Inspirational Life Stories That Can Empower Kuwaiti Youth
Throughout history, those
capable to change with times were the ones who survived and enabled the
survival of their young. This capability to adapt to the newly developed
circumstances sets apart high achievers from those who are left behind.
Modern-day Kuwait is a country of opportunities for those who want to work and
engage in their respective fields while displaying a certain set of values. The
youth of this country have a unique chance to develop and then present their
achievements globally.
On the other hand, civil society
and the government of Kuwait face the challenge of including young people in
the decision-making, the development of the agenda and vision of their
country’s and even regional development. Some of the strategies to accomplish
the more secure future for the Kuwaiti people have been revealed and they fall
into following categories:
How this can be done?
The first and the uttermost
concern lies within the individual. Each young person is unique and can
set a brave and beautiful path for their future. Psychological well-being is
put at the center of the youth’s development. Many recent studies have shown
that when a person feels great about themselves, they are more interested in
the well-being of those around them as well. Also, people need to be reminded
of how good life can be and that all of us are given the chance to contribute.
The leader, female entrepreneur
and benefactor of Kuwait people Sheikha
Intisar Al-Sabah has paved many pathways the young of Kuwait can observe
and build on. Her life story is truly inspirational. She studied Physics and
then realized she wanted to switch to Social Science and she did. This
biographical detail can certainly be inspirational to many young women and men
and help them realize that everyone is free to change their life narrative.
Nothing is predefined; life is actually what you make of it.
Furthermore, Sheikha Intisar now
leads the publishing house Lulua Publishing that has two pioneering magazines
from the field of health and well being for women and vacation and travel
Arabia. She had an inspirational idea on how to remind Kuwaiti people of the
wonderful life stories of their countrymen. In 2012, she published the artistic
book The Alchemy of Wisdom that features 48 Kuwaiti personalities. Some of the
people mentioned were later nominated for the Kuwait State Achievement Award.
The book had a wonderful rapport and has been distributed to the Kuwaiti
Embassies throughout the world.
However,
probably the most valuable contribution to her country are Sheikha’s two
projects Alnowair and Barrec. The first one is the social responsibility
initiative aimed to spread positive thinking among Kuwaiti youth. The project
relies on scientific research from renowned institutions like Harvard and
Berkley and experts in the field of positive psychology. Whereas Barrec project
was founded in 2016 and uses interactive and creative activities in educational
surroundings to help students find grounding in a positive attitude. This
program also educates teachers on how to implement positive psychology in their
schools. Most certainly in this way, several levels of society are touched by
the messaging of positive psychology, students, educators and indirectly even
parents.
These projects are very
inclusive and have resulted in measurable outcomes where they have helped
decrease peer violence by 12%. Also, research shows that the implementation of
positive psychology in schools increases grades by 20%, and positive emotions
add 7 years to a person’s age. Having in mind these transformative effects of
her project it can be said that Sheikha Intisar Al-Sabah most certainly
empowers leadership through her life’s work.
Conclusion
To achieve transformative
effects in their society, leaders and young people need to collaborate with the
same open-mindedness, mutual best interests at heart and curiosity to explore
the possibilities of individual development. Experienced leaders can provide
the youth with inspirational life stories just like the ones mentioned in the
book The Alchemy of Wisdom. These kinds of stories reverberate with young women
and men and teach them life values without having to go through the experience
itself. Of course, life cannot be lived through others but hardships and
obstacles are more easily overcome with the right kind of mentorship.