COMnGO Came to my Life at the Right Moment

By Marta Cáceres.

For 20 years I have been a Social Worker in Nicaragua, until I had to take over the communication area of ​​the organization in which I was working. I received some training and workshops on social media, and graphic design, but I felt that they were not enough… Until in 2017 I had the opportunity to participate in the COMnGO project.

From the beginning this experience had forced me to leave my comfort zone, making me face new experiences and challenging myself to do things that I did not think possible due to my health state… For example, I had never traveled alone or slept in a tent in the shadows of a castle… In the first trips the weather and food differences made me sick, but with every setback I faced, I felt eager to learn new things and expand my limits.

At the beginning I was not convinced to participate in the project, because we had just lost my mom and I did not feel comfortable leaving my family so soon, but my dad encouraged me to participate, and it was a unique experience, to find people who made me feel welcomed from the beginning.

When my mom died in 2017, my dad (publicist by profession) started to get depressed, because he considered that he was becoming useless, and that he could not help anyone, but COMnGO has helped us as a family to overcome this difficult stage, because each training I received, every new knowledge I acquired I discussed it with my dad, and he encouraged me to undertake new projects based on what I was learning. So this became something that united us more.

Each workshop meant for me a space for reflection and learning, where guided by my teachers I improved my communication skills.

In the three training workshops: Internal Institutional Communication, Social Networks and Website Development, I had the opportunity to count on the support of professionals who were able to answer all my doubts and made the learning process much more attractive.

At the end of the Internal and External Communication workshop I decided to go deeper into the subject and I realized that very few organizations have an institutional communication plan, which is why I wrote a book (which is for sale in Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KK2NBKW), which is a guide for non-governmental organizations to draft their own institutional communication plan.

With the Social Networks workshop I realized that even when working with social networks is not as difficult as it may seem, for many organizations and entrepreneurs it is, so I started to support some organizations and entrepreneurs with their Facebook and Instagram profiles.

After the Website Workshop, I decided to open my web page (https://cronicasdeunapatadeperro.com) and continue with the topic of communication for NGOs.

One of the commitments acquired with the COMnGO project was to carry out communication workshops in my country of origin, that’s why I made some strategic alliances with:
· International Rotary Club – Somoto Headquarters.
· Martin Luther University of Ocotal.
· Ocotal Women Business Network – OCOTAL FEST.
· Federation Red Nicasalud (which brings together 15 NGOs of Nicaragua).
· Association for the Development of People.

Making a total of 7 workshops that included:
· Marketing and Social Networks
· Photography.
· G-Suite.

Currently I have several followers in the social networks that have hired me to develop their web pages, and help them with their communication plans, and I have given training workshops in Digital Marketing in different cities of Nicaragua, and a workshop is planned in Phoenix, Arizona in October.

Before starting with COMNGO I was wondering what to do for the rest of my life, now I know, my goal is to help others through communication.