The MENA Salam Fellowship took place in Morocco 21 - 23 March 2014, orchestrated by Aya Chebbi, Africa and Middle East Youth Coordinator.
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Salam Fellowship gathered together young open-minded leaders from many countries including Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
These young leaders or ‘Peace Rebels’ are exceptional individuals who see and understand the illusion, frustration, sadness, and danger of seeking happiness in external materialism. A group of selected Peace Rebels were encouraged to further their skills in harvesting inner peace by joining the Fellowship programme.
Yahia Faroq Ahmed Yaaqob or ‘Yahya’, was one of the participants of the group. He was brave enough to swim against the tide of popular opinion and understand why non-conformity can produce social change through inner change or inner peace.
The Fellowship programme offered interactive activities, meditation sessions, lectures and discussions providing the participants with new skills. Yahya attended all of the sessions and more importantly, the meditation sessions which emphasized the letting-go technique otherwise known as ‘Sabai’.
“We had several hours of lectures everyday about life in general and how to benefit from the program and how to benefit others. Last but not least, we learned about different cultures, meeting new people and establishing a great network”
- Yahia Faroq Ahmed Yaaqob
Eventually, the programme ended with everyone satisfied, especially Yahya and his friend Maad. Maad Mahfoudh Thabit Sharaf is also a Sehirian, Istanbul Sehir University. They were so happy and content with the programme and decided to find a suitable place for a similar Fellowship to be organized in the near future. They proposed that the venue could be Socotra Island, a place of unique landscapes and exotic plants.
“In conclusion, the program was beneficial to the max, we enjoyed, we laughed and learned a lot about ourselves and others. It brightened our vision toward the future and gave us a clear glance about what we want to do. Therefore, Maad and I thought about making the same program in Yemen, especially Socotra Island where we will be organizing it and trying to spread peace to the world.”
- Yahia Faroq Ahmed Yaaqob
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