A female soldier being among the winners of the prestigious Rehendhi award was a great honor for the Defense Force; especially for female soldiers and officers. Rehendhi Award is given by the government since 2013, to honor the work of women who make significant contributions to the nation. SFC Shamha Yoosuf, from LH.Naifaru, is a brave, courageous, skilled and a very hard working soldier who has served in the defense force for over 17 years. Her services make us all proud.

She is a soldier who has undergone many of the training courses in MNDF performing at the same level as men. The training courses she has completed include, MNDF basic course, Special Task Force, NCO Cadre, instructor training course, weapon instructor course, anti-aircraft heavy machine gun course, close combat level 1, corporal course, sergeant course, basic diving course, advance diving course and NCO leadership course.

Some of these courses are found to be tough even by most male soldiers, and many struggle to complete them. However, SFC Shamha was found to have shown uncommon courage and dedication in the successful complete of all these course.

Furthermore, SFC Shamha has been working day and night as an instructor in many different trainings conducted by the Maldives national defense force, alongside male colleagues. Some of the courses she served are, basic courses held from 1999 till today, she worked in 16 batches as an instructor. She worked as a weapon instructor, and field craft and tactics instructor.

Moreover, she worked as an instructor and a “ma’am” (lead female instructor in charge of female trainee affairs) in 6 different STF batches; weapon instructor in 9^th NCO Cadre course; ITC instructor in two swimming instructor courses; ITC instructor in 9^TH Physical training instructor course. Apart from these courses, she worked in two serials of exercise “vidhvaru ekatha” as a weapon instructor. In 2015, she worked as a field craft and tactics instructor in police tactical responder course held by Maldives police service. Furthermore, she has worked as a platoon sergeant for 5 national cadet camps and worked as a weapon instructor in in these camps. She also worked as a coordinator for two girl guide camps. In addition, she worked as a weapon and a female instructor in the program “weekend with MNDF” arranged for the youths of Maldives. She even worked as an instructor in the counselors training program held at K.Girifsuhi.

Besides working as an instructor, SFC Shamha has also contributed in amending the curricula of various trainings. She has made contributions to the curricula of basic course, advance weapon instructor course, basic weapon instructor refresher course and STF training course. SFC Shamha has physically worked in the launching of weapon handling manual’s volume two and contributed in developing the weapons package of second OTW.

Evidently, SFC Shamha has a special fondness for weapons. From the initial phases of her trainings in MNDF, she showed a unique skill and interest in handling and learning about weapons.

Apart from her military skills, SFC Shamha, is also skilled in handicraft. She participated in many handicraft exhibitions and has achieved gold medals. She has won first place in the Chief of Defense Force’s Art and Craft Exhibitions, in the mixed craft category and achieved third place in the pencil drawing category. She achieved first place in her category in the Second CDF Art and Craft Exhibition and won second place in weaving and embroidering in that exhibition. Moreover, she participated in “fannu verikamuge maurazu” held in national art gallery targeted to exhibit youth’s talent.

SFC Shahma also excels in fitness and sports. She has been a high achiever in various sports events and competitions. She has won gold medals in the MNDF athletics competitions in 100 meter and 200-meter sprint and silver in long jump. She has represented MNDF in government office futsal championship and won. The same year FAM organized a women’s futsal cup and the team from MNDF achieved the runner-up position with SFC Shamha in the team as a player.  She participated in the badminton competition held by MNDF and won the runner-up positions in the singles, doubles and mixed categories.

SFC Shamha from the College of Defence and Security Studies, aspires to see the day when female soldiers commonly work at an equal level with male soldiers in field. She is a good example for all those are there to come forward in defence of the nation. She is a star among all Maldivian women. She is one exemplary soldier who is inspiring every Maldivian woman by her bravery, courage and dedication.