TEDxBaghdad is a prestigious project that helps Iraq to become a centre of knowledge and optimism once again, and allows Iraqi talents to develop and gain international recognition. TEDxBaghdad is organized by Yahay Abdali, an Iraqi refugee located in Amsterdam. His dream is to bring inspiration to the Iraqi people. Baghdad one was the centre of education of the Middle East. More than any country, there is a hunger for the TED event in Iraq; Yahay receives emails of Iraqis daily who expect TEDxBaghdad will change their lives radically.

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TEDxBaghdad is looking for help!

We are looking for volunteers to work with us on TEDxBaghdad:

-          A website builder to further develop http://www.tedxbaghdad.com. The site exists already but needs to get more body and a renewed design. We have a lot of ideas we would like to work on with a professional website builder. Are you creative with websites? Please help us out.

-          An expert in fundraising. Besides sponsors TEDxBagdad also needs to use fundraising for realizing the event. Who wants to advice us about the possibilities?

We would love to hear from you if you want to help out! Please contact Jasper de Valk via jasper@tedxamsterdam.nl

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The TEDxBaghdad team

June 24 2011 / The TEDxBaghdad team is not only based in The Netherlands. People from across the world are helping to make this event happen. Please meet two very committed team members Nada and Layla.

An interview with TEDxBaghdad team member Nada in Dubai

Nada is a Canadian Iraqi – she was raised in Ottowa, Canada. She lives in Dubai. Nada is director of a start-up consultancy on strategic communications. Her background is in Digital Strategy and building optimal user experiences for web based products. She truly enjoys consulting and advising organizations on their digital communication needs and objectives.

How did you get involved in TEDxBaghdad?

‘I had similar thoughts of bringing TEDx to Iraq, and so was incredibly happy to see that Yahay AlAbdeli had already taken the initiative. I simply contacted him through e-mail. Now I’m working with him and other wonderful team members to make this event a success.’

What is you role?

‘Since I am based in Dubai, I have taken up the role as the Dubai Ambassador to TEDxBaghdad. My role is to spread awareness of this event, search for inspirational speakers and get sponsors to help make the event possible. I will also be involved with the operations of the event on the day itself.’

What is your dream or goal with TEDxBaghdad?

‘For Iraq, my dream is to see the country prosperous economically, socially and politically. My goal is to help be part of this movement. Especially around the social changes required in Iraq, where issues of poverty, lack of education, and abundance of orphans require drastic attention and help. 3 years ago I had started the Canadian Society of Iraqi Youth, an organization aimed at helping orphans in Iraq through sponsorship and special projects. I hope to continue in the plight of orphans in Iraq, and my ultimate goal it to be part of a social change in Iraq where programs for orphans are embedded in every province in Iraq, where each and every orphan can feel love and security from the community.’

What has been your biggest achievement for TEDxBaghdad so far?

‘My biggest achievement for TEDxBaghdad has yet to be achieved. I really hope I can bring some large sponsors to the table in order to make this conference a success. I’m definitely happy about some of the speakers we have secured and the group support that the TEDxBaghdad team has for each other!’

Who is your dream speaker?

‘It would be someone from Iraq, in Iraq, lived through the trials and tribulations of Iraq and up to speak on his/her hopes, dreams and aspirations for Iraq. This person is not hypothetical, this person lives in many Iraqis, and we hope to be able to find a few such people to inspire us all.’

An interview with TEDxBaghdad team member Layla in Los Angeles, U.S.A.

Layla is of Kurdish-Arabic Iraqi origin. Her parents migrated to L.A. in the seventies. Layla: ‘I like to believe that I’m living in L.A. due to fate. Like the Persian poet Hafez said: “This place where you are right now, God circled on a map for you.”’

Layla is an architecture student, a dreamer and an artist. She’s also an intern at NASA.

How did you come in contact with TEDxBaghdad?

