A conference room is brimming with cheerful overlapping conversations - young teachers from across Karakalpakstan are eager to answer questions set by UNFPA trainer Damira. They look curiously at the white boards filled with prompts and colourful sticky notes, jumping at any opportunity to participate. Damira gently quiets the participants and begins a lecture on leadership attributes. Around 25 participants are gathered in this hotel conference room, on a chilly Saturday morning in Nukus to participate in a training organized by UNFPA Uzbekistan.
“I think that amazing leaders from all over the region are present in this training” says Zulfiya Turabaeva, a 29-year-old English teacher at School No.2 in Kungirot district. Upon reflecting on the second day of the leadership training for youth she proudly states, “Through exchanging of thoughts and ideas in this room, I will be able to improve my leadership abilities and teach about volunteering to my students”. Zulfiya was one of 25 teachers taking part in the leadership training for secondary school staff and adolescents that aims to develop their soft skills and consequently lead them to make an impact on their communities and schools back home. She reflects on her time volunteering during COVID-19 when call centres were opened up in her town, “with an honest conscience, when work hard and you volunteer, the person on the receiving end of your kindness is in turn able to achieve what they want. That way, society learns to do good for each other”.
The training is a four time 5-day course for peer educators that not only develops their personal skills but teaches them the tools on leading a successful information session to students and community members on topics such as healthy lifestyle, public speaking, project development and management. In order to deliver the most effective results, this training is based on peer-to-peer methodology and throughout the training, participants expressed unanimous content on its effectiveness.
Zulfiya was thrilled about the opportunity to participate in this training, with a wide smile, she noted that “I have always been interested in volunteering and in the future, it is my goal to start new projects just like this one”, she cheerfully added “I have actually created a volunteer profile on the international UN volunteer website since we do not have many opportunities here”. She notes that in the first day, she had many questions to Damira, “I was really scared about how I alone could deliver all this crucial information about volunteering back to my village, it is all so new, and I am very young”. However, as the training went on, Zulfiya not only got more motivation, but gained more confidence about her knowledge and abilities.
“Now I am thinking, I should have these types of leadership trainings at my school too – if the children knew the things that I knew, that would be wonderful”.
All participants leaving the training were ecstatic about the chance to go back to their towns and schools in various regions of Karakalpakstan and exemplify competent leadership and volunteering to their students and other peers.
