Serve in Rural Area?

Ever made this statement? “Me, Serve in a village?  God forbid! Tufiakwa! Olorun ma je! Abasi Akan oo”. hahaha, if you have made that statement before, my dear, you need to reverse it oo because there are many benefits you will stand to get if you serve in the rural areas. 

In this post, you will see reasons why you should go for your 1-year National youth service in the village.

Yes, I know that a lot of corp members disgust the idea of serving in rural areas. In every state, they are deployed to passionately yearn to find placement in cities or developed areas. This leads a lot of them doing a lot of different crappy things just to get a slot into the city area. You find ladies who would be wooed in by soldiers claiming they would work out their posting.

Some of these ladies would sell out their bodies to men in exchange for such offers. (Sadly, 98% of the soldiers have no authority to manipulate any posting). Others would pay a lot of money they don’t have to officials just to get posted to the urban.

Damn! Why do any of that? Rural areas could probably be the best thing that could ever happen to you. Don’t be lured by the glamour and glare of city life. There could be one or two advantages but I would choose serving in the rural area anytime any day. There can be a lot of arguments on this subject but let me highlight some important benefits that can convince you of loving to serve in rural communities.

Why Serve in Rural Areas – NYSC

High Respect

Generally, the respect given to corp members has waned in recent years compared to what it was back then. Communities around Nigeria have always waited in earnest anticipation for these corp members who have been sent to their locality. We heard stories of them making provisions for these corpers, taking care of many of their food stuff, picking them up and paying for their transport and welcoming them with celebration.

Today the story has really changed, especially in the city localities. In the cities where some may be lucky to serve in big companies or organizations, sadly most of them are used as errand boys and girls.

In contrast, in the rural areas much respect is still paraded on the corpers. It might not be the fanfare they once had at the beginning but the respect for these corp members is considerably high. These local children anxiously anticipate fetching water for themselves, washing their clothes and doing any menial work that they so desire. Hardly can you see such a service from children of city dwellers today. What could be better than being treated like a queen or king? Don’t forget you deserve it because you are “government pikin”

Read: Save N200, 000 PLUS During Your National Service

Low cost of living

We all know this fact that the cost of living in rural areas is always low compared to the town or city areas. These poor communities are generally farmers and indulge in many agricultural activities whose farm products are transported to the developed localities and sold at city price.

Apart from the low cost on food, most corp members who find themselves in rural areas usually find free housing provided for them. I know of corpers in one rural area who has a big hostel built for them and each of them has a flat given a flat to live in. even if you cannot find a free house, the cost of most houses are so cheap that you can never believe it. In the city however, sometimes you find yourself paying the same money you had to pay while you were at university and paying for hostel accommodation.

A lot of things are available for free in rural communities. In most villages, there is tap water available in most areas and usually there served free of charge. I bet you cannot see such free offers in the city area. With only a few houses competing for NEPA lights there are usually lights in these places and this is also not paid for.

am telling you don’t have to suffer during your university years and still suffer as a corp member.

Also Read: Mistakes You Should Avoid During National Service

More savings

What more can I say? With all these free provisions you garner in the village areas, why won’t one be able to save more money? Considering this, you don’t need to pay for the high cost of transport fares like in the cities; most of the time, your place of primary assignment is usually just in your backyard. There is some change in your savings.

What other savings do you have in rural areas? During the harvest season, most of these local people provide a lot of food materials for these corp members. I can still remember a community that usually even gives out goats to its corners. Food is usually cheap since they are produced locally and that so much savings from the rural area. Trust me, some corp members in the villages can save almost all their allowance and still look healthy and well fed.

I was thinking I was going to exhaust all the benefits of staying in the rural area in this article but I think I cannot do more than my boss asked me to. I still have enough points more than what I just gave you in my handbag, so I’ll share those with you when we meet again. I hope you continue to enjoy your time in www.awajis.com/nysc.

Hey, I’ll still appreciate those fine comments in the box provided below. Again Thank You For Being Here!

