Mr. Paul Ogundipe's Challenger 2009 Experience

The Challenger Camp 2009 was to me a different ball game entirely. It was a total immersion type of programme.  The experience was indeed awesome and very challenging. The entire event brought to life in a focused way and with awesome, amazing clarity what Woodrow Wilson wrote in his essay about maturity titled "When a Man Comes to Himself". He wrote that a man comes to himself "When he has left off being wholly preoccupied with his own power and interests and every petty plan that centers in himself; when he has checked his eyes to see the world as it is and his own true place and function in it"

It was an adventure all the way and an opportunity to learn and learn and learn. As Mr Wilson said, it was an opportunity to discover myself. To push myself beyond and above the limit. It ended up making things I would have considered extraordinary to look and feel ordinary.

The road trip that was supposed to be 15 hours and ended up being more than 36 hours taught me a lot about patience tolerance and endurance. A hard lesson I could not have learnt in the comfort of my home. The beautiful and lovely scenery of the open plains and range land interspersed with rocky outcroppings and hills, with streams, ditches and lakes make me stand in awe of what I have been missing in my modern jungle. Truly, God’s invisible nature is clearly seen by the things He created.

The cold temperature, which was way beyond what I would call my comfort zone showed me how our Father cares for people in different places. Noticeable is the cactus fence grown by the natives to protect their farms from roaming cattle and goats etc. It also makes me to see the need to be well bonded with those I call friends and share my faith with. This circle of friends will help form a defense against the fiery darts of the adversary, who is said to be like the roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, just the same way the cactus fence keeps out the vermin and cattle that would have come to destroy the hard work and well cultivated fields and farms of the natives.

All the activities were well planned and executed, designed for their specific purposes. Compass checks, rock climbing, group discussion, orienteering, pot luck and camp fire were just great. For the first time in my life, I kept the Sabbath service on an open ground and on a mountain top with the beauty of God’s creation as a backdrop, the warmth of the sun and cold breeze on my face and my family in Christ all around me. It was a super great experience!

Walking around with my backpack weighing about 25kg stuffed with basic necessities of life reminds me of the need to count the cost and carry our own cross and follow Christ through the journey of life. And doing so willingly, without complaining.

The whole experience is worth having again and again and again.

Paul Ogundipe is an Economist and Computer Enthusiast living and working in Lagos. 

Mr. Olawale Lawal's Challenger 2009 Experience

CHALLENGER 2009 LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME

The "CHALLENGER 2009 Leadership Programme" was a blend of challenging, interesting, fun-filled, educative, spirit-uplifting, and eventful experience. According to the initiator and organizer of the programme (Adventurer Oludare Akinbo), it was primarily meant to be a programme to inculcate leadership qualities in young adults of the United Church of God, Nigeria Congregation. I found the programme meeting this objective perfectly.

One striking thing I'll always appreciate about the programme is the beauty of unadulterated nature. Beholding the beautiful scenery of mountains and hills, interspersed with green vegetation, streams and lakes, couple with cool breeze devoid of urban contamination, made me to really appreciate nature, and the Creator of nature (i.e. GOD) better. Observing the sunrise and sunset from a high altitude was another striking natural beauty to me, which I really appreciate GOD for. I always enjoy viewing the snapshots of the sunrise and sunset on my mobile phone. Observing Sabbath Worship/Service under the mountain shades, and enveloped by cool natural breeze was spirit-rejuvenating!

The climbing of mountains with heavy backpack was not an easy task, but we were able to surmount the challenge, with encouragement from fellow adventurers on the trip. This taught me that a leader must be ready to survive in all circumstances, NEVER giving up at the slightest challenge. 

I learnt that a good leader does not see problems, but challenges. When one views a problem as a challenge, one is encouraged to provide solution to the seemingly problematic situation. All the hassles we faced on the journey, such as vehicle breakdown, delay in getting to the programme venue were all teaching us lesson about endurance. 

