Welcome to the NYSC!

A telephone booth!

I've already been in Abuja for almost a week!

Moved into my new flat with a VSO staff member and Ogadi's help yesterday and then went to the market to buy some household necessities with another volunteer who is finishing his placement and heading back to Uganda on Friday.

NYSC Orientation Camp

Before the move, my supervisor called to let me know that one of my colleagues in Nasarawa was requesting my attendance at the recruitment of NYSC volunteers happening at the National Youth Service Corps camp on Thursday in Nasarawa.  I was supposed to be taking the day off to settle into my apartment but it seemed like a good opportunity to learn more about my placement, meet some key players and get some insight into the overall process of the NYSC. After moving in and dusting/mopping the dirt and dust that had settled in the apartment (because of the dry season), I called my supervisor to confirm my attendance.

Then we went to Wuse Market where my household allowance quickly disappeared into the hands of a few unyielding vendors.
The necessary purchases:

• A chargeable LED light/radio (2 items in 1!!) for frequent power outages
• An extra pot (there are already a bunch here)
• An iron
• A flask/lunch container for carrying food around
• Laundry soap and a bath sponge
• Tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, oil, salt, chili, mango, green leaf, roasted fish. . .

Training for aspiring teachers

 Today I was picked up at 8am to accompany my colleagues (who I met for the first time in the car) to the NYSC camp in Nasarawa. NYSC volunteers train at the NYSC camp for three weeks before going out on year long volunteer placements at different institutions in the state. VSO was recruiting some volunteers who had their degrees in education and agriculture. The selected volunteers in education will be placed in schools around Nassarawa and supported with teacher trainings (that I will be organizing as part of my placement). The idea is that the volunteers will help to increase their own employability by participating in these special training sessions and gaining a lot of classroom experience and also increase the capacity of teachers that they work with. All of which is ultimately beneficial for future students.

Volunteer supervisors matching new
recruits with schools

However, there are a number of issues that have been brought up already! The supervising volunteers (ie. past volunteers who have gone through the National Graduate Volunteer Program which is also supported by VSO, and were recruited to supervise new volunteers) are seeing big gaps between what VSO seems to have in mind for the program and the reality for the volunteers, their logistical constraints and limitations due to red tape. For example: classrooms of 100 students!! Volunteers who have graduated as teachers but have no practical experience with lesson plans or classroom management. Work placements for volunteers in places that are unable to provide accommodation for the volunteers.

Volunteers drying their uniforms on
the grass in the afternoon sun

It will be my responsibility to try to mitigate some of these issues by acting as a spokesperson between them, VSO, funding bodies, government officials or whoever it is I may need to talk to in order to find solutions.

It's been good to be kind of thrown into the position already but a bit overwhelming too! I feel like I have one very very very tiny piece of a giant puzzle that I am just starting to understand the dimensions of (because they were printed on the box. . .? but I couldn't spatially imagine it til I actually started trying to put it together. . .). Lots more investigating, questioning, listening, reading, learning to do!

But I'm taking a rest tomorrow :)