Hi All,
That guy keep bringing me incredible laughs!
Just to clarify something, Muslims does come from every ethnicity and background so you can’t define someone as Muslim by look, and Arabs make 18% only of the total population of Muslims.
– Abdo
Sharing Link: https://www.abdomagdy.com/g78hzb
Hi All,
Just stumbled upon this Facebook profile and brought me a laugh. You’re supposed to write something about yourself in the box below your photo in your Facebook profile.
She has done it right:
write (“something about yourself.”);
We used to do that at school a lot!
Have fun!
– Abdo
Sharing Link: https://www.abdomagdy.com/ygm26b
Hi All,
Being subscribed to clevonamerica YouTube channel from a while, I really liked his latest video addressing Nationalism:
It made me remember a movie “Head of State“, in which two individuals were going for presidency. One’s motto was “God bless America … and no place else” the other replied “God bless America .. and everyplace else!“
Human nature will keep inside us a sense of belonging to the people, culture and land where we grew up. And a desire to see it the best, which might be obvious in Football matches for example. But what the heck might be the problem for me, you or anybody else if god also blessed the other countries!!
I still meet some people who are going with the mentality of the first motto! And really don’t know what to say!
– Abdo
Sharing Link: https://www.abdomagdy.com/79wpev
Hi,
Just a Facebook status inspired me to post that blog, while developing the WordPress theme I’ll use for that blog and planning my online activities generally.
A piece from Egyptian popular poetry calling people to keep humble regardless of the position they attained in their temporary life ..
يا طير يا عالي في السما .. طظ فيك
ما تفتكرشي ربنا مصطفيك
برضك بتاكل دود .. وللطين تعود
تمص فيه يا حلو .. ويمص فيك
عجبي
Oh there! you bird, flying high in the sky .. (Tozz) damn you!
Don’t just think that .. god has chosen you …
You still eat worms, and to the mud you’ll return (i.e. when you die) …
You suck it now, sweet .. and it’ll suck you soon (i.e. after your death) …
My Exclamations!
**** ‘Tozz’ is an Egyptian word illustrate being not interest in something and/or induce disrespect to it, don’t know a polite translation to it.
Have fun & keep humble!
Regards,
Abdo
—–
Photos credit goes to:
1) Vicky Frank
2) Dave Hamster
Asalamo Alikum (Peace be upon you) All,
Three weeks ago, I decided to start Vlogging and actually provided an Ice-Breaking video, expressing my intention to start Vlogging starting with the topic of “Unity of Muslims”. Since then I had been thinking of the ideal way to presented the topic and came to some ideas, that I’ll be trying to get clear in that post.
The series’s title will be “Lessons In Unity” and its goal is to explore incidents – usually battles – throughout our Islamic History where we united and show different situations, concepts and analogies related to the unity of Muslims.
Out of brainstorming, I structured the series in 10 lessons that will communicate the meanings we need to understand today, in order to conceive and seek unity between us Muslims the right way, I focus on having a certain logical flow of information so each lesson adds a new concept we’re prepared to understand from the last one and wider our view in a certain way.
The lessons is structured as follows:
1. Unity as a Concept
In this light introduction, I’ll present why unity is important by couple of very famous analogies, then will discuss 3 main concepts that goes against unity of Muslims. The concepts are Racism, Nationalism and Sectarianism.
2. Sahaba’s Perception of Unity:
To form a solid, stable structure; you had to make sure that the units you use in that structure is actually solid and stable at first place. The strength of a wall you’re intending to build, is directly dependent on the strength of every single building block you’ll use in it.
The same concept applies to building communities, to unite people you had to make those people ready for unity before trying to unite them. By changing their mentalities and as a result their behaviors, attitudes and qualities towards the their brothers and sisters who share their religion.
As such concepts had been sharply clear in the way the companions of the prophet (PBUH) united after Hijra. The brotherhood, personal qualities and attitudes between Mohajereen & Ansar would be the subject of the 2nd episode of this series Insha’ Allah (God Willing).
3. Sahaba’s Different Interpretations
Could Muslims have different approaches to a certain Islamic ruling or a in finding a solution to a certain problem, we do have different schools of thoughts, so how those people who started these schools of thoughts conceived unity of Muslims? what’s the red lines that should not be crossed when we talk about different approaches, when a certain approach should be considered excessive and unacceptable in a Muslim community.
The feasibility and flexibility to have different approaches to a problem, had been obvious in a certain situation when Sahaba (RA) interpreted an order gave by the prophet (PBUH) differently and how they dealt with each others upon their difference and how Prophet Mohamed (PBUH) reacted to the issue.
By discussing that, I want to bring to our attention that among us Muslims, we should have the flexibility to accept others’ opinions and interpretations and be mature enough to maintain our brotherhood with those who conceive things differently. And at the same time we should never tolerate those who ruin our Islamic teachings by having unacceptable approaches.
4. Ohod’s Unity Pitfalls
The battle of Ohod is rich with unity lessons, it shows two types of deviations. Among the Muslims one third of the Muslim army left the battlefield because of the heads of hypocrisy within the Muslim community itself. Then those who preferred this life and didn’t obey Prophet’s orders, caused a lot of harm to Muslims.
I’ll present those two deviated groups in the battle of Ohod in order for us to understand ourselves and how practically things get to work. To know that there is among us may be those who can harm us more than our enemies and among us those who’ll go for their own agendas.
Presenting that in the context of Unity will give us the maturity we need, not to be easily fooled or deceived while sincerely seeking unity. As Allah SWT says in the holy Quran:
Had they marched out with you, they would have added to you nothing except disorder, and they would have hurried about in your midst (spreading corruption) and sowing sedition among you – and there are some among you who would have listened to them. And Allah is the All-Knower of the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers). [Quran 09:47].
5. Hussein (RA) & Muslim Unity
We can’t deny that disunity had taken place at some point after prophet Mohamed’s death, and there had been some battles within the Muslim community itself. I’ll present that subject not by getting back to what historically happened, who was right and who was wrong. But how should be conceive it and how what happened should even bring the Muslim community closer and unite us upon righteousness.
A lot of emotional energy from the martyrdom of Imam Hussien (RA) is being manipulated to misguide Muslims, especially new Muslims and those with no access to appropriate Materials. We’ll see how Hussien (RA) in Karbalaa have done everything possible for the unity of Muslims, and the disunity had been actually caused by those who betrayed him.
6. Saladin’s Leadership Model
Had the Muslim unity been just something of the past when prophet Mohamed (PBUH) and the righteous companion been there, we’ll explore how in medieval Islam, Muslims united against crusades under the leadership of Saladin.
I’ll focus on exploring the issue of Leadership, taking Saladin as a leadership model and focusing on couple of incidents that shows how strong, wise and righteous he was and the Muslim leader should be. And also, how the Muslim community united under his leadership.
7. Unity Against Mongols
Mongols is considered one of the greatest dangers faced the Muslim community since its existence, politically Muslims had been totally and completely disunited during the beginning of the attacks from the Mongols, even some was helping the Mongols killing Muslims and occupying Muslim lands.
But how Muslims united at such circumstances, even inside the single country there had been fights between different groups. How Kotoz the Muslim leader was able to unite all Muslims against their enemy and win the battle of Ain Jalot.
I’ll be focusing on Kotoz as an excellent politician dealing with different groups seeking power, and then as a fighter by shouting Wa Islamah (O! My Islam) in the battlefield.
8. 1973 War’s Unity
No one can deny that in our Modern history the limited victory in 1973 war was a result of a limited unity, In a trail to bring hope and show that unity isn’t something dates back to centuries. I’ll show some signals of unity between Egypt, Syria, Libya and Saudi Arabia and different Muslim countries in this war against the Zionist occupation.
9. Muslim Resources
Who are we? This is going to be statistics and representation to the ability of us Muslims and how powerful the Muslim world could grow if we really united.
10. Personal Roles
Finally, how could me and you participate in the Unity of the Muslim community, what’s the values and qualities should we live with. Out of the ideas we’ll discuss, we’ll get to a certain points that we should all keep in mind to achieve unity on the long run. And work for unity between even the local Muslim communities.
Just adding general points about the publishing of the series.
Publishing Format:
The nature of videos is being quick, light and persuasive and It won’t be practical to cover every lessons in a 5 ~ 10 minutes video! and make all points clear enough for the audience; thus, I’ll be considering the videos as the conclusion and will use it for what It should be eye-opening, persuasive and light, while the technical points and the detailed description of the incidents will be published as articles on this blog Insha’ Allah (God Willing), while the videos will be published on YouTube and Muxlim mainly.
By the end of the series, I’ll collect my writings and the ideas generated out of research and interaction and produce a PDF document including all the ideas discussed and all the lessons learned.
The main publishing framework though, is going to be my personal blog here, so If you’re interested in the series the ideal way to keep yourself updated is to subscript to the blog feeds, or you can connect with me on different social networking sites.
Qualification & References:
What makes me qualified to talk about this subject, I was grown up in a religious family and had a considerable amount of religious education, so all these incidents I studied before, plus the series is “Practical Lessons” all what I do is having access to authentic information and use my logic in communicating with the audience taking the context and our current status as Muslims into account, and highlighting the points that will be beneficial.
I’m from the mainstream Muslims and don’t associate myself with any Muslim group or school of thought, except following the authentic teachings of Islam from the Holy Quran & Sunnah, that’s why I won’t be using that series to Market for a certain group or a school of thought.