I also enjoyed the buffet night in which we gathered together all the food cooked individually by participants. We really had a sumptuous meal that night. What a memorable night of "Rice Pororo".

One major challenge that I faced during the programme was the discomfort I went through in breathing at high altitude. I observed some cracks on my nose, coupled with a peppery sensation in my nostrils. I need to prepare better next time. Above all, I can confidently say: NO REGRETS!!!

Olawale N. LAWAL is a Lecturer at the Dept. of Computer Technology, Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, Nigeria.

Mr. Enosa Iyekekpolor's Challenger 2009 Experience.

I've always considered myself sort of a jungle boy and I naturally prefer the purity of the wilds to the artificiality of the city, hence one can understand my overflowing enthusiasm about the Challenger program from the moment I heard of it.

My experience began with leaving my base in Port-Harcourt for Jos, which turned out to be a 15hour trip! Nevertheless, I enjoyed the trip due to the adventure of passing through many novel towns and villages en-route. 

The other members from Lagos arrived around 9pm that night and after a few hurried “good-to see-you” hugs, we gathered our stuff into a waiting bus and got on our way to the challenger kick-off point.

The kick-off point was Maguna Village where the village Chief hosted us in his office quarters that night and the morning of the next day. With bellies fortified from the bounty of the village chief's hospitality, and backs laden with personal survival gear including dangling cans of water, tent bags, mattresses etc, our team made its way out of the village amidst the curious stares of its inhabitants, to the mountain camp. The trip there was uneventful but punctuated with frequent stops as quite a number of us needed time to rest our tired backs and legs which were being put through the ordeal of high altitude mountaineering for the first time. 

On getting to the base camp on the mountain, we did a little scouting to find the best possible area for setting up our tents. After that was done, we had a little rest then BINGO! The activities began!

That afternoon, after setting up camp, we had an orientation meeting were we each got assigned to a buddy (I nicely got assigned to my fiancée) after which the program of events was outlined and broad expectations for the team defined. At the conclusion of the meeting, it was announced that it was too late to head for the rock climbing site which was previously scheduled for that morning, so as a substitute, the day would be spent getting water from the village and camp keeping. That announcement brought visions of a restful easy day to my mind and I looked forward to lazing the rest of the day off.

Alas, I should have known better than to expect we'd be given the day off. The water fetching which I expected to be an easy "stroll to the village- fetch the water- and stroll back" experience didn't quite turn out the way I dreamed. It turned out to be a "climb, jump, hack, march to the village- fetch the water- and pant back" experience, none the less, I found it the most enjoyable and notable experience of all the ones I had during the program. It was just simply beautiful to see how proper teamwork could make cheese out of a normally difficult task. The assistance and encouragement from team members coupled with having a leader that knew the way, got us all through the ordeal in one happy, fulfilled piece. Later, some of the biggest guys confessed that they often felt like dropping for a rest but on seeing the apparently fragile ladies scaling the rocks, didn't dare.

After dinner on the first evening on the mountains, we had the first of our daily camp fires where the day was reviewed and the tone was set for the rest of the period.

The rest of the challenger program passed quite interestingly for me and I deeply enjoyed the many activities which included early morning compass check talks, a mountain Sabbath Service, mountain hiking, orienteering, rock-climbing, an excursion to a nearby hydropower station, going for water and wood fetching trips, a buffet night, daily camp fire nights, occasional baths in a cold small stream, group discussions, photograph taking and every day camp activities. The program also afforded me an excellent opportunity of reinforcing my bond with the other expedition members including my fiancee.

But as interesting events usually go, the days of the program quickly reeled to a close and almost before I knew it, it was time to go. As we walked back to the village where we were to catch a bus back to Jos city, I stayed towards the rear of the marching column of campers on purpose, to have a good view of everyone and store the image in my mind. That image along with the entire experience still resides strong in a tender place in my heart and continues to inspire me down to this day.

Mr. Nosa Iyekekpolo is an Electrical Electronic Engineer working with an oil servicing firm in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He is engaged to Miss Blessing Taiwo Alade.