Missing Module 5 Skype Call: I'm sad, happy and grateful

Dear sisters, Rachael and Scott

Since the VoF program took off, I have been eagerly waiting for the skype calls every month - the only opportunity to hear you all and of course to be rescued by Scott when in tech trouble :)

But this time around, I am gonna miss it. Obviously, I am sad, but the reasons for missing the call is so great, I am also happy. Happy to share, and to say thanks to this program and WP.

As the program VoF progressed, doors have been opening for me all over. One of them is Panos London -a development media organization for which I have been reporting since Dec'11. On 17th March, I will be one of the 7 journalists worldwide chosen to visit London for a series of media activities. This includes getting introduced to editors of Europe's leading media houses. Could I be any more excited?

But excitement isn't the only emotion to mention; I also have gratitude, for helping me go more miles than I expected to, in such short time.

To elaborate it a bit, prior to Nov'11, I was a journalist who had just turned a freelancer and was struggling for survival. I had stories, but not many takers.

And today, I have so many assignments, I am rejecting offers! I can't handle them all.

Just to look at my April schedule: I will be making a documentary on Transparency International - the global social movement against corruption, another documentary on Sustainable development for Friedrich Ebert Stifftung of Germany,. I will also doing a story for Women's News Network on rural entrepreneurs (I have known Lys Anzia of WNN for a while and they have published my stories earlier) and then attend a national seminar on Green architecture. In the last case, I have been inducted into the board of advisers - an absolute honor.

Oh, and as I write this, I am getting an invite to write for a magazine that the UNEP is launching next month.

In short, I can't finish counting my blessings. But I can gauge the gratitude to this program because this is where I found it all: my self-confidence, higher volume to my voice and the beginning of my brand new story. This is a program that helps you discover your strength and use it too.

So, with gratitude in my heart, I prepare to go to London where, beside all the official networking, I also plan to meet the brother of my lovely mentor Sara Collins who is fast becoming my family!

Love and hugs to all and best wishes for Module 5