UPG Viewer

21 Years Old

Somalia

Male

Yes! That is really who you are!

My name is Abdulweli Bashir Ahmed and I am from Somalia I am now in my final semester in the Faculty of Agriculture. I possess a lot of passion towards sustainable development and I am willing to use the knowledge I have in agriculture.

After finishing high school in 2018, English and leadership skills development became my focus. Once I mastered these skills, I started university in 2020, and I was assigned leadership positions in school, any company, non – profit organization, and university clubs. These positions have an opportunity to manage different teams and/or positively contribute in each environment, as well as further develop knowledge of sustainability.

The reason why I think I would benefit from becoming a UPG Sustainability Leader is that it will allow me to develop the skills necessary to create positive change that happens in a way that is sustainable for the long term and sustainable agriculture is a part of it, in particular will help others to become the change they want to see in the world.

1. Leadership Experience. 2. Agricultural Knowledge. 3. Commitment to Sustainability. 4. Strong Communication Skills. 5. Teamwork and Collaboration. 6. Adaptability and Problem-Solving

Strong Communication Skills
A year ago, I managed an extension project held in Afgoe-Somalia by a non-profit organization collaborated with our faculty, and I was chosen to become a group leader.
When I was working as the manager of an extension project in Afgoe-Somalia, I quickly learned the importance of effective communication in the project. They undertook social marketing interventions in an effort to teach general farmers in the region better methods of farming that were ecofriendly or were friendly to their welfare.

In order to familiarize the community with the project and its utility for sustainable farming, I arranged several meetings. In these meetings, I was very careful not to explain things in complicated way since the farmers themselves are not very fluent in scientific terms. I also included a range of graphic organizers and other types of handouts that I agreed with teachers intended to help students who have difficulties with comprehending the material better understand it.

Also, I engaged the farmers in an open politics where they could express themselves, including their problems. It also created trust between us and enabled me to better meet the training needs of the readers. Therefore we realized high turnout for our training workshops and many farmers expressed that they were able to adopt some practices and have improved crop yields and better soils.

Being part of this successful planning and implementation process further helped me realize that strong communication was the key to bringing change within communities with regard to sustainable agriculture.

My first volunteer experience was during second semester of my second year at university where I joined an environmental activist organization which mainly concentrated on cleaning up the environment and planting trees. In one of the projects, we held a weekend activity to organise ourselves and residents to develop an overgrown park in our community. As if dressed in uniforms, we were each equipped with gloves, trash bags and lots of passion; we spent our day picking up trash, trimming the overgrown grass, and planting new trees.

The fact is, when we were conducting the event, I saw a number of children looking at us nervously. It is from this position that I invited them to participate. They were more than willing to help to clean up litter and also to plant a few sapling. It made clean

Secondary: I have completed secondary school

If I were to head a project under sustainability, I will start the Recycling Awareness and Resource Program in my community. This would entail sensitization of residents on the need to recycle, and on the general need to reduce the amounts of waste that was being produced, as well as availing to them more convenient ways of disposing of their waste. They include creating awareness to the community, organizing awareness sensitization activities such as workshops and metallic vonVare recycle bin, encouraging the composting of the biodegradable waste and the use of reusable products. Further, there can be drop-off locations for difficult to recyle items. This project would not only cut down waste in our society but would also change people’s attitude in a community towards environment protection in our society.

There are likely to be difficulties in implementing the Recycling Awareness and Resource Program. Some residents may not even know about recycling so it will be best that I organize on workshops and go to some schools. The problem might be financing, to solve which, I will form cooperation with businesses and apply for surveys. That way I will build a volunteer team to sustain the program in the future. People may not want or be willing to embracing changes and, therefore, I will ensure that the environment is conducive for change and that achievement of progress is acknowledged. Last of all, the arrangements for collection with local waste management will also be done by me. To overcome these challenges, I have sought the following objectives so as to design and implement an impactful program.

More than 500 people

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