Meet Abiola Ayoola. One of DRASA’s Youth Trainers.
It all started with a visit to my father’s boss. I had used the toilet and couldn’t find a bucket to flush. As I stood there confused, his youngest daughter walked in on me and simply used the toilet handle to flush. I started dreaming in that room that night. The fact that life could be so easy and beautiful and there was no need to wait in long queues to get water was surreal to me.
After finishing university, I had to wait 9 months to get an internship and another 8 months to begin my national youth service. But these delays were simply a reality check for me. The images from my early childhood would flash through my eyes everytime I got weak and wanted to quit, but I couldn’t, so I kept at it. I knew I couldn’t just sit at home and do nothing, so I began to speak to people about volunteering and offering my time. I figured this would help boost my Curriculum Vitae (CV), while also helping others.
One of my friends showed me the Whatsapp status of another friend about a Public Health Trust that was seeking extra hands for its secondary school program. I didn’t know when the project was going to kick start, or if I stood a chance to be selected, but I sent in my CV notwithstanding. And guess who got called? Me!
So far, it’s been a great experience with the students, especially because sometimes I see myself in them. I want to encourage them by sharing my story and telling them to dream with their eyes wide open. I hope that I can spark something in them that would keep them lit up for a long time. But to succeed and reach their goals, I know they need to be healthy and safe and that’s what DRASA (Dr Ameyo Stella Adadevoh) Health Trust’s whole theme is about.
Everyone needs a firecracker in their life and for some like me, it’s the events of the past that keep me moving, and this motivation is what I wish to pass on to others.
Today, I’m a Pharmacist, a Youth Trainer for DRASA, and I hope to become more.
