By Hassan Saeed

When I found out that I had been selected for the Training of Trainers Workshop in Bali, there were no bounds to my happiness. I could see a whole new door opening in my life, a door that would define the next most crucial years for me in terms of my education and career. I was pumped up, excited, prepared, nervous and greatly looking forwards to learning new skills, meeting new people and networking. Finally the day arrived. 

The workshop started off fantastically and got us involved in the learning process right away. From amazing trainers to an amazing place and amazing alumni colleagues, the entire workshop could not have been a better set-up. Over the next four days, we were involved in intense activity-based learning as well as in processing and implementing our new knowledge in the train-back sessions; this was one of the most productive experiences of my life. 

For my train-back session, I chose the topic "Importance of Blogging". I was lucky that Sahar, Alumni Outreach Coordinator for the YES Program at American Councils, and Carolyn Rehn of AFS were my mentors. During the session, I engaged the participants through various quizzes, games and tweeting as I continued to enlighten the importance of blogging for students and professionals. Importantly, Shughaib Abdi, Alumni from Tanzania and Carolyn Rehn (Trainer) tweeted for the first time along with the other participants. It was a great success to see them accomplished and willing to continue micro-blogging. 

Upon my arrival back home, I got to work right away! I prepared a six-month calendar for the Alumni in Pakistan, proposed plans for Global Youth Service Day 2013, and started working on the YES Alumni State Grant. In addition, I worked on a special project with mentally disabled students at the Special Education Center in Peshawar. Along with YES Alumni in Peshawar, I will be conducting a 2-day workshop for these mentally disabled students on February 22nd and 23rd, 2013 which will provide an opportunity for them to enhance their cognitive and creative abilities. This project is special to me because I will be spending my birthday with these beautiful children, which I wouldn't trade for anything!  

During the Training of Trainers Workshop, I learned that the world is just like a global village where the youth of today now share a common culture. I was inspired to learn about the Alumni from far distant areas like Suriname and Mozambique and how they are engaged in their communities to improve their living conditions. It is evident that no matter where we come from and no matter where we go, we are a force of individuals with a common purpose and goal to give back to our communities, benefit them and help them in every way possible.

The best quality about YES Alumni is that wherever we go, we are flexible enough to find or create a home for ourselves. I first realized this as I networked with some of the best people ever. The trainers were fantastic and the arrangements from AFS Indonesia were spot on. Although we met as strangers, we left as a family with the spirit to build on our learned knowledge as we returned to our home communities. That is the essence that truly counts at the end of the day.

I'd also like to use this opportunity to thank the American Councils, AFS Indonesia, iEARN-USA, iEARN-Pakistan and all the organizing partners for this amazing opportunity. Terima Kasih!