The Eagle that learned to fly [Archives:2006/998/Reportage]
Afsana Hye
“Keep the Faith” by Adam Taha is dedicated to the Yemeni people and Yemen itself, but also to England, which has provided him vast opportunities to learn and grow. It's dedicated to everyone who has a dream and is willing to fight for it. It's an amazing book and belongs to part of Yemeni history.
One of Yemen's sons, Taha hasn't forgotten his roots. At the forefront of the entrepreneurial world, he's a man making a difference, not just making money. He's developing programs for students to become exposed to the world and the diverse career choices they have, with the understanding that they can be an employer as well as an employee.
Taha exposes them to diverse fields so they can envision being a producer, a doctor, a teacher, a youth worker, an entrepreneur or whatever dreams to which they aspire, but they won't know until they're exposed to the right associations and environment to think, speak and act like leaders. By doing so, this dynamic Yemeni sows the seeds to raise their self-image and their confidence and tap into their own qualities so they can change from within.
Also known by his pseudonym – One Dark Angel – Taha is an entrepreneur in Sheffield, England, who devotes his time to developing leaders from within his own global business and mentoring entrepreneurs to students around the world via conferencing, emails and one-on-one meetings.
This son of a steel worker was born in Yemen in the 1970s when Yemenis were making history by leaving their country for all parts of the world to build a brighter future for their families.
Taha arrived in England years later to meet his parents only to face racism, isolation and an education system that was unprepared at that time. Not knowing how the education system worked, he failed all of his school exams.
Instead of following in his siblings' footsteps of obtaining a degree and working a 9-to-5 job, Taha asked questions because he wanted to do more with his life and he couldn't see the education system giving him the skills he needed.
He had a dream, but no teacher or career could advise him which steps to take. In fact, they advised him to forget his dream, which was one of the primary reasons he left the education system.
Knowing it would entail a lot of change, investment and overcoming many challenges – mostly the perceptions of his relatives, community and society regarding what success really is – he also needed to learn from those who dared to dream and succeed against all odds.
After failing his studies, Taha swapped his government social security checks for books, living on pizza, toast and beans so he had enough money to travel to business conferences and learn from those who already were successful in their own businesses. He even slept outside on park benches because he didn't have enough money for a hotel room.
One of the qualities that helped him was that he was willing to pay the price without complaint. Without any qualifications, future employers still took him on because of his ability to inspire his interviewers with ideas and solutions because his CV was packed with real experiences.
Taha worked hard to produce and co-found the first Sheffield Black newspaper, called Wha'agwan, and fought for students to have their first newspaper at Sheffield College, thus developing student journalists, which sparked the college to create its own local newspaper.
He developed the business action plan for the first Black Business Forum, which to date, still is running and growing in his city. As if that wasn't enough on his plate, he took on the job of development worker to develop programs for Yemeni students. While other students took a holiday for eid, Taha stayed behind to make sure Muslim students were welcomed back with, “Eid mubarak!” and a hall full of activities to bring all of the communities together because a great leader is a great servant.
In a Sheffield College report regarding a project called Stateside Rappers Speak Out, Taha developed a program and worked with Sheffield coordinators, inviting rappers and Professor Meacham from the United States. By the time it was over, all of the schools, colleges, parents, teachers, directors and companies had gotten involved in raising student achievements by using creative content. An additional theme was added to the curriculum to help students learn faster and enjoy the education journey. He also worked with all of the communities to establish a Parents Awareness Day, which continues running until this day and is packed every four months.
If a school and college drop-out like Taha can find his way to growing and mentoring so many businesses, nurturing 18-year-olds, married couples and singles from diverse communities, religions and cultures around the globe and seeing them become business leaders, then what's stopping anyone else? That's the message in his books, entitled, “Keep the Faith Trilogy” – dream big and let nothing stop you. Think of “why,” not “how,” as the key to success in everything people do in life.
“Keep the Faith” is a touching journey about a young Yemeni boy named Sid and his remarkable childhood years in Yemen. Sid's journey begins when his parents leave him in Yemen to fly to England in the 1970s. Sid encounters many fascinating events in his early life, some of which are very fairy tale-like, except that they're true.
For some, they are fairy tale-like because we can get water easily by turning on a tap, whereas Sid must walk for miles, sometimes for a full day. While food is easy for us to attain, Sid must fight and search for it.
The comforts of a carpeted home and the luxuries of television, wallpaper and central heating already are built into many homes. Jobs aren't scarce and there's no turmoil due to citizens not having rights or being unable to have numerous choices. Sid lives most of his years in Yemen in a house made of earth and at times, in a cave carved within the Yemeni mountains. Whereas we have free or easy access to education, Sid can only dream of having such an opportunity.
The relationship between Sid and his best friend Khalid highlights the value of friendship, brotherhood and all the fun one can have together. It also opens our eyes to the reality of losing friendship and the wisdom of letting go. Yet it never stops Sid from taking that extra step toward his dream or understanding that to succeed in life, one must change from within and craft habits – replacing bad habits with good ones. He's adventurous and never stops dreaming, hoping and keeping the faith until the day when he'll see the world so many speak about and return home to Yemen to help his people.
A moving book that made me appreciate all that I have, it also taught me, “If it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger.” The book plays with one's emotions and grabs attention right away. An excellent read, it's most certainly an addicting book one can't put down because it's written from the heart. From the first to the last page, I felt like I was walking with Sid, seeing all he saw from beginning to end. It's sincere and works toward the readers' understanding that they can make a difference in the world, but they first must change themselves.
“Keep the Faith” even got me to appreciate the various cultures in schools, colleges and universities, as well as the opportunities. Sid opens the reader's eyes to the Yemeni people's traditions and challenges, but most of all, he depicts the hope and courage they have and how people all over the world left their homeland to build their dreams in England and the U.S., not asking, “How?” but rather, “Why?”
Maybe that's where most of us go wrong because if our reasons are big and/or strong enough, then nothing can stop us from realizing our dreams and we won't question the price of success. We'll stop using lack of money, friends, tools, education, time, government help or corrupt leaders as excuses and make them a reason to make our dreams happen.
Taha provides insight into how children enter school with issues and diverse challenges that must be tackled and about which teachers must be aware. By understanding that student success depends on tackling what's inside, studying becomes an adventure for students to fall in love with.
If parents and the education system could stop seeing children as numbers, outputs, files or grades, but rather as human beings from diverse communities with issues from home and emotions that play a part in their lives and recognize that mentorship is a key to tap into children's hearts, then success is just a decision away.
One issue I'm glad Taha covered is bullying and how we shouldn't ignore it because it does great damage – it can be life and death for any child.
As a student myself, I feel I've become more aware about life itself and more aware of the world around me. I now question the world around me because of this book and how I can make a positive impact.
I've become aware of the richness of Yemeni culture, as well as Islam and how Islam and the West can live together in peace because there's no East or West in “Keep the Faith.” There's humanity, future and actions we all must take for the future generation. I saw the value of knowledge and how we shouldn't let the days just go by due to procrastination, which feeds on our fears. Instead, we should grab opportunities from every second of our life in order to succeed.
Taha has done justice to his people in Yemen. He has tapped into every opportunity, learning to write songs, sing, produce, write books, design magazines and newspapers, create ideas and develop them into huge successes, becoming an entrepreneur and using all of these skills to empower people from all races, religions and cultures. His growing business organization is a reflection of this, as well as a reflection of who he is as an individual.
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