Development is such an important thing that is the main reason of making things better or even exist. For example, without learning and practicing we will not be able to gain skills and develop ourselves and without getting technical or financial support you will not be able to make use of any available resources. Development means making things better and making a positive change; therefore, as development occur among individuals or businesses its affect will reach the whole community. This simple knowledge about development made me so excited when I had the opportunity to work at SMEPS as I previously knew that it is a Small and Micro Enterprise development agency that aims to make a difference by providing support to individuals and projects or business owners.

Working in a place for the first time requires a lot of concentration, effort and curiosity to ask about everything. It requires using your own skills and previous experience in order to accomplish the work efficiently and in less time. SMEPS work environment is suitable and helps you to learn procedures and duties fast whether related to your project or other projects so you can learn more and have a whole picture of practiced activities. Team work, flexibility, and availability to find help and answers from anyone at any time made me so comfortable and helped me in so many ways. I will never forget during my first week I was asked to handle some documents to an officer, I went to someone whom I thought that he is an officer while he actually was a line manager! He didn’t tell me that this work should be handled to his officer and not him, he dealt with me normally, answered my questions and helped me too. I didn’t know, the way of him answering all my questions didn’t give me a small hint that he is a manager. Days passed by and I knew his position, I was so impressed how SMEPS environment is so equal and friendly to the point where I wasn’t able to differentiate who’s a manger and who’s an officer.

What I have gained is not just learning, understanding and getting a new experience, it is a whole transformation and an add up to my experience, skills, effectiveness, capability of processing duties, and handling stress. When there is a perfect teamwork and when every one’s work is related to others’ you will totally feel that you are an effective member of an on going development cycle and that you are making a real change. This encouraged me to gain more knowledge, helped me in utilizing my skills better and made me an efficient team worker. It enhanced my productivity. Being productive with passion is not only about producing more tasks in less time, it’s also about utilizing your time in order to make other tasks after finishing your main tasks.

Accomplishing grants payment requests, translating and uploading success stories, meeting field consultants and get to know their duties, attending different workshops and training courses, made me love the work am doing and gave me passion and feeling of responsibility and importance of each and every activity.

I’ve found that providing opportunities and job creation transforms talents, skills and efforts into creations, success and productivity. According to that, tasks were done smoothly even the long or stressful tasks. For instance, there was an internship program for agriculture engineers which had long process procedures and complicated tasks, but I was not stressed and worked with passion imagining the outcome and benefits resulted from this opportunity for both traders and agriculture engineers.

I’ve always wanted to meet the hero of each success story. I wanted to see the outcomes, success, and challenges that I’ve always heard about the fields. The most touching thing that happened to me is my trip to two regions in Dhamar. When you feel more than one thing at the same time, you will find it hard to be described. That is what I felt when meeting some of our beneficiaries and feeling their passion, challenge, energy, and  happiness it was really an indescribable experience. I felt like I am standing in front of a bunch of motive, hope, happiness, insistence. It gave me an amazing positive energy that touched my heart.

One of the farmers I’ve met was a young man who has created solution to prevent damage that would affect his farm because of the hail during rainy season, and other farmers replicated his idea to their farms too.

“After irrigation drip systems was installed and firstly used I was flying over my farm like a flying bird”, Warda happily expressed to me while we were taking a walk next to her farm and what she has felt immediately after her irrigation drip systems has been installed. Also, I was so glad to hear her father’s complimentary poem about modern techniques and the change that has occurred to their life. Warda is a widow woman who struggled and planted her farm by herself in order to have a source of income for her and her children. She learnt how to use modern techniques, fertilizers and she is now the farmers’ reference and adviser in many agricultural issues. Warda has told me that she wants to enhance her gained practices by learning more lessons about modern techniques through enrolling in modern techniques training courses. All in all, it was an honor to meet and learn from these humble farmers who have made great work and have overcome a lot of obstacles.

Yes, I’ve previously had simple knowledge about development and its importance, but now this knowledge has been enhanced just like treating photographic negative film with chemicals to make a visible and colorful image. I am so thankful to SMEPS where I had the opportunity to play an effective role of this development cycle and expressing its great benefits. Thanks Emergency Resilience-USAID team for always supporting me, encouraging me, and being patient with my ups and downs. I would like to thank all managers, officers, assistants, and consultants too. If I am satisfied of my performance and of what I’ve gained that will be because of working with such a great team who is sharing together the same objective and passion, as once the ED of SMEPS Mr. Wesam Qaid said, “Development is inside each one of us”.