COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICE (CDS): AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE AND THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY SERVICE YEAR

Since myknowledge of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, I dreaded the day I would be called up to “serve” in ill fitted khaki and hideous jungle boots. Alas, I was “called up” in November 2013.

The first and probably most memorable part of the scheme is the orientation camp and everyone who has recounted their experience to me has either loved it or hated it, no in-betweeners. Those who fall in the former group only come to hold that sentiment in retrospect.They reminisce about the fun activities led by the ‘Man o’war' team, the day they got to show off their traditional outfits and dance, the evening they basked in the exhibition of one another’s talents, and the night they shared humorous stories and food around a bonfire.

MY MUSIC….LIFE TO MY SOUL

Music to me is a collection of Sound waves pleasantly composed to refresh ones soul. It begins as a sensation that flows through your ears to your body and right into your soul. It evokes emotions of various sorts, from joy, to loneliness, to sadness, to excitement, to love. Have you ever wondered why people go crazy in clubs when the music is loud and deafening, it evokes a feeling of reckless abandon in them.

Or have you wondered why people kiss and stare deep into the eyes of their partners in cosy, dimly lit dinner rooms when slow sensational songs are being played, it weaves a tender and loving emotion around them and they lose sight of their surroundings and drink from the soul of the person right before them, it is magical in its own way. What else could we call a thing that does so much to the human mind without even as much as a physical touch?

(PICTURES) CORPS MEMBER BUILDS MEDICAL LABORATORY FACILITY AT THE NYSC ORIENTATION CAMP CLINIC, KUBWA, ABUJA

STREAM THOUGHTS 4 (CORPER WITH A DIFFERENCE)

It is 7 months into my service year and each new day brings me closer to apprehension of what lies ahead, I won’t say its fear but it borders on those lines. The silent messages are beginning to drop, from a wink to a casual promise of job possibilities if only I know how to play. I begin to realise some things I would like to share with you.

The service year is crucially important in the life of a fresh graduate, it has become so since its inception, it has either made or marred in some cases. Our decisions, our life style, and conduct during service have left indelible marks on our immediate future, either for good or bad.

LEADERSHIP VACUUM AS THE GREATEST CHALLENGE OF A 21ST CENTURY NIGERIA

Leadership is the ability to motivate or inspire people to act and initiate resultant change. The greatest global change in this century is nurturing people for courageous and compassionate leadership, finding passionate individuals capable of bringing lasting solution to several challenges facing our planet through authentic, wise, courageous and compassionate leadership.

Today, there is a leadership vacuum or gap in many nations and corporations around the globe and a widespread call for a new kind of leadership is paramount. Leadership scholars urge for the kind of leadership – transformational change leadership which motivates and inspires people to action and change.

CORPS MEMBER SENSITIZES CHUKUKU COMMUNITY ON ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE AND DIARRHOEAL SYMPTOMS

Diarrhoeal being a major public health issue suffered by their children in rural communities, Corps Pharmacist Ugochi Agbara Faith of 2013 Batch C in partnership with an NGO, Credible Health Aid and Human Development Initiative (CHADEL INITIATIVE), in which she is a director, embarked on a project to sensitize and issue probiotics to residents in Chukuku Community, a traditional Gbagyi settlement, located between Gwagwalada and Kiyi villages, with about 220,000 inhabitants (according to 2006 census).

A total of 338 women assembled at the Primary Health Care Centre, Chukuku Community, Kuje Area Council, Abuja. The sensitization started at about 10a.m with a lecture on Environmental Hygiene and Diarrhoeal Symptoms by a guest speaker. There was an interactive session between the women and the speaker to ascertain the level of understanding. The women highlighted some community based problems which included access to portable water.

WAR AGAINST POVERTY CDS GROUP VISITATION TO ORPHANAGE HOME

The members of War Against Poverty (WAP) Community Development Service (CDS) group who often gather at the Zoological Garden, Area 1, paid a charity visit to the New Covenant Orphanage Home, Kuje.

In a chat with one of the group’s executives, we gathered that the funds used by the group were raised in house. Prior to the visit, Pledge cards were given to members of the group to give voluntarily whatever they could spare, while a compulsory sum of N400 was paid by all members to cover the expenses of transportation and logistics.