Making A Difference - Buiding a Community by Helping the Talented

Making a Difference – Helping the Talented

One of the most obvious challenges in our community is the failure to recognize talent. Talented individuals go unnoticed. While they may eventually do relatively well for themselves, they feel disappointed as their community had failed them. Nattiq feels that something has to be done and it is demonstrating that making a difference, in building the community through discovering talent, is possible.

When Nattiq was in Oman training a group of young blind Omanies several years ago, a young individual stood out. Mr. Nooh Alhadidi was without a doubt very talented. He absorbed knowledge and information like a sponge. What impressed us most was the fact that he continued to stay in touch with Nattiq regularly providing us with feedback and other useful information. A decision was made to appoint Nooh as a Nattiq Champion in Oman and Saudi Arabia. As he nears the completion of his high school studies, Nooh turned to me for help. He wanted to study Computer Science in a university that would accept him knowing that he is a 4.0 GPA student. This is virtually impossible in the Middle East. No university I know of may admit a blind student in Computer Science. But knowing that his financials may not support his pursuit of a university degree, we had to brainstorm on how we can secure a full scholarship for him. It is worth mentioning that Nooh is employable as is and I was tempted to offer him a full time job at Nattiq, and I know he would have accepted the offer without hesitation, but it was not the right thing to do. Nooh must go to college and have that wonderful experience first.

I wrote several letters to some influential people in our region requesting their help to secure a scholarship for Nooh. One of the people I wrote to is a dear friend, an activist for blind people in Oman who dedicated her life to help various special needs people especially those with visual impairment. Mrs. Barka Albakri took the matter to Her Highness Saida Alia Bin Thuwaini AlSaied, a member of the Royal Family in Oman, who discussed the issue with His Excellency the Minister of Higher Education in Oman. An approval of a full scholarship was granted to Nooh.

Nooh has the task of selecting a university which may accept his application to study Computer Science. While I have some suggestions for him, I thought I should write this memo and circulate it to all our partners and friends in order to receive their suggestions as to where the best university for Nooh is. I hope to receive your feedback at auda@nattiq.com. If you wish to contact Nooh, you may do so at: nooh@nattiq.com.

I feel that we are demonstrating how a community can be enhanced through helping talented people realize their full potentials. This effort takes the entire community to help. Thus far many responsible people have stepped forward and did what they felt the right thing to do. We can’t thank them enough.

My sincere thanks to my friend Mrs. Barka Albakri whom I admire and love. I also would like to thank Her Highness Saida Alia Alsaied, His Excellency the Minister of Higher Education in Oman, the board of Alnoor Institute for the Blind in Oman. I also would like to extend my love and appreciation to my colleague Mr. Nooh Alhadidi for being who he is and having the talent which must not go unnoticed.