View Part 2 of this article below:

NYSC DEPLOYMENT: BENEFITS OF SERVING IN A RURAL AREA (PART II)

Hello pals, it a pleasure to be with you again on the second part of “Serving In A Rural Area”. Previously on this subject I was able to highlight certain reasons why you should love to serve in a rural area. I know you would love to read these additional reasons I about to share on why serving in the rural area is on a high advantage. The benefits include:

 Community Service & Award

As part of the service scheme, corp members are expected to take up community development service. This program is done in the group level and also at a personal level. These services are projects carried out to provide support to the development of the local communities that corp members find themselves in. At a group level this community service is carried out by the CDS groups.

Interestingly, NYSC also encourages every corp member to carry out this community service on a personal level. Corp members who are able to carry out this community service and perform creditably have the privilege to be awarded local or presidential awards which also includes finance, job, scholarship gift and others. Why is the rural area an additional advantage for corp members at this point compared to the city?

The cities are already developed and usually they are lack of ideas on projects to carry out in the community as compared to the rural areas. With the under development in the rural sides it is easy to find a lot of opportunities to render this development service to the people. It is worth recognizing that most of the awards that are received for this community project are 90% of the time received by coopers in rural areas. If you know what it means to receive a national award, then you can imagine why you should love to serve in rural areas.

 ADDITIONAL STATE ALLOWANCE

In addition to the monthly national allowance, some states are known to pay additional allowance to corp members. Some corper could be privileged to receive payments from their place of primary assignment. That could mean a whole lot of money for those privileged corp members.

Additional opportunity open to most rural areas is that most state usually gives more preference to those in the rural areas than those in the urban areas by increasing their allowance. This is really a great boost to the savings of potential of corp members in these areas.

Free gifts from the local community

In sharp contrast to the cities, the rural areas offer more opportunities for corp members to gain gifts and support from the rural areas. These gifts come in the form of agricultural produce, free lifts, free/cheap housing, free electricity, free water, free menial help, and much more. Children and adults in these communities usually warm to these corpers and are willing and enthusiastic to support and share with these corp members in their community.

There is no feeling like being appreciated for the voluntary sacrifices corpers offer to communities.

Read: Benefits of Joining a Christian Group in NYSC Camp

 Serenity/peace of mind

Staying in the rural area would cut out the bustle and hustle of city life. In the city, it is hard to find very calm localities. A lot of activities bring about increasing noise to the neighborhood. Examples include the constant busy streets, the unbroken screech and blare of cars, the roar of generators from one corner to another, and many other examples that can really remove peace of mind from inhabitants.

In sharp contrast, rural areas are a haven of peace and you’ll enjoy the tranquility.  All major sources of noise like in the cities are usually not common in the villages. This is a large benefit to lot of corp members who have to live a pre-meditated life as they reflect on the future of their lives and how to make something out of it. Simply speaking, it gives them ample to time to think, reflect and meditate on their lives to bring out a new, fresh, and more responsible part of themselves. The peace of mind that they find makes it easy for them to read a lot books that would develop them personally, to be insightful in learning skills, and any other thing that would just help them grow.

Enough friends

Many who just hate the idea of serving in villages believe that life there would be boring. I really doubt that. A lot of times corp members who find themselves in rural areas find themselves leaving together or in very close proximity.

This closeness makes it easier for corners to find friendships among themselves and find ways to entertain themselves in the rural areas. When compared to cities, most often than not, corp members find themselves living far away from each other, though that does not apply to all cases. Who wants to be lonely in a big city?

By now you should have seen that the rural areas are not a bad place to serve at all but are really a blessing in disguise. So, my dear corp members, you do not have to go an ugly extra length just to evade being posted to the village communities.

For now, enjoy your stay at www.awajis.com/nysc. Till we meet again in another one of our articles. Be sure to leave your comments and suggestions at the box below. We promise to guide you hand in hand throughout the length of your mandatory service. Thank You!