Learning is better than silver and gold; so the popular
saying goes. We were told this over and over in kindergarten, primary school
and secondary school; we even had a song about “we are all going to our classes
with clean hands and faces"….. na na na.. I guess u remember the song.
I am a 25 year old male Sierra Leonean. Yes 25. Now that I’m
saying it to myself it sounds so scary but well time flies…
Just yesterday I was in kindergarten at the Awada primary
school in Bo southern Sierra Leone and then Becklyn Nursery and Preparatory School and International School Ltd Secondary in Sierra Leone.
Today I am a pharmacist (a specialist in medicines). Yes!!! Me,
I am Doctor Ajiffa Victor Labor(I love Kenya for that coz back in Sierra Leone
the title is Pharm.—I did not like the sound of that but well I love my
profession and I love my country very much).
Like every other human my age both male and female our expectations
after finishing our university education are very big—buy a car, have a go on chics
we would have never had the guts to hit on (for guys), moving out of parents
houses, balling in the night clubs on Friday and Saturday night popping
Hennessey and Jack Daniels bottles, making that desired trip… blah blah blah
the list is long…..
The reality is that, it is not always a bed of roses after
graduating from college. Well some are lucky to have things fall in place for
them pretty fast but for the majority life becomes even harder.
I can’t say I’m not happy with
where I am today because it would be a very big lie. I AM VERY THANKFUL TO GOD
ALMIGTY FOR BRINGING ME THUS FAR.
I would not trade this life for my
past life of hustling through lectures, dreading oral exams, those BECAUSE
multiple choice questions, plus one minus multiple choice questions, hours of
ward rounds, my final year dissertation, waking up at 2am on examination day to go secure a sitting position
in the exams hall and all...
I’m in a better place now; I AM NOT WHERE I WANT TO BE YET BUT ATLEAST I AM NOT WHERE I WAS YESTERDAY.
I miss having the liberty to skive
classes though. Now I really can’t do that with work.
With my pharmacy degree, ideally I
should be on salary, health insurance, and an allowance for transportation and
housing.
But after finishing pharmacy
school, I decided to take another path—I relocated to Nairobi. Two years ago
when I was in Final part one, the only thing I knew about Nairobi was, Jomo
Kenyatta and this was because the high school I attended is located on a street
named after him.. Now here I am about eight months into my stay here in a
country with such beautiful history and natural recourses; I can successfully
navigate my way through west lands (that’s like the party center of Nairobi), I’ve
visited the beautiful Wasini island in Mombasa, I’ve learnt about the wild
beast migration through the Mara river in NAROK COUNTY and so much more..
I am not very open about the things
I love; but I love my GOD, I love banana, I love my family and I love MONEY.
Now here I am working pro bono for a year in order to obtain a license to
practice in a foreign country.
The road has not been easy nor
straight, relocation has been an uphill but one thing I’ve learnt is that my God never
leaves nor forsakes the his children and I really CANT GIVE UP NOW....
LISTEN AND ENJOY!!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmQBshQ11uohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmQBshQ11uo
