Asia Times Online :: Bangladesh exports gloom

Asia Times Online :: Bangladesh exports gloom

Asia Times Online :: Tipaimukh dam pact a setback to Hasina

Asia Times Online :: Tipaimukh dam pact a setback to Hasina

Leaders of tomorrow

New Age Xtra,
December 2, 2011

Syed Tashfin Chowdhury attends the Mosaic International Summit 2011 held in Doha, last month

Ghulam Jillani of Pakistan is a young administrative and logistics officer in Islamic Relief Pakistan’s Balochistan Provincial office at Quetta. Jillani had to overcome a serious hurdle to get this position at the non government organisation.
A few months back, while on the way to the job interview, he was shot in his back and head. Jillani recovered over the next two months.
As soon as he was able to walk properly, he went back to the Islamic Relief Pakistan’s office for the interview. After being recruited, Jillani is now a valuable member of the organisation.
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Waisullah Mehrabi, an enterprise specialist working for Hand in Hand Afghanistan, suffered bullets grazing his skin and splinter wounds ever since his student life during various incidents. ‘Even before the US intervention in Afghanistan and the Taliban in the civil war, gunfights were very common in our country. One day, when I was 15, my friend abruptly fell in the middle of such a gunfight while on our way to school. Fortunately, we did not suffer any major injuries,’ he says.
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Orthodontist Mostafa Qaysi from Iraq points out that explosions, gunfights and bloodshed has been the norm of the day in his country ever since the war. ‘One morning, while having breakfast, we were startled by a thunderous explosion. When we rushed out to see what had happened, we found that a missile had fallen into our lawn,’ says Qaysi.
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It was really a pleasure to meet and learn from these three individuals, just some of the 80 delegates who attended the Mosaic International Summit 2011, held at Doha of Qatar from November 14 till 24, and aimed at inspiring and equipping delegates as responsible leaders in their local and global communities.
The delegates, between the ages of 25 and 35 and from a variety of professions, hailed from countries with predominantly muslim populations, including Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE and the United Kingdom. There were also delegates from other faiths representing minorities in Islamic countries.
Each delegate had a unique story of their own, where they stood their grounds against odds that ranged from wars, racism, gender bias, discrimination to obstacles in family and professional life.
The summit is held annually with delegates selected through a gruelling selection process. This year’s summit, the third of its kind, was a bit different as it was organised for the first time outside the UK.
Mosaic itself is a charitable organisation, founded by the Prince of Wales, Prince Charles in 2007, with the mission to ‘create opportunities for young people of all backgrounds growing up in our most deprived communities, championed by Muslims and harnessing the power of positive thinking’.
Through the summit, besides aiding networking between delegates, Mosaic also brought together a number of individual speakers, who have each contributed immensely in their unique fields.
Also, the last half of the summit was dedicated to ‘leadership in organisation’ as groups of delegates visited three organisations, where delegates learnt from the experiences of the company as well as its staff.
Finally, the delegates were provided with the opportunity to present what they have learnt from the sessions and the project visits. The summit concluded with a closing ceremony at the Qatar Foundation on November 24, where the groups also presented their stories and newly-learnt leadership skills before an audience that included Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the daughter of the Emir of Qatar and a patron of the summit, along with guests that included the top officials of Prudential Corporation Asia, Qatar Foundation, Qatar Petroluem, Qatar Shell, Credit Suisse EMEA Foundation, Etihad Airways and others, who had supported the summit.
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Around eight delegates from Bangladesh attended the summit. Besides me, there was Abdulla Al Mamun, a program manager of Manusher Jonno Foundation; ASM Belal, a research analyst from Bangladesh Institute of Pease and Security Studies (BIPSS); Afrin Sultana Chowdhury, associate officer from Action Aid Bangladesh; Remeen Firoz, programme officer from IUCN Bangladesh; Nazmul Haque, a project manager from British Council Bangladesh; Sadequa Hasan Sejuti, the managing director of Future Solutions Bangladesh and Korvi Rakshand, founder of JAAGO Foundation.
After two flights from Dhaka to Doha, we met delegates from other countries after reaching the Coral Hotel Doha, where we stayed during the entire summit and the plenary sessions were held. The delegates from other countries included a rare mix of professionals including engineers, NGO officials, graphic artists, doctors, lawyers, journalists, academicians and more.
The actual sessions began from November 15 with some interesting lectures focussing on leadership and its importance in the modern world which is afflicted by a plethora of problems, delivered by business psychologists Professor Binna Kandola and Stuart Duff, polar explorer and environmental spokesperson Robert Swan, Chief Executive of Business in the Community (BITC) Stephen Howard, philanthropist Farah Williamson, Senior Associate of the University of Cambridge Will Day and more.