Of course, I prepare from references that I’m adding in this post, The majority of my preparations if not all of it is from Arabic sources, which include mainly the following books and taps:
* الرحيق المختوم. بحث في السيرة النبوية – فضيلة الشيخ صفي الدين المباركفوري
* دروس وعبر من سيرة خير البشر – دروس في غزوة أحد – الدكتور محمد المختار محمد المهدي
* أباطيل يجب أن تمحي من التاريخ – الدكتور إبراهيم شعوط
* سيرة صلاح الدين الأيوبي – القاضي بهاء الدين المعروف بإبن شداد
* و اإسلاماه – علي أحمد باكثير
* التتار – دكتور راغب السرجاني
May Allah SWT accept our work, and hope that would be beneficial in somehow Insha’ Allah (God Willing)
– Abdelrahman
Sharing Link: https://www.abdomagdy.com/g6g992
Dear All,
I started working with Adobe Premiere Pro producing some videos for YouTube. As I’m starting to talk about unity, picked up that scene from Braveheart, showing how could calling for unity might be deceptive.
Leave you with the video:
YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITwL-nqC3ic
Calling for unity against a common enemy among people that share a religious belief, country or even a business is very logical and a sign of maturity of whom calling for unity.
But that’s not always the case, some people will sharply betray when it’s the real time. some for a piece of land, some money and others for their own political agenda.
In this clip from Braveheart, I try to communicate that meaning, Wallace won the first battle by himself and the people loved him and followed him as they saw his goal is freedom for all of them.
When it came to the critical preparation for a battle in which he’ll need the help of the other group, he called for unity and actually been promised.
At the hardest time when he sent the sign for the other group to attack, he discovered that he had been betrayed, look into his eyes to realize how it feels when discover that you had been betrayed and learn the lesson and make sure who are you uniting with.
This is a lesson to learn when calling for unity, is that person or group of people actually want to unite for the best of the community, or they’re doing that for their own agenda!
Sorry for the incorrect dimensions and low quality, I’ll fix it in the upcoming videos. Hit the HQ button for now for better preview.
Unite yes, but keep your eyes open for whom you’re uniting with.
Hi All,
This is a brilliant video about the value of women in Islam, going through the life of Aisha (RA) the wife of prophet Mohamed (PBUH)!!
God bless our great mother, and may anyone who curse her, either be guided or cursed in life and afterward!
Abdo
* Video credit goes to Truthpath on YouTube
Hi,
Just knew about Virtual Gaza project; http://virtualgaza.media.mit.edu/
Deserves recognition, thanks to the authors
Thanks goes to Be Helpful; Stay Hopeful group on Facebook, for letting me know about it
Link: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69324925680
Regards,
Abdo
What’s happening in Gaza, and why, have you ever wanted to know
As a part of my blog yesterday War On Gaza, Background for Truth Seekers! I meant to provide some documentaries as a reference for whom might be feeling that something isn’t right in his perception of the conflict, or what the western media is presenting to him/her.
For someone who’s watching Aljazeera!, then reading western media articles online, it’s sometimes hard to tell that it’s the same incidents being covered, or the weight given to each incident is somehow close to fair or normal, a certain techniques, including making use of people’s perception to the conflict (which is one-sided and formed by the previous propaganda from the beginning of the conflict) to get the new incident as an evidence to that perception maybe, but when it gets up to 1000 kills, most of which are purely civilians, shooting ambulances, aid workers, and killing journalists. Isn’t it the right time to double check your information? or question your perception?
Of course that’s in case you’re searching for the truth, not someone blindly supporting a certain project and somehow involved in promoting the massacres, and spreading false information to intentionally cover what he/she know is the truth.
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land is a 2004 documentary by Sut Jhally and Bathsheba Ratzkoff which—according to the film’s official website—”provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and which “analyzes and explains how–through the use of language, framing and context–the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza remains hidden in the news media” – Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace,_Propaganda_&_the_Promised_Land
The official page from Media Education Foundation, the producer of the video is here: http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=117
Here is a clip as an introduction to the video: [8:33 Min]
As the video is protected by Fair Use Clause, which allows the broadcast of the video for the purposes of commentary, criticism and education. here is the full video [80 Min]
Finally, truth and facts isn’t things that someone – including myself – say it’s the truth and the facts, everybody should form his own opinion after listening to both sides and understanding what they’re trying to communicate, and bypassing the propaganda from both sides.
Regards,
Abdo
Hi All,
While clouds of incomplete information, and propagandized reports and news coverage flooding to the western media, which not only hindering western’s ability to understand the root causes of the conflict in the middle east, but most times find sick reasons behind killing children, destroying homes, and the use of prohibited chemical weapons against civilians.
Back to 2001, a journalist in a small town in the US, thought something is wrong about the coverage she gets about that conflict, and decided to go to Gaza herself to have a first hand experience on what’s going on. When she came back and read the articles and news coverage in the American media, she didn’t find anything from what she has seen. And realized that she and all of her follow Americans is getting a very one-sided view of the conflict.
Decided to found If Americans Knew, and conduct research and get statistics about the conflict, and started getting her voice to public.
Here is she, telling her story herself, and showing some of the statistics she got from an Israeli organization. In the documentary by Alternate Focus http://www.alternatefocus.org/
That’s their website http://ifamericansknew.com/, Just imagine how the statistics will be after the recent terrorist attacks on Gaza?!
Not sure about your media sources, and how you’re being misinformed. Check; Peace, Propaganda & The Promised Land movie posted earlier: http://www.ecademy.com/node.php?id=120619
Abdo
Hi All,
That blog had been originally published by myself on Ecademy.
Away from the current situation in Gaza, I’ve tried to give an introduction to the root causes of the conflict, and the distortion in most western media, and as a result in westerner’s views about the conflict.
I’ve posted couple of blogs, and was intentionally presenting westerner’s views who visited the occupied Palestine, conducted research or collected statistics. because as we say here a blue eyed can only believe a blue eyed – that was obvious lately having no formal western media in Gaza during this massacres. It was justified to say we don’t hear, don’t see and don’t believe -.
Today, here is an Interview conducted by Middle East Broadcasting Company on March 14th, 2003, two days before Rachel Corrie was murdered by the Israeli Defense Forces, she talk about water well being destructed – water that people drink -, houses people live in being flattened with the ground .etc May be someone will come-up with the idea that some terrorists was drinking from the water wells, or may be hiding inside, and the house of a physician was, hmmmm , was whatever a sick, silly imagination can bring!
Content and photos from: MIFTAH “The Palestinian initiative for the promotion of global dialogue and democracy”:
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=1866&CategoryId=23
Content and photos from: MIFTAH “The Palestinian initiative for the promotion of global dialogue and democracy”:
http://www.miftah.org/Display.cfm?DocId=1866&CategoryId=23
———————————————
We’re very acquaint with Palestinian burning the US flag, as a natural result of being killed by a US weapons and the US supporting whatever might happen to them under whatever silly reason. But we see here the Palestinians themselves carrying the American flag. So, in case of Palestine, it’s not the evilness of some people who want to hate others, it’s people’s actions and situations that make them loved or hated by others.
Rachel’s family started Rachel Corrie Foundation For Peace & Justice http://www.rachelcorriefoundation.org/. More resources on http://www.rachelcorrie.org/, International Solidarity Movement: http://palsolidarity.org/.
For me as an Arab when I engage with someone in a discussion who’s taking a tough view against the US people, I tell him that they don’t know the reality on the ground and don’t understand what their country is doing on their names and usually find Rachel Corrie a brilliant example of people still alive! far away from others who suffer and can feel their pain. Unfortunately, In today’s world those are few.
Regards,
Abdo
Whether you are among the hundreds who had been involved in the preparations for the show in the last 2 years, since September 2011 ,or the few millions watching it on TV or hundreds of thousands watching it online, oh really?
Everyone agrees that…
Egypt just witnessed the launch of the highly anticipated #1 Reality TV Show for entrepreneurs. Yah and Erm! actual entrepreneurs, whom the show is supposed to be about had been passing around wild comments as the first episode of the show aired on Egypt’s popular Al Nahar TV Network.
Comments ranged from the show being overly commercial, abusing entrepreneurship and passing the wrong image about being an entrepreneur in Egypt, even questioning the allegedly massive USAID funding and the intentions behind it.
Basma Albanna, Co-Founder of Sirkil
Abdulrahman Alaa, Founder of X-Project Student Organization, El Mashrou3 Partner Organization
Co-Founder & CEO of Integreight the creator of 1Sheeld the 850%+ Goal Achiever on KickStarter
CEO & Founder of 3alemni
Co-Founder of Brand Yourself, El Mashrou3 Partner Organization
Omar Aysha, Former Editor at Wamda.com, well, with 20+ likes to his status!
Also, on Twitter, remarks of being a competition show rather than an entrepreneurship show.
Including Mohamed El-Tahawy, CEO of Smartology
That’s only some of the feedback gathered…
Okay, now, let’s be frank, why would I write this analysis, and why would you be interested in reading this, given that…
Away from the self-flattering facts of being the founder of a 5+ years old brand promoting entrepreneurship in Egypt, with deep passion to spread the virus in Egypt, under any brand as I would claim, plus, experiencing 6+ months of formatting a similar reality TV Show back in 2010/early 2011 .etc
Let’s state the real reasons here:
Egypreneur, the entrepreneurship gig that I’m in charge of terminated its superficial partnership with the organization behind the show back in December 2012 on the ground of copycatting some of our products and shifting their strategy from being a (TV Show) into being a (TV Show + Egypreneur) and using our intellectual property in the process, well, add to it the fact that when we threatened of legal + public action in response we had been untruthfully misguided by their management team that this won’t happen, they ended up avoiding it by being foxy, calming us down until it is too late to launch one and going on with the stuff they have stolen and even more details we volunteered during assessing a potential partnership framework, after all this we were too kind to let it go and just let Karma do its job.
Yes, yes and right now Egypreneur HQ made a public notice that the model of the resources section on their website is stolen from our famous Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Mapping Project which worked on mapping entities and resources helping entrepreneurs in Egypt and this particular part was planned to be released through an information product called Ebda2 platform, they ended up releasing it under the same title, and it’s true that there is a case of intellectual property violation (Violating Egyptian Law #82 for year 2002, Undisclosed Information Articles) being raised against the company managing the show/website and individuals involved.
