Abu Dhabi Awards helps heroes create 'bigger change'

Abu Dhabi - Stutter UAE is a support platform that aims to inspire people to embrace their stutter.

The Abu Dhabi Awards, a government initiative that honours unsung heroes, has become an opportunity to initiate 'bigger change' in society, past winners said as nominations for the 10^th edition were opened.
Farah Al Qaissieh, who founded Stutter UAE in 2013 and received the award in 2017, felt that the recognition helped her step up the movement.
"Since I started the initiative, there were so many days when I thought about giving up. But after the award, I realised it's the community that has nominated me, and I had no excuse to stop. It allows us to look at stuttering as an accent and not as speech impediment," she said.
Stutter UAE is a support platform that aims to inspire people to embrace their stutter.
"Last week, we hosted Iftar, which brought together people who had heard about the initiative after the awards," she said.
The team has close to 3,000 members, including those in social media.
"Although there isn't much attention on it yet, stuttering affects one per cent of the world's population. If you take one per cent of the UAE, that's 100,000 people that stutter and I haven't reached them yet."
Al Qaissieh said social media tools have helped develop confidence in those who stutter.
"People who stutter tend to be shy and afraid of coming out, even to a group who stutter. We have solved it by creating a WhatsApp group where they can connect and not be afraid of being face-to-face. There are 80 people in the group. They now get together and meet. They have showed the will to overcome their fear," said Al Qaissieh, who works at an investment company.
The mother of twins said she hopes to take her movement to schools. "I would like to see more activities focused on schools. Those who stutter face the biggest challenge in schools," she said.
Awards a 'turning point'
Fatima Al Kaabi, the UAE's youngest inventor and the 2017 recipient of the award, said the honour opened many doors for her.
"I got to visit more schools and influence more people either in person or on social media. Ever since I received the awards, I got to visit more than seven countries to spread the message. This award has pushed me to do more and help the community. I have taught more than 30 schools and helped them create their first inventions, and be innovative in their life," the high school student from Al Ain said.
"I will hopefully be moving to a US university in a few months. I look forward to continuing my workshops and influencing people in America," the 17-year-old said.
Dr Taisser Atrak, chairman of the department of paediatrics at Mafraq Hospital, who won in 2011, said the award was a 'turning point' for his campaign.
"The programme I started in Abu Dhabi on the safety of children became bigger. Many things became laws, regulations and programmes. It made significant differences in the area of child safety and prevention of injury.
"We suggested placing a sign on the bus to know if a student was on board or not. A driver must check every seat to ensure that no student is forgotten inside the bus," Atrak said.
He added that the number of children dying in road accidents, as well as those forgotten inside a bus, has dipped in the past few years.
How to nominate a community hero
The awards call on the citizens and UAE residents to come forward with nominations. The emirate's highest civilian honour can be bestowed on anyone, regardless of age, gender, nationality or place of residency. The only criterion is that nominees must have made a positive contribution towards the emirate and the community of Abu Dhabi.
The nomination period will run till December 31, 2019. People can nominate by logging onto www.abudhabiawards.ae and submit their choice. The awards' organising committee will evaluate all entries over the next seven months and produce a shortlist of the most qualified nominees.
The committee will then examine each nomination to create a detailed study on the work and contribution of each individual. Following a rigorous review process, recipients will then be selected and announced at the official Abu Dhabi Awards ceremony slated to take place in early 2020.
Since its inception, the Abu Dhabi Awards has recognised 80 unsung heroes of 16 different nationalities.
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Encouragement matters
Sometimes a note of appreciation is all it takes to encourage someone to do better, or boost their morale as they continue to improve their work or service standards. The Abu Dhabi Awards is one such way to recognise and encourage many players who have found their calling through entrepreneurship. The awards have been promoting competitiveness and helping push the boundaries in various fields.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com
 

• Abu Dhabi