boyfriend was my husband to be; I couldn't be bothered. Mr. Camp Official persisted until the very end, I was not amused. Although his persistence came with goodies...free food and drinks...my friends enjoyed them but I wasn't moved, my foot remained down. Even after camp, his phone calls continued until he got the point. 

Next up was a fellow corper; he was an up and coming musician. He was a nice guy but he was a bit "out there". He did not hesitate to tell me how much he liked me. He claimed that his family had a bit of money and that he was different from the others. His parents were from Ghana but he was raised in Nigeria. We would hang out from time to time; meet up at the mami market to gist or plan to meet up during the extremely long and boring lectures. Even though he liked me and was not afraid to say it often, he respected the boundaries that I put in place.

After a while, people started talking. They thought that we had "something" going on. It was annoying, but expected when dealing with random people. At camp, we were all placed in groups called platoons. When we did certain activities or had competitions, we all stayed within that platoon. So for most of the day, you were with your platoon members. Only my friend that introduced me to the egusi spot was in my platoon. Mr. Ghana (from above) was also in my platoon, so he'd usually find his way to me during the course of the day. I liked him as a person, but I was firm. I had a man and I valued our relationship, I refused to believe in love at 1-3 weeks!

Next up was pretty much a stalker, he did not understand the word NO. He was also in my platoon but I refused to give him the time of day. He was creepy. I can't remember how or why I gave him my number; he must have appeared normal that day. He'd watch me throughout the day and not say a word to me. And then he’d send multiple text messages to me later, professing his love for me and requesting for alone time with me. One thing that I discovered during my time in Nigeria is the words "I Love You" were abused. I couldn't understand how anyone could use those words so easily, I was taught to use those words with caution and after some time. 

I really wasn't feeling his secret agent behavior, he came on too strong. I avoided Mr. Stalker at ALL cost. We never had much of a conversation, but he claimed to love me so much that he'd think about me all day and dream about me all night. On the very last day of camp, he begged me for hours on end to have lunch with him. For some weird reason, I agreed. He was ecstatic, he kept saying "I am so happy, I can't believe that you agreed to have lunch with me after all this while." In my head, I was thinking, "I can't believe it either". Of course having lunch with Mr. Stalker was a BAD idea!!! It added fuel to the fire. I was shocked when he said that he had been in a relationship for about three years and that he loved her. After that day, my phone became his hotline.

He'd send repeated text messages and call repeatedly. One time he called about 13 times back to back. One day, I was afraid for my life when after he called a few times and I ignored him as usual, he sent a text saying that he just saw me leaving out of the bank. What baffled me was that we were not posted to the same city, how did he find me??? I played cool and tried to delay going home for the fear of being followed. Thankfully, I managed to make it home safely. The calling and texting went on for months, it was annoyingly scary but he gave up eventually.

Next up was my platoon leader, also an NYSC official. I'll call him Mr. Sneaky. There were many people in the platoon, some people automatically drifted towards him. We also had to elect officials (platoon reps) so they were also close to him. I kept my distance and minded my business; I wasn't interested in any leadership role. Towards the middle of camp, we had a variety show night. It was a time where each platoon would compete in various categories, such as dancing; it was also a time for people to showcase their talents. 

One day one of the platoon officials approached me. He asked if I could represent the platoon during the variety night as the contestant for the Big, Bold, & Beautiful competition. First of all, I was a bit offended; the ladies that usually competed were overweight. Now I have absolutely nothing against anyone being overweight but I didn't think I was. One thing that I learned early during my stay in Nigeria was that you were either skinny or overweight AKA "orobo", there was no in between. People never hesitated to remind me that I was not skinny, it was annoying but I got used to it eventually. In my eyes, I was "thick". I went on to lose a lot of weight during my service year...it got so bad that my friends and family started to worry. It was a result of the hot sun and the limited amount of unhealthy processed food options.

Anyways, I digress. I kindly declined the offer to contest for the Big, Bold, and Beautiful title. I was never in to that kind of thing...the spotlight, all attention on me....no thanks! Later on Mr. Sneaky approached me, we exchanged greetings. He went on to tell me that he knew me very well, he told me my entire name without flinching. I stood before him dumbfounded; I'd never spoken to him prior to that. Of course he had access to my file since he was the leader of my platoon, but I never thought that he'd notice me out of so many others. He asked me why I didn't want to compete and I explained why, he tried to encourage me by saying he believed that I'd win. I politely turned down the offer. 

