Inspiring Children – Jesus and Mary

So near to the day when our Christian brothers celebrated the birth of Jesus (PBUH), I feel it is time to talk about his inspiring actions and those of His mother, Mary (PBUH).

The story we all know is how young Mary got pregnant and felt ashamed at how she would face her community, as she was a virgin. She was only an inexperienced young girl, but already felt the burden of the community’s responsibilities on her shoulders.


However, she gave birth to baby Jesus in harsh conditions and managed to prove that her mission was not an ordinary mission. Jesus Himself (PBUH) showed from a very young age that He would become a great man, because He is the Word of God and the truth was conveyed to Him by God to guide humanity.

Both Jesus and Mary have shown strength when they were very young and have inspired generations to come with their wisdom, community leadership and goodness of heart.

To be continued...

Inspiring Children – Joseph

It’s time to tell you about Joseph (PBUH) and his story. Like Abraham’s story, this one starts with the dream. After the dream, little Joseph went to his father Jacob (PBUH), telling him that he had seen the  Sun, Moon and stars kneeling in front of him.


Jacob, in his wisdom, realised the meaning of the dream and told the little Joseph to keep quiet about this as it might enrage his step-brothers. Joseph’s brothers were envious of the affection their father bestowed on him and plotted to kill him, by throwing him into a very deep well and leaving him to die or be enslaved.

However, little Joseph was resourceful. Unafraid in the well, he tried to escape, and when a caravan went past and let down a bucket to fill with water, he climbed into the bucket and they took him with them. He was sold to the house of a very important Egyptian and he showed strength and wit by thriving in the household.

As a teenager, he grew up very handsome and the first lady of the house fell in love with his beauty. One day when she knew they would be alone, the lady of the house locked all the doors, trapping Joseph in. Joseph showed again the strength of his character and his faith, while acknowledging the respect he owed the master of the house by avoiding her. Scorned, she tried to attack him and caught his shirt from behind, while he was trying to escape her clutches.

At that very moment, the door was unlocked and a big crowd entered the hall. It was the master of the house and his escort. Everybody was shocked at the scene unfolding before them.  The woman assessed the situation very quickly and started screaming: “Joseph tried to take advantage of me!” Joseph, in return, kept his cool and said he was innocent and that the lady of the house was the one attacking him.

Hearing the contradictory tales of his wife and the teenage boy whom he thought of as his son, the master of the house was bewildered. He didn’t know who to believe, until it was revealed to him that if Joseph’s shirt was torn at the front, his wife was telling the truth. However, if the shirt was torn at the back, it means the wife was a liar. The master checked Joseph’s shirt that was indeed torn at the back. Joseph had proved his steadfastness of character and the respect and love he had for his master by not betraying him.

Joseph had to withstand many trials as a child and teenager, including a stay in prison, but he made up for these years by becoming a great dignitary in Egypt later on in life and ruling fairly.

To be continued...

Inspiring Children - Moses and his sister

I am continuing my series of blogs on inspirational children with Moses and his older sister. In my opinion, Moses’ birth reflects the struggle between right and wrong, justice and oppression. 

In the year when Moses (PBUH) was born, the ruling Egyptian pharaoh decided to kill all baby boys born to Israelites.  The Security and Secret Service broke down all the doors in order to find and dispose of baby boys. However, Moses’ mother was guided by God who told her to wrap her son in a blanket and put him in a basket and put it into the river Nile. She was shocked, but obeyed God and after little Moses was in the basket, floating away on the river, she asked her daughter to look out from the river bank to see where the tide would take her brother.

Both the mother and the daughter were shocked to see that God, in His infinite wisdom, took Moses to the house of the enemy who wanted to kill him mercilessly, the pharaoh’s palace. Moses’s sister had the enormous courage to go to the palace to check on his welfare. Had she been discovered, it’s likely she would have been punished. She found out that little Moses refused to feed from the wet nurse and cried day and night due to hunger. She had the strength and courage to appear before Pharaoh and his wife and ask for the crying Moses to be given in her care, as she knew someone who could feed him. Pharaoh and his wife consented and Moses was taken back to his real mother, unbeknownst to them.

Moses’s sister is an example of a fearless child, trying to do the right thing and help her brother and her mother.

Moses himself (PBUH) showed tremendous strength as a child. When he was playing with Pharaoh, as a toddler, he pulled a hair from his beard. This angered Pharaoh very much, so much that he wanted to have Moses killed. His wife intervened and saved him, but Pharaoh swore revenge and put little Moses to the test. He ordered his guards to bring a sweet and a piece of burning coal. They were put on the table and Pharaoh told his wife: “if Moses touches the sweet, I will have his head cut off. If he touches the burning coal, I will pardon him”.

Little Moses was nearly touching the sweet, but then put the burning coal into his mouth. This brave act saved his life and he went on to become a great man, an inspiration to us all.


To be continued...

Inspiring Children – Abraham’s son

Abraham (PBUH) and son

Around this time last year I talked about the women who should be a source of inspiration for everyone. This year I will talk about the children and teenagers who made a difference.

Today I will tell you about one of Prophet Abraham’s sons (PBUH). We all know the story of how Abraham had children when he was very old and this was a miracle of God. We all know what happened afterwards:

One night, Prophet Abraham saw a vision in his dream, commanding him to slaughter his son. He woke up in fear and shock, thinking it was a whisper from the devil. For days and days, Prophet Abraham kept on having the same dream and realised it was a command from God.  He then took his son to the slaughter and at the last moment, God replaced the son with a sheep to be slaughtered.

What we don’t emphasise is the courage of Abraham’s son. He was a kind, obedient boy, helping his father in his work. When he was bound and prepared for slaughter, he was prepared to be sacrificed in the name of God, without questions. Abraham’s son showed from his childhood that he would become a great leader of nations.

Up to this day, in Islam, a sheep is slaughtered during Hajj to commemorate this event.

To be continued...

Sylvester and Tweety Part 3

It seems lately life has caught up with me and didn’t leave me enough time to catch up with cartoons. However, due to recent events, I find myself in cartoon land again. I’ve spoken about Bugs Bunny and his military tendencies, Daffy Duck and his quacking, but now I have Sylvester and Tweety in my sights.

Sylvester the cat is quite greedy, while Tweety bird is very sweet, but smart. Sylvester always tries to snatch Tweety and eat him, but never succeeds. I can draw some parallels to my country of birth, Egypt.