All this is true, there is even more, if you want me to share, but that’s enough to make my point…
Now, why would you even continue reading given this background?
Well, one of the not-so-secret arms of Egypreneur is Impact Lab, where we started an impact assessment project through which we gather and analyze information including feedback to assess the impact created by the product (TV Show) and everything that follows, so we started gathering and analyzing feedback but you know professionally , it will be claimed non-objective if articles or reports being released through Impact Lab, while both organizations are having all this heated issues behind the scenes, I couldn’t attract third parties to join Impact Lab for the project so far, so it will remain undisclosed until this changes.
And you know what I thought? As I have access to the information anyway and it will be claimed non-objective by the ones who are ready to do so anyway, why not to release it under this poor personal journal, and oh man, I don’t mind if you consider it non-objective or a personal view. I will do my best to make it objective later, but it’s a personal journal, I’m free to do what I wish..
Well, I even could have launched this as an opinion piece through Egypreneur Community, but I preferred to do it under my own name, will make sure it remains as such along the way…
I will start following the systematic process of Impact Lab starting with the next post, till then let’s go with couple of initial observations.
First: Initial Viewership
Well, whether you love it or hate it, in TV business there is only one thing that doesn’t lie and you can’t get around it, numbers and viewership…
I did a basic analysis to number of views for Reality TV Show competitions before you can find it HERE, if you search youtube for episodes from any of the Reality TV Show competitions we witnessed you’ll find a rough average of 2-3 Million views per episode, Search YouTube for Arab Idol, MBC The Voice, X Factor Arabia, Coke Studio.
Well, El Mashrou3 was not less supported, it’s hosted on one of Egypt’s most popular TV Networks and it received funding from USAID, Silatech and Samsung, so they have everything to go wild, and they did…
The launch of the first episode was very well supported from all angles, they organized a fancy event at a five stars hotel and invited all fans, partners and friends into a gig with the soon-to-be TV entrepreneur super stars – doesn’t look right, isn’t it? – to get their support and digital footprint into promoting the show. They also got the giant Facebook page of Samsung Egypt with over 5 Million fans to post their first episode, beside Al Nahar network Facebook page with over 2 Million fans…
Not only that, it seems like they also did the old trick of inviting pages with large number of fans to post their episode on YouTube, even if irrelevant, you can find it even in (Eftekasat Masry Om El Agnaby and a Fake Bassem Youssef Page)
Surprisingly, still they also seemed to invest in Facebook Advertising again, after investing massively across the last year to gain close to half a million fans, they still ran a Facebook Ads campaign to bring viewership to their first episode.
Thinking that should blow up the counter and strike massive viewership and digital footprint?
Surprisingly, the first episode today January 2nd at 6PM after over 12 days of aggressive promotion has barely reached 31,000 views , which is nothing compared to other Reality TV Shows with the same investment or even less, hitting 2 Million views in average, reaching 15 Million for a single episode in some cases!
This didn’t seem to be the case with the first episode only, the second episode after 5 days of release has only reached a bit more than 5,000 views.
Erm! How disappointing now, by standards of the media and TV business, despite all the budget spent and commercial packaging, you know, they call such viewership a massive failure.
Second: Attitude towards feedback, delete.
Don’t get me wrong, the feedback was not all negative, negative, not at all and who would expect that with allegedly over 1000+ volunteers around Egypt to support the airing of the show, mostly students given the benefit of being around future TV super stars, who even entered into heated debated in several posts against entrepreneurs sharing their views about the show.
If you visit their Facebook page you’ll find everything is going great. The smart social media managers got me smiling for the witty PR tricks asking audience”What is your positive feedback on the last episode” leaving space only for positive feedback, furthermore, couple of posts mentioned “deleting” negative feedback on their page and the comment mentioning that actually got the most likes indicating intentionally removing negative comments from their page.
That made me remember the days when I was running the first digital marketing campaign for Birrell, they launched a wicked campaign called BirellMan and oh boy it was being stormed with negative comments, I played an honest trick of making comments “pending approval” and waiting for confirmation to approve or delete from the company itself. I can understand the position of a social media manager being stormed with negative comments. Oh boy, by checking BirellMan YouTube comments now, even after 3 years, seems like they are still following my not-so-honest trick, check it out there all positive, positive.
Anyway,
As promised, I will not try to make this look as fancy as an Impact Lab report, but also won’t go super random and biased with personal opinions in all posts, actually I will partially use an assessment framework created at Impact Lab to analyze the project from all its angles, will see you in posts to follow with more in-depth look on:
Have fun! And just enjoy the show 😉
Since my first post Among criticism from entrepreneurs, USAID-funded Bamyan Media Launches Egypts first reality TV Show for entrepreneurs I was contacted by a few people who worked closely with Bamyan Media and shared some insider stories about their experience which will be valuable in analyzing behind the scenes. Also, as four episodes aired, thats 1/3 of the show, that gives a reasonable amount of materials for analysis after the initial feedback and observations.
As the same feedback is repeated for the rest of the entrepreneurs who didnt catch up with the show early on, it became evident that the feedback of majority of actual entrepreneurs is merely the same, viewership rates getting even LOWER after first episode as most people lose interest! Formation of a circle of a few hundreds who are mostly involved with the teams behind the show for a basic form of engagement. And seems like the staff itself doesnt mind getting its hands dirty in feedback war as boiling criticism to a Shabi song they produced starts to surface, Asim Haneef, The show Executive Producer called it the best song ever. view it HERE
Though, a valuable debate also took place on the comments of the above song, with Peter Guirguis seemingly one of the song producers mentions an intellectual monopoly on entrepreneurship and captivating the concept from being commercialized and going mainstream, assuming that Egyptians are already practicing entrepreneurship on their own way from his point of view. Thats worth and intellectual debate on defining entrepreneurship and how it shall be transferred to mainstream audiences. You can view the conversation HERE
Also, as the investment on developing digital assets in the past 1+ year through aggressive advertising didnt pay off in actual viewership, it seems like they decided to go guerilla marketing, they visit popular mainstream cafes like Downtown El Borsa, shift the channel to AlNahar and tried to encourage viewership, the funny bit is that in some of the photos shared in social networks form the exercise, it shows their team sitting to watch it, while people around paying absolutely no attention! They even called on their page for more people to join these campaigns!
As I wrote in my last post, feedback is only a factor in impact assessment, but an actual impact assessment should be based on identifying and analyzing variables, its about finding the variables that matter the most and digging deeper on analyzing them. The first variable of any Impact Assessment project is defining the background and motives of organization, entrepreneur and decision makers behind whatever project being done.
In this post well try to dig down to who is really really the decision maker behind the show, next post will get more into further analysis
So, who is really behind #ElMashrou3?
If you check out their website or their social media profiles, youll see the who is behind El Mashrou3 is presented as TV network, production company, Bamyan Media and organizations working on entrepreneurship in Egypt such and such and such. Even my team noticed couple of channels where Egypreneur is still mentioned, which shouldnt be the case as we terminated partnership back in 2012, so as youre reading this fellows, take it off or would you like to get yourself a reminder?
Furthermore, in a communication they have sent to their subscribers and shared on their page labelled The Story behind El Mashrou3, they seemed to be doing everything possible to cover up on the reality of the ownership and funding behind the show and just mention that a bunch of Egyptian youth with a few Khawaga, Arabic word for foreigner who produced the show in Belad Barra which is usually used to refer to the west and developed countries to actually refer to Afghanistan.
So, why are they so keen on covering up on that and how truthful is the way they present themselves with? And what is the nature of involvement with these partners?
As I get back to my email archive April 2012 as Bamyan Media was starting its operations in Egypt, they presented other entrepreneurship-focused organizations with a basic partnership, I was only asked for approval on using Egypreneur logo on the brochure below and approved it, by then the way the partnership was presented was fairly professional and straightforward. Though, they have used this approval to post our brand in every possible channel without permission afterwards.
Well, obviously Bamyan Media was gaining legitimacy by using these organizations brands, it is a straightforward market entry strategy, you want to befriend those already with good reputation and track record and get their support in what youre doing, a potential massive exposure through TV is a good point to start. Then use that to sell on others that you already have everyones support and that this thing is actually co-created and approved by everyone, which might not be the real case, some of the visible feedback from my last post was from founder of entities presented as partner organizations.
What happened to partnerships afterwards was quite amateurish and superficial, when only numbers matter, even if you run a starting student activity you can get your logo as a show partner and you count as vote of confidence on the show. As its shared by Omar Aysha, I can understand the motives behind such a move as at some stage they were trying to hide the massive USAID involvement, as it might fire back as they go mainstream, they started sticking any logos they get their hands on, so if you want to, you cant find someone to blame!
The point is, none of these partners has any decision to take regarding the show, they might be invited to nice events and focus groups but its only done as much as it serves the objectives of the owning company, Bamyan Media, which hired a team to polish their image within the community and attract beneficiaries who, knowingly or not knowingly, will back their mission and even defend them in return for direct benefits. Add to it the fact that the community working on entrepreneurship support in Egypt still didnt reach the maturity to decide and the critical thinking to accept and reject, often no one will reject anything from anyone while struggling with finding their own next steps.
Truth is, the TV Network is just a TV Network that hosted the show and offered it a standard promotion package, the production company was just a production company hired to produce the show, partners except for USAID and Silatech are just a logo exchange and superficial involvement, mostly to gain legitimacy in front of main sponsors and strategic partners.
For critical analysis, we have to look for ownership, who has the power for decision making and influence.
Thats what matters and thats when we are driven back to where it started:
Courtesy of http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com
In 2007, while David Elliot was working as a Senior Development Consultant for USAID in Afghanistan, his daughter Anna Elliot, 23 years old student at Hampshire University and part time Bartender came for a visit to Afghanistan, observing the popularity of Reality TV Shows at the time, with American-style Afghan Star and others. Anna had an interesting conversation with her dad regarding doing a similar show focusing on entrepreneurs.