After that day, he would go out his way to have conversations with me. For some reason, I never felt comfortable around him. I couldn't explain it but every time he came around me, I wanted to run away. Besides that, he stared intensely...he'd look directly into your eyeballs, you'd think that he could see into your soul. Also there were specific girls that he always had around him; I wasn't feeling that because he was a married man.

One faithful day, he managed to find himself around me as I watched a soccer match between my platoon and another. "Here we go again, I thought to myself", we exchanged small talk and before I knew it, he invited me to have dinner with him. He didn't give me an option of saying no; I reluctantly met up with him at the mami market later that day. He ordered a bowl of pepper soup for me and a few bottles of beer for himself. I was extremely uncomfortable; the place where we sat was dimly lit, and as time went by it became dark.

With each minute that passed by I noticed that he became more relaxed and opened as he sipped his drink. He kept talking and talking and talking, as I sat there wishing that I could magically disappear. He talked about his wife, he talked about her being pregnant and wanting to have their baby in Canada. He talked about camp being a time of fun for everyone; he explained that on a normal day he probably wouldn't have the opportunity to hang out with me. He stated that everyone (NYSC officials and soldiers) enjoyed the camp experience because it gave them the opportunity to use their "power" to their advantage. I could barely eat, he kept encouraging me to eat and specifically asked that I ate the meat with my hands...I guess he found that attractive. 

After a while, I couldn't take it anymore. I felt like as fellow corpers passed the tent, they saw me and were judging me (even though no one could see me). There was a solider and another female corper at our table he was pretty much drunk and he was smoking a cigarette at the same time. I felt terribly wrong; I had no business being with this man at this time of the night. As the rain poured heavily, I planned my escape in my head. After a while, I mustered up some courage and politely told him that I had to go. He seemed shocked; I guess he thought that I'd be spending the night with him as other girls did. Before he could think twice, I gather my belongings and ran all the way to my room as I got drenched in the rain. 

After that he got the point, he never asked me to join him for dinner again. We'd just say our "hi(s) and bye(s)". He promised that he would ensure that I got posted to the state's capital; he said that I'd love it. It was where he lived also; he said that I'd have a great time there because it was more developed than other parts of the state. Well God had other plans, because that didn't happen! I saw him a few months later at the NYSC head office; I was surprised when he could barely look at me. What happened to Mr. Stare Down???

The End!

I hope you enjoyed the Camp Chronicles' series, thank you so much for reading.

Be sure to come back, the next part of my testimony is divine. You don't want to miss it!


You're blessed!


- Bunmi


Wait before you go:



1. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, life won't make any sense, it will be cold and empty. You deserve more! Take a few minutes and click on the 'Come to Jesus' tab at the top of the page and be saved!


2. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!


3. You can subscribe to this blog and receive email updates once a new post is published by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email' section located on the right of this post.

4. You can share this post or previous posts by clicking on the respective social media icon on the right.

5. Follow me on twitter @BunmiAdebiyi_


6. Like my page on facebook: Bunmi Adebiyi


7. Follow me on Instagram: destinationdestiny_mlmt

Camp Chronicles III

Hello Everyone!

It's one of the most wonderful times of the year! Christmas is around the corner and the New Year is almost here! There so much expectation and excitement in the air. It's one of my favorite seasons, a time to reflect on the past year and a time to prepare for the upcoming year.

For some people, it's not such a great time. Some people may have experienced some type of loss during this time and feelings of sadness or depression may be overwhelming. If you're one of such people, I pray that the Lord will comfort you and grant you unshakeable peace. Be encouraged, you're still here! There's s purpose for your life!

I hope that you all have been enjoying the Camp Chronicles series, if you missed the previous two posts, please click here: Camp Chronicles I & Camp Chronicles II.

I'd like to appreciate all those that have been giving me positive feedback on the blog, I am humbled. Thanks for reading, God bless you all!

****

Now unto Camp Chronicles III...