‘Nada, also on the TEDxBaghdad team, introduced us to Yahay. I got involved with TEDxBaghdad because I agree strongly with the principle it stands for: spreading ideas. To me, TEDxBaghdad is one step of many to rebuild a resilient country of immeasurable potential in the most important way: innovation through ideas.’

What do you do for TEDxBaghdad?

‘At the TEDxBaghdad team we’re constantly bouncing ideas off of each other, as this is the first time several of us have ever put something like this together. We all contribute to finding locations, connecting talented individuals who are willing to volunteer their time to us, finding sponsorships internationally and creating relationships and connections inside of Iraq. My greatest responsibility is managing and coordinating the speakers.’

What’s your dream or goal?

‘My goal is to overcome obstacles related to war and violence in Iraq by providing a stage for the country’s unheard and deserving.’

What has been your biggest achievement for TEDxBaghdad so far?

‘Our biggest achievement has been coordinating our regular Skype-meetings between three continents!’

Of which achievement are you most enthusiastic/proud?

‘The optimism and support that we have received inside and outside of Iraq kindle my enthusiasm daily.’

Who is your dream speaker on TEDxBaghdad?

‘The ambitious and unconventional kid dreaming about speaking on a TEDx stage right now is my dream speaker.’

Would you like to share something more…?

‘I end every day inspired by the people that I come across in working for TEDxBaghdad. It’s a beautiful world flush with beautiful people.

Irene de Waal

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Blogpost: TEDxBaghdad: I have a dream

June 10 2011 – ‘TEDxBaghdad started about a dream. My dream. Now, it’s absolutely not about me anymore. It’s about people around me.’ – Yahay AlAbdeli, the initiator of TEDxBaghdad.

The theme of TEDxBaghdad is: Make The Impossible Possible. That’s what Yahay AlAbdeli wants to show the world. ‘We can organize a TED conference in Iraq. There’s talent. It’s safe enough.’

Inspire
What does Yahay AlAbdeli want to accomplish with TEDxBaghdad?
‘After so many years of wars and living in a dictatorial regime, facing challenges every day, I want to show the world that we have enough talent and energy to build a new future.’

Icons
Yahays goal is to find unknown Iraqi talents that did small things with big impact to speak on TEDxBaghdad. ‘I’m looking for people who plant flowers in their street to bring happiness. I would like to give those people a very good promotion on stage. They promote the new Iraq. They can tell people: “I’m just a person, I did something beautiful, you can do it too.”’

Yahay AlAbdeli

Goals

1. Promote Iraqi talent
From the beginning Yahay AlAbdeli’s main target group is the Iraqi talent. He wants to give them a stage to tell the world: ‘We exist. We have talent. We can rebuild the country.’

2. Connect Iraqi talents outside Iraqi with Iraqi talents inside Iraq
During the process of organizing TEDxBaghdad Yahay met Iraqi people who live outside Iraq. They don’t know how to reconnect to their home country. Because of the war, Iraqi people live in many different countries.

3. Rebuilding the image of Baghdad
This is a smaller target. The TEDxBaghdad event will give the city good promotion. In 2013 Baghdad will be the capital of Arab Culture, but already this can be shown in 2011 with TEDxBaghdad.

Green light
Now we have the full support from the Iraqi Prime Minister. The government is more than happy to help realizing TEDxBaghdad.

Safety
People will wonder about safety. Yahay tells me: ‘Baghdad has problems like any other city in the world. Safety is a topic in many countries, including well developed European countries or third world countries.’

Irene de Waal

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Blogpost: TEDxBagdad: How it all started

TEDxBaghdad is a prestigious project that helps Iraq to become a centre of knowledge and optimism once again, and allows Iraqi talents to develop and gain international recognition.  TEDxBaghdad is initiated by Yahay Alabdeli, an Iraqi refugee who lives in Amsterdam. His dream is to bring inspiration to the Iraqi people.

At the first meeting of the Ideas Worth Doing project group for TEDxBaghdad Yahay Alabdeli’s tells us about the beginning of his dream project. How he got the idea. How it all started.

