Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Mohammad Habib Abdullah of YOUTH for YOUTH Is Helping To Change Our World
With passion, hard work, and perseverance, you can get whatever you want. When I was younger, I used to believe that only higher-class families, rich people, and people with a good background could achieve whatever they wanted, and it’s impossible for lower-class as well as middle-class individuals to do so. I wish someone had told me that success is not associated only with the money and background of an individual, and I can still achieve whatever I want to, if I put passion, hard work and perseverance in whatever I do.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mohammad Habib Abdullah, Master in Public Administration student at Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Public Policy.
As someone who grew up in Afghanistan, Mohammad has witnessed how individuals become trapped in situations of poverty due to illiteracy, how educational opportunities were unfairly distributed between men and women, and how the illiteracy of Afghans has led to many years of war and political instability.
Passionate about combatting the illiteracy and poverty rates in his native Afghanistan, he is the founder of two initiatives focused on helping the people of Afghanistan: YOUTH for YOUTH and the Yuz Yigit Charity Foundation.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to your specific career path?
In 2014, after completing high school with flying colors, I took the university entrance exam (Kankor) and passed with 325.12 out of 360. As a result, I received the best legal education that an Afghan student can expect in their own country, an undergraduate program at Kabul University, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences. I started my undergraduate studies in 2015 and graduated in 2018.
As an Afghan who grew up in one of the least developed cities of Afghanistan, Maymana, I came to understand poverty and illiteracy as two interconnected social problems which only a strong business sector and government action can adequately address. I witnessed how individuals become trapped in situations of poverty; because Afghans are often illiterate, it becomes increasingly difficult for them to access higher education and difficult to secure profitable jobs, keeping their income low and level of poverty high. Afghanistan’s cycle of poverty has created a prime recruitment opportunity for political insurgents, which I have seen lead to years of war and political instability in my hometown and country.
Despite comparative advantages in strategic location, productive agriculture zones, and rich human and fertile natural resources, Afghanistan remains one of the most underdeveloped, poor, illiterate, and insecure countries in the world. Lacking effective leadership and good governance practices, Afghanistan’s leaders persistently overlooked trillions of dollars in untapped natural resources and opportunities from international multilateral institutions. Through more than five years of study and work experience in politics and business, I realized that if we had good government and business leaders, Afghanistan could be among the ranks of developing countries, if not developed.
I have come to the conclusion that creating and normalizing sustainable, ethical business practices and ultimately working inside my nation’s government on improving state-level education is the only path towards reducing illiteracy and the cycle of poverty for my people.
I have decided to not only be a successful businessman and have my own business in order to support more and more people through job opportunities and other philanthropic activities, but also work in an influential position inside my country’s government where I would be able to make productive decisions and policies for the public’s interests.
To accomplish these goals, I have worked my fingers to the bone. Since my father owned a small business, I have been involved in business activities from an early age. I have worked as a salesperson, coordinator, manager, and ultimately as the CEO of our family-owned companies. However, in order to be a successful businessman, I came to know that only having business experience is not enough. So, I decided to study an MBA at The Belt and Road School of Beijing Normal University in China.
During my undergraduate studies, I also studied English and French. I have also participated in several national-wide forums and conferences most important of which is the Afghanistan National Youth Speak Forum to Support Sustainable Development Goals and Afghanistan Youth to Business Forum.
After graduating from my MBA, I decided to study a Master in Public Administration (MPA) at Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Public Policy (NU GSPP) to gain in-depth knowledge of public sector affairs so that I would be able to work at a high governmental position in my country and bring change to people’s lives, alongside running my own business. I have also chosen to study an MPA in order to better manage and develop my charity foundation (Yuz Yigit Charity Foundation) as well as my online platform (YOUTH for YOUTH).
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your companies/organizations?
