PLAYING MY PART IN THE BIGGER PICTURE

I got a call from my parents over the weekend telling me about a vacancy post they saw in the newspaper and wanted me to apply for. I refused. They were so shocked to my response and they could not understand when I explained to them that I have decided to take a different route with my career. I told them that I have decided to exert all my energy and time in doing work I am passionate about. Am not concerned about money (it has never been about the money for me) but rather knowing my purpose and finding a way to fulfill that purpose in all I do.

I have struggled to find my purpose in life. I have read a lot of books on this & I have had motivational talks to help me find my purpose. I felt lost not knowing my purpose. But every time I thought about it only ONE thing came to mind: I want to serve people. I did not know how, where & when but nothing gave me so much pleasure and joy. But all along I thought this purpose would be more deep and it would come to me in a dream or from a man of God (dramatic I know..lol) but it never did. Every time I thought about it, it all boiled down to the very same thing “Serving people”. But each year I would make resolutions to find that specific life purpose for me.

When I got selected to go to University of Malawi: The Polytechnic, to study Technical Education I was distraught I had never heard about this course and I never wanted to be a teacher because of how everyone else viewed teachers. In the past teachers were respected people in society and it gave parents so much pride to have a child that was a teacher. But times have changed and teachers are no longer respected as much, they get little pay and bad conditions for working. So no one really wants to be a teacher, or at least me and the circles I hang around with.  So the four years I spent at college studying something I was not passionate about were stressful and boring for me, that is why when I graduated, I never went into the teaching profession. I have always been a believer of everything happening for a reason, and I knew deep down that studying technical education was a stepping stone for me. It was a foundation built for greater things to come.

Working with Youth Empowerment & Civic Education (YECE) for the past 22 months has been an awesome experience and a great eye opener for me. YECE has exposed me to a lot of things that gets me fired up! I have met inspirational young people doing great things through this organization. And through all this I have finally found my place and role in the bigger picture. So as my project comes to an end this March, I have mixed feelings; am excited to start a new path and take a journey of self discovery of how best I can fulfill my purpose. Am also afraid at the same time, of leaving familiar grounds and the comfort ability of the environment and the people I have been with for the past 22 months, people that were more like a family than just workmates.  Even though I do not have another job lined up, yet, but I am excited to finally know what my purpose is and how fulfilling that purpose completes the bigger picture.

YCSRR TRAINING ON ICPD

I arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 2am on a cold Sunday morning. It was amazing to see how busy Nairobi was even in the wee hours of the morning. I could not wait to get into bed and just sleep like a baby. The whole of Sunday was spent resting and exploring the beautiful ever so busy city of Nairobi, I had heard about the crazy traffic in Nairobi but witnessing it was another experience. And mastering the simple art of crossing the roads was a skill one had to learn and I did J

I was in Nairobi for the training that had been organized by the Youth Coalition on Sexual Reproductive Rights (YCSRR) for youth SRR Advocates, this was the only training to be done in Africa and I was honored to have been selected as one of the 20 participants from these African countries: Malawi, Kenya, Zambia, Cameroon, Liberia, Gambia, Ghana, Botswana & Sierra Leone. I was even more excited to be amongst young people from all over Africa that were activists in their countries; I could not wait to hear about the amazing works they do in their respective countries, their success stories and of course share the challenges and my country stories as well.

The training was for four days and the first two days were spent on drilling us on International Conference on Population & Development (ICPD) basics; how it all came about and all the relevant meetings and conferences that led to the formation of the ICPD. We also looked at the history of the MDGs and the meetings that led to the process of the formation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) framework. By the end of Day 2, we did an exercise where we made a flower and fitted all the activities and meetings that made the two frameworks and how finally they meet and feed into the Sustainable Development Goals Framework. It was emphasized that the process leading to the convention of these two frameworks required a lot of advocacy and noise making from the youth s all over the globe so that special attention to Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) can be made. It was only through this way that we then can advocate in our respective countries for specific laws and policies on Sexual Reproductive Health. The facilitators also elaborated on upcoming meetings and conferences that we can participate in advocate for Sexual Reproductive Health & Rights (SRHR).  It was also pointed out that each country is currently doing solo consultations on the review process for both frameworks and we should participate in these national consultations as well.

The last two days were spent on presentations on advocacy skills and some of the techniques used when advocating and how important it was to use the right terminologies, statistics and facts. We had world café sessions; this was my personal favorite session where we all participated in making body maps on four different topics. This exercise brought out a lot of interesting views and emotions on: Gender equality or equity, traditional values, LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Inter sex)  and Abortion. What I learnt from this is that before we are advocates we are first human beings and we each have personal beliefs and values but it is important to not let these things crowd our advocates’ values as well. It is important to speak with one voice as advocates and also to be aware of our political environment because we might be harmed and at worst killed. We finally made our comprehensive advocacy plan by using the template given and presented each step to the group.

It was a busy four days; full of information, gaining of new skills and knowledge; and of course the formation of partnerships and friendships through the networking event. I went back to my country with one thing on my mind: I will not ask my country what it will do for me as a young person but rather what can I do for my country. I will create that space and demand to be heard as a young person and make sure SRHR will come out in the Malawi ICPD Review process.