I am Khadiga Mustafa from Sudan. I am a social worker and I also work as a project manager for a project that aims at ensuring women’s participation in political and public life.
I participated in the Training for Transformation (TFT) Youth Training in 2020 and it was an excellent experience. TFT methodology is a participatory one that allows us and the communities to actively participate in their development programmes. In this kind of programmes dialogue takes place between the stakeholders and decision-makers.
On a Personal Level
TFT impacted me in many ways. It boosted my confidence and impacted my thinking; I now think so deeply about things. One of the most significant tools I learned is the levels of change. Change starts with the self. I also learned about the tree of life where I had to reflect on myself, my strength, what keeps me going, and things to let go. This helped me to understand myself better so I can face challenges and make a change.
TFT Practiced in Sudan
After the training and for the first time, I led a training workshop in Kassala city, in the eastern part of Sudan where I facilitated a process using TFT tools on civic education. The training aimed at advocating for women’s civic participation. One participant said “this is an unforgettable training.” I realized that I was able to share the information and people understood what I was talking about. Another participant also said “we will be using these tools in our meetings.” One of the most important tools I used was the four responses to poverty. This helped people to understand the objectives of their interventions in the community – do they want to provide food for people or do they want to advocate for change! In this workshop we were able to come up with a clear work plan at the end.
Participating at TFT raised my enthusiasm and this has increased my productivity to the point that I designed a project using the methodology. I ensured that in all our training activities we use the TFT tools and adapt them to our context. In my organization we conducted a workshop on micro grants using TFT tools such as the listening survey.
Before joining the training, I was not able to make linkages between the problems but now I realized how things are connected and how the challenges at the regional and universal level affect us locally.
