Abdelrahman Al-daqqa
Doctor at Palestinian ministry of health, Horizons Representative in Palestine, Palestinian campaign to raise awareness about internet safety and pornography addiction, Healthy university Initiative.
A motivated, young entrepreneur, volunteer, and social activist doctor, I am very interested in the innovation in the health care which leads to a better health for all people especially for my home which is a poor country live under difficult circumstances (Palestine).
For this reason I got used to work hard and overcome my limitations. Therefore, since childhood period, I started building myself as strong, qualified person, then to work with youth and community members to solve many problems in environment of war, killing and destruction.
I focused on building new motivated and creative generations, to be able to build our future and try to spread the hope, the knowledge, and the energy. Meanwhile, I worked with more than 1000 volunteers to establish campaigns like Internet safety, breast cancer awareness, health university, Horizons, health activities..etc. and I led many organizations and initiatives for that reasons.
Eventually, I got many scholarships and Awards (more than 11), and I represented my home at many international conferences, in Norway, the Netherlands, USA. And I appeared on TVs and media more than 15 times including Aljazeera channel.
I have recently got a diploma in one of most prestigious business school in the world, Kelley school of business , USA. Happily, I had the privilege to represent Palestinian youth it at US chamber of state, Washington 2016.
I’m the CEO of MWD company ( medical waste disposal company) startup.
Find Good in Everyone..in Everything with Abdelrahman Al-daqqa #isharehope Episode 121
Summary: Abdelrahman’s answer to the five questions! Listen to the full conversation on the player above; also available on iTunes and Stitcher.
Question 1: How do you define hope or what is your favorite quote about hope?
Abdelrahman Al-daqqa:
I think hope starts when the newborn smiles and also when we see in the Spring that flowers are just shining because it’s coming. Hope is not a difficult thing. It’s just when you smile and spread positivity in the world. We can do it. Just believe that you can do more. When you do more, that’s hope.
Question 2: Who has shared the most hope with you?
Abdelrahman Al-daqqa:
My father. He was paralyzed since he was a child because of the war, but he didn’t give up. He just worked hard and then he was able to build a house and create a family.
The other one is my teacher. He was a big hope in my school. He gave me many advices and the opportunities to convert from the way of thinking from student life into an initiative or a changing person way of thinking.
Also in Palestine, we have the olive tree. It is a sign for our home and it gives hope for all of us because every year we have a product which is really meaningful for our home and our people in Palestine.
Whenever I see the smile of a newborn, I really feel the happiness because I believe that if we can do more for this child to be a great leader, he or she will be. Nothing is impossible.
Question 3: How have you used hope to make it through a difficult time in your life?
Abdelrahman Al-daqqa:
When I was in school before going to college, I’ve never been one of the top students in my class or school because sometimes I work with my family in farming or construction to support them financially. When I went to the last grade, I just dreamt of becoming a doctor and being an initiative in my home. In Palestine, studying in a university costs a lot of money. I worked really hard in my last grade and I went to the faculty of medicine and won a full time scholarship to study medicine. This was the first step converting me from the normal, poor student to a student who has a full scholarship and studies what he wants. This was the first motivation to an initiative life and to work harder on my projects and thoughts.
Of course nothing is easy but when you get it, it’s the real happiness of your life.
Question 4: How are you sharing hope today?
Abdelrahman Al-daqqa:
I have three levels of working, myself, national level and international. With myself, I like to improve myself more. I like to get more scholarships to get more training in the hospital. This really improves me to be a real leader in my home. For national level, I do some projects related to internet safety and pornographic addiction among children and adults in Palestine. We do also conferences in the universities and local communities with participation from NGOs.
The basic thing is just don’t give up. Even if you were born in an unrecognized country and occupied lands, don’t let it stop you from dreaming and doing more. This can be achieved by project, by working on youth, by improving our service, by educating people, by prohibiting negative things like pornography or other things because those will destroy the community and the society. We also do projects about health awareness like breast cancer and screening projects about disability awareness.
Internationally, I have been working and established also this organization called Horizons. We work with international students to promote justice and peace in Palestine. We make study trips every year – two students to Palestine to show them the reality that we are just normal people who refuse terrorism and injustice and that we fight for freedom and peace also. We are just normal even though we live in an unrecognized country. We’re humans. We have a life. We don’t need money just to live or just the financial support. Sometimes, people just need someone to hear them, someone to communicate with them because we are isolated from the world.
Question 5: How should I (the listener) begin to grow in hope or share hope today?
Abdelrahman Al-daqqa:
(1) Find great people to look up to. Everyone in this earth has his own conditions and environment and we are not the same.
(2) Recognize the power you have to change and start and initiate.
(3) Don’t stop working on your dreams. Do them the next day. Don’t do it the third day because they will disappear from your life.
