Five Days in Damare: From a Lump in My Throat to Beautiful Memories

I spent five days at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camp in Damare, Girei Local

Government Area, Adamawa State, Nigeria.

My first time in Adamawa. My first time in the Northeast. Northeast Nigeria… Boko Haram…

You can imagine the thoughts running through my head!

On the airplane, I made the acquaintance of two wonderful people whose hometown happened to be where I was headed. The lady was more than happy to arrange an exchange of phone numbers between her male cousin and me.

“He’ll show you around town,” she said, and he nodded in agreement.

I laughed internally. We all know where she was going with that!

But that was just the beginning of my Damare story.

For the first few days in camp, I couldn't bring myself to call my family and friends back home. And whenever someone from home called, this HUGE lump would suddenly rise in my throat, threatening to end my existence. My chest would tighten, and the tears? Oh, the tears! I cried A LOT.

I felt sooooo alone.

Then I met Patience Japhet.

She slept on the lower bunk, and somehow, just having her around made that stubborn lump in my throat a little smaller.❤️

On Saturday, exhaustion nearly had me kissing the ground. I was so drained I almost fainted.

Thankfully, one young man noticed and came to my rescue with some water.

His name? Abdulsamad.

A proud Hausa youth from Borno State. We became friends, and before long, he was saving seats for me and looking out for me. It's funny how the smallest gestures can make an unfamiliar place feel a little less strange.

And then there was Bakare from Lagos, Ann, my Plateau sister, and Ayomide from Kwara.

Different states. Different backgrounds. Different stories. Yet, somehow, we found ourselves

sharing the same little space in Damare, making memories I didn't know I needed.

I arrived at camp carrying a heart full of apprehension, a chest full of anxiety, and a throat that seemed determined to choke me with homesickness.

But I left with new friendships and a much smaller lump in my throat. ❤️

Patience, Abdulsamad, Bakare, Ann, and Ayomide:

THANK YOU!

Thank you for the kindness, the company, the little gestures, and for making my first few days in Northeast Nigeria a little less scary and a lot more bearable.

Sometimes, God doesn't make the unfamiliar less frightening by changing the place. Sometimes, He sends people who make the place feel a little more like home.