As per his Linkedin Profile, at that time, David Elliot was managing a $54 million USAID project for Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development (ASMED). After the US-led war on Afghanistan starting 2011, the US government directed lots of Aid money into rebuilding Afghanistan, obviously, it seems that senior USAID consultant David Elliot didnt find it hard to secure $500K USD to fulfill his daughters ambition to launch an American-style reality TV Show for social entrepreneurs, probably at the least competitive and non-transparent market, Afghanistan. This Devex page explicitly shows USAID as the organization executed the show.
Surprisingly the only official videos from the Dream & Achieve TV Show produced in Afghanistan was hosted on the YouTube channel of the ASMED fund Mr. David Elliot was leading, showing even that the project might have been funded by funds he personally managed for USAID, checkout the USER NAME of the hosting channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ASMEDInfo/videos
Anna Elliot seemed to postpone her studies and get involved with producing a Pilot series of her Reality TV Show, managed under the umbrella of USAID, the show was hosted on Afghanistans most popular TV Network TOLO TV Wikipedia shows a 41% of viewership market share while the owning company itself claims 59% viewership share HERE, the TV Network claim to have 17 Million constant viewers (NBCNews).
It is claimed that the pilot series attracted 7 Million viewers in Afghanistan, which while looking good for PR, technically speaking, even if the claim is true, given the hosting TV Network statistics, it means that 10 Million constant viewers to the channel has either switched off their TV or shifted to another channel as the show aired, comparably to another TV Show hosted on the same channel Afghan Star they are claiming 11 Million viewers per episode.
But anyway, relying on the pilot series a PR campaign was launched in Western media and the show seemed to gain coverage from media outlets like Fast Company and New York times.
Something here to note that at this time, US media companies, seemed to working on dominating the scene in Afghanistan, a virgin market created after the war on Afghanistan, according to this NBC News Article Why Afghanistans election campaign may look familiar to American TV viewers, it shows that Afghanistan has become a comfy bed for US media companies and aspiring media entrepreneurs.
This entry on USAID website itself, claims that the show was a success story and promises a second season that never came to be and of course shows the muscles of the US development agency in creating entrepreneurial revolutions where it is needed the most: http://www.usaid.gov/results-data/success-stories/afghan-entrepreneurs-%E2%80%9Cdream-and-achieve%E2%80%9D
Though this KabulPress.org article seems to disagree, entitled American corruption and mismanagement threaten Afghanistan’s future under headline Suspect American AID projects in Afghanistan, it lists the TV Show by the Elliots as one of the projects USAID claims has created impact while its not actually sensed on the ground. As per Wikipedia (KabulPress) is Afghanistans most read news site.
I found it extremely difficult to track any proper digital footprints resulting from the show in Afghanistan. I was even told by a producer Bamyan Media worked with when they came to Egypt that they didnt want to show him the produced show in Afghanistan, because it was very amateurish. Furthermore, on the tongue of Anna Elliot herself, she stated that the show was boring but 7 million people watched it before one of her team members intervene to mention that she is just not good at selling herself.
In 2009, Anna and David Elliot established Bamyan Media to take the concept further and launch the show in different countries, Bamyan Media uses a mix of a non-profit and for-profit business model to launch the same format of the TV Show in different countries with market for entrepreneurship, mostly developing countries in transition.
But did Bamyan Media drop the USAID umbrella the project started through?
After launching the pilot season, Anna Elliot was being celebrated in western media as a hero who went to Afghanistan to empower its entrepreneurs and was even being hosted in a conversation at The While House
What a second target after Afghanistan would it be other than Egypt post 25 revolution? Yes, that was it, Bamyan Media presented USAID with a proposal to move to Egypt with the backing of USAID funds and it seemed they were able to secure a big check to get their operation started, the deal is supposedly to cover 2-3 years of operating costs for Bamyan Media to initiate their TV Show and business in Egypt.
I can claim having insider information at this part, because at this time, I was working on a similar TV Show for entrepreneurs in Egypt through Egypreneur, that was not an idea or a hunch, but a production-ready concept with agreement with a TV Network and initial agreement with a major sponsor.
The TV Network was sold after the revolution and I was left alone searching for alternatives, passing the 6 months mark in formatting the researching options to produce the show to trigger the entrepreneurial energy of Egyptian youth post 25th revolution and part of a strategy to setup Egypreneur as an independent institution that supports entrepreneurs in Egypt. I was approached by USAID employees who offered support and accordingly was given details about what Im working on.
In the process of communicating with USAID around my TV Show project, I was forwarded an email that was sent by Anna Elliot March 17th 2011, which was a thank you note for USAID support an a promise of follow-up on next steps. I skipped it as the attached format targeting social entrepreneurs didnt seem close to what we have arrived at at that time.
But it seems that it wasnt the case, a few months later, I heard that USAID contracted Bamyan Media to execute a Reality TV Show for entrepreneurs in Egypt, getting busy and overwhelmed with other initiatives we started at Egypreneur, I decided to learn from the experience and completely ignore the matter, but it didnt seem to want to ignore me.
The newly established Bamyan Media out of a spin-off from a USAID project, was able to secure a three years contract with USAID to initiate and replicate their model in Egypt, Omar Aysha, former editor at wamda.com claims a $5 Million USD check was given for their project in Egypt, having no source to confirm or deny, what can be confirmed is that USAID was committed to providing the operating cost for Bamyan Media for 2-3 years, meaning you have 40 employees, 8 services contracts per month, USAID just pay the bills for Bamyan Media allowing them to get cozy while working on their project for two to three years?
Anyway, Bamyan Media created a for-profit company El Mashrou3 LLC through which it handle its operations in Egypt, well, some people might have issues with getting funded as a non-profit then using this money to create a for-profit business, but entrepreneurially speaking youre fine to do whatever you wish as long as you are not breaking the law or any business or personal commitments, I was told that Bamyan Media owns 99% of El Mashrou3 LLC.
Accordingly the controlling element in all activities and actions related to #ElMashrou3 comes from Bamyan Media and El Mashrou3 LLC which received enormous backing from USAID, it seems that Bamyan Media are doing some PR efforts lately to present the involvement as an Egyptian company called El Mashrou3 LLC, which is nothing but an interface to Bamyan Media in Egypt to expand on its commercial benefit. According to their website, Bamyan Media seems to be working hard on expanding the operation of El Mashrou3 to be Pan-Arab reality TV Show for entrepreneurs.
With very little impact and massively low viewership created by the show, added to a few cases of misconducted by Bamyan Media that made one of their former contractors mention to me in a private communication that they are the most horrid unprofessional scam bags I have ever worked with.
It seems that Bamyan Media have got very arrogant given the massive backing from their government money that they not only felt comfortable enough to screw up for two years, but they choose to violate interest and intellectual property of local entrepreneurs on their way to complete dominance on the MENA entrepreneurship landscape.
The questions that comes to our mind as we analyze the leadership behind the show is, are they qualified with a track record to run this kind of thing? Do they have actual pressing desire to create impact through their TV Show, real one? Is the way in which they secured funding for the show and the way they dealt with their contractors and local entrepreneurs represents a social enterprise seeking to create positive impact?
To be continued
In hindsight, Anna Elliot’s reality TV series might seem like a media mogul’s strategy to build market share in developing countries. Source: Milton Magazine
Courtesy of Bamyan Media on Facebook
DISCLAIMER: Information provided is available on public channels, reference is provided for the most part, no personal offense was intended and no ones privacy was violated in the process of carrying out this research/analysis.
Well, here we go with another sensitive topic, but what #Getting_Real I promised myself to stick with in 2014 might be less than exploring what matters the most and rarely explored and trying to define the principles upon which we want to live and build our society, if you are in your 20s I think that should be one of the important questions to ask yourself.
A few times I was having some true talks and I mentioned something awkward like: “All acts of our society, are based upon hypocrisy”, oh yah, of course you get some equally awkward reaction when you say that among people, who are basically are the society, you’re talking about.
But, C’mon, ain’t that true already?
Ain’t our family meetings and chit-chats are about showcasing how great everyone is? Ever talked about concerns, challenges or dreams? How can we help?
Ain’t most of those experience the pressure of finishing school do that because of “societal pressure” not out of passion or even benefit?
Ain’t marriage in our society is more about social status and financial security more than actual love or human connection? What do parents check and hunt for?
Ain’t all relationships within your limited social circles look publicly perfect, people shake hands and kiss cheeks, but what’s inside is inside?
Ain’t most of us are lying about being in “competition” and twisting the qualities of “collaboration” and “co-creation” to avoid direct confrontation? Pussies much?
Ain’t we shy away from having real strategic partnerships in business and within “ecosystems” because we pretend to be partners already and strike from behind or below the belt?
Ain’t most of the behavior you observe from those “partners” and “friends” can be considered “passive aggressive”?
Ain’t we hide ourselves most of the time behind shiny Facebook statuses, tweets and blog posts?
Doesn’t that just make us hypocrites?
Let’s say that in the last 10 year when I could understand being a part of a society, above 16 years old, I felt it’s not true, really? You like me because I’m top of my class? Do you really dare to break through all the superficial defense mechanisms and sneak into everyone’s true self, touch their pains and really “connect” with them?
When you go in disagreement or competition, why don’t you just state that if you do this we are in goddamn competition that will cost us both, let’s partner better? But people do everything they can to avoid that, they end up with passive aggressive behavior, I will hit you from behind, but nicely, because we are friends. If you say something about competition you are the bad guy, really?
If you step on my toes, I will cut your balls off, if you have any!
Does the above statement scare you, yes, I wrote that on my Facebook status, I really like it, not necessarily like I will do it, but I think it makes sense as a warning.
So, why don’t we talk about what matters? Why it’s socially unacceptable to state things as it is? It would be even more acceptable to lie than to state something that would sound perfectly fine to me.
