I never thought I needed training, until I joined ABLI

Happiness is an episode life. Running on caffeine and three hours of sleep, my morning was bad. I had to catch a train otherwise, I would run late. As I sat in the train, I decided to check my overwhelmingly full mail. I scrolled through looking for any important ones and then sort the rest later. One caught my attention, my dad had sent me an email, it was a rare occurrence. The subject head read: invitation to a training. It never took my attention as such, I ended up locking my phone as I needed to catch up on my sleep.

Each day presents a new experience. I am always looking forward to learning more.

As I left class, I checked my emails once again with the intention of getting to understand more of the ‘training’. The program was being conducted by Emerging Leaders Foundations (ELF), an organization I had not heard of before. Like any curious being, I did a quick nosedive and checked their website to learn more about what they do. I was not doing anything else apart from French classes and so I thought, ‘Why not apply’.

One thing led to another and soon after, I got a call one evening for an interview, an impromptu interview, which I was not ready for but nonetheless, I went through with it. At the moment, I was sure that I wasn’t getting a slot in the program. Voila! I got an email confirming that I had made the cut into the program. I could say it was God’s Grace. I have been in trainings before and thought this one would be as the previous ones; long boring lectures, no discussions and team building. I have to admit I am not a people person, I love being part a passive member.

The first day I was not so sure. I logged in, the music was nice and I thought just a few more minutes. Sure enough I ended up listening to the whole session. I then thought to myself, may be it is day one. With time I have come to see it was not just the first day.  Each day presents a new experience.  I am always looking forward to learning more and filling my puny brain with ideas and knowledge. I have never considered leadership, but this training has motivated me to finish reading a book on leadership. I thought I would pick up in-depth learning once I started my post-graduate studies. ELF has really made an impact in my life. I am learning to contribute to the sessions, human interaction is not bad after all. Outgrowing my comfort space has made me explore new opportunities. I only told stories anonymously, now I can put my name out there to accompany my pieces. ABLI has really shed light on my life, I have learnt a lot. I can confidently say that it is shaping the person I am becoming.

I appreciate ELF and BSK for affording me this opportunity. Each new day I am finding myself looking at things in a different perspective, am learning, adopting, and dropping old habits. Training virtually can be hectic, you guys have beat the odds. I am happy to be in this program at such a time.

By Zipporah Mwangi-ABLI 2020