By Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS)

The month of July proved to be a fruitful one for the Nigerian YES alumni chapter of Benué. From awareness talks to helping the needy; the YES alumni of Nigeria continue to wow IRIS with their commitment to community service.

Back in Makurdi, a bullying awareness talk was given at a girls’ secondary school. The group of 187 girls waited in the school hall as the alumni came to give their talk at 1 PM. Briefly after introductions, they transitioned into the topic of “bullying.” It revolved more around the idea of how they can prevent themselves from being bullied and how to speak up when they are in the position of being the victims in bullying situations. In the interactive session, the alumni provided the students with chances for them to share their experiences on the issue. Many of them expressed their reasons and justifications as to why they bully younger students, as well as experiences of being bullied themselves.

Josephine Mbatimin, YES '13 worked with YES '15 alumni Oche Ankeli, Joshua Gedor, Philomena Iorkyaan, Andrea Nduul, and Blessing Ori Ogbu to advise the students on how to conquer bullying. By the end of the program, the students pledged not to be bullies and to stand by the slogan of “I choose to be a friend, not a bully.”

At Tofi Memorial College in Gboko, a group of Nigerian YES alumni conducted Operation Study Hard, a talk about the importance of education and hard work.

Avadoo Iortsor of YES '13 and Josephine Mbatimin of YES '15, the directors of the this project, arrived at the college at 8:30 AM. After they had a short discussion with the principal and staff, the students assembled in the school hall.

“The principal was really glad that we got to talk to his students since most of them didn’t really care about hard work. Hearing from us and seeing us talk to them, the kids had a lot of questions and were more determined to work hard,” said Mbatimin.

The alumni were happy to share their thoughts on why education is important to the Tofi Memorial College’s students, and in return, earned the students’ respect. 

Apart from being hands on with the youth of Nigeria in schools and institutions, the alumni also lent a helping hand to the orphans and the needy. Earlier this month in Mkar, a group of YES alumni met with the director of NKST Orphanage near the University of Mkar. As the alumni cleaned the orphanage, washed the mats and swept the outside. They also chatted with the orphans and generously gave them clothes, detergent and water.

Through the activity, they met a Canadian who brought packets of vegetable soup to the orphanage. The orphans couldn’t understand the man, so the alumni translated for them. They had fun doing it!

“The kids were all really happy and welcoming, which made us more determined to do the little [things] we could to help them,” Nigerian alumna Josephine Mbatimin said.

The group finished around 2:00 in the afternoon. The alumni who conducted this project were Joshua Gedor, Oche Ankeli, Josephine Mbatimin, Andrea Nduul, and Philomena Iorkyaan of YES '15, and Avadoo Iortsor of YES '13.

See the original article by Iowa Resource for International Service here.