Sylvester and Tweety never get along and sometimes Tweety has to call on his friend the bulldog for help. In my view, they should sort out their own problems, without external help and an ounce of goodwill from both sides. The bulldog is like Ramses, the military king, a force to be reckoned with. Sylvester doesn’t need to get bitten by the bulldog to make peace with Tweety.

I believe we need to give everybody time and a neutral platform for discussion to have a peaceful transition from fight to engagement. If the Tunisians managed to have a peaceful transition, so must we, as Egyptians.

Let the example in the image of Sylvester and Tweety be no more!

Daffy Duck Part 2

Continuing my cartoon series, I have reached another favourite of mine: Daffy Duck. He’s a very smart duck, but maybe a bit bossy. He believes he is the head of operations, but Bugs Bunny always makes fun of him. When that happens, Daffy Duck gets angry, and when he gets angry his quacking doesn’t have an echo within all of us.

I understand Daffy’s anger and bossiness; after all everyone needs a head to guide, to plan, to drive and to protect, to invest and to invent. Daffy has to quack to be heard and get his message across, because he feels talking wouldn’t solve the issue.

In my view, Daffy Duck is wrong. He needs to calm down, sit down and discuss with everybody. What Daffy needs to remember is that sometimes the head is indeed the problem. For example, I met with someone recently who told me that in certain conflict zones, the heads of the military spent over the past few years hundreds of millions (!) on quacking.

This someone also said something very wise: “Headquarters exist so that headquarters can exist”.  Daffy Duck’s quacking exists because he doesn’t want to communicate in any other useful way. We need to stop quacking and start discussing rationally, being more transparent and less bossy.

After all, while Daffy Duck was quacking, Sylvester and Tweety... (to be continued).

Bugs Bunny - Part 1

Courtesy of cartoonandstuff.wordpress.com

Because sometimes, life looks too much like a cartoon, this series of blogs will look at the cartoon characters affecting our lives in one way or another.

Today I’ll start with our favourite “hare” raising story: what would happen if Bugs Bunny ruled the world. In my opinion, in some ways, he already is. He’s walking around in his military outfit and coming to me for advice: “What’s up, Doc?”

Bugs Bunny is quite persuasive and secretive, always in the background. He lets Daffy Duck make a fool of himself, while he’s always in the shadows. Whenever Bugs Bunny is in a boardroom, he always looks for rabbit holes and loop holes. When he finds one, he jumps inside wholeheartedly, leaving everyone guessing what his position on a matter was.

However, he always gets lost after his disappearing act and causes more mischief. I believe we should strip Bugs of his military stars and use him as a Buggy, a vehicle to move the community forward.

The carrot and the stick should function in this case as well and only then we can make our Carrot-Boy part and parcel of the community and keep the bugs away.

Meanwhile, Daffy Duck... (to be continued).

The trouble with skyscrapers...

Quite often I find myself in meetings in skyscrapers around the world. This bothers me, as whenever I look out through a window, I only see clouds and fog. The atmosphere prevents people in skyscrapers from seeing the real world. For example, when I wanted to look at the sun or the moon, I couldn’t. When I wanted to look at the stars, I couldn’t.

The trouble with skyscrapers is that they keep your head in the clouds all the time and make you lose your vision. This is why my decision was to come down to earth. If we don’t come back to earth, we find that we become like overinflated balloons, going ahead and above with no direction, which can be harmed by any pin prick. Then we pop and produce nothing but useless hot air.

When you come back to earth, you can see what is around you, without the need to see it on TV. You can look at the stars and get involved.

In my opinion, if we want to tackle climate change, we cannot do it from the position of a cocoon in a skyscraper, letting life go past us below. If we want to change the world and the people, we cannot do it from in front of a TV screen. Keeping our heads off the clouds ensures we will keep grounded and help those who need it most.

We are in partnership with the grass, with the animals and the environment. To make a better world for all of us, we have to step out of the cocoon of the skyscraper and act, instead of watch.

The road to success

While I was dropping my daughter off the other day, I made the acquaintance of two very interesting people, Dino and Jila. They offered me tea and biscuits and enquired politely about my health.  I told them about my recent trips to various countries and we started to talk about their recycling business.

They asked for my opinion. They said they wanted to expand their business and cover the whole of the UK. I told them that, in my view, this is good, but more needs to be done. I believe they have the capacity to outgrow the UK market. We need to marry somehow the horizontal growth of society development with the vertical thoughts of society change. After all, development is a long term process of implementing a slow, stable mechanism. The worry is that this process could become quite traditional and somebody else could beat you to it.

In my opinion, to achieve this and be well on our way on the road to success, we must bring innovation to the table. You needn’t be a genius or have a tremendously high IQ to innovate. History shows us that the ones who succeed are those with a strong belief in themselves and those who persevere without losing hope. History also shows us that those who succeed often overcome barriers of any kind, including lack of resources.

Let us think of Nobel Prize winners – they have achieved this honour on the basis of their belief, determination and hope. Let us think of millionaires like James Caan, whose rags to riches story talks about determination, belief and drive.

If you want to change our society, the development process must include innovation. If there wouldn’t be any innovation, we would all look the same, eat the same food, drink the same water and wear the same clothes. Innovation nurtures diversity, complementarity, partnership and excitement.

Are you ready to walk down the road to success?

Love is in the air...

The Humanitarian Forum held an accounting and compliance training for small charities the other week. It was very successful but what caught my attention was the idea of the existence of a “suspense account”. When I found out that it meant money left “up in the air” somewhere, I immediately thought of a song from the 70s, I’m sure you’ve heard it:



It’s a very nice song, talking about love being in the air for everybody. In my opinion, before you leave things suspended in the air, you must know some facts. For example, you should ask yourself: what sort of air will it be? Will it change the climate in any way? Will it impact the environment?

The same thing should happen with the “suspense account”. Due to counter-terrorist measures, banks and bank managers have been granted special powers to refuse transfers because your name might start with the letter S, Z or V or you might be from a country starting with the letter A. I believe that such a power being given to individuals will deprive communities in the long term. It will destroy communities, fragment society and create more terror, radicalism and extremism and even lead to extinction.