One pill that I found very hard to swallow during my time at camp was how people "fell madly in love" with one another in the space of three weeks. My cousin hinted me to this phenomenon prior to my leaving for camp, she explained to me that some ladies had "camp boyfriends" that looked out for them during camp. I really didn't grasp the extent of these "camp relationships" until I saw things for myself.

I was amazed to see how people were so loose and easy. Remember my friend that introduced me to the egusi and eba place from the last post? Unfortunately for her, she was in one of the two horrible rooms at camp. There were a total of three or four rooms for all girls, with about 40 girls each. I happened to be in the best room. The other rooms were notorious for theft, unruly girls, etc. Back to my friend, one day during the first week of camp she went to take a shower and by the time she came back all her money was gone. Surprisingly no one had any idea where her money mysteriously walked to.

A few days later, she met a guy. They became close in no time and he became her camp boyfriend. Mind you, she had an actual boyfriend back at home. One day she started bragging about him, she went on and on about how he was so nice and how he took care of her. She exclaimed "Bunmi, the other day this guy spent 900 naira on me alone".  At first, I was puzzled and I didn't know how to respond. I kept quiet and allowed her to continue, but I couldn't get over how she glorified him because he spent 900 naira (at that time it was about $5.63) on her at the mami market.

And then I began to hear crazy stories. The first one was about a married woman who was caught having sexual intercourse with a guy that she met at camp during the first week. They were "doing it" in a gutter (click on link to see picture of a gutter)...sigh. Where do I start? First of all, she was married...where is her respect for the sanctity of marriage? Couldn't see wait until the end of three weeks to be intimate with her husband?!?! I didn't understand it; I wished I met her maybe she'd be able to explain. They were both expelled from camp. I wonder what she told her husband!

And then I heard numerous stories of how people were having sex on the field. The field was an open sports field, it was where we had our morning devotion at 5 am, where we were taught "martial arts" and other military activities such as marching...oh the memories...."left left, left right left". So these young men and women must have been nature lovers, because I cannot understand how they could rumble and tumble at such a place.

I also heard about people getting drunk at the mami market, I don't think that it was a good idea to sell alcohol there but I digress. Every evening, young men would splurge on young ladies. Buy them food, get them drinks, etc. The young ladies would reward them for their generosity in the bushes behind the market...hmmm...another strange place, I guess those ones loved adventure.

Then they were the ladies who slept with the soldiers and camp officials. I guess they were doing it to enjoy the "perks" of being the oga's (boss') girl. I mean if you're sleeping with the soldier, you would probably get excused from early morning devotion when the soldiers came to chase the others out. You also didn't have to obey the evening curfew. I'm really not sure of the other perks, but they definitely did not appeal to me. I was told that some ladies slept with camp officials so that they could be posted at good companies after camp. Well, I'm not sure how true that was....on the last day of camp I saw a girl in the office crying her eyes out and all her camp sugar daddy could say was "sorry".

People were really acting up, hormones were raging. It seems like some people came with a target to be wild. Many people explained to me how excited they were and how they have been waiting for this moment for so long. Little did I know the source of some of their excitement.

Now, don't get me wrong, everyone at camp was NOT loose and easy. There was just a significant amount of people that were "free".

To be continued...



You're blessed!


- Bunmi


Wait before you go:



1. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, life won't make any sense, it will be cold and empty. You deserve more! Take a few minutes and click on the 'Come to Jesus' tab at the top of the page and be saved!


2. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!


3. You can subscribe to this blog and receive email updates once a new post is published by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email' section located on the right of this post.

4. You can share this post or previous posts by clicking on the respective social media icon on the right.

5. Follow me on twitter @BunmiAdebiyi_



6. Like my page on facebook: Bunmi Adebiyi

Camp Chronicles II

Hello Everyone!

Thanks for visiting the blog today, you are appreciated!!!

Today I continue the Camp Chronicles series, in which I discuss my time during NYSC camp. Enjoy!

**** Anyone that knows me well, knows that I love good food! I am a self proclaimed *foodie* and I am not ashamed of it!

So how did this foodie survive at camp??? Sigh...it sure was not easy. With the conditions of the camp, food was the least my worries. I ate to survive not to enjoy...I guess that's how it is suppose to be right? Hmm...if you say so! Well I believe that life is meant to enjoy and one way to enjoy is by eating well, can I get an AMEN!!! lol...I digress.