Personally, I’m not good at hiding stuff you know and I plan to stick with the truth, if I don’t like it I will say it out loud and If I don’t like you, I will let you know and equally if I like you, I will let you know. I feel quite free and don’t need to hide myself like most people do.
That probably scares some people away and I don’t mind, be my guest.
With all our imperfections, with all our fears and failures we are beautiful creatures already. So, don’t hide yourself, your feelings or your situations for any reason.
I love this scene from The Phone Booth, the guy is messed up inside, like most of us, but at least he can afford the truth and he would be loved even more after it.
I dream of living in a truthful society…
If you share with people who you really are and they reject you, screw them and come join me…
Let’s build a better society 🙂
I was invited to attend The World Bank/IMF Annual Meeting in Washington DC during October last year and participate in The Civil Society Policy Forum, you know me, I wouldn’t pass such an opportunity without leaving my mark so Egypreneur organized a panel discussion there entitled: Engaging Local Entrepreneurs on Solving Development Challenges, featuring, in order of the photo below, beside myself, Lana Newishy, Chris Schroeder, Hasina Kharbhih and Magdi Amin, will write more about it on Egypreneur Stories.
I had been fascinated with the topic of healing and becoming the best version of ourselves…
I found Charkra’s approach to be the most holistic and probably the simplest approach to pursue healing…
You connect what you thought as intellectual into your own body to certain “centers of energy” called Chakras…
This is possibly the best resource in the topic of Chakras:
My notes book simplified the video and the 7-steps healing journey to the below:
The continuous pursuit of healing all these parts of us is the only guarantee that we keep living from our higher self…
The continuous pursuit of surrender…
Law Abiding Citizen is becoming one of my favorite movies, as someone with interest in sociology, I try to comprehend how communities form and societies function.
One of the deepest conversations in the movie is when Sarah discusses with her boss how she sees her career path at the age of 35, sharing that she wishes she hasn’t sacrificed all the things that she could be and do as a result of her commitment to the profession, just to get high convection rate on a performance report while climbing the career ladder!
Conversation starting Minute 7:10 in this video.
- Hey, Nick, can I ask you something? - Hmm? Would you do it the same way now? Would you still cut a deal for Darby? This is the job, Sarah. We have to make choices. - But did you make the right choice? - We made the right choice, right? I don't know. I'm 35, Nick. And there are things- there are possibilities that I'm not gonna have now. And it's okay. I know it's part of the deal. And don't get me wrong. I love working for you. But I just want to make sure I gave up those things for more than just a high conviction rate.
The experience of my father winning a 10 years long legal battle had been heart-wrenching, that put me in the mood for much exploration, lots of people hide under the mantra of professionalism and performance to do things against the essence of what they are meant to do.
Before careers and professionalism, there are humans, values and principles. Unfortunately, the human society has for the most part failed to celebrate the few good men and women who stick with the essence and build and sustain beauty other than celebrate a plastic sense of professionalism!
To hell with what you’d consider “professionalism” if it makes me lose my essence.
If this is professionalism, then I prefer to be labelled an amateur who cares about the essence of what he do!
Hello Everyone,
Last night, I was getting a bit depressed out of what’s going in the world, my country and my life. So, I posted on Twitter “I’m depressed .. say something uplifting” I have got various responses from people I know on Twitter but got one from someone I don’t know and it wasn’t a POT.
She was EleniHope who after reading her Twitter stream and FormSpring link there, I knew she is a 15 YO girl from Ohio who dedicated her time to searching Twitter for keyword “Depressed” and “I hate my life” and she goes into conversations with people to uplift their spirit and make them feel good again.
Example of such a conversation is here:
http://twitter.com/EleniHope/status/16179162982
Then we got into a conversation:
@EleniHope It’s okay, I’ll join you for an hour or something in picking up on the depressed people, we can start a movement too
http://twitter.com/abdome/statuses/16179483090
@EleniHope Are you on Facebook? we can make a page and a HashTag and group people to uplift the depressed when they have time.
http://twitter.com/abdome/statuses/16179531042
@EleniHope So we can utilize your idea on a larger scale, what do you think?
http://twitter.com/abdome/statuses/16179557509
So, out of that simple gesture Eleni do on Twitter, late last night I started a site to get Tweets with words “Depressed” and “I hate my life” and will get similar words and combine them in a page, for people to get there and pick up a genuine conversation with these individuals and uplift there spirit.
The website is http://TweetHope.us and HashTag #TweetHope should be used to group people around the idea. I started a Facebook page and Twitter page for it, what do you guys think about the ideas and feasibility or expanding its use?
Thanks
– Abdo
طويب, من ساعة ما كتبت أول مقالة عن ردود فعل رواد الأعمال عن برنامج المشروع, ناس كانت قريبة من البرنامج تواصلت معايا وشاركت معلومات مهمة هتفيدنا وإحنا بندور علي فعلاً هل البرنامج كان ليه تأثير ولا لأ, وبما إن فيه أكتر من أربع حلقات من البرنامج اتذاعت خلاص, أكيد ده بيدي مادة كفاية تفيد في التحليل
طبعاً في الفترة اللي فاتت نفس ردود أفعال رواد الأعمال هيه هيه, إعتبار البرنامج معمول “سبوبة” من غير ما يعرض فعلاً حال رواد الأعمال في مصر, وعرض التحديات والبيئة المصرية بشكل مش مناسب, زيادة علي كده نسبة المشاهدة علي يوتيوب كمان بتقل مع الوقت بالرغم من إن الشركة بتدفع فلوس أكتر في الإعلانات علي اليوتيوب بجانب الإعلان علي فيس بوك, و طبعاً تكونت دايرة من مئات بتتواصل مع البرنامج بشكل سطحي جداً غالباً لأنهم مرتبطين بالفريق اللي ورا البرنامج
حتي الفريق في الشركة المنتجة مبقاش عنده مانع انه يدخل في خناقات علي رأي الناس في اللي بيعملوه, بعد مانشروا أغنية شعبية والناس بدأت تشتم فيها عاصم حنيف, المنتج المنفذ للبرنامج داخل يقولهم ديه أحسن أغنية في الدنيا, ممكن تشوف التعليقات من هنا
ومن الواضح ان بما إن الإستثمار الضخم اللي عملوه في الإعلانات في السنة اللي فاتت مجابش مشاهدات فعلية, قرروا انهم يعملوا تسويق ميداني, بيروحوا قهاوي وسط البلد ويقلبوا التلفزيون علي قناة النهار في معاد البرنامج ويشجعوا الناس انها تتفرج, الحاجة المضحكة ان الصور اللي شاركوها من الحملات ديه بتبين الفريق بتاعهم قاعد عامل نفسه بيتفرج والناس حواليهم ولاااا أي اهتمام, لدرجة انهم حتي حطوا علي صفحتهم بيطلبوا ناس اكتر ينضموا للحملات ديه معاهم
علي الرغم من كل ده, زي ماكتبت المرة اللي فاتت لو عايزين فعلاً نقيم التأثير بتاعت أي حاجة بتتنفذ, المفروض بجانب ردود الأفعال اننا ندور فعلاً علي أكثر العوامل تأثيراً وبعدين نفحصها بشكل عميق. طبعاً هيكون أول عامل هو مين اللي عامل الحاجة ديه, مين اللي ليه السلطة انه يتخذ قرارات وبيوجه دفة الحاجة اللي بتتنفذ.
في البلوج ده هندور علي مين فعلاً فعلاً اللي ورا البرنامج وبعد كده هنبص أكتر علي طريقة التجهيز والتعامل مع اللي حواليه ونفيمها.
طيب من الاخر يعني دلوقتي مين اللي ورا برنامج “المشروع”؟
طبعاً لو دخلنا علي الويب سايب بتاعهم هنلاقيهم بيقولوا ان البرنامج هو عمل مشترك بين قناة النهار وشركة الإنتاج وحاجة كده اسمها “باميان ميديا” ومؤسسات دعم وتطوير الأعمال زي كذا وكذا وكذا وحاطين قايمة طويلة باللوجوز بتاعت طوب الأرض, ده حتي يأخي لسه ماشالوش اسم “إيجي برونور” من بعض القنوات عندهم مع إننا قلنالهم يشيلوه من أكتر من سنه, فياريت وانتوا بتقروا ده زي الشطار تشيلوه, احسن ما يتبعت لكم تذكير مش هيعجبكم
بالإضافة لده في رسالة بعتوها علي الإيميل ونشروها علي صفحتهم هنا بيعملوا أي حاجة ويقولوا أي حاجة علشان يغطوا علي حقيقة مين الشركة اللي بتنفذ البرنامج ومين اللي بيمولها, كاتبين في الرسالة ان اللي بيشتغل علي البرنامج ده مجموعة من الشباب المصريين علي كام خواجة من الي عملوا البرنامج ده في “بلاد بره” قبل كده. أيوه بقي وهنا نييجي لحتة بلاد بره ديه, لأن بلاد بره هنا بتعود علي فين؟ علي أفعانستان
ده يخلينا نسأل نفسنا ايه اللي مخليهم مش وضحين كده وبيخبوا علي حقيقة من المالك للبرنامج وايه طبيعة علاقتهم مع “الشركاء” دول
لو رجعت كده للإيميل بتاعي هلاقي في إبريل 2012 لما كانت مؤسسة باميان ميديا الأمريكية بتبتدي شغلها في مصر وشغلت كام مصري معاها كده بعتولي إيميل بيطلبوا فيه يحطوا اللوجو بتاع إيجي برونور في كتيب هيطبعوه في أحد الفعاليات, ساعتها أنا ما كنتش أعرف حاجات كتير والموضوع كان معروض بشكل احترافي محترم يعني فعديتها ومقولتلهومش لأ, بس ياسيدي, هما خدوا موافقة علي ديه, وداروا يحطوا اللوجو في كل حتة في كل مناسبة من غير استئذان واللي هو لعب عيال يعني.