Nobody knows how many bank transfers have been stopped, frozen and suspended. The deprived are even more deprived as they’re left up in the air. Love might be in the air, as the song claims, but money definitely isn’t. I wish that wasn’t the case and that the process would be more transparent and accountable.

For example, what happens to the money in the suspense account? Does it just sit there for years and years, gaining interest? Who stands to benefit from that interest?

Because these questions are unpleasant and cannot be answered in all honesty, I leave you with a pleasant image:

War on Poverty!

A kiss!

Because poverty is such a “hot” topic, I feel it’s time to ask some questions.

Firstly, how does it feel to be a poor adult? How does it feel to be a poor child? Does poverty mean loss of dignity or does poverty mean less of credibility?

Would you be happy to live in a poor area or neighbourhood? Would you be happy to mix with poor people and be in their midst?

Would you be able to feel what poor people feel? Would you be happy to wear the same things as poor people do? Would you eat their food and live in their houses and sleep on their furniture? How can you get acquainted with poor people when you only invite rich dignitaries in?

In my view, poverty is not just a by-product of the system but a phenomenon that has to have its root causes treated.

For each rich individual, there are 10 or more poor people. We need to try and override the desire of our selfishness, greed and individualistic approach. The causes and solution of poverty live inside us.  We keep on making the rich, richer and the poor, poorer.

The solution to poverty is not a governmental one, nor an institutional or organisational one. The responsibility of caring and sharing is individual.

It’s the responsibility of each and every one of us to make poverty history. It is up to us to declare War on Poverty.

Into the Mud...

Recently, I was visited by a couple of my daughter’s colleagues from university. Both of them are studying for their Master’s degree in Development. We started discussing the current situation in Egypt. Mina, one of the visitors, described the situation as “muddy, sticky and slippery”.

In my view, mud can be either good or bad, depending on what you make of it. For example, clay in skilled hands can make the loveliest ceramic. On the other hand, my wife wouldn’t thank me if I came in the house with muddy shoes.

My question to the students was: “How can we make something useful out of mud?” They accepted my challenge and immediately thought of a solution to separate the water from the dust. They thought of a machine to separate the vapour and change it into energy to produce distilled water, in order to serve the community. On the other side of the machine, the dust will come out, for people to use for other projects (bricks, mortar etc).

I then challenged them to think what sort of a machine we would need. Is it a car? A lorry? Maybe an engine? Or a generator? Or is it a battery? Vito then said: the machine is what we call a civil society. This civil society will be able to dive smoothly between the particles of dust and atoms of water at the ultra-microscopic level of the grass-root community level. With its limited resources, it will be able not only to separate the water from the dust, but also change the vapour into a dynamic action, producing distilled water to save the community.

The discussion around the situation in Egypt shouldn’t be centred on politics, but on how to utilise the social resource of 85 million citizens (over 50% of them are under 35 years old) in a most productive effective way.

My guests and I agreed that the only way forward for a country at the beginning of the 21st century is to empower the civil society organisations and to enable them to become guiding watchdogs on behalf of the dust (the people) and the water (resources).

We may come from dust ourselves, but good things can come from the mud as well. 

My new name

The long-awaited and dreaded date of Friday, 11/11/2011 is all but a memory today. We are still here, the world is the same.  Just like it was on 11 /11/1, in the year of Jesus’s birth (PBUH), or on the same date in year 111, or 1111 and even 2011.

In my view, this is a fantasy, created by idle minds. Every so often there’s an 11/11 and no end of the world. Every so often there’s a 12/12 or a 9/9 and no big news.   If you see a black cat in the middle of the road, there’s a demon. If you wake up and look outside at the garden and you see a black bird, there’s another demon.

When you buy a house, it most certainly won’t be number 13, because it might be haunted. Some “banana” airlines remove the seat number 13 from both sides of the plane. It would be funny if you could somehow jump through thin air from seat 12 to seat 14, don’t you think?! Even in elevators, in some buildings, if you are going to the 13th floor, you will find it doesn’t exist. Who knows, maybe the elevator travels through void to reach the 14th floor!

I’m not sure you knew that Friday the 13th is the day of the devil and therefore we must all stop inside and not go to work, lest something happens!

I believe that we must put all this aside and get on with the job of being human beings. If God wanted a special day (11/11/11), let it up to HIM to announce and up to us to follow.  Please save your time, energy and money by looking forward with objectivity at how you can save others, less fortunate.


On this occasion, I would like to inaugurate my new name:

BlackbirdbornonFriday13thwholiveswiththeblackcatatnumber13on13thstreet.

Do you like it?

End Poverty?

It’s been a loooong time since we started to “make poverty history” or lobbied the G8, G20, G100 and every other gathering. Poverty has become a reality of our time and a part of the future of our children. Since we launched the Millennium Development Goals, 11 years ago, how many of these have been achieved?

Have we truly made steps to eradicate poverty? When we visit such places as Sub-Saharan Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Columbia we see that is not the case. Let me ask you something else: do you think we have managed to eradicate poverty in our own countries – Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand or Japan?

We want to achieve this not by talking, but by doing. Our boardrooms are full to the brim, while people out there build houses out of dust and mud.  We dust our bags, our offices, our homes, while people have dust in their food, drink, breath and life.

If we won t make poverty history, we have to start sharing what we have at home with the people whose real life is history.

One big, happy family

In the previous blog before my Eid message, I was talking about how difficult it is in some countries to give and receive aid. How would you feel if I told you that, in some countries, aid has been “nationalised” and kept in the family? How would you feel if I told you that in some countries, the distribution of aid is run exclusively by members of the military, security or the ruling class?

In my view, this gives the freedom to give to the few, while the others are being deprived. Counter-terrorism humanitarian policies and the War on Terror are feeding monsters globally. Sometimes, it can be that our policy can become our monster. Our monster, without anything or anyone (!) to eat, will eat us instead.

Enough talk of monsters. Let us look at the bigger picture. If we do not accept and collaborate, we will never be one big, happy family. Local,  global, big and small, from the northernmost point to the southernmost point, from east to west, spanning different cultures and beliefs, it is time to join hands for the sake of those in need.

Eid Mubarak!

The Bus Stop

Courtesy of Flickr

Counter-terrorism is, at long last, on the international agenda. Two years ago, The Humanitarian Forum organised a meeting to talk about this issue (which has been on the table for the past 10 years or so).  I must admit that it wasn’t the pleas of the Muslim or Arab charities suffering from War on Terror or Counter-Terrorism Policy which surprised me. The pleas of Western International NGOs surprised me more!

