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The dream of a young child
Hey there, I am back. Did you ever hold a diary as a child or even just a secret book? The kind of book where you’d write all of your thoughts and opinions. As a little kid, I grew up loving and appreciating writing. What I loved the most was expressing my points of view and wishes. Coming back home, I found a text dating back to when I was in the 4th grade at school, and I was pretty astonished and blessed to see how my ideas didn’t change that much. I was only 10 years old when I wrote the following text: To the thousand and one black mountains, to the heart of the forests of despair, the...
Tech Empowerment: A Tool To Balance The Gender Issue In The Syrian Community
Let’s choose what we post online carefully
4 Things You Should Do Before the New Year Surprises You
Here's to my self that didn't stop trying
I have no idea how many times I cried myself to sleep, or felt like giving up on life because of all the messed up thoughts and mixed up feelings that kept buzzing around me; and because of the miserable things that kept happening to me, until recently. I began to recognize how many times I survived those storms. I started to realize, how strong I am. By simply waking up everyday and having a glass of water to keep my body hydrated from all the suffocating feelings and tears from the night before. By simply taking a bath with really cold water to revive my nerves from all the tiredness after...
Resilience Through the Eyes of a Young Syrian
12 Things to Consider in Your 20s
When life gives you lemons...
“If life gives you lemons, make lemonade, but don’t drink it all by yourself.” How many people like to take a walk on the beach on a hot summer’s day? I am a person that likes to do just this. If at any given moment I am blessed with an instant of free time, I like to accompany my family to walk along the shore and dip our toes in the Pacific to cool off. Undoubtedly, we are not the only people that like to do this when the weather gets a bit warmer than what is comfortable; even at our nearest beach to home there are hundreds of others doing the exact same thing. My entire life I have been a...
Take action! Do it now!
You have to decide it now. After 10 years from now what do you want tell yourself? Either you dream it, work for it, do it or it is just a fairy tale! If you do it, you will be proud in the crowd! Yes you will be. You will have the courage to stand against all those naysayers, all those negative preachers and the people who didn’t want you to do something big in your life. You will be bold, bold enough to shout loudly in a crowd "I did it!" It was your dream and you worked for it and you did it. On the other side, alas! If you won’t do it... If you won’t do the work now you will fail tomorrow...
The thing about yourself
Have you ever read “The Thing about Jellyfish” by Ali Benjamin? If not let me enlighten you. It is about a young girl, Suzy, proving that a jellyfish is the reason why her best friend passed on. But, in reality it is about grief, guilt and moving on. I truly recommend this book because of its message and themes that, I believe everyone is experiencing or will experience in their lives. It takes one moment to change or break us. One moment everything we had may disappear right before our eyes. It’s hard to take everything on by yourself. But the thing is you’re not by yourself. Always remember...
How the internet helps me make informed choices
We live in a world that is awash with information, some of which can build us and some that can destroy us in just a click of a button. Access to the Internet is increasing worldwide. Between 2000 and 2015, global Internet penetration grew seven-fold from 6.5 percent to 43 percent. Yet millions of people still lack access to quality, credible information. In some instances, this lack of information can be life-threatening; in others it constrains social and economic growth. For a couple of months through Union National des Femmes Djiboutian (UNFD) I have been part of its online Life skills...
So, you think you are safe online?
Staying safe online is an important issue for young people using the internet, with cyberbullying becoming an increasingly serious problem all over the world. It must be noted, that technology is threatening child development by disrupting the crucial learning relationship between adults and children and has exposed many children to different vices of society. The advent of smartphones and social media nevertheless mean that today’s environment is now far more complex for young people to negotiate. The digital world is reducing contact time between the generations – a development with...
Increasing digital access and skills to prepare Djiboutian youths for the digital economy
In its 2063 Agenda, the African Union states that one of its main aspirations is “an Africa, whose development is people-driven, relying on the potential of African people, especially its women and youth.” Over the next few decades, us young Africans will play a critical and vital role in the social and economic development of the continent. Africa is facing a demographic explosion which will see its population double to more than two billion people in the next generation. This is happening in my country Djibouti, which has less than 1 million citizens now. In the digital age that we are...
5 Lessons I Learned in My First Entrepreneurial Year
Entrepreneur - I remember the first time I heard this word I hoped that being one is not as hard as pronouncing it. When we are little angels (kids), all we dream of is growing up to be distinguished doctors, creative engineers, innovative teachers or even inspiring artists. But how many of us ever aspired to be an entrepreneur? My guess is, not many. Perhaps the reason is that we, as Arabs and especially Syrians who are residing in the Arab shell, still lack role models of successful Syrian entrepreneurs. A lack of mentors and hardship in accessing information are other reasons to build a...
So much more than this
Everyday many girls and women struggle with the thought of not being good enough. The standards that society holds up for us are so unrealistic and extremely damaging. The battle of body image starts very early on and it seems to be never ending. We need to change this. For our own sanity. For the generations to come. We need to learn to be more accepting of ourselves and more aware of what is beyond the skin.
Lets use social media responsibly for self-development
I am a part of the 'iGeneration' and one of the few that have grown up in a technology-centered world - we are commonly known as the digital natives. Internet games dominated when I was 5 years old, Facebook was created when I was 3 years old, and smart phones replaced flip phones when I was just 11 years old. Being a millennial is not easy as some might think, the pressure that comes with living in the fast-changing world where you must catch up with everything is too much a task to constantly battle with daily. Growing up in this world where technology has always been readily available has...
Re-visiting Djiboutian curriculum to re-skill young people for digital jobs
The Government of Djibouti recognizes education as essential for growth and human development. As a result, the government has placed education at the center of its development policies. In 2000, an education reform was initiated with the goal of improving access, quality, and relevance of the education being taught in Djiboutian schools. Despite progress in increasing access and coverage in education, access to education continues to be one of the country’s major challenges. Other challenges include quality, the availability of learning materials, and disparities due to gender, geographic...
18 Lessons I've Learned in 18 Years
1. Patience is key. 2. There is so much value in individuality. 3. Everything will be ok. 4. Forgiveness is not easy, but it is important. 5. Be kind to everyone. 6. Everyone is beautiful in their own unique way. 7. There is a reason for everything. 8. It's okay to be alone. 9. All emotions are valid -- the good and the bad. 10. Only do things that make you happy. 11. Do not feed into negativity. 12. Protect your mental well-being. 13. Spend more time with family and friends. 14. Find value in the smallest aspects of life. 15. Set time aside for you passions. 16. Don't be afraid to embrace who...
How I stopped being ashamed
I guess I should apologize first: Using the past tense in the title could be considered a lie. Obviously, one can’t stop the shame entirely since that’s a natural urge. To tell the truth, I’m not the kind of person who gets ashamed easily. But there are a few things I felt uncomfortable with, even though I should be proud about them. That was a problem I struggled with for quite long time, so I’d like to tell you how I overcame it. To give a few examples: I felt insecure about being a feminist, and I felt insecure about being a LGTBQ-Supporter, even though I knew that both things were right...