The Way to World Pulse is My Journey Through Belief in Change

Published here

My journey to World Pulse has started the day I traveled to Maatoug; a village in Algazeera state with dozens of volunteers with medical and health studies backgrounds as a part of health promotion campaigns. I was 19 years old and studying my 2nd year at faculty of pharmacy. In Maatoug I've met girls in my age and even younger. I was shocked to know that they were mothers and some of them were divorced. I felt deeply sorry for them; a girl at the age of 19 should not be a mother and a wife; they should be thinking about attending university and getting graduated. I noticed that girls at the age of 12-13 years old are chatting about marriage and skin bleaching. They thought that to get a man; they have to get fairer skin and be pretty. I've realized that; while I'm feeling grieved because my family doesn't accept my activism; there are a lot of young women cannot make major decisions about their lives and how it should be. I've continued joining health promotion campaigns and keeping an eye on the status of women across Sudan.

By 2006 I've produced my wall journal "Antidote" anonymously and focusing on major sociopolitical incidents and commenting on stories about women rights like the news about a female obstetrician leading a campaign against passing an act banning FGM.

On 2011 while chatting to my boyfriend I told him that I need to write and share my opinions as I've not written anything since my graduation in 2008. His eyes sparked and told me about "blogs" and how the Egyptian activists used them for a political cause and introduced me to Lina Bin Mihanni's Blog. Immediately he sent me an online book on "Social media for advocacy". Few weeks ago he sent me an email about "Voices of Our Future 2013"

Till Dec 2011 I was not that much into blogging; but I thought "why not?" When I've spoken to a young activist and a friend about the status of displaced women around Khartoum and how intelligence officers are not making their lives easier by restricting the voluntary and civil society work. He immediately said "Why don't you start blogging and tell the world about that"

Since that time I'm blogging to inform & to inspire. I'm blogging about women I've met. I told my personal experience about sexual harassment in the streets of Khartoum. I've joined global campaigns for peace in Sudan and women rights in Africa. My stories about sexual harassment have leaded my readers to brainstorm on putting strategies of protection from harassment. I've received questions about the status refugees in Sudan, how they could be helped.

My journey to World Pulse is my journey to discover that every single voice matter. All you need is motivation which is your story, inspiration to speak out which is the impact of your words and belief that you can create better world which is the achievements reflected in World Pulse.

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I've wrote this post as part of Voices of Our Future Program 2013, "click here to visit the program website"

on April 16th, 2013 Sudanese Dream Blog is celebrating its 1st Birthday and I think narrating the journey to blogging is a suitable gift, and I can tell that I'm not the same person as before starting this journey.