A colleague told me a wise story. He said that, once upon a time, a poor person was waiting at the bus stop. And they waited, and waited, and waited, for years. Then, a wealthy, influential person came to the same bus stop. The bus came then.

I believe financial counter-terrorist measures are not only affecting the humanitarian space of NGOs, but they are shrinking the humanitarian space of every individual Muslim or Arab donor. The donors from that part of the world are scared to wire their donation. They are scared to even talk about donations. They are scared even to support any fellow human being. 

I visited a few donor countries very recently. In one of them, the locally registered organisation was unable to publicise a fundraising leaflet. They weren’t able to advertise on any public media. Even worse, the organisation could not transfer money to regional offices to run their humanitarian programmes.

Let all the people waiting at the bus stop get on the bus and the driver to take us to our destination: the fulfilment of people’s needs!

The umbrella

As I watch the rain falling down in London, I can’t help but think that sometimes umbrellas can cause more harm than good. Umbrellas can shelter us from the rain, but they can also be weapons, to take each other’s eyes out.

For example, imagine four dynamic international stakeholders, the pillars of every state and every community. Each has their own boundaries and address different social needs. Each must be transparent and have its own umbrella.

What would happen if someone gathered these four under a single umbrella? Some might say: “more economical – one umbrella, instead of four”. Some might say: “I’m glad they’re working together, it’s all about partnership”.
In my view, four under one umbrella means that at least one will be left exposed, out in the rain. What if I was to say to you that these four major stakeholders are: politics, security, military and humanitarianism? Poor humanitarianism would be the one standing half under the umbrella and half in the rain.

In any conflict, our lines of demarcation have to become thicker than ever, not be blurred by the umbrella. Humanitarianism doesn’t (or shouldn’t) have any political, security or military agenda. However, if we all share the same umbrella, how can someone standing at a distance see us?! They will only see some kind of uniform, even if we are wearing civilian clothes. This will endanger further humanitarian workers in conflict zones.

While decisions are being made looking at TV screens on the 25th floor of a skyscraper in a major city, aid workers are at risk of being kidnapped, or even worse, killed.

Let us each have our own umbrella and keep safe, out of the rain!

Frankenstein!

Photo courtesy of crazy-frankenstein.co

Halloween is upon us and everyone is talking about ghosts, ghouls and monsters. Children get dressed up and go trick-or-treating, while adults are looking after them like hawks. I have some scary stories to tell as well, so sit back and read on.

There was once upon a time a Lord. HE was all that was good and merciful, however, individuals decided to pool together their interests and act wrongly, in HIS name. In their laboratory, they created a monster, just like the more famous Frankenstein.

I am asking you, do you believe the Lord needs a monster to scare people in order to spread HIS message of good?! Does the Lord need people to be killed by the monster while spreading HIS message? Does the Lord love to see the bloodshed of innocent people as a price of spreading HIS message?

I don’t think the Lord would love any of this. The Lord wants peace, wants love, stability, safety. This cannot be done by using guns, tanks, missiles, bullets, or fighter jets and helicopters. It can only be done by using reason, dialogue, and negotiation, convincing and allowing the freedom of thought. The Lord is about free thinking, free movement, free society and freedom for all.

Individuals from different parts of the world are justifying the killing in the name of the Lord just to fulfil their political and economical desires. They created a monster in their back yard and kept feeding him for years and allowed him to kill everyone in the neighbourhood until there was nobody in the neighbourhood to eat and kill but the master who created him.

I leave my story for now with Goya's wise words: “The sleep of reason produces monsters.”

What motivates me? Part four

My fourth motivational stop came (surprisingly, if I may add) from the warm desert. It came from a rich Gulf country, a country with one of the highest annual incomes per capita on earth. I met with two leading humanitarian agencies there, to discuss what is next in store for Arab and Muslim charities.

My question was: how can we raise the profile, build capacity and increase the connectivity within the humanitarian movement. The discussion wasn’t centred on funding or implementing traditional humanitarian projects. Instead, we discussed how to build the capacity of local partners, change the culture of giving and the philosophy of traditional projects. We talked about how to involve the youth and women in national and international work and how to create new humanitarian ambassadors. We talked about how to find a new role for new emerging countries after the Arab Spring.

Quite often, organisations go to the warm desert to fundraise. We have been witnessing a plethora of international, global and western agencies seeking funds from the warm desert.  Even the appeal for Somalia was geared towards the rich Arab and Muslim majority countries.

The contrast between our discussion in Doha and the image that Doha, Riyadh, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait present at the back of the mind of fundraisers is huge. It is the difference between the one who reads the mind of an intellectual and the one who looks at how strong their body is.

Physical strength is short lived; it can be affected by disease, age and fatigue. The power of the mind is superior, growing with experience, age and knowledge. We should bank on the wisdom which comes out of the warm sands, not on the hot air brought out by the gas and the oil of the warm sands.

Let us celebrate the intellectual capability not keep smelling hot air.

What motivates me? Part three

I want to tell you about my trip to Japan and Japan’s unsung heroes. It was a 13 hour flight to get there and a distance of over 10,000km.  I would like to thank the sponsor for their generosity in offering me a business class ticket, thereby enabling me to sleep for 7 hours before arriving in Tokyo, via Osaka.

I spoke at the Fourth Annual Seminar on Islam and Disaster Response, held at Tokyo University. The Seminar was made special for me by two Non-Muslim Japanese ladies, joining hands with the local Muslim community. One of them had travelled to Pakistan and Afghanistan, while the other had visited the dangerous area affected by the tsunami.

Both of them had taken a great risk internationally (being kidnapped) and nationally (the effect of radiation on their bodies).  The only common fear amongst them was their fear of travelling or coming closer to Muslims.
One of them said: “I was a little bit scared, suspicious and bewildered. I have been cautioned by my relatives and family”. After her experience she came back with a more positive feeling towards the fellow Japanese and Asian Muslims in Japan.

I have to bow down to the two ladies, who don’t just talk the talk, but can walk the walk! They became the source of my motivation and the power behind my drive during my visit to Tokyo which lasted 48h.

To be continued....

What motivates me? Part two

The lady who overshadowed my talk

The idea of delivering a talk in Egypt about the role of civil society organisations in building nations and creating civilisations was discussed between myself and a few young volunteers in Cairo.