I thank God that my aunt and cousin told me to pack milo (hot chocolate), garri, cereal, powdered milk and a few other snacks...they were my saving grace. The food that was served at the camp's kitchen was tasteless, watered down, hard, non-filling and any other word that you can use to describe horrible food. I felt like I was serving a prison sentence.

Thank God for the mami market. It was designated at the far end of the camp area. The mami market was your one stop shop for everything from socks, snacks, notebooks, to a new hair style, to tailoring services...name it and it was there available at the mami market, for a fee of course. 

One of the things that brought me to the mami market daily was food! It was the go to spot for hot freshly cooked meals. Pepper soup (a spicy broth served with either fish or meat) was available for the rainy nights, jollof rice and meat if you were feeling festive, Ogi and akara to jump start your morning, chicken and chips (French fries) for those that were feeling tush (fancy) and the list goes on.

I was introduced to an interesting combination at the mami market. It instantly became one my favorites when they jollof rice was not smiling and everything screamed BORING! I met indomie (ramen noodles) and fried egg! *Licking lips* Add sauteed tomatoes, onions, and peppers and I was good. When I was first told about the combination, I politely declined. God bless whomever invented that divine creation. Many vendors made this combination but I  had my favorite "auntie" that knew how to make my tummy smile, she knew the way I liked it!

I was later introduced to some amazing Egusi soup by a friend that I met at camp. Her camp boyfriend took her to one of the vendors at the mami market from time to eat egusi soup. She raved about how good it was over and over again. She invited me to join them on one of their dates, when I heard that it was free I did think twice! He who does not like free food, shall cast the first stone! Thank you! Don't judge me! Lol. While growing up, my mom only made egusi on a few occasions, so I was never a huge fan of it even though I liked it. When the egusi arrived coupled with a huge mountain of eba, I wonder how anyone could ever conquer that mountain. Like who possibly eats this much eba? 

I sat back at first to observe how everyone (about three other people joined us) would begin the journey. I watched as everyone washed their hands in a wooden bowl filled with water. Me being me wanted to ask for a fork, but I didn't want to look out of place. My American accent already had all eyes on me, so I had to play along. I didn't want to become someone's experiment for the night.

I looked at my friend as scooped a pile from the mountain of eba, and rolled it in the palm of her hands a few times until it became smooth ball. I looked around and the others followed suite. I repeated the action but with less expertise. Some people talk about love at first sight...this was love at first bite. The egusi and eba was savory and hot, just the way I like! I secretly wished that I could wrap it up and take to my room and devour it with no eyes on me. But I kept my cool, everyone was silent as our taste buds sang a new song unto the Lord. That's the kind of meal that will have you singing "For the Lord is good, for the Lord is good and his mercies endureth forever!". 

As the eba and egusi entered into my mouth continually, I secretly whispered, "Where have you been all my life?". Yes it was that serious! With the limited choices of good food that I was exposed prior, I was overjoyed. At that moment of time, I secretly approved of my friend's camp relationship...it was a blessing in disguise for me...lol. Before I knew it, I had conquered that mountain! I looked at my bowl that once filled with a surplus of eba and was shocked, where did it go??? My tummy hissed and mocked me "See yourself!" I ignored it and left an insignificant amount in the bowl so that I wouldn't mess up my "American ajebutta creditably". I ate my two pieces of meat and silently said a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord.

Needless to say eba and egusi was added to my list of favorite eats during my stay at camp. On most mornings, I surprisingly found myself on a line (queue) for Ogi (my mom used to force me to eat it as a child) and akara, I tried a few other things like the chicken and chips but I was team indomie and egg or team egusi and eba on most days for lunch or dinner. Once in a blue, the kitchen served something eatable so I didn't have spend money at the mami market. On other days, I'd just stick to my stash of garri, cereal, snacks, etc and call it day. 

I sincerely apologize if I have made anyone hungry! I hope you weren't fasting while reading this o! My sincere apologies...lol.

Once again thanks for reading! Love you all sooooooo much!!!

You're blessed!


