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The first time i went to our village was in 2017. Schools were on holiday, it was close to Christmas already.
My mum and I went together. When we got to the village, the villagers welcomed us well. They Respect anyone that comes visiting them from urban areas.
We got there late, so we just took our bath, ate and went to sleep.
The following morning, as early as 6:00am, grandpa came to wake me up to go to the farm. The distance from our compound to the farm is about 10km. Grandpa took his hoes and cutlasses behind his bike and rode to the farm. While Myself and three other children in the compound went to the farm on foot, with each of us carrying a basket.
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By the time we got to the farm, we met him uprooting the weeds around the crops he planted and we joined him. Grandpa's farm is the largest in the village, it is about seven 7 acres of land. On grandpa's farm you will see all kinds of fruit trees, beverage trees, Cassava , Grains and lot more.
After weeding for some hours, before the sun rose, we began to harvest some cassava and pack them in big baskets. We didn't stop harvesting until the baskets were full.
After we were done, we left grandpa alone in the tuber crops part of the farm where he was checking the condition of the crops.
We went around the farm to pluck fruits. One of the boys Samuel knows how to climb trees so well. He climbed a mango tree and threw down mangoes. We packed them and kept them in a sack, as we go for other fruits. By the time we were done, we had filled the sack with mangoes,oranges and local apples.
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By 12:00pm we were done with the works on the farm. Grandpa didn't want to overload me, he said lagosians don't do heavy loads. So he carried the basket of cassava I was supposed to carry home, he tied it to his bike and rode home. And truly I couldn't carry the basket, it was too heavy for me. The other boys carried their baskets on their head while I carried the sack full of fruits. While walking home they asked me questions about Lagos, and told me how they wished they were living in Lagos city. I told them to focus on their studies, that education will definitely bring them out of the village to the city.
When we got home, took the cassava to the women in the hut. We all took our bath and went to the backyard, where other children will we waiting for us to come and share the fruits we plucked. We all ate the fruits together and I told them some jokes, they all laughed to my jokes, even though they weren't really funny. 😂😂
By the way the women in the compound had started peeling off the cassava and getting it ready for grinding and drying. They then follow the necessary processes, so that by the next day, Garri (cassava flakes) would be ready.
In the evening, Samuel, Olamide, Damola and I was sent to fetch water. There were no boreholes in the village, we had to go to the river to fetch water. When we got to the river, we all fetched a pial of water each from the flowing river. Instead of going back home,they all flew into the river and started swimming. I asked Samuel which is the eldest among them, why would you be swimming in the same water where you fetch water for drinking. He replied and said the water is flowing, as they are swimming the water was flowing away, new one is coming from its source. He told me to join them, meanwhile I couldn't swim, and I don't want to embarrass myself, so I joined them. I didn't use up to two (2) minutes in the river before I jumped out so as not to drown.
They finished swimming and we carried our pail of water home. By the time we got home, the women and girls in the compound were cooking already. When they finish cooking, they served the whole compound.
By night I went into the living room to meet grandpa. No child is allowed into the living room except they are called upon. But with my influence, they were allowed that night. He told us a lot of tales in which I'll be writing about later.
After listening to his tales, we all said esé sir (meaning thank you sir) and went to bed.
The following morning, mum had packed our loads already. They gave her lot of Garri, vegetables and pepper freshly fetched from the farm.
The villagers gave me a lot of gifts. I can't forget grandpa gave me a sum of two thousand naira.
It was hard for us to say goodbye, but we had to go home. When I got home I narrated my experience in the village to my brothers.
We would be visiting them this December to check their wellbeing.
Thanks for reading 💚