Volunteering with the Bamenda city Council was an accomplishment I felt proud of. During this first time experience which took place for one month, I found it worth doing despite the tedious task I was commissioned to. I was expected to control the traffic at one of the markets in my locality, to do quality checks on some restaurants and also to file in building permits. It was also interesting because it made me regard myself not only as a leader and a law-enforcer in my community to ensure order. Despite the challenges I faced, as a leader I learned how to use an amicable approach to settle disputes, not to show favoritism with people under my control and to be humble when doing work for the public.
In many cases when I was in charge of driving hawkers from the road which they encroached, most of them used violent and provocative slants. As a leader I instead used some of these slants as a means to implement my duties like being able to be courageous even when people told me I was small. I used a peaceful reasonable approach as a means to execute my duty at all cost. There were even moments when people would go to the extent of abusing the city council for their irresponsibility on state property and also their implementation of high taxes. This was something I felt bad about, despite the fact that I needed to use a friendly approach as a means to get work done. I also reported this matter to the council during our annual meetings and proposed solutions to it.
In one of the building sites I was commissioned to check, the owner tried to convince me to bend the rules. I had to do what a true leader is supposed to do, by not showing favoritism in judgement. This construction out of the many I checked had to be stopped despite the attempt and the concerned was ordered to report to the council to obtain a building permit.
As a law-enforcer, many of the things I tried to implement were a burden to most of the individuals. As a result they acted in an annoying and antagonistic way. Sometimes I felt like the world was going to collapse on me when I came face to face with opposition. In such cases, I behaved very maturely since I knew my duty was to serve the community. By doing this, I was able to attain my goals and accomplish the task I was called for. From this experience I learned not to argue or throw back slants to those I was commission to serve.
In conclusion, working with the Bamenda City Council was a period of intensive learning of real-world skills to tackle challenges when they do arise and also to experience what it takes to build a good community