I travelled to Nigeria this summer with seven Bournemouth University students and staff, to take part in a 10 day volunteering opportunity. ‘thehub Goes Global’ volunteers teamed up with Bournemouth-established charity, IT Kidz of Africa, based in the southern village of Ijede in Nigeria.
The charity and IT school was set up by BU students Billie Sule and Matthew Baker with the aim of improving the computer literacy of children in the local area. I planned ‘thehub Goes Global’ trip with a view to encourage a global perspective to student volunteering.
We faced the same challenges in our short trip that locals face every day –3 hour traffic jams, the collapse of a pier (we weren’t on it!), 3 floods in 10 days, extreme heat and mutant mosquitoes! But despite all these issues, we had the most rewarding and amazing experience.
Our first days were spent helping to re-paint the school and designing and painting murals and icons to decorate the walls and enhance the learning environment. After this, we planned and delivered three CV and Interview workshops for 16-18 years olds in the village, to help them prepare for leaving school.
Finally, we delivered three days of IT lessons to local primary school children who may not get the chance to learn these basics again. The children learnt how to use a mouse, the names of the components on the desktop and how to use the paint programme. Volunteer Hannah Wright said ‘Seeing the smiles and fascination on the kids' faces and seeing the progress they made through the course was an amazing experience.’
Taking a few days out to experience the Nigerian culture and environment, including a visit to the local Government in Lagos, the beach and experiencing the rich/poor divide was fascinating. It was interesting to see how the richer people lived; in their gated communities, seemingly with no character, then to return into the main vibrancy of Nigerian life on the streets. I much preferred the local atmosphere where the people were so welcoming and helpful.
There is no doubt that Nigeria has its problems and is sometimes a dangerous place to be, but our trip taught us that the Nigerian people are beautiful in every way and the people we met were a joy to work with and to teach. Their thirst for knowledge was inspirational.
‘thehub Goes Global’ Nigeria trip was a unique and awe inspiring experience and the whole group really felt that we’d made a real difference to the local area for a long time to come.
I am really honoured that we were able to visit this fascinating country, and were invited so warmly into the community. It was fantastic that thehub was able to help others on a global perspective for the first time.
To see a selection of photos, check out our gallery (via the home page)
For more information on future trips contact Lexy at abrowning@bournemouth.ac.uk
