Salam Al-Nukta: Hello.
We’re two young people
coming from a little spot in the world called Syria.
You might have heard of our country only in the news
where it’s liked with destruction,
or maybe, you haven’t heard of it at all.
Eyad Al-Khayat: Syria is located on the other side of the world.
We spent 37 hours flying,
and faced many challenges and burdens
Both: …to tell a story worth sharing.
(Applause)
Eyad Al-Khayat: It’s not a story that has a secret recipe to be successful,
because our story is designed to lead to failure.
Taking a flashback into 2010,
our lives were normal,
paced on a slow motion,
and followed a peaceful routine.
We lived with our families, had our friends,
went to school everyday in the morning,
hung out in the afternoon,
and had plenty of work and hope for the future.
Back then, young people like us didn’t wish for anything more.
We somehow accepted and enjoyed our normal lives.
(Arabic) Salam Al-N: “Just when I started to build my future, my home collapsed.”
(English) I quote,
“Just when I started to build my future… My home collapsed.”
In 2011, the crisis hit.
Everything seemed to be dark.
Life turned into a small and empty box.
We, like many others, were trapped there, hopeless.
Dreams of 2010 turned into nightmares of 2011.
Bright ideas were turned off.
Projects and plans turned into impossibilities.
Our hopes and aspirations, simply, in a blink of an eye were restrained.
At that time, everything we were living indicated one absolute result: failure.
It is defined with four letters: pain.
Not the pain you feel when you cut your hand
nor the pain you feel when you fall down the stairs.
It is the pain you feel when you see your whole future falling.
It is the pain of a young person
with full potential, yet, zero opportunities.
It is the pain of all Syrian youth
being incapable of a normal life, accomplishments, and expectations.
The same two people who lock themselves in their houses in 2011
crying at their lost futures, are now here, standing in front of you
representing not just themselves and the stories they lived
but the story of a whole generation.
Today, we list four of our hard-earned lessons
for anyone who’s wishing to defeat failure.
Eyad Al-Khayat: Lesson 1: Turn your pain into passion.
In 2015, another strike hit us back.
Its power was not less than the one from 2011.
While the first one disturbed our peaceful lives
and left us with broken hopes and dreams,
the other aimed to rearrange those gales.
We decided to look at everything from a different angle.
We pledged, together, to turn every pain into passion;
every option into possibility
to create opportunities and pave the way for more success stories
from the Syrian community.
Five years of crisis created a closed community,
led to education and economic instability,
and pulled apart every youth’s desire
to set and accomplish goals.
We felt an immense need to interfere
by fixing the roots of the problem
to build a country that possesses highly desirable qualities.
We must build, raise young citizens accordingly.
We launched SYEP, the Syrian Youth Empowerment Program
that was indicated to unveil Syrian youths’ potentials
and foster their social communication and leadership skills.
Salam Al-N: When we decided to lead the SYEP,
as the first youth-led program dedicated for youth,
we sought mentorship and guidance from adults and experienced people.
Too many couldn’t see a future for us;
perhaps because they didn’t look at us as more than inexperienced amateurs
trying to explore a new and unnecessary endeavor
in a war zone.
Every time we knocked on doors seeking support,
we would hear the same statements and excuses
leading to, “Stand alone, because you’re too young to be stood with.”
And as a girl, living in a world
where it’s only men who are supposed to lead,
I had very few seats at the social entrepreneurship’s table,
if not at all.
“You’re a girl and too young. You have zero chances to succeed,”
was all that I heard.
Eyad Al-K: As a man living in a society where women are only looked at
as wives and with low abilities to compete in businesses,
I chose my partner to be heard.
(Applause)
Salam Al-N: On the road,
it took us a very long time to be convinced
that just because you believe in something and care for it,
everyone else should.
However, once we approach that fact,
we decided to not let their expectations be our destinations.
Lesson number 2: Turn your discouragements into your fuel.
On the road to accomplish your goals,
you will meet many people who will try to seize you,
your aims, and your values.
However, this must remain their issues and never become yours.
Finally, we accepted to take the challenge of approving
how two young and small people
can impact a huge community.
Eyad Al-K: But no matter how big the impact might be,
it will be bigger if more people join.
“Alone you can do so little, together we can do so much.”
I quote the words from Helen Keller and implement [them] with real actions.
We started with a team of only four passionate young people
and grew to be a team of almost 30 online and offline volunteers
with different expertise,
all willing to spend their time in making our community better;
hence, the world.
Although the general rule is to compete in order to succeed and stand out,
in our community,
collaboration is the key.
The Syrian people had shown the ability and high tendency
to work in different environments
and unite for the prosperity of their communities.
We are very proud to say that we are here
because of a story of friendship formed from Taiwan to Syria.
And we are also proud that a story formed in Syria
took its TEDx spirit from Damascus to Homs City
despite all challenges.
Homs City is located in the north of Damascus
and had been dramatically affected during the crisis
with only few streets left and many youth fleeing abroad.
During our preparations for TEDxYouth@Jahez event,
two girls messaged our page
and told us that they are willing to help us with that event.
Honestly, I didn’t think they were serious enough to do that,
but they did not only meet my expectations,
they did not only attend the event,
but they helped, and they attended every meeting before that event,
despite the long road and many challenges.
Salam Al-N: When we began our work,
we weren’t sure how this was going to develop.
However, we were certain we had a goal to reach too.
We were aiming to create
a future generation of good leaders,
of problem-solvers, and responsible youth.
Five years of continuous destruction had showed us
how young people are thirsty for inspiration and motivation.
It also created a generation
with limited horizons and very few skills to compete with in today’s world.
Lesson 4: “Set your vision:
inspire, motivate, and build.”
We are aiming to inspire the young Syrians
to take their voices globally, motivate them,
and give them the tools to stand out as successful inhabitants of this globe,
despite their nationality.
As we’re standing here, we’re saying goodbye to 2016
feeling very proud of being a small part of TEDxYouth@Jahez
with 20 ambitious speakers and 10 events.
TEDxJahezWomen:
four outstanding women and over 150 inspired people.
TEDx community in Syria:
over 2,000 influencing people, change-makers,
20 young people who are learning to code,
to bring about positive and peaceful change
to their community through innovation and technology.
We did not imagine nor planned for all this to happen six years ago.
We never thought we would be standing here,
and we never expected ordinary people to have such a huge impact
on their community in the midst of suffering.
However,
our ultimate motivation was the pain we were living day in and day out,
and as our challenges were rising up, they were only fueling our passion.
Yet, we are a very small part
of a bigger community of motivated people,
and if Syria is the mother of all pains
Both: …then Syria is the mother of all innovations.
Thank you.
(Applause)
”
Be First to Comment