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THE VISIONING WORKSHOP: A CELEBRATION OF SUCCESS, POSITIVE ENGAGEMENT AND LEARNING

“My name is Zuhura Odhiambo Migot. I am a Kenyan, born in Nairobi and a mother of four lovely kids and three grandsons. I look at myself as someone who is working towards making an impactful change in my community through my engagement with different organisations. My story started as a heartbroken woman who could not accept herself, who lived with bitterness in her heart and had given up in life not knowing that dawn will surely come in my life due to the scar that could not heal.

I joined Survivor Alliance in the year 2020 and got a chance to be one of the students in the first Survivors LEAD program where I was trained on community development and peer mentoring. While in the program I noticed that I was not alone in that journey of healing since there were others who went through a lot more than what I had experienced. So through the training I managed to heal slowly by slowly. The training was healing for me because I managed to mingle with people who had different experiences, some of which were worse than what I went through. I managed to learn some positive coping mechanisms from my fellow students as well as the facilitators.

Survivor Alliance World Congress came in the year 2021. It was a global gathering that was composed of survivors in the world, represented in the majority of both participants and speakers. There I got a chance as a panellist to speak about how we want to see survivors providing direct service in the next decade. For me that was where my journey began as a facilitator not knowing that it will lead me to facilitate in the visioning workshop. I remember a quote by Dwayne Johson that said “Don't focus on the pain, focus on the progress”. And also, another quote from a great African leader called Nelson Mandela that says “It always seems impossible until it's done”. These two quotes encouraged me that I should leave my pain behind and focus on rebuilding myself.

When the visioning workshop consultancy was advertised, I applied and managed to secure myself a chance to facilitate the event. While facilitating I noticed that survivors are very capable. We can change things if given a chance and that was a learning experience for me. Working with survivors around the globe was a lot of fun. I felt on top of myself when I met these wonderful people with great ideas, making contributions that are not just going to change their lives but also for those who will be coming later. I have also realised that survivors have not just visions, but also power that brings some impact in the movement that is being created. If given a chance, they can always create, build and change the world. The most interesting part for me was when people started sharing their minds, bringing out their inputs and most of all things that have been bothering their hearts and minds. I can say that for me, it was the greatest therapy and I believe that refers to all those who participated in the process. I say it was therapy because that was a safe space for me where I could share freely without fear of being judged or looked down upon.

I decided to write this blog for other survivors together with the allies to know that the mission and vision of Survivor Alliance is truly being applied to survivors and I am one of the pieces of evidence of empowerment from Survivor Alliance. And also for those who will be reading this, you have to understand that in order to achieve anything you have to earn it, hard work pays GOD BLESS SURVIVOR ALLIANCE.”

— Zuhura Odhiambo Migot

Read more about our visioning workshops here.