طبعاً المؤسسة الأمريكية باميان ميديا كانت بتستفيد جداً من وا انها تحط اللوجوز مع بعضها, لما تييجي تدخل سوق طبعاً بتحب تصاحب الناس كلها لحد مايبقي ليك رجل, وطبعاً لو قلت للمؤسسات ديه أنا هطلعكم في التلفزيون مش هيبقي عندهم مانع. بعد كده هتستخدم ان الناس ديه قايلة انها معاك انك تروح للممولين والرعاة تقولهم بصوا كل الناس ديه شغالة علي الحاجة ديه واحنا عايزين دعمكم فيها وطبعاً وجود كل المؤسسات ديه هيقوي موقفك كتير, بعد كده ابقي زحلقهم, اضحك عليهم, اي حاجة. لو لحظتوا في ردود الأفعال المرة اللي فاتت جزء كبير جداً كان جاي من المؤسسين لشركات وانشطة معروضة كأنها شريك للبرنامج, معني كده ان ملهومش إيد في اللي بيحصل
بعد ماجابوا أول كام مؤسسة اللي حصل بعدها هبل, باقوا بيدوروا علي أي لوجو ممكن يلاقوه يحطوه معاهم كشريك, يعني انت لو عامل نشاط طلابي في أي كلية ممكن تروح وتحط اللوجو بتاعك معاهم, عمر عيشة كاتب سابق في موقع ومضة, بيقول انهم عملوا كده علشان يخبوا علي مين؟ علي حقيقة ان المعونة الأمريكية هي الممول الرئيسي للشركة اللي ورا البرنامج واللي هي المالكة والمتحكة في المشروع, علشان لو حد عايز ينتقدهم, ينتقد كل المؤسسات ديه, زي “يتفرق دمه بين القبائيييل” كده.
الفكرة بأه ان كل اللوجوز والأسامي اللي انتم شايفينها ديه ماكانش ليها دخل في القرارات المتعلقة بالبرنامج بتاتاً, هم بس هيعزموهم علي فعاليات وعلي جلسات استماع علشان يسمعوا منهم وبعدين يعملوا اللي هما عايزين حتي لو كان ضد مصلحتهم, وطبعاً المؤسسة الأمريكية ديه شغلت معاها فريق من المصرين, ناس محترمين اه بس مهمتهم انهم يلمعوا صورة البرنامج في المجتمع ويبانوا هما في الواجهة كأنهم الشباب المصري الكيوت اللي بيعمل البرنامج وهو المؤسسة الأمريكية مسيطرة علي كل كبيرة وصغيرة, وطبعاً هيكون فيه ناس مستفيدين مش هيهمهم مين جاي يعمل أيه فهيعاملوا معاه ويدعموه طالما انهم هيستفادوا.
الحقيقة بأه أن شبكة التلفزيون هي مجرد قناة لإذاعة البرنامج والترويج له بنفس الشكل اللي بتعمله مع كل البرامج, شركة الإنتاج هي زي أي شركة انتاج في الدنيا بيروح ليها عميل ويقولها عايزين ننتج البرنامج الفلاني ويدفعل لها, وكل اللوجو اللي محطوطه هي لشركاء كل التعامل معاهم بالشكل اللي اتكلمت عليه فوق مجرد لوجوز جمب بعض وفعاليات واحتفاليات وعشا وده اخره, وهم مستفيدين انهم يعرضوا نفسهم كأن كل الناس واقفة معاهم, معادا مؤسستين اللي دخلين في الموضوع بجد وهما “المعونة الأمريكية” وهي الممول الرئيس لبامينان ميديا ومؤسسة قطرية اسمها “صلتك”..
علشان فعلاً نبقي بنحلل صح, بندور علي مين, بندور علي المالك, مين صاحب البرنامج ده واللي يقدر يتخد كل القرارات
وده هيرجعنا للمكان اللي بدأ فيه البرنامج من الأول
أنا إليوت, المؤسسة والمديرة التنفيذية لباميان ميديا في أفغانستان
في سنة 2007 واحد اسمه ديفيد إليوت كان شغال كبير مستشارين التنمية في هيئة المعونة الأمريكية في أفغانستان, في الوقت ده بنته اسمها أنا إليوت, كان عندها 23 سنة في الوقت ده وكانت بتدرس في جامعة هامبشير وشغالا في بار بعد الدراسة, وديه حاجة عادي عندهم, راحت تزوار أبوها في أفغانستان, ساعتها كان شغال برامج مسابقات واقعية زي “أفغان ستار” اللي هو شبه البرامج الأمريكية بالظبط. طبعاً أنا اتكلمت مع ابوها في انها عايزة تعمل حاجة زي كده, وبما إن أبوها شغال في “التنمية” أكيد هيختاروا حاجة ليه علاقة بالتنمية, فإختاروا الرواد المجتمعيين, الناس اللي بتعمل بزنس وتفيد المجتمع في افغانستان وكده
في الوقت ده كان ديفيد إليوت مسئول عن ادارة 54 مليون دولار أمريكي من أموال المعونة الأمريكية في مشروع تطوير الشركات الصغيرة والمتوسطة في أفغانستان بيسموه, ASMED طبعاً عارفين بعد الحرب الأمريكية علي أفغانستان الحكومة الأمريكية قررت انها توجه كمية كبيرة جداً من الأموال لما سموه إعادة إعمار أفغانستان وكده, وطبعاً الأخ ديفيد ملقاش الموضوع صعب أنه يجيب لبنته 500 ألف دولار علشان تحقق حلمها وتنتج البرنامج في أفغانستان, طبعاً فرصة ذهبية في سوق ميعرفش الكلام ده, ومفيهوش أي منافسة, ولا شفافية محدش هيسأل ولا يعرف الفلوس جاية منين ولا رايجة فين.
الغريب برضه في الموضوع ان الفيديوهات الرسمية الوحيدة الموجودة عن البرنامج اللي اتعمل في أفغانستان موجودة علي قناة علي يوتيوب بنفس اسم المشروع أبو 54 مليون دولار اللي ديفيد إليوت بيديره, معني كده أنا وجه الفلوس علشان ينفذ المشروع ممكن تتأكد من كلامي عن طريق اسم القناة علي يوتيوب من هنا https://www.youtube.com/user/ASMEDInfo/videos
طبعاً أنا إليوت لقيتها فرصة ذهبية فأجلت دراستها وانشغلت بإنها تشرف علي انتاج المرحلة الأولية من البرنامج في أفغانسان واللي بيسموه Pilot يعني مرحلة تجريبية كده, وطبعاً المعونة الأمريكة استخدمت نفوذها انها تعرض البرنامج علي أشهر قناة أفغانية TOLO TV بيتفرج عليها أكتر من نص مشاهدي التلفزيون في أفغانستان, الشركة صاحبة القناة نفسها بتقول 59% و مقالة في NBCNews بتقول ان القناة بيتفرج عليها 17 مليون أفغاني.
طبعاً المعونة الأمريكية بتفتخر ان الموسم التجريبي من البرنامج اتفرج عليه 7 مليون أفغاني, وطبعاً ديه شكلها جامد جداً في الإعلام, بس لو حللت الموضوع هتلاقي لو قناة بيتفرج عليها 17 مليون أفغاني والبرنامج اللي علي القناة اتفرج عليه 7 مليون, معني كده ان 10 مليون كانوا لإيلا بيقفلوا التلفزيون لما يشوفوا البرنامج أو يجيبوا قناة تانية, لو عندهم يعني قنوات تانية في افغانستان.
بس علي أي حال, اطلقوا حملة إعلامية كبيرة في الإعلام الغربي وبدئت الجرايد والمواقع الكبيرة تكتب عن ازاي “أنا إليوت” و “المعونة الأمريكية” أطلقت برنامج جامد علشان إعادة إعمار أفغانستان والذي منه.
حاجة مهمة نلاحظها هنا انه في المرحلة ديه, شركات الميديا الأمريكية كانت بتسيطر تماماً علي الإعلام في أفغانستان, المقال ده بيتكلم عن أزاي المشاهد الأمريكي هيقدر يتعرف بسهولة علي المناظرات الرئاسية في أفغانستان علشان شركات الإنتاج هي هيه, فــ في الوقت ده الشركات الأمريكية كانت مكتسحة الملعب في الإعلام الأفغاني وكل اللي عايز يعمل حاجة في الإعلام يروح أفغانستان.
طبعاً موقع المعونة الأمريكية USAID حاطط البرنامج ده في أفغانستان علي انه قصة نجاح عظيمة وبيقول انهم خلاص هيشتغلوا علي الموسم التاني, ولازم طبعاً الكلمتين الجمدين عن ازاي المعونة الأمريكية بتعرف تعمل إصلاح وتنمية حول العالم والكلام ده ممكن تشوف المقال من هنا http://www.usaid.gov/results-data/success-stories/afghan-entrepreneurs-%E2%80%9Cdream-and-achieve%E2%80%9D
بس من الناحية التانية بقي أشهر موقع أخبار في أفغانستان KabulPress.org حاطط البرنامج ده في تقرير عاملة أسمه “الفساد الأمريكي وسوء الإدارة يهدد مستقبل أفغانستان” كاتب عن البرنامج ده تحت بند “مشاريع مشبوهة من المعونة الأمريكية” وقايل انه في حين ان المعونة الأمريكية بتدعي ان البرنامج عمل تأثير ضخم الناس في أفغانستان محستش بأي حاجة خالص, ممكن تقري المقال من هنا برضه http://kabulpress.org/my/spip.php?article4037
والسؤال البديهي اللي بيطرح نفسه هنا, لو البرنامج كان ناجح أوي كده في أفغانستان, مكملوش ليه بموسم تاني هناك؟
دلوقتي بقي, إزاي باميان ميديا, بتحتفل بنفسها علي انها اللي عملت البرنامج في أفغانستان لما البرنامج اتزاع في 2008 وعلي الموقع الرسمي لبامينان ميديا كاتبين انهم تأسسوا في 2010, علي أساس ان بنت ديفيد إليوت, اللي كان مسئول عن الــ 54 مليون دولار هي اللي كانت محطوطة كمنتج منفذ للبرنامج حتي الصفحة ديه من موقع Devev بتعرض بشكل واضح ان البرنامج كان مملوك وبيتنفذ لــ هيئة المعونة الأمريكية معني كده ان كلام باميان ميديا ان عندها سابقة أعمال في الموضوع ده أي كلام. و بيني وبينك علي أيه يعني حتي!