To be very honest, I was a bit scared to give a public talk where is, in fact, my birth place without having a strong logistic support from our office, as we don’t have a THF base in Cairo at the moment. Instead, we used the revolutionary technique of Social Media: we advertised the event on my Facebook page and the pages of a few local youth organisations and universities.

The feedback I received from some of my relatives and colleagues when they heard of this Facebook idea was that they believed only 10% people who signed up would attend. We were prepared for disaster. On the day, to my surprise, we found the hall full of people; the organisers had to bring in more chairs to fill the corridors and open the second hall.

The source of my motivation and the power behind my drive is not the number of people who attended the talk for 2 hours, but the actual age of the people. I was pleased to see that more than 80% of them were under 30 and their interaction was positive, lively, dynamic and forward looking towards long-term sustainable solution.

I was even more impressed by a comment made by a retired professor who used to teach French at “Ain Schams” university. She was over 80 and could hardly speak, but managed to deliver a message of motivation. She told us how she contributed towards helping the poor people through giving time, effort, vision, cash. When she used to feel she became too big-headed- for her own good, she used to volunteer for the first aid and ambulance services and go and clean up the wounds and feet of ordinary people.

To be continued...

What motivates me? Part one

I often get this question, either from people who have just met me or Facebook fans. What motivates me is a complex question and requires a complex answer. I will tell you about some of my recent travels and you will be able to glimpse into my motivation and the special people who make everything worth it.

After my journey to the Horn of Africa, I have travelled to Libya, Egypt and Japan. This made me look back at who is the source of my motivation and who/what drives me. I believe I have discovered the source and the drive.

After finishing my work in Mogadishu and Nairobi, I had to go to Benghazi, Libya via Istanbul from Cairo. On 30th September I landed in Benghazi, where I met with Tareq (Bakri, Partnerships Manager for The Humanitarian Forum). 

Our workshop was being held in Al Bayda and instead of waiting in Benghazi; we travelled and meet with our team there, 200km away. The meeting was very fruitful; not only did we meet our team of trainers; we also met the Libyan people coming to join our training programme. They were the source of our motivation and the power behind our drive.

From there, I travelled back to Benghazi to fly to Tripoli, the capital. In Tripoli, not only did I manage to meet the UN officials and Libyan ministers, but I also met with another source of motivation in the capital: 44 local start-up organisations.

Unfortunately on that day, Tripoli airport was closed. This meant I had to travel 8 hours by car to get to the Tunisian border and then take an early flight next morning to Cairo.

In Libya, I found there is no fatigue without reward and that the reward could be immeasurable.

To be continued...

The Somali Connection

In order to save Somalia, I believe we must have a Somali solution. The approach should be bottom up and “glocal” (local with a global dimension). The solution to the crisis cannot come from a boardroom in the Middle East, Europe or the States. The boardroom that can offer a solution is the one underneath the shade of trees within Somalia.

It’s not only compulsory for humanitarian organisations but also for you and me to support this solution. UN agencies, governments, donors should invest heavily in building the infrastructure of the social fabric of Somalia. In my opinion, humanitarian organisations should allocate as much as 20% of their humanitarian expenditure on building the future leadership of Somalia from within.

During our visit to Somalia in September (The Humanitarian Forum, Somali Relief and Development Forum and Muslim Charities Forum), we held two conferences.

The first one, chaired by Muslim Charities Forum, gathered local organisations to discuss the future of humanitarian work in Somalia. The meeting was in the Somali language and we managed to bring 44 organisations to one table to focus on Somalia and created the spirit and the momentum of unity among them. We helped them to look together at one Somalia, whether they came from the east, west, north or south. The group called themselves SHOC (Somali Humanitarian Operational Consortium). I hope you will support SHOC to become one of the new humanitarian and social actors inside and outside Somalia.

In Nairobi, in partnership with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, The Humanitarian Forum organised a two-day conference to discuss the challenges of the transition between relief and recovery. I was very pleased to see that over 100 international agencies attended the conference: UN agencies, DFID, a Somali donor group, USAID plus major actors from the MENA region, South Africa and Asia. Among the key messages from the meeting was the fact that a new humanitarian leadership is emerging from the OIC and LAS countries.

Let us think local and act global to save Somalia!

Stop. Full stop.

I have visited Cairo twice over the past two weeks. I have been privileged enough to discuss different issues with youth groups, social activists, philanthropists and politicians. I felt at the time and still feel this way that everyone is enthusiastic to see the results of the revolution and a real change in society. Everyone wants to see democracy, inclusivity and motivation brought to every citizen in the country.

Egypt was and is a multicultural, multi faith, multi ethnic and multi-racial country. The Egyptians have been living together on this piece of land for thousands of years as one nation. They managed to build one of most magnificent and diverse civilisations. Humankind is still enjoying the treasures and secrets of this civilisation. 


Egypt welcomed many religions, prophets, reformers, many Super- Powers and passengers. Each of them came to enjoy and be a part of one of the greatest civilisations. In my view, if Egypt loses these characteristics, it will lose its greatest asset- its heritage. 

Egypt has been in the news recently, however it pains me to say it, not for pleasant reasons.  I believe that the scenes shown DO NOT reflect the feelings of 85 million Egyptians.

Let me give you an example, close to my heart.  Last Friday, one of my closest friends, a Christian script-writer, invited me to a 7-star dinner in Cairo. He came to listen to my talk about civil society and even insisted to cancel his private meetings to entertain me as a brother, as a friend and as a fellow citizen. This is the true Egyptian spirit and hospitality that 85 million people are enjoying.

The people we see on TV are only but few. They must be advised to be true Egyptians and think about their country, instead of petty interests. Egypt, our mother land has been built by the hands of Muslims, Christians, Jews and others.

In my opinion, the ones who are trying to keep the conflict alive need to be stopped. Full stop. This is not just about Egypt, but the unity of the whole neighbourhood.

Please, kill the conflict, but do not kill me. I have been living on this land with you for the past 7000 years.  Let us live together in peace for the millennia to come!

1 Somalia, 2 Somalia...

...3 Somalia, 4, 5 Somalia, 6 Somalia, 7 Somalia, more. This could very easily and heartbreakingly replace the well-known children’s nursery rhyme.

