Know Who You Are to Unlock Your Potential
By: Claire Uwineza
May 10, 2016
Aline Mwiza Uwashimimana lives in Muhanga, the Southern Province of Rwanda and works as a sales person at a Rwandan insurance company, UAP/Muhanga. Aline attended Resonate’s Storytelling for Leadership training through our partnership with Cornerstone Leadership Academy-Rwanda, where she completed her high school education in Biology, Chemistry and Geography.
A few weeks after the training Aline sent us a text message saying ” Thank you so much for your training, it helped me to be confident and I managed to get a job in UAP insurance Rwanda . Thank you for contributing to my success”. We were thrilled and touched by her message, so we reached out to her. After speaking with her for an hour, I can say that Aline’s courage and enthusiasm to tackle life’s challenges is what I wish for every women in any circumstance.
When I asked Aline what made her interested in Resonate’s training she said, “I attended many training that inspired me, so I was interested to join Resonate training, so that they can help me build my story in way that can inspire other people. Among the skills gained include: self-confidence, value identification, constructing my story, interview skills, and being comfortable talking about myself in front of other people. Before the training I would shake in the interview and get nervous thinking about what I will tell the people interviewing me, but after the training I am confident talking about myself in way that I feel more comfortable and free, also in way that whoever is listening would say ‘Wow!’”
She went on to say that by developing and telling her personal story, she came to understand her personal values that she never realize she had before. Aline said that the overall experience with Resonate was great, as it helped her to overcome her own fears, and implement what she thinks could be of importance to her community. She concluded, “many people don’t know who they are, so they can’t reach their full potential and storytelling training will be something to help them.”
The best part of my job at Resonate is listening to successful stories from our past participants and the impact our programs have had on them. Can you imagine the impact it will have on our communities if we could reach 10,000 women and girls? Please support us to reach more women and girls like Aline to unlock their potential.