Everyone aspires to make an impact, you know, that 'I was here' moment when you leave a place and you know they will always remember you? Yes, such is the story of Olayemi Ajibola (@ajibolayemi), a youth corper who's living that moment right now.
Olayemi was posted to Oyun in Kwara state and when he got there, he discovered that the primary health center was in a bad state: bad roofing and unsanitary conditions - pregnant women were expected to deliver babies there.
Olayemi decided to renovate the health centre as a personal project for his NYSC year. He got the necessary approvals and got to work. He funded the project with help from people within the community who gave donations as well as personal funding.
Over the course of the year, he and his team (people within the community) worked on the health centre renovations, replacing the bad roofing sheets and the asbestos and changing the mosquito nets. Then they proceeded to give the health centre a badly needed paint job.
"This (green) color was used because it represents NYSC, and we didn't want some "persons" (who abandoned this for 2 years) to claim they did the work," said Olayemi via his Twitter page (@chexfactor).
On the 9th of March, 2017, the newly renovated primary health center was commissioned, in the presence of 2 community chiefs, 4 school principals, NYSC officials, local government officials and everyone else who could - and should - have given a damn about that health centre before Olayemi came.
For Olayemi, it's all about doing good for the people of Oyun community; "Even if my name fades from this building, the people living in Abati, Tepatan Oke, Isale, Iya-aro, & Imode won't forget how 'NYSC helped them'."
The question is: why was the health center of a community in such a poor state when the state government exists?
Why did they have to wait for a youth corper to come fix it? It's a great thing that he did, but we can't help but wonder if the health centre would have been left that way if Olayemi had not come along.
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Gists And Gossips
