Where should I start? From where I stopped last or from where I am now… Whatever I decide, I have to continue telling the story of my journey.
After meeting with phenomenal sister from POWER UP, when
back home I realized that it was important for me to identify the area where I
need capacity building most; I then understood that acquiring some new
knowledge to improve my work was necessary. Among other needed skills was the
ability to analyze policies, to conduct research, to collect data (to
document), to produce quality report, to build a strong network and to carry an
efficient advocacy campaign.
As I was busy prioritizing this need, an opportunity was
opened for me to attend a three weeks public policy analysis and leadership
training in Johannesburg. While stressing on where to get sponsorship to attend
the training, I talked to a colleague who was worried that I was going to miss
the training and decided to fundraise for me. However, raising enough funds to cover
both my tickets and dinner was more challenging than we anticipated. Some
partners answered that they do not pay for individual’s training, others said
it was short notice, while most replied that they had no more fund available
for such training. Of course it was discouraging and stressful because the date
for the training was approaching… How should I deal with this emotional
pressure?
Before being part of POWER UP program, dealing with
pressure, stress and any emotional situation would make me under a terrible
state, but this time I had faith and most of all I was able to keep my head
calm and I was constantly aware of what my body was telling me: “Anny there is
no need to stress to death, you will be sick; then what?”
Like they say, in Africa nothing good comes easy. Looking
backwards, I realized that since our stop child marriage campaign needed strong
public policy analysis skill, data collection, research and documentation, I could
go back to our partner (OSISA, DRC) and motivate why attendance to the course
was important for the implementation of the campaign. With the financial
support of our partner (OSISA, DRC) who had just accepted to support. This
still was not a given. But with faith and perseverance, I finally made it to
Johannesburg and attended what I consider my second most important and crucial
training after the 2009 feminism and leadership course in Mutare, Zimbabwe, thanks
to OSISA-DRC. This was something good for me, for my work in empowering more
young women in Congo.
I must say, every module was very significant in building my
capacity as a young leader on various skills, ranging from understanding the
making of public policies and being able to analyze them, conflict resolution,
leadership styles, communication, and advocacy strategies to research, data
collection and report writing.
The three weeks of training not only allowed me to have a
deeper understanding of the challenges of public policy in the DRC but also to
share successful/ or failures experiences of other countries in the SADC
sub-region . Beyond the theory, practical exercises helped to better understand
the complexities, contradictions and inconsistencies that policies dictated by
reasons other than the welfare of the African people can hide.
The gains of the training will surely help me better analyze
(ideas) projects and better assess their impact on the daily lives of targeted group
(girls and young women) that cover the main areas of the program. Personally,
this knowledge has shaped the basis of a more particular view of the challenges
of governance in the DRC and new paths to take to be at the service of the
Congolese nation and more specifically young women efficiently.
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