My stay at home wasn’t long. Soon I had my graduation. And the next thing, I was in a bus to the eastern part of Ghana to start my national service at a clinic.
I sat at the rear end of the bus as it moved with top speed. I casted my mind back to how as a young girl, I had luck on my side. With my mom’s attitude after my dad’s demise, I thought school was over for me. But for the timely intervention of the headmistress who realized my academic performance and enrolled me on a scholarship, I would have been a dropout.

The bus stopped at the station and I gathered my belongings waiting for everyone to alight before I followed.
“madam taxi”,” hajia kayaayo”, “yes pure water”, was what I could hear amidst the noise at the lorry station. I boarded a taxi which took me to the clinic's quarters. I had a day to rest before officially reporting myself to the clinic.

The Fosu Larbi clinic is situated in a farming community. Surrounding the town was a range of rocky hills from which fresh water gushed. The water formed a river in which varieties of fresh fishes lived. These, coupled with the dense forest and thick cocoa farms were reasons why the village received a lot of tourists, especially during the holidays.
These however, did not push the development of infrastructure and social amenities of the village. Roads remained untarred, there was no running water throughout the village and only a single basic school existed in the entire village with no senior high school. The chief’s palace and clinic were among the very few buildings which were connected to the national grid for electricity.
With all these, I was told during my orientation that the town recorded the highest number of HIV-related deaths in the municipality due to the influx of tourists every year. This became a great worry to me. I pondered over it as I made my way to the reception.

“Welcome to Fosu Larbi Clinic, please go straight and enter the first room on your right. You may put your credentials here before you proceed.”
“Thank you”, I responded to the receptionist as I strode slowly to the laboratory. Today was my first day at work and I was already feeling butterflies in my stomach. I had a lot of questions rattling in my mind and I was nervous of how I was going to be received as a novice. Once I got to the door leading to the laboratory, I checked my outfit again. A black trouser with a white long sleeve shirt and my hair tied in a low bun. I looked at my feet and was glad I had put on my cross wedges. At least that was going to work on my height. I took my veil out of my bag contemplating whether or not I should put it on. From previous experiences, I decided against it and kept it back into my leather bag.
Taking a deep sigh, I knocked on the door and entered. My journey to the real world had begun. Whether or not I was going to make it was for time to tell.