My dearly departed shoes
My placement is now keeping me so busy that I’ve only just had the chance to sit back, take a breath and type my thoughts out to you.
In fact, I have been walking to so many different farms, training sessions and forums that I have had to say a painful goodbye to my trusty flip-flops which are now so compressed that I can feel every last grain of sand that I walk on.
On the bright side, this gave me the opportunity to visit the biggest market in Minna today and assess the quality of their slippers (the local term for flip-flops). It was a joy to walk around. People were so friendly and easy to chat to, with none of that hard selling you would get in a bazaar in Morocco. Besides, my new slippers were a steal, just N450 (which is about £1.10). I doubt that these will last the seven to eight years my last pair did, but at that price who cares!
Whilst I’ve been destroying my shoes walking between different fields and several offices, I’ve also been doing some really useful work that I’ve been looking forward to telling you about.
Training up the young.
Recently, I’ve been working with a Youth Empowerment group, attempting that great NGO term ‘capacity building’, or in my words ‘knowledge transfer’. This generation are the future of Nigeria, they are bright and ambitious, and they are prepared to take on any challenge to give their country a brighter future.
The Nigerian government is embracing their drive, creating a scheme to help get them prepared to take on the professional world. By spending the year volunteering in various governmental and community projects they receive N240,000 (about £600) and some fantastic work experience. However, though the scheme is a brilliant opportunity, it also shows just how dire the job situation is, as talented graduates are unable to find paid work.
I was asked to come and share my expertise, this time in financial literacy. From my years of experience as a farmer, I know all the ins and outs of running a business. You can have a good product, but unless you understand financial management, you are still likely to make a loss. I wanted to give these young people the chance to make the most of what they’ve got. During the course I covered topics like collateral, income and expenditure statements, profit, loss and, most importantly, cash flow. I feel dizzy just reeling off that list, so you can imagine the challenge I had making the session engaging and exciting for my audience.
I used videos to help explain my points, and then to finish, I created a 12 question quiz to ensure everyone understood. The quiz was my favourite part, and will definitely be a technique I use again. It sparked such a stimulating discussion, which went on for well over an hour, we even ended up speaking about additional topics such as liabilities and interest rate calculations. I can’t tell you how pleased I was to see how much they welcomed all of the training.
These topics can be tricky and dull to some, but a firm understanding of them could change the lives of everyone in that room. It provides people with the tools they need to face the business world head on and its days like this that remind me how important VSO’s work is.
My recent audience.
Advising the farmers.
Then, the other day, I found myself standing in the middle of a field with my co-volunteer Peter, running a training session for around 50 predominately female farmers. We had just over two and a half hours to cover the best practices for farming maize and soya beans, yet managed to get through a mass of topics anywhere from soil preparation to planting spacing.
The farmers’ income is currently facing a massive new challenge. The government recently cut the funding that they received for fertiliser. This means they either have to find a cheaper option, or suffer a loss. We tried out a new liquid fertiliser which is one sixth the usual cost. It’s harder to use, but the savings will make a massive impact to the farmer’s families and communities.
The way home and the folded up canopy.
I’m not going to lie, it was tough having to stand under a very hot sun for so long. But once we’d finished I got to relax on the back of the truck amid the folded down canopy; I closed my eyes and let the beautiful breeze rush over me for fifteen miles.
Thank you,
I really am loving it here, and can’t imagine leaving. I hope that you enjoyed my update, and can see the significance of this kind of training. It wouldn’t be possible without you.
Cheers,
Ian
