Listening from the heart

‘My name is Gifty Pearl and I am speaking to you from Ghana. I work for and with girls; basically empowering girls through building self-confidence, personal development and social change initiatives trainings..’ I had begin during the Skype conference call only to hear ‘ sorry Gifty but we cannot hear you’. Oops! Bad internet connection again!

I had prepared to share my experiences as VOF 2009 graduate during our first Listeners Questions and Answers on skype. I was online thirty minutes before the time. I had tested my skype skills and my head set. I was ready.It was exciting to hear the voice of Rachael for the first time on skype, the voices of the first group of listeners as we introduce our selves and then the voice of Jensine speaking about when and why she conceived and gave birth to Worldpulse. But my voice could not be heard due to bad internet connection. My mind quickly raced back to my journey as a VOF 2009 applicant.

For me, being a Voices of our Future Correspondent last year was learning and a rewarding experience. For instance, being in a virtual classroom was very new to me. I was doing on line training for the first time and I was a novice to Pulsewire and web 2.0. Many times I felt nervous as I clicked the mouse to create a post, staring hard at my computer in Cyber cafes wondering if I would succeed in publishing my story in my journal on line or not. I heaved a sigh of relief and smiled from ear to ear when I saw my posts sitting in my journal. Comments from my on line friends and family made my heart swell with pride.

Learning together with other correspondents across the world was also a new experience. Each correspondent was unique and was telling a unique story painting with words the situation of women and global issues that affects women and girls in a particular community and country name. Some of which were names I was hearing for the first time. The voice of each correspondent speaking on issues was a learning opportunity for me. The work and passion of each correspondent was inspiring and challenging. As I interacted with other correspondents I was moved by their visionary voices, their encouraging words and their bold actions in their various communities. Each correspondent was a gem and taking initiatives to bring change in their communities and countries.

My mentor - Being paired with my mentor Kathy Castro was .... which word can aptly describe the experience? Ours is a mutual sharing and learning friendship. Meeting Kathy right here in my country was wonderful. The whole experience was shared here- http://www.worldpulse.com/node/11447

The unending power and beauty of connections on this journey is real with Pulsewire. In Febraury this year, I had the opportunity to meet with Sunita Basnet a fellow correspondent in London. Both Sunita and myself were speaking on the power of the media. Sunita told the world the need to stop killing women journalist, the need to elicit and include women’s voices and I reminded the world the fact that many million people do not have access to the internet though the internet throwing a challenge to Governments to ensure that people have access to the media. Our meeting story is here http://www.worldpulse.com/node/17716

My midwives were very supportive and helped be deliver powerful stories. From my first assignment -http://www.worldpulse.com/node/11247 to my last - http://www.worldpulse.com/node/14302 they were there to support and nurture.

I had my fair share of challenges from lack of a personal computer, walking long distances to find a cyber cafe and queuing in internet cafes for long hours before logging on to internet to access pulsewire but overcoming these challenges made me strong.

What I am I doing with the training today? I report as a Freelance Journalist for the Press institute. I have also published stories in our national news paper- The Daily Graphic and youth magazines. I also intend to train women in Ghana on Citizen Journalist through our skills based training projects

As I prepare to listen I want to listen from my heart. When we listen with only our ears, we may forget but when we listen from our hearts we are touched as we hear the silent sacred voices clearly from our sisters in the forgotten, unknown and hidden corners of the world.