Hanna Lockman
Palestine has not stopped to surprise the world with their accomplishments. They continue magnificently to show how amazing they are and they keep inspiring others. Recently I read about Soha from Gaza who is living her dream by working with NASA and she send Orion spacecraft after she graduated top of her class in BSc in Computer Science.
About a week ago, an amazing 12 year old Gaza IT Geek named Mohammed Alhaulimy was introduced to the world by Electronic Intifada. Despite all the problems in Gaza, Mohammed kept focusing on achieving success and his love for computers led him to build his first mobile application at the very young age of 9 years old.
Besides being the phenomenal intelligent, witty and bubbly person as he is, Mohammed chooses not to be plateau with his achievements and he has a strong will that drives him to do things others won’t do. The success he has now was somewhat by adopting his role-model quote “stay hungry, stay foolish”, Steve Jobs.
Mohammed’s name is not new in the IT world. He has received invitations to participate in conferences and competitions. Among them, was Consumer Electronics Shows in Las Vegas and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2015.
The 12 year old took his first steps in materializing his dream at a young age of 7, when he attended an International Computer Driving License (ICDL) course to secure a global skill certification. Pursuing his ambition in a very difficult environment seemed unrealistic. But he made it work with what was available to him by self-learning from the internet or YouTube and also by taking many other accreditations available to increase his knowledge and skills.
It’s been almost a decade since the IT infrastructure in Palestine was obstructed by Israel, preventing Palestinian IT companies from offering 3G network services. Is it so much to ask for access to a 4G network service or to have access to a proper equipment and training? Palestinians are still motivated to achieve their dreams while being deprived by living under the occupation of Israel.
Mohammed’s dream is to be “the first founder of an IT Company that makes changes” as an Arab, as he said in the interview with Electronic Intifada “My dream is to found a company that might change the world somehow. No Arab is mentioned globally when it comes to IT. I want to be the first.”
The support this amazingly talented child gets from his parents and community, wired by the international support from Gaza Sky Geeks by Mercy Corporation, reminded me of a poem by Rumi:
“The world is full of remedies, but you have no remedies until God opens a window for you;
Though you are unaware of that remedy now, God will make it clear in the hour of need”
With Allah’s (swt) will and the support he gets, the talented Mohammed is set to achieve more than he has conquered.