أنا قعدت أتطقس أون لاين علي أي حاجة ليها علاقة بالبرنامج اللي اتعمل في أفغانستان وملقتش حاجة ليها لازمة خالص, حتي لو دورت علي يوتيوب هتلاقي مقاطع عبيطة. لما إتكلمت مع أول منتج باميان ميديا كانت عايز تنتج من خلالة قالي انهم ماوروهوش أي حاجة من البرنامج اللي اتعمل في أفغانستان وقالوله انهم كانت مجرد تجربة مش احترافية ودلوقتي عايزين يعملوا الإحترافي معاه. بالإضافة لده علي لسان أنا إليوت نفسها قالت ان البرنامج اللي انتجناه في أفغانستان كان ممل جداً, وبعدين استدرجت “بس 7 مليون اتفرجوا عليه” راح واحد من الفريق قام يغطي علي الموضوع ويقول معلش أصل أنا مش بتعرف تبيع نفسها كويس!!
علي أي حال في 2010 بناءاً علي الموقع الرسمي, ديفيد إليوت و بنته أنا إليوت عملوا باميان ميديا Bamyan Media علشان ياخدوا السمعة اللي اتعملت من البرنامج الفكسان في أفغانستان ويقتحموا دول العالم التالت علشان ينشروا ريادة الأعمال والذي منه زي ما بيقولوا, باميان ميديا مسجلة نفسها كمؤسسة لا تهدف للبرج في امريكا Non Profit Corporation وده طبعاً علشان يعرفوا ياخدوا فلوس من المتبرعين والمؤسسات العالمية بس لما ييجوا بلد بيسجلوا شركة تهدف للربح زي ماعملوا في مصر لما سجلوا شركة El Mashrou3 LLC الغريبة ان حتي الداعمين لبامينان ميديا في التغطية الإعلامية اللي عملوها في المقال اللي هتلاقيه في الاخر كاتبين “من الوهلة الأولي تبدوا استراتيجية باميان ميديا كما لو كانت استراتيجية مغول الميديا لإقتحام أسواق العالم الثالث”.
بس يا تري هل باميان ميديا تخلت عن مظلة المعونة الأمريكية اللي كانت بدأت من خلالها؟
طبعاً بعد الموسم في أفغانستان أنا كانت بتتعرض في الميديا الغربية كالبطل المغوار اللي راحت افغانستان علشان تساعد الناس, حتي كانت مستضيفينها في البيت الأبيض ذات نفسه علشان تتكلم عن أمجادها مع أمجاد المعونة الأمريكية المزعومة. الصورة اللي تحت من الصفحة الرسمية لباميان ميديا.
يا تري ايه تاني هدف بعد أفغانستان ممكن باميان ميديا تسعي اليه؟ مصر طبعاً بعد الثورة. باميان ميديا عرضت علي المعونة الأمريكية انها تروح مصر علشان تعمل برنامج شبيه باللي اتعمل في أفغانستان وطبعاً المعونة الأمريكية ادتلهم شيك مفتوح لمدة تلات سنين علشان ييجوا مصر يعملوا اللي هما عايزينه, طالما أنه بيخدم أهداف المعونة الأمريكية , اللي أصلاً باميان ميديا اتبنت عليها.
في الحته ديه بقي بالذات أنا مش محتاج أدور أون لاين, علشان في الوقت ده بالظبط أنا كنت متفق مع قناة تلفيزيونية ومع راعي رئيسي علي اننا هنعمل برنامج شبيه جداً, ده كان قبل الثورة, بعد الثورة القناة للأسف اتباعت وكان لازم أبدأ من الأول تاني, ده إيميل باعته لواحد من أهم المنتجين في مصر بأطلب منه تقيم مالي لإنتاج البرنامج, يعني البرنامج كان خلصان مش محتاج غير فلوس علشان ينتج ويتذاع.
خلال الفترة ديه قابلي بعض موظفي المعونة الأمريكية في مصر, وطبعاً أنا مكنتش عارف حاجة غير اللي قالوهولي انهم معاهم فلوس ومهمتهم انهم يساعدوا الناس اللي زيي بيعملوا حاجات تفيد المجتمع والشباب المصري بعد الثورة وهكذا, المهم اتقابلت معاهم وشاركتهم في تفاصيل اللي بيحصل وحتي كان فيه خبير في الإعلام موجود في مصر ساعتها قعدت معاه وعجبه جداً الكلام اللي بقولة, بس واستنين يجيني الرد منهم, ففي وسط الطلام بعتولي إيميل مبعوت من أنا إليوت بتقولهم شكراً علي الدعم وحطة معلومات عن الكلام اللي اتعمل في أفغانستان, طبعاً كان بعيد عني فمركزتش فيه
بس يا سيدي, وإذ فجأة, أعرف إن المعونة الأمريكية مولت باميان ميديا علشان تنتج برنامج شبيه في مصر, طبعاً كان ساعتها إحنا ما استنناش الفوس وفتحنا في الشغل جامد ومبقتش فاضي للبرنامج ده بالذات, فسبتني منه وقولت أهوه أتعلم من الخبرة ديه واتجاهل الموضوع تماماً, بس للأسف الموضوع مكانش راضي يسيبني في حالي
يعني بامينان ميديا اللي لسه معمومة من مشروع بدأ في المعونة الأمريكية قدرت تحصل علي تمويل مفتوح من المعونة الأمريكية لمدة تلات سنين تبرطع فيه في مصر زي ما تحب علشان تعمل برنامج شبية, التمويل بدأ من سبتمبر 2011 والشركة قعدت سنتين لحد ماعرفت تطلع برنامج المشروع دلوقتي. عمر عيشة أحد المحررين السابقين في موقع ومضة بيقول أنه عارف ان باميان ماديا واخدة 5 مليون دولار من المعونة الأمريكية علشان تسيطر علي المؤسسات اللي بتساعد الشباب في مصر عن طريق المشروع, وحتي بيقول للناس علي فيس بوك انهم ميخلوش الغريب اللي بيمثل الحكومة الأمريكية يسيطر علي حاجة مهمة زي دعم الشباب انهم يبدأوا مشاريعهم.
علي أي حال باميان ميديا اللي هي بتاخد الفلوس من المعونة وغيرها علي انها لا تهدف للربح عملت شركة تهدف للربح في مصر علشان تمشي شغلها عن طريقها, هما قالولي ان باميان ميديا بتمتلك 99% من شركة المشروع بس ده كلام مش مؤكد, يعني من الاخر مفيش مشاكل انهم يكسبوا من وراها من تحت لتحت
يبقي كدا بيتأكد لنا إن المتحكم بكل حاجة بيقوم بيها المشروع مش هما الشباب اللطاف اللي بيحاولوا يساعدوا الناس بحسن نية, ولا المتطوعين الي بيحاولوا يقضوا وقتهم في حاجة مفيدة, المتحكم الفعلي هي مؤسسة أمريكية إسمها باميان ميديا وبيدريها ديفيد إليوت وبنته أنا إليوت, طبعاً هما دلوقتي قاعدين شغالين في الإعلام علي أساس إن المشروع ديه شركة مصرية بتساعد الناس وجابوا واحدة مصرية أمريكية سموها المدير التنفيذي للشركة علشان يخبوا كل حاجة من تحت لتحت. ودلوقتي قاعدين يحاربوا علشان يقدروا ياخدوا البرنامج ده انه يكون علي مستوي العالم العربي
طبعاً من غير أي تأثير يذكر ونسبة مشاهدة مكسفة, ضيف ليها حالات كتيرة من الفساد في تعامل باميان ميديا باللي حواليها, اللي خلت أحد أهم الأشخاص في إنتاج البرنامج تبعت لي رسالة وتقلي انهم أكتر ناس مش نضيفة معندهاش أي احترافية وحرامية هي اشتغلت معاهم في حياتها, الرسالة أيها كمان
من الواضح إن باميان ميديا مصابة بغرور عجيب نتيجة للدعم الامتناهي والغير مسئول من فلوس الحكومة الأمريكية خليتهم مش بس يستريحوا في فشلهم لمدة سنتين قبل مايطلعوا البرنامج بس كمان يضحكوا علي الناس اللي بيتعاملوا معاهم وينصبوا عليهم وهم بيحاولوا يسيطروا علي موضوع ريادة الأعمال في الشرق الأوسط بالنيابة عن الحكومة الأمريكية اللي مدياهم كل التمويل والتسهيلات. طبعاً سرقة الملكية الفكرية من رواد الأعمال الحقيقيين و النصب وخيانة الناس اللي بيشتغلوا معاهم ده جزء بسيط من اللي عملوه لحد دلوقي.
بص حتي ديفيد إليوت بيتكلم إزاي علي أنه راح اليمن علشان يبيع البرنامج هناك, رحنا هنا وخادونا للقوضا اللي فوق فووووق فوووووووق, وجابولنا كل الناس المهمين, ده كلام حد رايح علشان يساعد الناس ولا علشان “يركبهم” ويسيطر عليهم؟
المهم, لما نتعرف علي الناس اللي ورا المشروع فعلاً هنسأل نفسنا, هل فعلاً الناس ده مؤهلة أنها تعمل حاجة زي كده؟ هل هم حتي كانوا مهتمين بإنهم يفيدوا الناس, وهيهموا يفيدوا الناس ليه؟ هل الطريقة اللي حصلوا بيها علي التمويل بتعبر فعلاً عن مؤسسة بتحاول تساعد الناس وتنشر روح إيجابية مبينهم؟
يستكمل قريباً…
للوهلة الأولي يبدوا برنامج أنا إليوت كما لوكان استراتيجية المغول لإقتحام الأسواق الناشئة, من مجلة ميلتون الغربية.