To facilitate learning, the entire class of 80 delegates were divided into eight groups, each consisting of ten members and headed by a leader who had participated in last year’s summit. Each group was given a task by the speakers which they later presented to the entire class.
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The project visits began from November 20. Although the challenges grew as we had to present our findings from the visits to the rest of the class, the opportunity was far greater as two groups were now merged into one.
Every single member of the groups worked hard to jot down information they gathered during the visits while also taking snaps of the officials speaking to them and the sights they came across. Some even went as far as to interview the officials of these companies, which they used in their presentations later.
Our group went to Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre on the first day where we learnt how Qatar Shell has overcome the challenge of extracting gas from sour gas and is processing it into GTL (gas to liquid), which is more eco-friendly.
On the second day, we visited the Aspire Zone, which recruits young sporting talents. While providing them education, the Zone also looks after their education, health and other essential needs. The massive zone is also dedicated at providing services to the people of Qatar.
We also visited the Grand Hyatt hotel at Doha in the afternoon and found out why Middle East is a rapidly developing market for the hospitality industry. The other groups visited Qatar Foundation, Al Jazeera, Four Seasons hotel and more.
The presentation session was held before the entire class on November 22.
On November 23, all the 80 delegates were taken to visit Vodafone’s Al Johara project. Johara means diamond in Arabic. The project, which has been running for 14 months, have initiated the campaign where Qatari housewives sell mobile phone packages and value added services, at their own time to change their family and their own financial status.
The project visits were educational for the delegates as they learnt that even within the limitations of differing cultures and other odds, success can be achieved if the will remains in a company or individual.
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The graduation ceremony of delegates was held on the evening of November 23. As the name of each country was announced, the delegates of the country walked to the stage to receive their certificates.
While the delegates stood together to represent their country, the cheers and applause from the entire hall would have driven anyone to believe that this is all but one nation.
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Finally, the closing ceremony was held on the morning of November 24 at the Qatar Foundation, where four groups presented to the audience what they have learnt from the entire summit.
Members of the audience were moved by the stories of each presenter.
Korvi Rakshand from Bangladesh shared about how he initiated the first JAAGO school in Rayerbazaar in 2007 with just a dream to provide education to the children at the slums. Despite being thrown out of his house and laughed at by his friends, Korvi held on to his dreams. Albeit two schools in Dhaka and one in Tongi now, JAAGO Foundation is still working relentlessly to educate these children.
A more personal touch was in the story of Nurzulfikar Ali, who despite suffering a nasty childhood, a tougher youth and little education, was still able to excel in his workplace at Prudential Corporation Asia through dedication and hard work.
Most people even looked into their inner selves after listening to the account of Asif Sadiq, a police officer in London. According to his doctors, Sadiq would have either died or been paralysed for life, following a devastating accident in Kenya, six months back.
The accident occurred as Sadiq, and his best friend, collided their vehicle head on into another speeding vehicle in Kenya. Sadiq survived as he was thrown out of the car while his friend in the driving seat perished.
Sadiq’s jaw was dislocated and his second cervical vertebra (C2) bone was broken. Kenyan doctors were sure he would die.
But that was not Sadiq’s concern. ‘I was worried about what I would tell God when I meet him in the hereafter,’ he said during the presentation.
Miraculously, Sadiq survived. His wounds are still healing and he was able to take part in the summit.
He concluded his presentation by pointing out to the audience that each and every moment in our lives are precious and we should be thankful for everything we have rather than lamenting on what we do not have.
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Even after the closing ceremony, delegates were found hugging and bidding tearful goodbyes to each other at the Qatar Foundation and the hotel. The difference in races and boundaries seemed to have faded within a span of just ten days.
‘That is the spirit of Mosaic!’ says Mohammad Rizwan Sharif, general manager of Northbrook Consultants Limited and a delegate from the 2010 Mosaic International Summit held in the United Kingdom. ‘The relations established will remain forever with these delegates while strengthening the knowledge they have gained from the summit itself. This will drive them to actually contribute to the development of their local communities,’ he concludes.