GAMAID
- July 16, 2025
My name is Clinton Chinedu Arinze, and I am a native of Anambra State. On September 18, 2024, I had the life changing opportunity to join the Bethel Retreat and Vocational Farm Camp at U Dormita Farms in Uyo. At the time, I was so eager to pick up real, practical farm related skills, and from the very moment I arrived, I was pulled right into the rhythm of actual agricultural work. The farm was set up into clear sections, poultry, goats, fish and crops, and each area ran on solid rules that taught me real discipline alongside the technique.
In the poultry section, my Team A duties started with caring for tiny broilers during their most critical early hours. We had to monitor their temperature between 1am and 6am to protect them from getting too hot or too cold, keep their water clean and fresh, and make sure food was constantly available till they reached dispatch size. With the layers, I learnt that hydration is everything when it comes to egg production, and that adding more calcium to their feed directly boosted their laying. Moving on to the goat pens, I discovered just how important quarantine truly is, keeping new arrivals separate for a week so they could properly settle in before being released, otherwise they would just bolt. I will honestly never forget the joy of helping a pregnant doe deliver twins right under our watch. That moment alone taught me real compassion and precision in animal care.
Our fish care rotation taught me pond management from fingerling all the way to table size. I learnt to feed the catfish at fixed spots so they would learn where to come for food, to isolate the ones that stopped eating so we could nurse them back to health, and to sort them by size to prevent cannibalism. In crop production, we started pepper, potatoes, yams, corn, cassava and pumpkin leaves in seedling compartments before transplanting them into grow bags, then waiting four to eight months for the harvest. Through all of it, I came to see just how much careful scheduling of tasks like feeding, cleaning and weeding keeps animals healthy and crops yielding well, by setting up reliable biological rhythms.
Beyond all the technical training, the retreat was honestly a turning point for me spiritually and emotionally. Every morning, we gathered for devotions, and I had real personal breakthroughs. I conquered my long time fear of thick bushes and small creatures, walking through the fields with a kind of confidence I never had before. Working side by side with other Christian youths, I learnt patience, forbearance, love and the true power of teamwork. I went from being someone who preferred to do things alone, to someone who actually thrived in community. The mix of solid farming instruction, daily worship and constant mutual encouragement deepened my faith and genuinely reshaped how I see the world.
This camp was fully funded, so it required almost nothing from me financially, yet it gave me far more than I could ever repay. I left U-Dormita Farms not only with hands on knowledge of poultry, goats, fish and crops, but also with a renewed spiritual connection, stronger emotional intelligence and a deep sense of belonging. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who made the Bethel Retreat and Vocational Farm Camp possible. It was so much more than just vocational training. It was a journey of complete transformation that still guides and inspires me till today.