I don’t want to think of 5 Somalia, 6 Somalia or 7 Somalia because of its assets.  Somalia has a long coastal fronting the Indian Ocean and access to the Red Sea.  Is that the only defining feature?

I don’t want to see Somalia as a pearl necklace that could be torn apart if other countries would like to take a piece each. I would like to see Somalia as a jewel every country would like to preserve.

There are many opportunities for the international community to invest in Somalia. If they have the political power and good intention to save Somalia, they must take it from the relief stage and transfer it to recovery and development.

I recognise that humanitarian organisations cannot do it alone – they need to partner with governments. I want the international community to invest in the Somali Diaspora. I want the international community’s unconditional support to the Somali Diaspora. In my view, if we unite the Diaspora, we can unite Somalia.

The T-shirt and the Tuxedo

We can appreciate the role of governments, when they have good, solid policies on security, economy and diplomacy. What we cannot appreciate is when governments start wearing their humanitarian t-shirts to further political or economical causes.

The Humanitarian t-shirt can only be worn by neutral people, who only side with the people in need.  For example, governments could fund the building of airports in areas such as Puntland, Somaliland, and Mogadishu etc.

We cannot appreciate when governments wear the humanitarian t-shirt. However, we cannot appreciate governments wearing the tuxedo of humanitarian politics either. 

I would love to see governments investing in water and agriculture, fishing and livestock in different areas to bring stability to the whole Somalia and the whole region.

I would like to appeal to the governments in Muslim-majority countries to visit Somalia and assure the people in need that they will be helped. If one organisation takes this lead swiftly and effectively, the rest of the international community will follow.

Back to the future

Picture courtesy of http://themacwire.blogspot.com

In the 1980’s, Back to the Future was a popular series of films, showing the main character drifting backwards and forwards in time, with the use of a time travel machine.

While I was visiting Mogadishu, I thought what it would be like if we took the car from the film and drove it through time and space straight to the year 2030. One would hope that in 2030 we would see a prosperous Somalia. But what if we travelled all the way and saw no difference? What if people would still be talking, instead of acting?

This is a very serious issue. I imagine the international community has spent more than 55 billion USD over the past two or three decades on relief for Somalia and the Horn of Africa. Do we see any impact made by these billions?

I ask you, is it the right time to stop, think, look back to the future and act? Or will it take another 55 billion USD and some more decades? Will 2030 find us having similar discussions?

Announcement

Salam!

Forgive me, but for today, rather than a blog post, I have an announcement to make. I will be giving a talk in Cairo on 6th October. I will be talking about the role of civil society organisations in building communities, one of my favourite topics of discussion.

The event is kindly sponsored by Alashanek Ya Balady for Sustainable Development (http://www.ayb-sd.org/) and Namaa (www.namaa.info).

Anyone can attend, so please come and let me meet you. Please share this announcement with your friends in Cairo, or who are going to be in Cairo on 6th October (Thursday).

If you have a Facebook account, please sign up to this event or share it with the people you know:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=280336681978620

Thank you very much!

Dr. Hany

Untitled...

This blog hasn't got a title. I decided not to name it, because, in my opinion, we have been failing consistently.  You are entitled to ask: why? Let me tell you.

The past 6 months’ events in North Africa and Somalia showed one serious mistake committed by the international community. This gross mistake is the fact that we didn’t empower and build local community based organisations or community services in areas where we have been working for the past decades.

Could we be to blame as humanitarian actors or do we also blame the local system functioning in these countries? I was revisiting the access problem for Somalia and asked myself a question- whose security is more important, the security of the million of beneficiaries who are the real owners of money we spend, or us as humanitarian actors? Therein lays the problem.

How should we prioritise? Who should be on top of the pecking order? The expat staff? The local staff? The people in need? I leave you to answer that question.

Our failure to address these issues makes us guilty before generations to come.

It is not enough to talk about famine, conflict or needs - we should act. I hope that our humanitarian action for Somalia will not stop at just observing famine and managing drought.

I am writing this just as I am about to enter the meeting The Humanitarian Forum and OIC are holding in Nairobi. 

Who wants to be responsible? The Blame Game Part 2

Continuing our quiz show, can you imagine what the contestant would answer? I believe the person in the hot seat would look left, would look right and then answer something like: “Nobody is responsible. It just happens!”

I can just imagine the expression of the face of the show host and the gasps from the audience, as it would have been the first time somebody gives an answer that isn’t among the given ones.  While I commend thinking outside the box, I can’t commend lack of responsibility. The contestant doesn’t deserve to win.

After all, the environment is about independence. It is the most independent creation of God. When it loses its independence, it loses its characteristic components and beings.

Who to blame? It could be the people who are over consuming, overspending and over utilising the resources of the environment.  It could be the people who are depriving the millions of poor and vulnerable from a safe environment to save their lives.

I was hoping to see a great industrial revolution tied to greater ethical values. Unfortunately, the power of wealth, authority and control is stronger. Ethical values have been replaced by market shares. If you want to revisit environmental issues we should revisit our issues of ethical and moral values.

If we don t save our environment, we’ll be like those who are ignorantly answering questions on a quiz show. If we won’t save our environment, we won t save our future and the lives of our future generations.

We need to stop playing the blame game and try to save humanity.

Who wants to be responsible? The quiz show Part 1

New quiz shows appear all the time on TV, but I have yet to see one on the environment. I can imagine a grinning host asking a hopeful contestant:

“The environment is slowly dying. Please tell me which one of these is responsible:

A.    Animals and Plants
B.    Oceans and Forests
C.    Virus and Bacteria
D.    People

You have 3 minutes to answer.”

I can also imagine the flustered contestant wondering what they should answer to win the competition. If they would call me to ask me for their help, this is what I would tell them:

You have to ask yourself first:  what is the environment? The environment is our surroundings, it’s where we ought to feel safe, comfortable and at pace with ourselves. The environment is our society and our future. It is our sheer life. This is why no one has the right to destroy it. We are interconnected, as we all live inside it. If one area of it is ruined, the rest will follow.

 The ignorance of human beings (in the 21st century) will let them think that there is no impact or the impact is negligible. The more knowledgeable will count the extermination of the billions of lives of other beings sharing the environment with us. 