Contribute back
Iraqi people who live abroad support their family in Iraq by sending them money and goods. One day Yahay Alabdeli – at the time an Iraqi student in Sweden – simply stopped doing that. He told his parents: ‘I don’t have any impact on these people. They take the money, buy food and that’s it.’ For the first time he thought: How can I contribute back to my country?

Inspiring TED Talk by Aboutaleb
It took a while for Yahay to get the right answer to that question. It came on the day he entered TEDxRotterdam only one year ago, in 2010. The first person who came on stage was Ahmed Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam, who is of Moroccan descent. Yahay tells that he was almost crying when he listened to Aboutaleb talking about the importance of knowledge. Aboutalebs dream, when he was young, was to study in Baghdad. In the 1960’s Baghdad was the city of knowledge and education in the Middle East. This news was an a-ha moment for Yahay: ‘This is my country he’s talking about!’ He’s so excited and thanks Aboutaleb enthusiastically. Yahay knows that he wants to do something.

Idea worth doing
One beautiful day Yahay Alabdeli calls Jim Stolze, president of TEDxAmsterdam. They have lunch together – but before they order anything, Yahay tells Jim: “I have a dream to take the TED experience to Baghdad. I want to be in your organisation and take all the experience over there.” Just like that.

A GO from Big TED
At the beginning of this year Yahay sends the application form for the license for TEDxBaghdad to the “Big TED” – that’s how he calls the main organisation. Big TED reacts very surprised: Baghdad? Why? How?

A sparkling eyed Yahay tells about the moment he got the approval: ‘It was a Saturday. I was home alone. I looked at my e-mail and read in the subject “Approval for License”. I thought: “This can’t be true.” I had a black out. I had to print the e-mail, because I couldn’t see clearly. I closed my eyes and visualised what would come. It was a life changing moment. I told my wife: “I’m going to do this.”’

Irene de Waal

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Blogpost: The story of Yahay Alabdeli

TEDxBaghdad is initiated by Yahay Alabdeli, an Iraqi refugee who lives in Amsterdam. His life story is an impressive one. Both sad and optimistic. At the first meeting of the project group for TEDxBaghdad Yahay tells us about his life.

Start of Iran-Iraq War
Yahay Alabdeli moved from Iraq in 1979, when he was only 4 years old. His family lost everything in just a few hours. Yahay tells: “My mother picked me up from school. We saw soldiers in the streets. They took everything, including my father. My father, a businessman, was supposed to have a meeting on the economic future of Iraq. This meeting was supposed to take half an hour. It became 6 months. They took him to prison. They left my mother, my brother (who was 1 year old) and me (4 years) behind. They told my mother to go to her parents. So we did.”

“One evening two men came to the door. They said to my mother that she needed to prepare her two kids for a trip. They wanted to take us to our father in prison, because boys are supposed to stay with their father. Girls stay with their mother. My mother said: “Come back tomorrow. I’ll prepare their bags.” The same second she took a taxi with us in the evening, with no luggage, to Kuwait. We stayed there for a year. Then we heard about my father’s whereabouts.”

Out of prison
“When my father got out of prison, they took him to the border between Iraq and Iran. He got three options. They said: “If you go right, there are landmines. If you go left there’s the Iraqi war and straight ahead there’s Iran.” He walked for three days. Without water or food. Plus, he carried his mother of 90 years old. After a day people couldn’t wear their clothes, because they felt so heavy. And my father had his mother to carry. Incredible. For me it’s a great story on how you can make it, stand up again and be a human again,” says Yahay.

Europe
“So, we didn’t know about my father for almost a year. Eventually, we met him in Syria. We became a family again and we moved to Sweden. That’s where I grew up. I lived there for about 18 years. My family and friends live there. I have a Swedish nationality. We lived in a small village of 4.000 people. If I changed my t-shirt, everyone would know! We were the only foreign family.”
“Since about ten years I live in The Netherlands. Love brought me here.”

Irene de Waal

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