Our Volunteering Work at Edonwik.

Hello everyone, I'll give a detailed account of our volunteering work in the beautiful island of Edonwik.

On December 2nd 2020, I was briefed by a friend about the island, he mobilized other students who were at Uyo then and after our meeting, we decided to make our journey on the 6th of December.

Our Journey.

The 6th of December came rather fast than expected. All these days, our journey has been the only thing I dreamt of. The story of the island was quite a fascinating one that I wished we just appeared there. We assembled at the point we'd choosen with our ratios, toiletries and everything to keep us comfortable for a week. I met with my fellow volunteers for the first time and we were ten in number of equal ratio of boys to girls.
After packing our laggugages in the taxi, we prayed and zoomed off.

Trust me, from Uyo to Eastern Obolo was one of the best rides I've had in a long time. The smooth road and scintillating landscape had a special effect in my soul. I left all my cares behind and embraced the life of an adventurer, a volunteer and a teacher.

Remember, our aim was to go teach in the island and we went there as the "Literate and Liberate Initiative".

Our Arrival

We arrived Iko town in Eastern Obolo. Iko town is the only town(land) bordering Edonwik.
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After offloading our laugages into a speedboat, we were called on to take seats. I've never seen such a large expanse of water. Immediately I stepped into the boat, it jerked and my heart skipped a beat. The jetty was such a busy place for other travellers. I discovered there's no provisions for safety wear. We were however assured of a smooth ride.

The cool breeze and loud hum of water accompanied by the incessant roar of the engine boats guided us through the stretch of waterways.

The Island stood like a mother with arms stretched out. We walked into her like Cpt. Jack Sparrow will walk into his black pearl with the hope of either a warm embrace or a cold strangle.

It was already dark so we were shown few places and our hostels. In the boys hostel, we thanked God for a safe journey and handed over the night to him who watches the night.

The ride from Iko town to Edonwik took almost 10mins in an engine boat.

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Edonwik Island

Edonwik is an island community in Eastern Obolo in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. It is bounded to the North by the Atlantic Ocean. Going straight into the ocean will lead you to Brazil in America.
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As observed by me, I think it will have a population of not more than 1000 people including children.

The Island is not linked to by road so all entry and exit from the island must be through water. As a result, the price of normal commodities outside the Island was almost triple, some double of its original price. There's however no market in the island except some people who displays goods in their thatch
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The air in Edonwik is as original/purified as the one in Eden. They have very beautiful children, women and men. The people there are the most accommodating people I've ever seen. Their prominent occupation is fishing. At the beach in Edonwik, I caught a live fish with my bare hands. Lol.

The only borehole that served the island was in a sorry state. Some taps were faulty and there was no plans for repairs. The borehole was donated by Mary Remarkable foundation.

Our hostel was a luxury two bedroom apartment for the boys and a single room for the girls(all thatch) . It overlooked the beach so we had enough of breeze. At night, the hum of the beach sounded like a large monster about to devour the earth.

Except our school which was built by Mary Remarkable foundation, every other buildings in Edonwik are made of thatch.
The Island will stretch more than 2.5Km²(guess).

Pix 1. We at the girls hostel
Pix 2. Exterior of the boys hostel
Pix 3. The windy path of Edonwik

Our mission

All thanks to God, we gave our best and the result was glaring to everyone.

We at the Literate and liberate initiative will proudly say we were the first teachers in the Island. Prior to this, just few children travelled to the town for education while the majority assisted their parents in fishing.

Our children were just too intelligent. Thanks to God, everything was a huge success. We did this for the whole weekday, as volunteers.

We later ran out of supplies we brought even when we were two days behind the 13th December we set for our departure. We ate enough of sea food including things like octopus, turtle, crabs, pawns and all types of fish.

I'm finding it hard to upload pictures here.

Pix 1. A boy with an eel
Pix 2. What all houses looked like at Edonwik
Pix 3. Our school environment
Pix 4. Our girls doing yoga

It is worthy to note that we supplied the children with all they needed like exercise books, pens, pencils, school bags, sandals and other fancies to entice them who haven't known what school means since they were born.

Some of our children have never left the island. Life in the island was like life in the garden of Eden. No competition for riches at all, no church, no school no single government presence.

The only means of movement is treking or canoeing.

Pix 1. Sunset at the beach
Pix 2. Outdoor learning at the beach side
Pix 3. Our classroom built by Mary Remarkable
Pix 4. We boys at the beach

Our departure

Goodbye is always too hard to say. After spending a week at Edonwik, we found the place so nice and serene. We already adapted to life in the island and the villagers were very fond of us.

But we must go. Throughout the time of our stay, we trained three teachers who will take over from us.
We taught the parents how to bake also. It's quite funny that the only animal we saw was cat.
We left Edonwik on the 13th of December.


Today plans are underway to go to a similar island community in Ibeono. We would appreciate if you could donate books or other materials to ease our work. We olan of staying for two weeks over there.

Memories
Picture 1: Our room
Picture 2,3,4: Some random lanes on the island.
N/B, these are different paths, but they almost look the same.
Here, we were like being in a different world. Out of technology and enjoying nature to the fullest

Where mosquitoes there?

otokx:
Where mosquitoes there?

Despite the fact that it was an island with Ocean (not even sea) bordering it, there were still mosquitoes. I think its only in Antarctica that we can't find mosquito

Nice composition.
Akwa ibom nyin Ayaya!

kenny714433:
Our Volunteering Work at Edonwik.

Hello everyone, I'll give a detailed account of our volunteering work on the beautiful island of Edonwik.

On December 2nd, 2020, I was briefed by a friend about the island, he mobilized other students who were at Uyo then and after our meeting, we decided to make our journey on the 6th of December.

Our Journey.

The 6th of December came rather fast than expected. All these days, our journey has been the only thing I dreamt of. The story of the island was quite a fascinating one that I wished we just appeared there. We assembled at the point we'd chosen with our ratios, toiletries, and everything to keep us comfortable for a week. I met with my fellow volunteers for the first time and we were ten in number an equal ratio of boys to girls.
After packing our languages in the taxi, we prayed and zoomed off.

Trust me, from Uyo to Eastern Obolo was one of the best rides I've had in a long time. The smooth road and scintillating landscape had a special effect on my soul. I left all my cares behind and embraced the life of an adventurer, a volunteer, and a teacher.

Remember, our aim was to go teach on the island and we went there as the "Literate and Liberate Initiative".