More on NYSC

My NYSC experiences have been edging towards hopeful ..... thankfully.

With NYSC, like anything else in life, what you get out of it is closely correlated to what you put in. I decided that since I will be doing this until August and I will be doing it just this once, I might as well make the most of it and enjoy it. Besides, community service is something that I have long been passionate about, so what could be more apt than making some positive contributions to my local government?

After several months of doing absolutely nothing, my group is starting to make some gradual but decisive moves towards activity. I think many corpers were really tired of coming to the local government secretariat and doing nothing. I mean, you might as well just stay in bed then! My group (the Anti-Corruption group) really has our work cut out for us. No one is under any grand illusions that our group of twenty-something odd people will stop the scourge of corruption, but we have mapped out a series of activities aimed at encouraging young people to think about their role in the fight against corruption and to act on it. It's a big task, but I think ultimately rewarding. In social or development work, you so often have to take pleasure from the small changes you help effect, so I'm well-prepared for that.

The downside, if I may call it that, of displaying above-average enthusiasm in any situation is that you get classed as 'eager' and 'available' and are sucked into a lot of other work. I have already been conscripted to the "photo album book committee" (something tells me there will be a lot more of these committees). I'll have to start thinking up believable excuses to get out of any more committments.