These two wonderful women, Sarah and Precious are like my own heaven sent angels in human form.
Forgive me for the blurry picture, was rushing to leave camp coz of the rain, but I just couldn’t leave without taking a picture with these two amazing people.
I got to Obubra orientation camp in Cross River State at about 6pm. Trust me I was hungry, cranky and tired. The journey from Calabar to Obubra took 5 hours. (It felt like I was traveling from Lagos to Ado-Ekiti all over again). I remember we kept on asking the driver how much longer it was going to take to finally arrive at Obubra.
After clearance at the gate, I had absolutely no idea what to do or where to go next. I was so lost and confused. I’m sure God saw His baby girl’s condition and sent an angel my way to direct, assist and eventually make my stay in camp less stresful.
While I was walking about trying to figure out so many things, a few of which were where I’ll be sleeping and how to go about registration, Sarah walked up to me, assisted me with my luggage and took me to the hostel. She helped me find a hall with an empty bedspace. She equally helped me get a mattress and secure my bedspace as well.
Before going about her own duties, she showed me where the registration hall was so I could begin my registration. As she was about to walk away, she asked I give her my number so she could call me and I’ll be able to reach out to her whenever I had clothes to wash, water to fetch or any other errands. I was skeptical at first but considering how helpful she had been, I wrote my number for her and she promised to call me.
I proceeded to register and was gradually adjusting to camp life after I finally completed registration.
A few days later, Sarah kept her promise and called me. She was my go to person whenever I had any errands (clothes to wash, water to fetch, etc.)
Trust me when I say she was efficient and hard working. It was like she didn’t want me to send anyone else to run errands for me. She always looked out for me and was eager to help me in any way she could.
I was already grateful she was readily available to help me out. Then one day, I tried calling her since I couldn’t find her in hostel and her number was off. I then asked the other people who ran errands if they had seen or heard from Sarah.
That was how I met Precious. Immediately I said I was looking for Sarah, she walked up to me and said Sarah was her friend, that she didn’t know where she had gone but she would help me tell Sarah I had come to look for her. I immediately liked Precious, not just because of her beauty, but because of her likable personality and aura.
After that day, Precious began to look out for me as well. It was almost like I saw her more than I saw Sarah. Everytime she sees me she’ll go
“Corper Bisola, do you need to fetch water? Your friends nko? Should I help them fetch water too?
Do you need to wash anything? Do you need me to do anything for you?”
She was equally as efficient as Sarah. Either of them always ran errands for I and my friends when the other was not around.
I remember the night I kept on purging and had to give someone else my bucket to fetch water for me. Both the person and my bucket disappeared. I told Precious and Sarah, after looking out for my bucket and not finding it, they gave me a bucket to use until I left camp. Lord knows I was so grateful.
My friends knew I really liked Precious and Sarah (especially Precious) and they used to tease me about how they were eager to run errands for all of us.
Two days before I left camp I told Precious I was leaving camp in two days and she goes “Corper Bisola, why na?? I’ll miss you oh, and I’m not coming tomorrow, but I’ll come tomorrow because of you”.
I doubt she knew the way that warmed my heart and made me smile. My likenesses for her went way up after that.
Fast forward to the day I left camp. I got both of them ear rings, I figured they would appreciate it since they could always wear them rather than money they would eventually spend and forget about. They seemed really grateful when I gave them the earrings with my extra detergent and bowl and it most definitely made me very happy. I even saw Sarah wearing the earrings a few minutes later so I guess she really did like them.
It was raining as at when I was leaving camp. The rain refused to stop completely and I needed to leave so I could get to Calabar before it got dark. Before I left I asked to take their pictures as well as take a selfie with them.
They gave me a nylon to cover my hair and helped me carry my luggage to the gate. They were actually willing to walk me to the junction where I’ll get a car going to Calabar, but they had to stay back because of the rain.
It was a pretty emotional moment for me while I went to say my final goodbye to my squad. Precious noticed I was crying and said “Corper Bisola, don’t cry, we’ll all miss you “.
When I got to the gate, they waited till I got a bike to get to the junction before they left and waved good bye.
I honestly pray God blesses them and grants them their heart desires. Even though I’ve left camp, I’m sure they would still be as nice as they were to me to my squad. They promised to always come through for them as well and one thing I learnt in the short period I knew them is that they keep their word.
I’ll really miss them but thank God for GSM. It’s comforting knowing that they’re just a phone call away. They’ve built a special place in my heart for themselves and I’m absolutely grateful to God I met them. I pray that soon enough I’ll be able to bless them and continually put smiles on their faces just the same way they made me smile in camp.
Precious is on yellow skirt while Sarah is beside her. This picture too is blurry 😭, but it’s all I have
Farida Speaks 