Paul Osuyi, Asaba
On her first day at Anwai Primary School in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State, Miss Chinyere Sylvia Amadi, a 2019 batch ‘A’ corps member posted to the school for her primary assignment, was very scared.
The school compound was overgrown with weeds, giving her a premonition that snakes and other dangerous reptiles were lurking around. She stood outside for a long time with different thoughts that could be interpreted written all over her.
Eventually, she went in, and presented her letter of deployment. The school authority did not reject the graduate of Science Laboratory Technology from Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State.
Chinyere who hails from Ahiazu Mbaise in Imo State, reported for duty when the pupils were on holiday, hence she thought that government would be responsible for clearing the weeds when academic activities resumed.
She was wrong. The pupils took turns, depending on their class, to clear the weeds with blunt cutlasses that they brought from home, making the task even more laborious. Pupils who partook in the early morning labour later dosed off during class as a result of the stress associated with pulling down the luxuriant grass.
In some cases, pupils deliberately missed school when it was their turn. For Chinyere, this was a problem that must be fixed. As her personal Community Development Service (CDS) projects, she raised funds and procured a lawn mower for the school.
Chinyere also identified shortage of academic materials, including exercise books, schoolbags, pencils, erasers, sharpners and water bottles, and took steps to provide them for some for the pupils of the school.
At the commissioning of the items at Anwai campus of Delta State University (DELSU), the corps member said a total of N987,000.00 was expended for the personal CDS project which also included sensitization campaigns and skill acquisition to other schools within the locality.
She said: “I have 411 exercise books, 1,500 pens, 2,000 pencils, there are sharpeners, erasers, mathematical sets and other writing materials, and I brought 80 pieces of school bags for them.”
Chinyere stated that she did not starve herself to ensure that solutions were provided for the identified problems, saying that when she started “I had N50.00 in my account and N200.00 cash at hand, and the project was worth N987,000.00.
“So everybody was asking me who my father is, how I was going to do it. But I knew that these are problems that must be solved, and even if I don’t complete it, I just needed to do something.
“I just had this conviction that I will have people to sponsor me depending on how I am able to relate the problem with them. And that was what happened, people contributed without giving me conditions because they knew I was very passionate about it.”
According to her, the desire to leave a mark in wherever she stepped her feet on was another propelling factor, explaining that there is an admonition she had always heeded which is that one must make impact to avoid been a failure.
She added: “I have always been taught by my spiritual father that if you are in a place and you are not making impact, you are a failure, he had always say that to me over and over again. Then I decided to leave with it that anywhere I go.
“I must make sure that I must be remembered even when I am no longer there. So I like looking out for needs and solving them, so that when I am not there, the people will feel like somebody came here and left, not like when you are gone, everybody will forget that you came.”
Commissioning the items, Delta State coordinator of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Mrs. Olutayo Samuel commended the corps member for translating what she learnt in camp during orientation into reality.
Mrs. Samuel who was represented by the Assistant Director (Publicity and Protocol), Mr. Chidi Nnorom stated that host communities were also critical in providing support to corps members for them to proffer solutions to identified problems.
The state coordinator charged other serving corps members to emulate what Chinyere has done by first of all identifying the needs of the people and providing them, rather than embarking on white elephant project that will not be useful to the community.
“You must do things that will impact positively on the lives of the people. Do not sink borehole where water is not the priority need of the people. Do not build bus stops in areas where they do not use vehicles,” she stated.
She appealed to host communities and employers to continue to support corps members irrespective of the N33,000 monthly allowance by Federal Government, noting that such support will help to guarantee their welfare and security.
Also speaking, Chief of Staff to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Mr. David Edevwie who was represented by Dr. Ulebe Samuel described the donor as a pace setter for leaving a mark in her host community, and urged others to emulate the gesture.
Head Teacher of Anwai Primary School, Mrs. Mary Osemene said the school was overwhelmed by the gesture, pledging that the academic materials will be judiciously distributed while the lawn mower will be put into judicious use.
In an interview, the donor, Chinyere gave reasons for embarking on sensitization of secondary school students on the dangers of HIV/Aids and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), saying that she was a beneficiary of such exercise in the past.
“I also did sensitization for other schools apart from my place of primary assignment. At Osadennis Secondary School, I did sensitization on HIV and Aids. Aids and other STDs are very deadly which affects more of the youths.
“There is a saying that when you are not informed, you are deformed, I decided to give them that information because I was given such information while in school by corps members, and I did not make any mistake.
“I also did skill acquisition for Government Model School where I taught SS 3 students. You never can tell because I stayed at home before getting admission. I taught them skills so that after secondary school and they don’t get admission immediately they will have something to keep them busy.
“Even if they gain admission immediately, their parents may not be financially buoyant to give them everything they need. So they fall back on their skills to make money for their fees.”
“Personally, when I gained admission, I had a skill, I make male and female wears. When I gained admission, I paid school fees and acceptance fees with the money I saved from my sewing work.
“When it was time to pay for textbooks and hostel accommodation, I calculated my textbooks and practical manual it was N21,000. My dad told me that he does not have such amount that I should go to the library and read.
“I told him that the textbooks were authored by our lecturers. He said I should come back home that he is not financially buoyant. I could not just forgo the admission because I know how many years I spent at home.
“So I asked him to send me any amount so that I can use it for foodstuff. He sent me N5,000.00 and I knew it will not take me anywhere for the semester. I decided to buy white fabric and made 21 pieces of lab coats from the N5,000 fabric.
“My school was selling lab coat for N1,000.00 each, I decided to sell my own for N800.00. I sold in my department and even sold it to students in other departments. That was how I was able to raise money for my textbooks and paid my way through school,” she said.