Let us think: who is responsible? The multi-national companies? The lady selling sweets in a back street in Delhi or Karachi? The tea-maker in Marrakech? The poor farmer in Zimbabwe? The taxi driver in Mexico City? Or maybe the camel shepherd in Afghanistan?

Why blame the blame the weak, poor and vulnerable?

Red Carpet for Red Talk Part 2

It is time to start discussing value-based rather than faith-based. We must leave our comfort zone and open the door to new members who might change our philosophy of thought.

For example, let us discuss the principles of humanitarian work. Some may say they are faith-based. Some may ask how to include others. The debate needs to be opened. Are the existing principles good? In my opinion, they are, however what they miss is human initiative. This human initiative should come in the form of active discussions. For example, should the number of principles be reduced or should we add some more? If we reduced or added, what would it be like?

Society is developing around us at the speed of light, yet it seems to me we are trying to keep up with it at the speed of a bicycle. Humanitarianism is not a one sided coin- it is a multi-faceted process of value based deliverable products to serve the community.

Let us walk together on the red carpet to make a difference!

Red Carpet for Red Talk Part 1

I was recently in Geneva and had a really memorable day. I met with the Secretary General of IFRC, the Director General of ICRC and the CEO of British Red Cross.  We had food for thought, before I went over the red carpet to give the Red Talk on the IFRC podium.

I recall my first meeting with the head of ICRC. I remember talking to him about the importance of perceptions. If we look at the ICRC logo, I asked him, what do we see? He answered back: “A cross”. I replied: “It’s a plus sign, because the work you do for humanity is an added value”.

These are good memories, but it is time to come back to the present and my Red Talk. Being August, many people tend to be on their annual leave and Muslims are fasting as well. I was expecting very few people to be present. To my surprise, the auditorium was full and there were also people around the globe listening to the online stream.

I asked: what is universal humanitarianism? Are we or aren’t we all partners in water and vegetation- whether we are Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish etc? When it comes to serving people in need- does it stem from Christianity, Buddhism etc or does it reflect all religions?

If somebody stood up and said you are not a good man when you sleep with your stomach full when your next door neighbour is hungry, does that reflect on a particular religion?

I cannot help but ask: is faith a dividing factor or a uniting factor? The answer is that, unfortunately, faith is used sometimes to mark a community. We should rather use values as the uniting factor. We all have common values.

To be continued...

Smile! You’re on camera!

When I recently came back in the office after having visited Somalia, a colleague asked me: “What is it like? Is it really that bad as the pictures show it to be?” I was really puzzled by her question, so she asked me something else: “What drives you to travel and work for the needy: your heart, your mind or the scenes you see on TV?”

I gave her a simple answer: all three. We have to work on the mind and heart in order to let them believe in humanity and possibilities before the minds and hearts see devastating scenes of famine and drought. In my opinion, if any of us would feel even a tenth of what we see on TV or in newspapers- that level of desperation and hunger and loss of dignity- we would never sit down until we have saved all the people in need.

The heart is the one driving the mind, however the mind is directing our heart where to go. Where people feel the image and not just watch the image, that’s when help is on its way.

Let us take a moment and feel the images, rather than just watching them. Thank you.

Amazing Women – Super Humanitarians Part 2

The third woman is a successful social entrepreneur. She received a micro-loan from an NGO to the value of approximately 20,000 rupees ($235), after her husband lost his job. With the loan, she started a business from home, buying items from a Cash & Carry and making door to door sales. She travelled 450km round trips from Rawal Pindi to Peshawar in order to buy stock for 50% less.

She told me she makes a 6000 rupees profit every month (30% of the capital money). I looked at this woman, and then looked at myself, and then at the situation of the unemployed people in developed countries, and could see that the solution will come from here, from Mariam.

I promised her that I will be visiting again in a years’ time and asked her what she thought she would have achieved by then. She just smiled and told me: ‘I’ll have a small shop by then’.

This was the icing on the cake of my visit to Pakistan. When we visited the flood affected areas, we found that poverty is very, very resilient, and is well equipped with metaphorical tools, machineries and arms to destroy life. However, I saw that the people are more resilient. They are in partnership with resilience, perseverance, determination and strong will. I believe they will achieve this and rebuild their livelihoods.

Amazing Women – Super Humanitarians Part 1

During my visit to Pakistan, I was fortunate enough to meet some amazing women- true community leaders and super humanitarians: two widows and one entrepreneur. Today I will share with you the story of the first two women who were left widowed when their husbands died, leaving them with young children to feed and look after.

The first widow is paralysed from her legs down, and cannot stand or walk. She can, however, draw a great smile. She has been looking after two young children who are going to the nearby school; two girls who want to become doctors. She has amazing strength, especially as she is also looking after one of her nephews, because his mother is mentally disabled.

Her disability gives her the main drive to build her family, to support her brother’s family, and to work part time and earn extra money to help make the dream of those children come true.

The second astounding woman is another widow, who looking after her 14 year old daughter, as well as a young girl aged 5 that she adopted. She has a great ability and strong-minded dream to build the future of the two children and make to make the best possible life out of future.

The two are widows are determined to expand their message of love and support to extended family and the outside community. With the money they could have, they could build a much greater society than we have. The will of two women, strengthened by their social and physical conditions, as well as being part time community workers, is strong.

To be continued...

No entry - Somalia part 2

Does Somalia have a door with a No Entry sign on it? Is all access truly barred? This is a complex issue; however it seems to me that if some can have access to so-called “no access” areas, why can’t others try to gain the same level of trust that other organisations are enjoying?

I was also hoping Muslim countries could raise more money for Somalia. We need from them: awareness, allowing the visits of donors and the sending of funds. Astonishingly, some of those countries are committing a severe crime against humanity by preventing people saving lives.

I will tell you a story. During my brief visit at Benadir Children’s Hospital, three children died. Their parents didn’t even have enough money for a burial and coffin. Instead, they were wrapped in a dirty blanket, washed by tears of their mother.

Muslims reading about this scene- what do they feel in their heart of hearts? In the month of Ramadan, while these children are dying, some have a colourful table full of a variety of delicious dishes for Iftar. How do Muslim women feel when they hear about the mother? How do Muslim businessmen feel, when they are investing in Arab horses, private jets and Ferraris?

What will Ramadan bring for us if we don’t save these families and these children? For people who repeatedly spend money to visit Holy places: what is the benefit, versus the benefit of spending this money to save thousands of lives in Somalia?

