Amala Alumnus, Ahmad, launches new initiative to raise awareness of Covid-19 among children
We’re thrilled to be sharing another inspiring alumni story this week as part of our Amala Alumni Series. The next alumni to be interviewed is Ahmad Al Safadi. After completing our Peacebuilding in your Community course in Amman, Jordan in 2019, Ahmad has been busy raising awareness of key issues and topics through his new initiative called Munshi.
Munshi is a non-profit organization that aims to raise child awareness around bullying, climate change, gender-based violence, and emerging topics such as Covid-19. The organisation does this through producing and creating authentic Arabic content, mainly songs, short stories and through live performances in schools and theatres, to help children hone their critical thinking skills. Ahmad was inspired to launch Munshi because he believes children are the future and should be considered a key audience in our present efforts to raise awareness.
Can you tell me about your time studying with Amala? What did you enjoy most about it?
I joined Amala in September 2019 and I was lucky enough to participate in in-person classes at the time. It gave me an amazing opportunity to meet a lot of amazing people from a variety of countries and different backgrounds. This was one of my favourite things whilst I was learning and completing the peacebuilding in your community course. Studying the peacebuilding topic helped me in a lot of ways. Especially the way it helped me open my mind to another perspective, think about how we can make a real change in our communities and how we can be real peacemakers to make the changes that we like to see.
What have you been doing since you completed the course with Amala?
Whilst I was studying with Amala, I was also working as a project assistant for an initiative here in Jordan. At the time I thought it was the path and field that I wanted to be in. But after taking the Amala course I realised that we should raise awareness of the various issues we face. There is a lack of content and there are still so many topics we should be making people aware of. Because I like children and the way they view the world, and I truly believe that everything starts from our childhood, I was inspired to launch my own initiative called Munshi. I also started working as a content moderator for social media platforms. This helped me develop skills and gave me the chance to see the content that we produce in the MENA region and what we are missing and should be shouting about.
Can you tell me more about your initiative Munshi? What inspired you to launch it?
I had the idea in my head for a long time, but I think I was afraid and nervous about starting it. But when the pandemic hit in March 2020, I noticed that there was a lot of content to raise awareness regarding Covid-19 targeting adults but no one was creating content for children. They also had to change a lot of their habits and their routine, especially as suddenly they weren't able to go to school, to play with their friends, to play in the street, they had to start washing their hands and they had to start wearing masks. Even with everything going on, no one tried to explain to the children in a way that's suitable for them. That’s when I knew it was the right time to start Munshi. So, I started to create awareness. Our first song (see video below) was aimed at children to increase their understanding of Covid-19 and since March 2020 we have been able to launch more than 25 songs with more than 20 topics that are brought up for the first time by us.
Have you experienced any challenges while launching your initiative? How have you overcome them?
As mentioned, we launched Munshi on the 1st of March 2020 in the first phase of the pandemic. For me, one of the most challenging things was keeping up with all the new changes and the news in Jordan because from the first moment, the country became very strict with rules and a lockdown. For Munshi, our work is dependent on recording songs and collaborating with volunteers, it was therefore tough for me to try to manage everything and to continue producing content whilst keeping everyone safe.
It has also been tough as a self-initiative, as we had financial needs, so I have been trying to cover expenses from my salary. I hope that in the future we will be able to produce and sell more content that raises awareness, so that as a production company, we’ll be able to increase our production and cover our needs.
Congratulations on receiving a prize from Leaders of tomorrow and GIZ! Were you nominated for this prize? How did you find out about it?
Thank you for the congratulations. I found out that I had won the award in February 2021 for the best project to help children psychologically and physically in the mental and physical health category on the Challenge Societal Innovation. I was very happy when we had been chosen as there were a lot of great ideas and it was a very competitive category. It also meant a lot because after one year of working hard it was great to feel that our efforts had been appreciated and that people are caring about what we do and are seeing/hearing the message that we’re trying to deliver.
What is the future for Munshi? Where do you plan to be in 5 years?
We believe that every child deserves to have access to suitable awareness content, which could help them in their daily life and maybe even save it. I hope in the next 5 years Munshi will be able to reach every child in Jordan and the MENA region through our songs and short stories that we publish on our social media platforms for free. We also hope to deliver live performances in schools and local areas to reach underprivileged children in the refugee camps and the small towns in Jordan.
What would you say to students considering an Amala course?
Life is a chance, and nothing can help you learn new things and gain new skills like a new experience can, so don’t be afraid to try new things. Being with new people and getting out of your comfort zone may be your chance to discover your way, to find yourself.
Find out more about Munshi here.