Steem4nigeria Accelerator Contest Week 36: Away From Home (6/4/2024)

I became lean and dark in my ppa

At Onitsha, I missed home

During my secondary school days when I was boarding, the hunger and flogging from seniors and teachers made me miss home. Sometimes my little provisions will finish. I can remember the cooks cooking without maggi and students will add indomie spices to the food. I went through a lot but thankfully, I pulled through.

In my university days, being away from home didn't really have effect on me as I was matured and could rush home dew times to pick foodstyffs. Also, during nysc, I went through a lot because instead of waking up in my usual time of 6am, we usually woke up by 4am. I left home and just 3 weeks in camp in Benue state, the suffering got to me, I became lean and even my complexion changed to dark. I also missed home when I was posted to my ppa which was in northern Cross River because i redeployed. The experience was terrible because in the village I was posted to, there was no electricity, no more hole, everyone drank from the stream, and it was that same stream they bathed and wash clothes, also there was no toilet in the village, everyone practiced open defecation system, so even we, the corpers had to do it in the bush too. I had a tough time and really missed home, but I survived. There was no way we could charge our phones, we couldn't get treated water except we visited the town which was about 40 minutes away and there was this insect, very tiny that couldn't be seen, it but us and as you scratch it, it will leave permanent marks on your skin. But we had to stay put for the one year.

In 2022, I got a job to work as a teacher in a private school in Onitsha, Anambra state. This was me leaving home to the unknown. I was very happy to leave Uyo because I was tired of the regular, I needed somewhere different. When I reached the place, I was given an accommodation in the school and another male teacher was given an accommodation there too. I worked and was happy but I faced serious language barrier. For the one year I stayed there, I couldn't understand the language. Also, people there believed that everyone there was igbo, so imagine going to the market to buy and the people are speaking igbo, and then I'll tell them I don't understand, they would look at me as if I'm lying. Even entering tricycle, the driver would speak igbo and when I say I don't understand, it would be an issue. My colleagues were all igbos, and I usually felt left out as they would not use English in the staff room, even if I ask something in English, they would respond and go back to speaking among themselves in their language. In the church, I also had issues as most of the songs would be in igbo and even if the preaching is in English, the pastor or anyone leading would suddenly switch to igbo. Another thing I missed was the great afang soup. There was nothing like that there, rather what was available was igbo foods like oga which I never ate, so I cooked rice all through and plantation, my favorite soup was afang which was unavailable. I also faced challenges with light, because in the compound, there was no light, and I didn't really know people to go charge my phone in their houses. The male teacher living there never made things easy for me too, and I thought of my life, and decided to come back home to where I'll be accepted among my people.

If I'm given another opportunity to be away from home to the same place I visited, I wouldn't go, reasons being that, there was no hospitality. Even my colleagues that worked with me made me feel like an outsider. I didn't feel safe where I couldn't understand the language. Language was a big barrier. At a stage, when there were issues and I was physically assaulted by an indigene, I was still blamed because I was an outsider. No, I wouldn't dream to even have such an experience again. As for the other places like my ppa, maybe I would go there again, but this time, prepared and I would also look for ways to provide the things not available at the village like latrine.

Home sweet home

I invite @mxgirl77, @chant, @xcool24 to take part in this contest.