A TEDx Worthy Experience - TEDxMoroni

On 23rd May 2022, I got the chance to be featured in the series "A la decouverte d'un Warrior" which translates to Discovering a warrior, a concept by Nasma Saandi Assoumani. I would like to thank her for the invitation to the series, which allowed me to have a retrospective of my TEDx experience and the early days of the project. It was indeed 2 years of labor and it's an honor to be invited to share my experience and see that it had an impact on the community, we hope it expands even further in the next few years. Have fun reading the interview!

How would you define yourself?

Hello, I am Abdallah, a final-year petroleum engineering student in Malaysia. I am passionate about the energy industry because I believe it is a vital sector for the development of any society. It plays a multiplier effect to uplift those who are disadvantaged while we continue to fuel vital needs such as healthcare, education, and the various industries that run our economies. I am also passionate about global politics, as it shapes the various decisions in this world. It is the place where one can have significant impact the society and the world at large. Finally, I am also passionate about personal development, I always believe that change starts within ourselves and that as a collective we can move things in a positive direction. 

What are your hobbies?

I love networking which has now become a hobby haha, I play basketball from time to time and at the moment I am cultivating my reading culture. Apart from that, I like to contribute to the community so I like to be involved in charity events or organize events by myself or through the organizations I am part of. 

What's your leitmotif in life?

"Every day above ground is a blessing": it encompasses the idea that we are not eternal, that we should be grateful to Allah for granting us another breath every day, to be humble, but also that every new day is a new chance to realize our dreams, to accomplish something meaningful, and to leave a positive impact. 

Tell us about TEDxMoroni? How did you get the idea to start?

Well, TEDxMoroni for me is a big dream which came true. I was lucky enough to attend a TEDxYouth event in Tanzania back in 2017, then in my classes in high school, our teachers would project TED Talks; when I got to university, I also volunteered for my university's TEDx event and this reinforced my passion for TED. The talks found on YouTube have shaped my life and I have always aspired to become a Speaker one day. However, I know that it takes a lot to become a TEDx Speaker. So I figured if I couldn't be a speaker yet, I wanted to organize one.

From my first TEDx in Tanzania to the many Talks I have watched, I have always been convinced that we need this in Comoros because we have so many success stories and so many role models that we don't know. As part of the new generation, I believe it is our duty to shade light on them, to change the narrative and to show to our young population that going to Europe or becoming a politician is not the only definition of success. That there are vast opportunities for everyone and you just have to find them and be bold enough to pursue them. It is also important, in my opinion, to show these ambitious young people that we can be the driving force behind our own success and that of our community, and that we can make a difference on our own scale. (A picture of my first TEDx in Tanzania, with my good friend Matthew Maganga on my right, together we went to watch Yogesh Mundhra - far right talk about his robotics passion)

You are young, and so is your team. Psychologically how did it feel to bear such a huge project? weren't you afraid?

I was afraid until the day of the event. It was a very difficult time, I was afraid of what people would say, whether the discussions would have the impact we saw and wanted and whether people would accept our message. I was afraid that our two years of hard work wouldgo down the drain.

I was even more afraid because some of the topics were taboo in our society, so I was afraid of how people would perceive them, and how our speakers and our team would be perceived. But to be honest, my team was my greatest strength, they were as passionate and loyal to the project as I was and they saw the impact in the long run. TED talks are not meant to change your life immediately, but to change the way you see things and ultimately change your life.

I would define my team as a young and dynamic team. Leading them has been a real honor for me and I am very grateful to them for believing in me, our common dream, and helping me make it a reality. Now I can confidently say that young people can make things happen, you just have to trust them.

What's your objective through TEDxMoroni?

We have 4 main goals. First, we seek to make a meaningful impact in our community and tell our story, the Comorian story. We have men and women who are making a difference in the lives of Comorians and trying to improve the lives of our compatriots despite the various challenges. TEDxMoroni is also about providing exposure to our audience, especially the Comorian youth, and inspiring them to follow their dreams. We pray that this was not the first and last event. We want TEDxMoroni to take place regularly, ideally annually. We also want it to grow and become the biggest personal development event in our region, in the Indian Ocean.

