FUJAIRAH // An Emirati woman has made her passion for learning a career move, becoming a training instructor so she can encourage people to excel by mastering new skills and developing existing ones.
Maryam Al Yammahi, 36, realised that she wanted to help people 15 years ago when, while on a university training programme at a hospital, she noticed that disabled people were not getting the specialised care they needed.
That prompted her to organise a training session about the rights of the disabled and since then she has not looked back.
“In the past 10 years I’ve had the chance to develop my own strength in leadership, team building and confidence by attending many courses that have helped me in developing others’ skill sets,” she said. “My passion started when I was undertaking a training programme at a psychiatric hospital before graduating from the psychology department at Emirates University in 2000.
“At the hospital, I noticed that many patients with disabilities had been registered there instead of being admitted to a specialised disabled centre, and that motivated me to address this issue through a training session about the rights of disabled people and how they should be treated.
“That day I discovered my true passion and how powerful this tool could be.”
Through the years, Ms Al Yammahi has obtained many certifications from the Arabian Global Academy for training and human resources development, and the American Dover University.
“I used to give training at public and private institutions but in 2010 I opened my own training and development centre in Fujairah and called it Aldurar,” she said.
“Each month we create a training agenda that fulfils the needs of the community, such as strategic planning, administrative development, leadership and customer service skills.”
Setting up her own business, however, has not stopped Ms Al Yammahi from learning. After finishing her master’s degree in special education, she is planning to start a PhD in business management next year.
“Knowledge never stops and my main goal is to provide the community with specialised training courses at a minimum cost, therefore I charge the trainees only 5 per cent of the training costs,” she said.
Added to Ms Al Yammahi’s workload are two children and a job as a managing administrator of the disabled development section at the Ministry of Social Affairs in Abu Dhabi.
“I enjoy every single moment while implementing a training session, I provide daily life experiences and try to create an interactive session with lots of activities, workshops and plenty of useful information,” she said.
“My position at the ministry feeds my soul and allows me to provide care and development to people with disabilities, which was the reason for my success [in developing a training business].”
She said her family and husband provide the moral and financial support she needs to accomplish her dream.
“I dedicate my success to them,” she said.
rhaza@thenational.ae