For this month of Ramadan, we tell Muslims: Allah is very generous, for He gave us Ramadan. If we want to go to Heaven, we must help others. Putting our belief in action will clear this ugly scar off the face of humanity, and will prove that we will stop committing crimes against humanity.

Somalia - the crime of 21st Century Part 1

We organised two small conferences in Nairobi last week; the first, convened by the Muslim Charities Forum, aimed to unite local faith based charities from Somalia and Kenya.

On the following day, 15th August, The Humanitarian Forum organised a larger conference with more diverse participants, agencies, international NGOs, plus local agencies.

I remember a word of wisdom from Mark Bowden, UN Humanitarian Coordinator: ‘We cannot prevent drought; we can prevent famine. Access is difficult but not impossible’. I completely agree with Mark- in order to help, we must take that extra step and walk that extra mile. A few organisations managed to walk this extra mile and succeed. Why can’t others?

On the other hand, we can’t prevent famine alone- it’s all about working together for the sake of everybody involved. This is why I call it a crime of the 21st Century: we’ve let this situation drag on and on for two or three decades, without finding a concrete solution to the problem.

Early warning systems are all good; however, working together is the solution. East and West, North and South- partnerships should be based on trust and sincere cooperation.

I question international corporations, as well as every individual. My message is simple: None of us can run away from being responsible for Somalia and any other countries nowadays.

To be continued...

Love will keep us together...

Last week I attended the funeral of the three young people who died during the riots in Birmingham. It seemed to me that the death of a child can bring unity to a community; a new spirit of youth engagement, respect, and peace building.  Such a sad occasion can turn into community renewal and empowerment.

We all need to look after the welfare of Britain as a whole, not just the welfare of a group. For example, when there is limited police presence, we need to act on behalf of our community and call all parties for reasonable discussions.

The lack of volunteers in community projects and civil society in general is proving to be a stumbling block. More engaged communities means tighter bonds and a better relationship between civil society actors, community workers and the Government.

I was pleased beyond words to see the spirit of the local Muslim community. During Ramadan, while Muslims were fasting and praying at night, there were people protecting the homes of neighbours and friends.

We are all citizens of the same country. We should all look forward to building the future of the country, and strengthen the bond of social relationships between every community in our country.

My message is simple: I urge everybody not to think of revenge, as revenge has no value and no connection to faith. Faith is a great protector, our own police force inside our heart. If we strengthen our faith, we will be protected by our faith.

Love will keep us together: love for our community, love for our country and love for God!

The road to nowhere...

I was in the Gulf when I heard what happened in the UK just last week. The horrific scenes made me question what’s happening in our country, in our land, by our people. What are the reasons behind what’s been happening? This is not the country that I belong to and have been living in for decades. These scenes could be seen in Hollywood or Bollywood, but not on UK streets.

What are the reasons? How can we readdress the multiculturalism, multi-faith, multi-ethnicity as a driving force in our life for the better future of our country? How can we stop going on the road to nowhere and get a sense of direction?

How can we build the real “big society”? I believe it can be done only by empowering every citizen, making them a pillar of this big society. There are some issues that need to be discussed:

How can we revisit university fees or social benefit cuts? How can we listen to the elderly who cannot pay electricity and gas bills during winter? How can we address the issue of the single parents? How can we open up about the young homeless people of London and Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow? How can we discuss the lower standard of our education? How can we talk about the National Health Service?

As you can see, there are many things to be discussed; however the scenes of last week are unforgivable and unforgettable.  We need to sit down together as one family and every one of us must be able to speak up and be listened to with respect.  We don’t want to see such scenes again anywhere.

The remedy for it is empowering the citizens of our country. Our big society should be based on empowerment before we can build a partnership between every citizen in the neighbourhood. Only then we will be able to stay off the road to nowhere and on track to deliver the best for our country and humanity.

I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the families of the dead and my prayers for them and their families.

Yemen, the sleeping beauty

For most of this year, Yemen has shown that it could be a failing state.  According to a UN official, Yemen is heading towards so called “somalization”. The people of Yemen must listen to the logic of their existence in Yemen- we have 2 use certain criteria for our existence in certain parts of the world. We should listen, respect, comprehend, act collectively, stay focused on our country and accept everyone and anyone.

If we don’t use this criteria for Yemen, it could become like Somalia or any other failed state. This would have a great negative impact not only on people of Yemen, but on the region as a whole. There is a strong link between the neighbouring countries and Yemen. It is needless to say that there are a lot of Yemenis living in the region of the Arabian Peninsula.

Yemen’s stability and sustainability should be used as a life saving machine to the whole region of the gulf. Please give Yemen the kiss of life so it will wake up from its slumber!

Gulf and MENA cannot live with an unstable Yemen.

On the move...

Somalia is on the move with you wherever you go. I write this on my way to the humanitarian coordination meeting in Nairobi, organised by The Humanitarian Forum, OIC and Muslim Charities Forum.

I was in Saudi Arabia having a meeting with King Khaled Foundation and making Umhrah, when I received an urgent call from a friend of mine to jump on a plane to Beirut.  Before midnight, we juggled with connections between Cairo, Jeddah and Beirut. I took a flight at 3:30 am to land in Cairo at 4:30, then to take another flight at 9am to be on time to meet the Chairman of the Houses of Parliament in Lebanon.

Humanitarian work doesn’t leave much time to sleep or rest in this holy month of Ramadan; however I was energised by the spirit of the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Houses of Parliament in Lebanon. They promised they would do their best to try and help as much as can when it comes to Somalia.

We went to see other organisations and tried to give them an insight of what is happening in Somalia. I was surprised by the number of people who wanted to do something; however they don’t know how to help or what to do. Our role was to give them direction and guidance and ask them to coordinate and network through local authorities.

Lebanon is not far from Somalia physically - only a few thousand miles separate them. Despite the distance, the spirit of the Lebanese people came flying faster than the speed of light to reach Mogadishu and the people in need.

I was awed by the spirit of a Lebanese young man, who started going on TV shows and talking about help for Somalia, raising awareness about the local needs, without even having the backing of an organisation! His name is Al Zaeem- a true leader. If there were many like him, they would do wonders knocking at the doors of authorities.

I came back in high spirits, with the newfound knowledge that Lebanon is not just a tourist attraction, but full of people who want to do something for Somalia.