As someone who has been involved both in business and social activities for many years, every day has involved creating a new experience, a new lesson, and a new story. However, through my charity foundation (Yuz Yigit Charity Foundation) and more importantly my online platform (YOUTH for YOUTH), getting to know top-notch Afghans from not only my own community but also around the world has been the most interesting part so far. In fact, through my initiatives, I have built strong friendships and networks with top-notch Afghani including well-known university lecturers, organization founders, analysts, specialists, writers, scholarship holders, international award winners, and other successful.
Can you describe how you and your organizations (YOUTH for YOUTH and Yuz Yigit Charity Foundation) are making a significant social impact?
In 2020, almost all of the academic institutions were closed in Afghanistan due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and those institutions couldn’t continue to provide education for Afghan youth. I noticed Afghan youths were getting disappointed about their future and forgetting what they had already learned. As someone who grew up in Afghanistan, I have witnessed how individuals become trapped in situations of poverty mainly owing to their illiteracy, how educational opportunities were unfairly distributed among men and women, and how the illiteracy of Afghans has led to many years of war and political instability in Afghanistan. I also realised that there are some misunderstandings among different communities of Afghanistan which have been leading to many years of war.
In July 2020, I thought it was the right time to start playing my own role, as an educated Afghan youth. I initiated the YOUTH for YOUTH Online Platform to enhance Afghan youths’ capacity and reduce inequalities between Afghan men and women through providing quality education. I have also initiated the YOUTH for YOUTH Online Platform to enhance mutual understanding among Afghan youth of different communities through weekly virtual networking events. I have been doing all of this by inviting top-notch Afghans from all over the world to share their knowledge and experiences over Zoom.
YOUTH for YOUTH has been very productive and helpful for Afghan youth. That is due to a number of reasons: 1) I invite top-notch Afghans including well-known professors, analysts, founders, scholarship holders, masters, and those who have the upper hand in their respective fields; 2) All sessions are online, meaning anyone from anywhere can join and benefit; 3) All sessions are interactive and there is opportunity to network with other Afghan youth. For the time being, our online platform is even more important for Afghan youth because most universities are still closed. Our online platform is especially helpful and productive for Afghan girls/women who are not allowed to go to university. In fact, that’s why we recently provided a six months free online Turkish language course for a group of 20 Afghan women/girls which is still in progress.
Considering how COVID-19 has limited mobility and employment potential for workers in my local community of Faryab, I founded the Yuz Yigit Charity Foundation. I leveraged my local networks to identify, interview, and organize 100 individuals aged 18-to-30 years old to distribute PPE, support doctors in importing and exporting medical equipment, and act as community informants on best behavioural practices to minimize COVID-19 risk. Because of the limited time to act on the emergency of the COVID-19 situation at its onset, I began the foundation with a team of only ten. We scrambled quickly to raise money and in just one month, we contributed food, meat, clothes, and 2000 AFN per family for 100 of the most affected families from COVID-19.
After gaining local media attention for our successful fundraising efforts, an overwhelming number of local youths expressed their interest in joining my foundation. Six months later, I am proud to share that I successfully hit my initial goal of collaborating with 100 skillful, loyal, committed, and open-handed young people. Since being founded in February 2020, we have been raising funds and distributing food, clothes, cash, and other daily necessities for migrant and other families in need. Currently, we are fundraising in order to provide quality education for orphans and street children in Afghanistan by offering fully funded scholarships at top private schools.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
Since childhood, I have always tried to positively affect people around me in one way or another. As an example, in 2018, after I successfully got my desired score in the TOEFL test, one of my friends asked me to teach him how to prepare for the TOEFL test. I taught him the TOEFL preparation course for 40 days, after which he took the TOEFL test. Now he is studying his master’s degree at one of the top universities in Russia.
