Chronicles of NYSC camp - CAMP LIST

Now everyone except me knew about the marching, and everyone except me was prepared for the terrible conditions of the toilets, so I think a proper list of things to take to cam is in order.
Sun screen: fine, you may think you don’t need it, but male or female, you really do. Even if you are black, even if you are posted to a cold area, the sun will always be there. The sun shines harder in cold areas, and flat lands. You need it to protect your skin complexion as well as to protect you from the sun’s harmful rays. BUY any lotion that has sunscreen as one of its properties. I left home with ordinary cream, with a fair complexion. I came back, black, with only one part of my body testifying of my former skin hue – the part that my bra covers everyday. The sun penetrates the white shirt (we call it tissue paper cos it tears like tissue during the first wash) and shorts that the officials give you.
Pillow: they will never give you one, so if you know you cannot live without it then take yours from home. Alternatively you could BUY one at triple the original price from Mammi market.
Bucket: you can take yours, or also buy at triple the price from Mammi. Some even bought more than one, to use in washing (girls of course).
Whites: you need to buy white shirts and shorts because the ones you will be given in the camp re almost always of inferior quality. The shirts we were given were like tissue paper, and the shorts were short. BUY shirts that are plain, BYC shirts with nothing written on them, so if you end up in a camp that is unnecessarily strict about wearing only the ones given to you, the ones you bought will still get pass mark.
Hair: guys, there will be barber stalls at Mammi, but are you willing to risk infection? Have a perfect cut the day before you go to camp. Girls, you need to do something that can be maintained, or you would have to do your hair again at the ridiculously expensive salon stalls in Mammi market. Choose Ghana weaving for long-lasting freshness, or take extra money to redo your hair after the second week.
Miscellaneous: bathroom slippers, torchlight plus batteries, toiletries like bathing soap, sponge, toothbrush, paste can be bought from Mammi if you prefer to carry lighter load.
Travelling box: it should better be something you can balance on your head, because that is the first thing that you will be asked to do as a form of exercise, so be prepared.
Church wear: I totally forgot about this one, and followed the no – mufti rule to the letter. You can carry whatever you want, to wear to church on Sundays. There are three Sundays on camp, so be prepared. Some girls even brought aso – oke, expensive lace, and satellite dish geles. All I had was jeans. BRING mufti for church, and mufti for the special occasions – Welcome party, Camp fire night and Social night (some girls were dressed to kill for this one).
Water Heater: if you can, you could smuggle in a plastic electric kettle, or even buy it from the Mammi market later. The weather is almost always cold and I heard in one camp that someone was selling hot water for thirty naira per bucket. Imagine that.
Charger: if there are no sockets for charging your phone in your room, you would have come prepared. In fact, it is better to charge your battery with a universal charger, and feel okay if you leave it behind, go to the field and return, than to charge your phone the normal way, and it disappears mysteriously during parade. I advice getting a universal charger, and charging the battery instead. Also BUY an adaptor to use because the sockets will always be occupied no matter the time of day..

I think that is about it.