- Bunmi


Wait before you go:



1. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, life won't make any sense, it will be cold and empty. You deserve more! Take a few minutes and click on the 'Come to Jesus' tab at the top of the page and be saved!


2. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!


3. You can subscribe to this blog and receive email updates once a new post is published by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email' section located on the right of this post.

4. You can share this post or previous posts by clicking on the respective social media icon on the right.

5. Follow me on twitter @BunmiAdebiyi_


6. Like my page on facebook: Bunmi Adebiyi

Camp Chronicles I

Camp was an experience...to say the least

I wish I wrote down my daily happenings while there, but unfortunately I did not.

My time in camp was bitter sweet. I am glad that I made it to the end; even though I wanted to pack my huge bag and RUN a number of times. I believe that my time in camp prepared me for my stay in Nigeria, it toughened me up. After completing a master's in public health program, the unhygienic conditions of the camp rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn't believe that I had to live the way I did for three whole weeks. 

First of all, I shared a small room with about 40 girls. There was no such thing as "personal space", everyone was all up in each other's faces. We were given old used up mattresses, only God knows how many other people have slept and did whatever else on those things. Thankfully I brought my own bed sheets. Also the area was mosquito infested, lucky for me I was warned by my cousin and aunt. I came armed with anti malaria pills, OFF (mosquito repellent spray) and a mosquito net. My bunk bed neighbor helped me with setting up the mosquito net, I felt like I was in isolation when I slept in it...but I'd take that over getting bitten any day!

The "so-called" bathrooms were horrendous, I can not begin to describe how flighty they were. Everyone resulted to taking showers outside, yes you read correctly. We took baths with freezing cold water outside under the "stars". Yet some so called "cleaners" came to our rooms and bulled us the first week of camp, they claimed that they would keep the bathroom clean for a fee or we'd have to clean it ourselves. Of course no one wanted the responsibility of cleaning the disgusting bathrooms, so we were left with no choice but to pay the fee. However, the services were never rendered.

There was no running water, we had to wait on extremely long lines daily to fetch water from a tap and when the water ran out, we resulted to getting water from a well. Imagine my culture shock, I never had to fetch water a day in my life... thankfully my camp squad had my back. They held me down, they helped during my culture shock moments. Sometimes I would get back to my room and find my bucket already filled with water. 

Another issue that I encountered was having to wash my clothes by hand. Never in my life did I have to do so, unless it was underwear. So imagine the shock when my friend asked when I'd wash my clothes. I looked at her like she was speaking a foreign language. My aunt made me pack laundry detergent but it never occurred to me that I'd have to wash my clothes without the aid of a washing machine (what was I thinking!). We had to wear white everyday, so of course our clothes had to be washed regularly. I decided to suck it up and give it a try, I saw many other girls wash their clothes with their hands with ease.

Attempt number 1, 2, and 3 FAILED! I couldn't do it! How did they manage to get the stains out so easily? Heaven heard my cry when a woman entered our room one day and offered to wash our clothes for us for a small fee. I was a bit hesitant at first so I waited until some of my roommates completed a few transactions with her. Once I saw that she was trustworthy, I gladly gave her my clothes to wash regularly. I was a happy camper! And probably one of her top customers! 

Due to the conditions of the camp, having to "do #2" or poop never crossed my mind, until the day my bunk bed neighbor told me that she had to GO! I thought about the conditions of the bathroom/toilet area and asked her how she was going to go about it. She replied, "I will do short put nau". She was shocked when I looked at her clueless, when she explained was she was referring to I almost fainted. 

She told me that short put was the process of pooping in a plastic bag, tying it up after you were done and throwing it into the bushes (I'm sorry...hope you weren't eating or anything while reading this...oops). My body went into shock after hearing her explanation, I couldn't poop for the first two weeks. I wasn't constipated or anything, my mind just shut it out. Imagine how I felt after my two week hiatus...yes I "short-putted" a few times during camp... I had no choice...sigh...hey when nature calls you must answer!

To be continued...




You're blessed!


- Bunmi


Wait before you go:



1. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, life won't make any sense, it will be cold and empty. You deserve more! Take a few minutes and click on the 'Come to Jesus' tab at the top of the page and be saved!


2. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!