What worries did you have before you began?

I was convinced that the project was worthwhile and would have an impact. However, I didn't know how to do it, how to recruit a diverse and specialized team, or how to even lead that team. I had some experience leading student organizations, but the TED level was different; this was a huge project and I was accountable to a much larger organization, an international body.

I was worried about the technical aspect of the event in Comoros. There are certain technical standards for a TED talk and I wasn't sure if I could find them in Comoros, or how much it would cost us.

The last concern was one of the most important, which was the source of sponsorship, which proved to be the most difficult until the day of the event. As young people, we didn't have much credibility. Certainly, many people saw the potential of the project but they didn't believe we could do it, that was a huge obstacle and others didn't even see the potential of it considering that the fruits were not immediate which consequently slowed down the project enormously.

Have you always dared to undertake things whatever the magnitude of them?

In my opinion, achieving your dream is like any sport, you have to practice. Before I started the TED project, I made a lot of excuses, I was afraid, but one day I decided to jump off the cliff and take the risk.

So no, I wasn't like that, I took risks, but I calculated them. The TED project was one of the projects I started and I trusted Allah to guide me while giving everything in the process, trusted my team, and told myself that "If there is a will, there is a way". 

What help you to have self-confidence in what you wanted to accomplish?

What gave me confidence in myself and in what I wanted to do was my entourage. Indeed, I surrounded myself with people who believed in me, whether the project was successful or not. I met different TEDx organizers on LinkedIn who gave me advice on how to proceed, I reached out to other TEDx organizers, and I took the time to carefully read the guides to organizing a TED. I was also involved in the organizing community which helped me to mentally prepare myself for the different challenges I would face.

As I said, my team has been my greatest strength but also my family, parents and friends. I remember calling my friends from high school to pitch the TEDx before I even had a full team. So my environment played a huge role in me.

I've been organizing events since I was in high school, and I was a project manager for various Society of Petroleum Engineers events at my university so these experiences have built my confidence and given me an idea of how to work with people. 

What according to you stops certain people to dare to begin projects and venture towards the route of fulfillment? Or make their dreams simply come to reality ?

I think one of the reasons is discipline and consistency, which is something I'm working on myself. But I think a lot of it is the mental limits that we put on ourselves. I think we have to learn to be our biggest fans and believe that we can change the world. Steve Job says that only those who are crazy enough to think they're going to change the world really do. Despite the many challenges we face, especially at home, nothing is impossible. It may take longer than expected, just like TEDxMoroni, but it is possible and worth it. 

Final words?

I feel like my answers may sound cliché and similar to Motivational speakers on the internet, but I am one of those people who believe that we can make a difference if we really want to. We need to surround ourselves with the right people and believe in ourselves because we all have a warrior's soul within us.

I would therefore like to end with a quote from the Qur'an that says: "Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they changes what is in themselves." (Quran 13: 11)

This is to say that change begins within ourselves, inwards, so let's not be afraid, let's take the challenges!

END OF THE INTERVIEW

I would like to thank my dream team Touchrane, Chahirati, Mouniat, Rachmia, Saand, Mouzainat and Ahmed for being the pillars of this event and to have been crucial for the project for the past two years, we went through a lot of up and downs but it was all worth it. Every Sunday spent on a meeting was an opportunity to learn from each one of you and to grow both as a professional but also as a professional.

I would also like to thank everyone who supported us directly and indirectly, from our partners, sponsors, ambassadors, our families, our friends and the whole community who responded positively to this initiative, they are too many to mention but on behalf of my team we are extremely grateful and you are truly the blood around this event.

Finally is to thank TED for trusting us with the license and to have extended it multiple times, I would also like to thank TEDxOrganizers Maha Tahar and Wael Elayeid, for guiding me from the beginning of my TEDx journey and their help throughout the process. Really grateful to them to have believed in my dream.