It’s about that time when you go and serve your country. Hopefully in a week or two; you will know which of the states you are going for your NYSC orientation. I have taken the liberty to interview some of my friends to learn their camping experience; I have also scouted blogs, dairies, journals and other archives in a bid to get as much info as possible about the three weeks of camp. For those of you that are scared because it’s the first time you are leaving your family for such a long time, don’t worry you are not alone. It is that anxiety that lead me to this research; hearing people recount their camping experiences has put me a little bit at ease. According to most people it is the best 3 weeks of their lives. “You wouldn’t want to leave”. Well, i will be the judge of that after my own experience. I decided to get a comprehensive list of the things we might need to make life at the camp a more palatable experience. Below is the list of things you will likely need: Condom and Birth Control/After-Morning Pills 16 Photocopies of Statement of Result (Original and Photocopies) 16 Photocopies of School ID Card (Original and Photocopies) 16-24 copies of passport photo (take as many as possible) Original & 16 Photocopies of Call-up Letter (This will be taken and not returned to you) 10 plain sheets of paper A Pen Stapler with your own pins (will save you a lot of begging) Glue and Tipex (they say everything @ d camp is 4 sale, u want to save as much as possible) NOTE: Make a lot of Photocopies before going to Camp. A copy can be as much as N20 at the Orientation Camp. Please remember to also take the original documents, some camps will send you home if u don’t have originals. + A Cardigan 4 Round-necked white T-Shirts Throughout your stay at the orientation camp, you will only be allowed to wear your white top and shorts; you might not like the ones that will be handed to you at camp so you can get those fitted brands as long as they are white, With these duly pointed out, no need to pack a lot of clothes to the Camp. You should only take a few in case you need to go to Mosque on a Friday or Church on a Sunday. 2-3 extra pairs of white Shorts (All white) A Pair Of Plain White Sneakers (NYSC will give u 1 but you’d be lucky if they fit plus it spoils quickly know Naija & low quality things) 2 pairs of white socks A pair of slippers (These camps are very dirty according to my source, The bathrooms are filthy! The bedrooms are dirty! The corridors are icky! Just have something on your feet at all times) DETTOL (very essential, BRING or BUY. It’s just to disinfect your bath water) Towel (BRING from home. At least you know it’s clean. Anything you buy from Mami Market may or may not be secondhand.) Bed-Sheets, Pillow Cases, and A Pillow. (BRING from home. Again, the peace of knowing what you’re sleeping on is clean. Mattresses will be provided by NYSC. It is best to “double up” with the mattresses, as they are about 1 to 2 inches thick Handkerchief (BRING from home. There will be BUCKETS of sweating. Do yourself a favor) Sleep clothes (BRING from home. *note that it is ridiculously hot at night, so a large t-shirt or long tank top and little shorts will suffice) Underwear (Guard it jealously, I was told people steal panties SMH) Detergent (BUY from market. Again, this reduces the amount of load you’re bringing into camp. Remember how I said camp offers no frills? You have to wash your clothes, underwear, and bed things. However, if you’re lucky the mami market will have vendors offering laundry services! The only caveats are: you run the risk of your stuff getting lost) A Novel (very essential esp. if u read a lot, or if u get bored easily like me) u can also bring board/Electronic games if u like (Chess/Scrabble/PsP/Gameboy) Money (About 10 to 15,000 Naira should see you through the camp period modestly. but if you have to drink and hang out at The Mammy market a lot, then you can take more money depending on how much you can finish, be wise though! Sha budget N1000 per day) Toiletries/Sanitary Pad (If you are posted to the Up-North like Yobe and Maidugiri, pls do not spray perfumes/anything scented, or the flies won’t stop hugging you. For the ladies, u will be wearing white all through when it’s time for your menstruation, beware of stains. ) Bucket, soap dish (buy at the camp site, don’t stress yourself taking one to the place, they always sell in the camp) Waist bag (Try to buy this before you get to the camp, very very essential, U’ve got to put all ur money in it and tie it round ur waist, cos some people won’t come to camp with money and will steal) Torchlight and Batteries (BRING or BUY. Seeing as there’s hardly ever any electricity, and you might want to read at night, having the flashlight helps. Music (Ipod, MP3, Phone, , just take your music, ) ATM card (u may need 2 run out and get dough) Painkillers, Malaria Medicine, Allergy Medicine, etc. (BRING from home. You do not want to make the mistake of getting ill in camp. The camp clinic is a BIG JOKE!) Padlock (BRING or BUY. Well, you might not need it if u have a hard suitcase – no padlocks required. And anyways, thieves apparently can tear people’s bags with scissors or knives to get to their things) Sun Glasses/Face Cap: (It can get really sunny, especially in the north, but I’ll advice all to take sun glasses since you’ll be standing on the parade ground for long hours. unless it’s rainy season) MOSQUITO NET (My friend said the camp is Mosquito’s headquarters) If you have a camera you can take it along because you will want to snap a lot of scenes. If you have a Blackberry phone, that’s good for you because you can easily and share on social networks. If you don’t have any of those, you will have to pay some guys on camp who do that as business to follow you around and snap you wherever you go. They might charge up to N2000 for the duration of the camping. They should give you all your photos and videos in CDs at the end of Camping. You will be fed three times a day in camp but I must not lie to you, the food there is nothing to write home about. If you are someone like me who loves to eat good food, make provisions for your own food. You should get some fast foods along, some breakfast cereals and beverages. You should also hold extra cash to eat at the Mami market. You will get good foods there THINGS U DON’T NEED Don’t take materials like pressing iron, knife, fork, tin cutter to the camp. They will be seized and returned to you only on the last day of camping. I was told this is a security measure. Food Flask (if you’ll eat camp food, I only stood in line for camp food once, and almost got a slap from d lady serving cos I didn’t understand the food, so Mammy Market was my savior, and might be yours too, in the end my food flask was gathering dust under my bed) Don’t pack loads of unnecessary stuff. As for day clothes (mufti) pack one or two cos you’ll only be allowed to go on mufti on Sundays and you have 3 Sundays, so why pack all your clothes? On the 1st day of registration, try to see that after you do your registration where u declare your call-up letter, you endeavor to register for accommodation as early as possible, if not you’ll not have a place to sleep on ur 1st night in camp, and that’s not funny. The forms that will be handed to you and attach your passport are very easy to fill. Fill them correctly. After your registration, you will be issued with your State Code Number. This will be like your PIN throughout your Service Year. After you have been given your State Code, you should proceed straight to collect your mattress and your NYSC Kit. During my own time, I went straight to my hostel (you will be directed), put my mattress in place before going for my kit. Go for your kit on time so that you can get your size. The Camp Commandant (the soldier in charge) and the other soldiers may tell you that if you participate in parade, play volleyball, and do all they want you to do, you will end up being posted to a favorable place for you Primary Assignment – LIES! Soldiers ain’t got that power at all, maybe the Camp director and some NYSC officials can help, but not all of them have the powers they claim. Have fun but never agree to be manipulated or coerced into anything by anyone. I wish everybody good luck and I hope to see you in my camp. For more information u can send me a mail or check online @ Nysc website nysc.gov.ng.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 06:19:27 +0000
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