By Daniel Ishaya (YES 2009-2010, Nigeria, hosted by IRIS in Grundy Center, IA)

My name is Daniel Ishaya a YES alumnus from Nigeria. I lived and studied in the United States for the 2009 – 2010 academic year. I was hosted by Marylee Kersten in Grundy Center, Iowa and I was a member of the senior class at Grundy Center High School, where I participated in soccer and wrestling. I was also part of the Academic Decathlon at my school. During my year in the United States I visited other states outside of Iowa; such as Texas, Missouri, Minnesota, Washington D.C., Nebraska, and Illinois.

During my exchange I was introduced to community service, where I worked voluntarily to help others without being paid or given anything in return. For example, I helped elementary school kids with their school assignments, presented on Nigeria, worked in an apple orchard, raked grass, and became involved with Sunday School at the church. The first time I did community service in Iowa was one of my best experience of my time there. It is hard to explain that kind of feeling because of the joy I derived from doing it. I just know is that it felt so good to help others and it made me think that if I can help in a foreign country, how much more can I do in my home?

The community outreach activities that I did on the YES program motivated me to do community service in my own country of Nigeria. I noticed I have all I need to make a small difference in my community – a small difference that could mean a lot to somebody. Since my return from the United States I have participated in community service in different communities in the Gombe State of Nigeria. Some of these activities include painting clinics, visiting orphanages, visiting the state hospital, striving for girl-child education, teaching about the right of a child, and working towards better sanitation and hygiene. I also volunteered for three months at an Internally Displaced Person camp (a place for people who have been displaced by Boko-Haram) in Abuja, the federal capital territory. At the IDP camp, I taught Hausa for people who are illiterate, and helped them format words to be able to write sentences or expressions in Hausa Language. I worked alongside people from the U.S. Embassy who were also volunteering to teach English, and I served as a mediator between Embassy representatives and the students.

A community service project that I am very proud of is the rehabilitation of twenty boreholes in my community, Filiya, in Gombe State, between March and May 2017. This project was sponsored by the U.S Embassy Abuja, through the U.S Ambassador Small Grant Program. Some of the existing boreholes had worn out parts, some needed to be drilled deeper to reach the water level, and some needed dirt to be flushed out. I worked alongside several other YES alumni during this project: Ibrahim Ezekiel from Bauchi, Ishaku Abner, Habib Micah Tela, Esther Bila Isah, Maryamu Yakubu, and Patience Habila, all from Gombe. There were also several non-YES alumni who worked on the borehole project. During the inauguration of the program I gave a Peace Talk to the heads of the community, addressing conflicts over farmland and political interests between different communities. Since the village heads were together at the inauguration ceremony, it was an opportunity to address these issues.

Recently I received an award for the work I did in repairing boreholes. This award was from the student union of my community and is given to exemplary youth who strive to bring change to their community. I am really honored to have received this award alongside other dignitaries within my community.

What I like about community service is the fact that it opens one's eye to see that a little positive action can have a big impact, you will see that you are not just solving the problem of others but inviting joy to yourself. Also, community service doesn’t require talent or have some specific qualification before you can do it. You cannot imagine how much your actions can help people and also help yourself – there is just joy in helping others. In volunteerism you can help with any need that needs to be met. It also helps you relate to people who are different from you and share in their joy and experience new places.

It is not just my dream to stop here – I envision myself as someone who will reach the needy and help bring the world closer to the true message of love. There is a lot of work to be done, and I am willing to be one of the people to do it. I truly believe that “the time is always right to do the right thing,” that’s why I am not going to hesitate on doing anything I can. I think two projects I focus on this will include developing a library for a community school that lacks teaching materials and working in a school to rehabilitate two of the classes to make them more conducive to learning.