Strength of a yam vine

On my many visits to the back of a particular compound, I've found a yam vine that no one planted, it is wrapping itself around a rusty old iron post and has been two years later than it started climbing. No one has watered it, or checked on it or cared whether it has lived or died since last year's dried up because of the dry season. Then when the rains came this year, it has come back and more assertive than last year.

In the three years I've watched this vine over three complete planting seasons, there is something about it that really impressed me, but I am not entirely sure how to put into words. I know that sounds a bit ambiguous but bear with me.

This vine does not need your help to continue growing. It simply fastens itself to anything it can find that will hold its weight and it does not care if it attaches itself to rusty metal, cracked walls or another plant. There is nothing selective about it. All it needs is something to fasten onto that will support it. This is how the vine finds a way to grow.

What I've learned from watching this vine is something that I could never have learned through formal education, we were always told to wait for the right conditions, the right time and the right support structure. Well, this vine has no soil preparation, no timing and no one that has supported it and yet it continues to produce yams each year for three consecutive years.

Last Saturday, after a naming ceremony, on my long drive home with egusi stains still on my dress, I could not stop thinking about this vine. I thought about this vine the entire time on my drive home. No matter how difficult the conditions are, climbing continues.