Courtesy of Bamyan Media on Facebook
تنبيه: المعلومات اللي موجوده هنا كلها موجودة ومنشورة بشكل علني في أماكن مختلفة تمت الإشارة ليها في كل موضع, المقصود من الكتابة هو توضيح تأثير البرنامج علي الشباب المصري وغير مقصود أي أهانة لأي شخص مذكور, ومحصلش أي تعدي علي خصوصية أي حد علشان نعمل البحث ده.
Well, after my last journal on: Among criticism from entrepreneurs, USAID-funded Bamyan Media launches Egypt’s first Reality TV Show. Some of my colleges at Egypreneur, thought it’s close to how it would look like as an Impact Lab report, especially as I confessed a background they feared the report might be criticized based on, and they mentioned as we don’t get hired for doing these impact assessment projects anyway, I would use this personal publishing platform to introduce what impact assessment is and how we usually go about doing it.
Can be an educational bit until we have some serious work to do. I will just take the last post regarding the TV Show as an example.
Do you know that all these comments and negative feedback from entrepreneurs might be actually irrelevant? All these talks about the format and selection of entrepreneurs might not be the variables that matter at all?
Why?
Because scientifically speaking anything that you design, you design it to achieve a specific output/goal/impact, right? In order to graduate this output, you have lots of variables or ingredients to introduce as an input, correct? And you have a process to go through to get this output.
Then anything that human designs can be analyzed into:
Input >> Process > Output
It’s like your Mama’s Pizza. The delicious or awkward Pizza your mama prepares at different occasions, if your Mama decides to impress you with your own favorite type of Pizza, that is the taste you had is the output, the result, the impact..
Which might actually change and you might not like it at some point but it remains alright…
If your Mommy’s goal/output changes from making you, your own favorite type of Pizza into hosting a party with 50 of your friends, and there is not enough input, make it ingredients, budget, time, helping hands for diversity, your Mama will make a standard Pizza, you might not really like it, but your Mama actually did a great job if you properly assess the feedback of the majority of those who were intended to like the Pizza.
If your friends go crazy about your Mama’s Pizza, you might suggest to her to start a Pizza shop, actually, If I were you I would suggest to handle the business end, communication, marketing/branding, sales and she just need to create this awesome Pizza and of course you get like 60% stake in the company, your Mama is too kind I know, anyway…
If your Mama is so confident about her ability to visualize the best Pizza that people would want to come to her shop for (Output) and she’s a genius at picking the right ingredients (Input) to make this specific output, and she is so skilled at handling the (Process) of turning the well selected input into a delicious output. Please, give me a call, I can offer you a deadly ecommerce platform to boost sales and I want want stock in your Mama’s Pizza Shop thingy.
Got that?
This simple analogy applies to anything you use, the car you drive, the kitchen machine, the robots, all in all are creations that achieves a specific output once they are given a specific input and they are designed in a way to transfer this input into output.
If you studied engineering like me, you probably have suffered while studying from Modern Control Engineering for Ogata and was forced into analyzing complex systems and expressing them with complex charts and mathematical equations. Oh my lord!
So, what does this has to do with Impact Assessment?
Impact Assessment is the same thing, while assessing impact, you don’t just collect opinions of random people and say it worked or not based on that. Rather you follow a scientific way in defining the desired output, the scope of your study, the most important variables in the study and then you gather as much data as needed, analyze and present this data in relation to these variables in a way that makes sense.
The function of an impact assessment by then is to define and study the most important variables in any operation that interferes in shaping the desired output, taking into consideration the objective and scope of the study upon which these variables are defined.
If you want to think proactively by then an R&D unit like the Impact Lab kitchen, can experiment with different variations of these variables until it reaches the secret sauce that works, that would make your Mama’s Pizza Shop not just break even but go IPO, if the operation is being consistently managed.
Away from this science and engineering models to assess impact, why would you need to do that with projects, programs, events and products targeting entrepreneurs?
The way Impact Lab came about is very much related to the famous Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Mapping Project, we wanted to study what’s being done to serve entrepreneurs and how to make it better and to make this data freely available for anyone to use it, not just as individual cases but to build the intellectual capacity and assets that would help in designing massively successful activities and accordingly raise the ROI of everyone working on helping entrepreneurs.
That’s basic R&D stuff, nothing fancy.
But anyway, what are the steps to perform an impact assessment?
Actually it varies whether you’re creating something from the scratch and accordingly still need to figure out the input and design the process, or it’s already done when you can just choose a scope of study and analyze known variables.
By then to do impact assessment for something that’s already done, you’ll need to:
So, if we want to do an objective impact assessment for a Reality TV Show for entrepreneurs, we need to go through the following process. Objectivity doesn’t lie, it actually smells if you’re deceiving in data gathering, no one will take you seriously, the only deceitful trick is to manipulate in defining the important variables, it takes a bit above average critical thinkers to figure this out.
And actually that’s why I considered the Reality TV Show in question a failure, because it’s so obvious that regardless of having massive input in terms of funding, 2 years of preparations, popular TV network, massive ads campaign .etc it failed to achieve its objective in hitting large number of viewers who’ll then be inspired to start their business and rather only got viewership through the regular TV network audience, targeted advertising and even “some” of the “usual” community interested in the topic.
Which objectively means that Bamyan Media has, so far, failed in achieving its objective of mainstreaming entrepreneurship through the Reality TV Show format it owned and launched through El Mashrou3.
Well, anyway, that’s getting lengthy, let’s try to define scope and variables in another day…
“Nowhere and everywhere.”
This is how my psyche responded to the question of belonging. The chaos, corruption and mobbing of where I came from and the mismatch of energies everywhere else brought me back to basics and Dahab was the place to be.
“Paris broke him” that’s what they said about Ragner Lothbrok. Though, for me it was “Berlin”.
The Samurai Warrior being framed into “The enemy of the community and the state” required a different type of journey, a journey of surrender and healing that started with a trip to Al-Sorat Farm:
Life could be unfair sometimes and that’s okay, our duty as humans is to accept and make peace with that and with the intensely broken parts of our being as a result of interfacing with the experience of being part of that world.
Though, sometimes our social duties and what is promoted to us as the “collective good” requires for us to bring light to the dark situation that has been imposed upon us and situations we had been put through because of actual experience, its dark reflection on our psyche and threats of what would happen if you speak up.
This is what I have experienced in silence throughout my life, I had to “shut up” and “sit down” and “suck it up”, what happens to you if you are young, lonesome and naive is that you internalize bits and pieces of what these people being a lot more in numbers, much older or more powerful and your continuous struggle of being overloaded with secrets and contradictions, they must know better and there must be something wrong with you, until you stop, zoom in and figure out it is really not.
I shut up about these lies for years and saw other people going through the same, till it became a certain evidence to me that “the greater good” definitely could never be within the system of people, behaviors and standards of conduct currently present, neither is it about staying silent about it.
“The world is a dangerous place to live. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don’t do anything about it”. – Albert Einstein
I have meditated for years, months, days and hours through the literal definition of darkness trying to find answers, gathering pieces of knowledge and wisdom from different and often seemingly contradicting philosophies, backgrounds and human connections to form a solid identity, before committing to a structure or a certain way of living.
The bible also says:
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” – Matthew 7:7-11
So, no matter how intense wounds of the heart would trigger feelings of hurt, resentment and vengeance and does overloads your system at times, nature is way stronger than what people think, and that also includes your human nature once you look so deeply into it, so it all eventually dissipates and is replaced with a beautiful vision.
I don’t know how to express this internal transition except with this piece of poetry:
غمست سنك في السواد يا قلم
عشان ما تكتب شعر يقطر ألم
مالك جرالك إيه يا مجنون … و ليه
رسمت ورده وبيت و قلب و علم
وعجبي
– صلاح جاهين
“I have soaked your tip in the darkness of this ink, oh my pen
Intending for poetry that drips with pain and sadness
oh, old friend, what happened to you, and oh, tell me why
you just draw a flower, a home, a heart and a flag
For that I do keep wondering and pondering” – Abdo’s translation of Salah Jahin’s Poetry.
And this internal transition is what allows for a new vision to emerge, there on the top of the mountains, the Stoic rough edges were softened by art and affection and became the foundation for a new beginning, a new belonging and a new community for those who vibe on the same frequency.
#WalaHaja
#oneteam
#TheParadiseProject
Hi All,
Just stumbled upon this video from Lost, just made me think as most people will get there at some point, Had you been in such position before?
Technically qualified and more than able to do the job, but having a problem in the heart and no one can help! I think I had been there …
Have a nice time
Abdo
Just came across that presentation from “Tales of Mere Existence” channel on YouTube AgentXPQ
Do you recall any similar situations? I do …
Dear All,
Just after thinking for a while about four months passed from the “New” year. Yes I just remember that it was a new year, I felt so much guilty about a lot of activities that hadn’t been started and others that went extremely slow.
I’m using a new apprach kicking projects around, just by kicking it. I’m always waiting for the right time budgeting so much on preparations and the perfect time to launch, which will usually lead to waiting for the perfect resources which will never come.
I thought about that today, after being active for around half an hour on Egypt-Designers group, after waiting so much for getting the website perfectly suitable to the project, I preferred to announce it on its current status, you know default theme, blank forums and that sort of stuff.
So, I’m just kicking my activities and accepting the imperfections in my projects and in myself too, that’s so much like a self talk and announcement of kicking things around.
In real world, done is better than prefect!
All the best
Abdo
Tech Entrepreneur, engineer, teacher and researcher.
