The One month of Blog Training, that changed my career

 Blog writing was one of my passions and always dreamed to be a blogger; I created my first BlogSpot 2017 to post my personal view about the situations in the community particular those on my interest include education, politics, economics, and youth empowerment activities, but due to lack of basic skills and guidelines that necessary for every blogger  I quit it.

Mahad and Sadik Left to right

In November 2021, one of my friends who knew that I used to be a blogger asked me one day "how is the blogging site" I told him that I quit it because of my insufficient knowledge to deal with writings. He told me that there is a training opportunity that the Somali Public Agenda organizes for the youth who wants to be a blogger every year and recommended me to look for that opportunity.

From that day I followed all the social media platforms of t Somali Public Agenda and its Centers. I also got the contacts of some SPA’s team, fortunately, in December 2021 I searched for SPA on social media and saw the advertisement.I immediately registered for the training. 

After a few days on 21 December 2021 I got an Email from SPA`s Center for Learning and Development that Says due to a high number of applications there is a screening process that every person to write a one-page Statement of Purpose (SoP) for why I am  applying and how I am going to plan to make use of the training at that moment I wrote the statement and sent it.

SPA team and My fellow Bloggers

After nine days of the screening process, I was selected. I received the application decision email from the Center for Learning and Development with their warm congratulations that I am being selected for the blog training.

January 8th, 2022 was the first day to kick off the training and it was an amazing day to interact with a team that was full of energy and committed to help. It was really great to share a room with amazing instructors and bloggers. I can learn a lot. Thanks to Mahad and Sadik.

The training was brainstorming and intended to take 4 weeks each week. We came Saturday and Thursday, in Saturday we took the session of the week while Thursday was for mentoring the Center invites a senior blogger to share his journey, experience, and tricks for blogging between the two days we have to submit an assignment for one blog that based on the topic were discussed on the week's session to publish 4 blog posts each participant during the 4 weeks of the training.

Blogger Abdishakur and Me

It was four weeks that I can't say only 4 weeks but it is equivalent to 4 years at a University level because it was not only guidance to be a blogger indeed it was an English literature course that even taught us to be confident in writing English, the Trainers, Mentors, and SPA gave us the confidence to overcome a taboo that local university graduate can't write English language academically.

This rare opportunity opened the door for me and my fellow junior bloggers out there because it gave us the confidentiality to share and shape  our stories, bloggers that lead to being future researchers. This was an amazing and useful training that I have ever participated in.

After the 4 weeks of the training, Somali Public Agenda and the Center for Learning and Development organized a Ceremony for the certification and closing of the training and they  invited by some of the mentors who gave us testaments to pursue this journey. they also encourage us even to write one blog a month that will allow us the consistency and from that day to Racal ourselves bloggers.

Closing Ceremony Day

In  Conclusion, I would like to share my grateful appreciation to Somali Public Agenda for filling the research gap in the country, and for its role to empower the youth who are keen to be bloggers or even researchers, also I hereby say Thanks Mahad Wasuge the Director of SPA and Hassan Gulled Known as Sadik Anod the director of Center for Learning and Development for their role during the training and their tireless support before and after the training “I can't find words to describe my happiness”.