3. You can subscribe to this blog and receive email updates once a new post is published by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email' section located on the right of this post.

4. You can share this post or previous posts by clicking on the respective social media icon on the right.

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6. Like my page on facebook: Bunmi Adebiyi

Camp Day One!

Hello everyone!

To my new readers, welcome! To those of you that have come to this blog time and time again, I appreciate you!

As promised, I will be continuing my personal testimony. If you have missed the previous posts, click on the 'Destiny Steps' tab at the top of this page.

*****

As I walked through the gates, I was bombarded with photographers asking if I needed to take a "passport"...I later discovered that they were referring to passport photographs. I eventually discovered that I need some for registration so I pick one out of the masses. I'm sure the man was wondering if all was well with me, I couldn't smile to save my life. I glared through his lens with the ugliest frown pasted on my face as he clicked away. At the end of it all, I don't think he cared...all he needed was my money.

People were standing everywhere, talking and laughing away. I was ready to flee, if only I could run away and end up in Lagos in 2.2 seconds. I managed to proceed to the registration table with my huge bag that did not have wheels. I had food items for days, you'd think I was going to be away for 3 months. I had a big bag of garri (a Nigerian staple), cereal, a big tin of milk (powered milk) and a big tin of milo (hot chocolate). I stuck out like a sore thumb.

I approached the registration desk and was attended to by unsmiling  NYSC officials. There was no "Hello, how are you doing?" or "Welcome to camp, we hope that you'll enjoy your stay!" Who was I kidding? They proceeded to ask for my ID, call up letter, and my bachelor's degree. After transferring the documents into their hands, I got a rude awakening. "Why are you giving me a photocopy of your certificate (degree)?" Where is the original? I was puzzled, who carries around their degree? I kindly explained to them that I was an international student and my degree was in America.

All hell broke loose! They didn't like the sound of that! "How can you come to camp and not bring your original certificate?" *hisses teeth* "Please go and sit down, we can't register you." Before I could pick my jaw off the fall, they called the next person. I dragged my feet and huge bag to a sit close by. I sat there helplessly, in no time the tears began to flow. My mom called to check on me and I could not stop crying. She tried to calm me down and encouraged me to plead with them. 

They didn't bother looking my way. Another NYSC official came to me, he asked if I was okay. He saw my tear stained face. I explained to him what happened and began to cry again. He told me to stop crying, he said that I would be attended to eventually. Little that I know that he would become one of my top camp admirers...story for another day.

I was exhausted, I just wanted to relax. I eventually went to check into my "room" (more like a room that I shared with 40-something other girls) and pick out a mattress. I walked into the room that I was assigned to, all I saw was a bunch of bunk beds and different ladies settling in. I picked the first bed that I saw as soon as I walked in. Before I knew it, about 3 girls rushed towards me. They introduced themselves and asked a numbered of questions. As I answered them, I felt better. They went on to be apart of my camp "squad".

I eventually went back to the registration table, my roommates encouraged me to go and pick out my uniform and jungle boots...as they're called. In most cases, the uniform and boots wouldn't be your size. As I approached the registration table, one of the unsmiling ladies that attended to me earlier called out for me. This time around to my surprise, she actually had a smile on her face. "Where have you been? I've been looking for you." "I went to choose my bed and room ma." "Look at you! You didn't even register yet and you've picked your room."

Her smile grew larger as she accepted the documents she initially rejected. I was taken aback by her sudden change of heart. After a few minutes, I was officially registered! I got a registration number and proceeded to pick out my uniform and boots. By the time I got there, the sizes of everything available was double my size. I sighed and took what was available. Off I went to my room...every and anything that happened after that was a blur.

Day 1 DONE!

To be continued....


You're blessed!


- Bunmi


Wait before you go:



1. If you have not received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, life won't make any sense, it will be cold and empty. You deserve more! Take a few minutes and click on the 'Come to Jesus' tab at the top of the page and be saved!


2. Please leave a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!


3. You can subscribe to this blog and receive email updates once a new post is published by entering your email address in the 'Follow by email' section located on the right of this post.

4. You can share this post or previous posts by clicking on the respective social media icon on the right.

5. Follow me on twitter @BunmiAdebiyi_


6. Like my page on facebook: Bunmi Adebiyi