Moreover, both the YOUTH for YOUTH Online Platform and Yuz Yigit Charity Foundation have also been classic examples of my impact on several groups of people in my community who have benefited from my services directly. For example, currently through YOUTH for YOUTH Online Platform, I am teaching the Turkish language freely to a group of Afghan women/girls. Apart from this, I have taught the English language voluntarily for several groups of individuals introduced by a cultural and social organization.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
I believe leadership is all about having vision, passion, familiarity, influence, courage and selflessness, and I think that they are all like different parts of the body completing each other. Leaders are those whose actions inspire others to dream more, to learn more, to do more, and ultimately to achieve more. I also think that a mother is a classic example of a true leader who values her children’s needs above her personal interests, who guides her children every step of the way to growth, and more importantly goes out of her way to make sure her children succeed in whatever good and productive things they do in their life.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each if you can.
With passion, hard work, and perseverance, you can get whatever you want. When I was younger, I used to believe that only higher-class families, rich people, and people with a good background could achieve whatever they wanted, and it’s impossible for lower-class as well as middle-class individuals to do so. I wish someone had told me that success is not associated only with the money and background of an individual, and I can still achieve whatever I want to, if I put passion, hard work and perseverance in whatever I do.
Even if you’re not good at 100 things in life, you can still be a master in one particular area which, overtime, you need to explore and find. Football has always been one of my favourite sports; however, I was worse than many of my friends with whom I used to play with back in my childhood. Since I was not good at playing football, most of my friends, who didn’t know me well, thought I might not be good at other areas of life too. I believe that if I was told the above-mentioned fact at an early age, I would have been more motivated and encouraged.
To achieve your goals in life, you need to surround yourself with educated, hardworking, open-minded people, and people of good personality and characteristics. So far, I have witnessed how successful individuals have positively affected my life. As an example, in 2017, for the first time, I had the opportunity to meet a Fulbright scholar. In our first meeting, I was really impressed by his knowledge, character and personality. Thus, I started to bring more changes in my life in order to be a successful person in the future.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too. During my undergraduate studies, I started two language courses (English and French) at the same time since I felt like I was already falling behind. Although I could take the TOEFL test in English and DELF B1 in French at the end of my undergraduate studies, I still believe that my French level would be as good as my English had I started one of those languages first and only after successfully finishing the first one, started the second one.
Don’t let any opportunity slip through your fingers. In my life, I have unfortunately missed some good opportunities from which I could have learned new things and developed new skills.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Since not only in my own country, but also countries around the world, illiteracy and poverty are the two most serious interconnected social problems, I want to play my own role to reduce both of these phenomena. Although I have already started through my two initiatives, I hope to develop my initiatives to an extent that they can be productive to a large portion of the society. Moreover, similar to the Rhodes and Schwarzman Scholars Programs, I also want to establish my own fully-funded scholarship program in order to educate and ultimately generate future leaders who can bring positive changes in the world.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“There is no one called “social activist”; everyone eligible in a society is required to be active in one way or another in order to make the society a better place to live.” When I was a child, I was told that being active in society is peculiar to a specific group of people, especially those who are educated, courageous, rich, and so on. However, over time, I have realized that everyone living in society can play their own role for the betterment of society. Without everyone’s cooperation, living a better life in a particular society is almost impossible.
Is there a person in the world whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why?
Since I want to not only have my own successful business, but also establish a scholarship program for talented Afghan youth in the future, I would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with Stephen A. Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone Group and Founding Trustee of the Schwarzman Scholars Program. Upon reading articles about him and his success stories of bringing positive changes in the world, as well as watching his speeches and interviews, I came to realize that Stephen A. Schwarzman’s knowledge and experiences of both his business and scholarship program can be a great source for realizing my dream of having my own successful business and scholarship program.
How can our readers follow you or your initiatives on social media?
My personal social media addresses:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mohammad.h.abdullahi
Instagram: https://instagram.com/mhd_h_abdullah?utm_medium=copy_link
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mhd-habib-abdullah-39a443204
My initiatives’ social medial addresses:
YOUTH for YOUTH’s Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/YOUTH-for-YOUTH-107206941082651/
YOUTH for YOUTH’s YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS4_Hm6uPXqo3AITLfVd7aQ
Yuz Yigit Charity Foundation’s Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/yuzyigit1399/
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