This is Mohamed QUAROUACH, he is from Morocco ( North africa ), he is 17 y/o, he is passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation . This is his ig: @qua_mohamed feel free to text him.
Interview by Daania Sharifi
First off, introduce yourself to the readers, name, age, interests, stuff you are involved in, etc!
My name is Mohamed Quarouach, I'm 16 year old, I'm in love with debating , community service and helping people at my age , I'm a co-founder and the director general of Stay Home MUN an online FREE Model United Nations ( @stayhome_mun ) , I'm also the founder of Say It Out loud , an online initiative that aims to improve people's public speaking skill. I'm also a member of the marketing team of young minds global , an online organization that helps new initiatives made by youth to impact their community.
Great! The Stay Home MUN; what is the mission, inspiration, how did you come up with the idea?
Stay Home Model United Nations is a diplomacy and debate event for young people around the world to stand up and state an opinion. We started out as a group of friends based in Morocco who wanted to make a difference and change the world for the better by planning a conference on the 30th April. They then got into contact with a guy from the UK who offered to help run it. After a hugely successful first iteration on the 30th April, they decided to hold another conference and added another person to their team based in the UK. The 30th April Conference had 80 participants from over 25 countries around the world, including delegates in active warzones like Syria and Yemen. At our first conference, we discussed a range of key world issues in a mature and educational way. For more information about our first iteration, click here. We are now at full steam ahead planning our second event with 18 members of staff on 4 continents. The second iteration (Saturday 6th June) has already had over 200 applicants across four continents. In the future, we are hoping to expand further so that we can get closer to a united world. We now have over 750 followers on our Instagram and have been endorsed by the secretary general of the real united nations. Our current core values are that Model United Nations (and education more generally) should be free, accessible and open to people of all creed, colors, sexuality, gender, race and religion.
Incredible! Speak to us about Say It Out Loud, what made you interested in creating the initiative? How has it impacted others?
Say it Out Loud is an online initiative that aims to improve people's public speaking skill by providing them a healthy space where they can express their thoughts and talk about what interest them the most with no fear of judgement. We started as a group of friends based in Morocco who wanted to make a difference and change the world for a better by boosting people's confidence. Our activity consist of holding with 20 participants , that has been selected through the application process and allowing each single one of them to have 5 minutes where he can express his thoughts in front of the other participants , or talk about what interest him the most , and literally it could be ANYTHING . Our first event is going to be on 15th June and here are some of the topics our applicants chose ( Why the American dream is dead / Women in politics / Gender inequality / filmmaking / art / corruption on latin American ) We're hoping to expand further more so that we can help more people , and help them gain confidence and improve their public speaking skill . Our current core values are that all people around the world should have the ability to express their thoughts freely , and that public speaking skill is the right of everyone.
What is your favorite thing about both of these initiatives?
I believe that my favorite thing about these two initiative is their mission and values , for Stay Home MUN we're a free online Model united nations , and we made it to make The Model United Nations as accessible as it can be for all people all around the world , and we have helped young people in active warzones such as Yemen and syria to live the MUN experience , and what I like about Say it Out Loud is helping people at my age to overcome their fear about public speaking , because me too I used to struggle with public speaking and I couldn't speak in front people freely without being afraid of their judgment.
Doing all these activities must be difficult to manage, how have you learned to develop new skills needed for these activities?
I believe that starting an organization or an initiative is the best way to learn how to manage your time and to develop new skills, because when you start something that you are so passionate about it , you gain the sense of responsibility and you understand the importance of time , and in the process of developing your initiative you learn new skills , so the advice that I can give to your readers is start doing something that you care about and that you are passionate about, that will help you with your self growth .
Definitely time management skills is the best skill acquired through initiatives. Who is your inspiration? What inspires you about them & what would you ask them if you were allowed to ask them one question?
I'm really inspired by Gary Vay-Ner-Chuck , and Bill Gates and Jeff Brezos , I believe that they are one of the most successful people in the world, and I'm working on being one of those man , and I don't have a specific question to ask anyone of them , not yet.
Where do you hope to see yourself in 5 years? What is your future goals?
I hope that in 5 years I'll be a successful entrepreneur and have my own business , and have a degree in business administration / my future goals are to create my own non profit organization in my home country so that I can impact my community positively , and help teenagers from my country to get in the international universities they dream of.
How have you been passing time in the midst of this pandemic?
I was really productive during this lockdown , I've started Stay Home MUN and Say it Out Loud just in the beginning of the Lockdown , it was hard at first to adapt with the situation, but there are always alternative ways to enjoy your time rather than going out.
What advice do you have for teens wanting to follow your path?
As I've already said , my advice is start doing something that you care about, that will help you with your self growth. In addition , please take advantage of this time and be productive during this lock down, as Winston Churchill once said :" this is no tile for ease and comfort , it is time to dare and endure" so please dare to take action.
Any advice to teens in general? Life, school, social situations, etc
For you teens you should know that days that breaks you, are the days that makes you , so don't be afraid of making mistakes.
Comments