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One of the most fascinating things that I have ever experienced was travelling to a part of Nigeria that is deep into the Niger Delta with little or no infrastructure, and no access roads to some towns. Even though I am from Nigeria and spent most of my life there, I never really understood that there are millions that are not nearly as fortunate as I am until I was sent for the compulsory youth service after graduation to a place called Degema which was made up of several villages including those that lack access to basic amenities including any form of access road to the villages. Towns like Bille in Degema can mostly only be accessed by boats. These boats are not the safest meaning that locals and visitors have to take great risk just to access other towns. I was enamoured by this journey using a simple local boat despite my fears and at several times, it felt that we may not make it. However, on getting to the town, I found very warm locals willing to welcome visitors. I was also very enamoured with the sight of adults doing incredible work and children seeking education under such conditions and this restored my hopes in reality. Despite my pleasant experiences, I was left to reflect on why a town that is not very far from a lot of crude oil fields which where exploited by multinational companies and is the resources base of the nation can be in such condition. I saw great people, and tradition including fantastic dances and culture and this indicated a town with huge potentials if only the region is not constantly dragged down by lack of amenities and crime. In addition, the exploitation of their community for decades have left unimaginable levels of pollution due to multiple oil spills with no plan to clean it up. This forever activated my sense of exploration and made me realise that at the age of 22, which I was at that time, I should not be visiting such places for the first time considering it is just a six hour drive from my hometown in Nigeria. Since then, I have continued to explore new places in Asia and Europe but Bile town and Degema left the most lasting impression on me and made me want to tell stories of people living in communities that have been basically forgotten by the rest of the world.