Keynote speech at a PCRF iftar on Intelligent Optimism. An approach the Charity has adopted. Celebrating heroes.

1. intelligent optimism
the other narrative
keynote speech - PCRF Iftar - Dubai
July 2012
by Rama Chakaki
@rchakaki
Tuesday, March 26, 13
Salaam Alaikum ladies and gentleman and ramadan mubarak to you all..
I’d like to welcome you on behalf of our founder and CEO Steve Sosebee, and my fellow board
members to the UAE PCRF annual iftar. The UAE has shown our cause tremendous support
and for that we are eternally grateful. Over the years the UAE has hosted over fifty children,
delivered millions of dollars in medical care, and mobilized thousands of volunteer. I’d like
to extend a special thanks to Al Maktoum Foundation for their support this evening and look
forward to a long term partnership.
i'd like to take 15 minutes of your valuable time to talk about
Intelligent Optimism - a topic that might seem random, but if you bare with me, I will share
its relevance to ramadan, the PCRF and a healthy community.

2. Tuesday, March 26, 13
I begin with a children’s story about happiness, illness and laughter. A court jester who’s job
is to tell jokes and provide entertainment appears in the king’s court, only to be banished
because the king was not happy.

3. Tuesday, March 26, 13
he goes to search for happiness and only sees frowning, angry people and terrible news.

4. Tuesday, March 26, 13
here I lie I have a tumor and you ask me where's my sense of humor.. I’ve been very sick. I”m
so tired of trying. I don’t feel like laughing, I just feel like crying.
"laughter's buried deep within! laughter's like a seedling waiting patiently to sprout. All it
takes is just a push to make it pop right out.. when i get sad or lonesome, or when i get
depressed, that's when i sing my loudest and dance my very best!"

5. Tuesday, March 26, 13
The girl smiled.. then laughed..

6. Tuesday, March 26, 13
Soon laughter leaped right out the window, growing louder as it flew. It spread to every
corner. It filled up every space. Smiles popped up everywhere! Can't you feel one on your
face?
Optimism is the tendency to anticipate the best possible outcome. Intelligent optimism is one
grounded in reality..
It isn’t just in fairy tales..
many psychology and self-help books preach it. i found over 70million pages on google.. and
google doesn’t lie!
it is in our religion

7. ‫ا654*ا ا(3210 %/."ه و ا,+*ا ا('& %$#"ه‬
Tuesday, March 26, 13
In the holy month is a time to reflect on the prophetic tradition.. rooted in intelligent optimism.
prophet came at a time when the arab were waring and suffering from years of famine and indi
brought change .. created a new narrative.. one of peace, love, harmony among religions, creat
prosperous ummah. The prophet always smiled, greeted the young and old with peace and in t
harshest times, maintained an optimistic outlook that propelled others to remain certain of cha
have moved far from that reality..
‫"ه و ا,+*ا ا('& %$#"ه‬

8. Tuesday, March 26, 13
in recent history.. the tragic events of Sep 11 divided the world and resulted in a stream of
political media.. the US media embraced a defeating narrative about Arabs and muslims. The
messages were strong, the campaigns long lasting.. eventually the entire world bought into it.
there was little room for other opinions on the matter..
if you searched the web 5 years ago for “Arab, Muslim, Arab Children”.. the only results were
negative images and war propaganda. There was little to no room for the positive narrative
and its connection to our heritage.

9. 9:;+( ‫ وا(+*م ا?<" >4+=0 <+"ا او‬A2% BC*D ‫ #2ن‬BC
Tuesday, March 26, 13
our media bought into the international rhetoric and spent too much time defending our
political stance, and adopting an externalized view of our situation.. it left room only for
entertainment and forgetting there was another narrative.
we have challenges - environment, employment, social, yet a lot of organizations addressing
them..

10. Tuesday, March 26, 13
when it came to charities, the media elicited emotions of sadness and despair.. images that
left viewers feeling hopeless and helpless.. the narrative was so weak, that most people
responded with money donations.. few volunteered their time, creativity, energy.

11. Tuesday, March 26, 13
i imagined orphans and other children who needed help had fairy tale happy endings and all
those who helped them were super heroes.. and wanted to get others to see them this way..

12. plan big
Tuesday, March 26, 13
so i set out to change the narrative.. and found inspiration from the most successful social
enterprise in history..
Mohamad PBUH did it and left us with a how-to manual through the Quran and Sunna and the
prophetic tradition (al see rah).. drew inspiration from religion..
start small.. have a big vision

13. orient - educate
Tuesday, March 26, 13
calls for education.. assumes everyone needs it..

14. reflect
Tuesday, March 26, 13
reflect on nature.. and observe rituals in it

15. repeat
Tuesday, March 26, 13
repeat rituals to confirm values and remind the community of the common goal

16. communicate - ‫ ا(.:2ل‬G'D 0+:H A‫إن ا‬
Tuesday, March 26, 13
use art to elevate spirits and reach the masses

17. celebrate & collaborate
Tuesday, March 26, 13
observe in celebration.. reach everyone

18. Speak well
Tuesday, March 26, 13
relied on men and women of character and knowledge to speak the message..
So we employed the same practices that religions.. the most successful social institutions
employed..

19. Tuesday, March 26, 13
and here I have to pause with gratitude to the woman who involved me in the pcrf.. Iman
Odeh.. who’s looking glamours as usual will probably kill me for using it after the event.. had
a vision to grow the uae chapter exponentially.. she bought into my approach.. and we set out
to work...

20. Tuesday, March 26, 13
we held countless volunteer training sessions

21. Tuesday, March 26, 13
together and with the support of amazing volunteers in dubai.. our first PCRF heroes
emerged…

22. ”‫32ر‬H LM2N ‫"ب “#0 ذي‬R(‫=*ل ا‬D
ٍ
Tuesday, March 26, 13
showing a dignified.. powerful.. image.. being kids.. . yousef was certainly that

23. Tuesday, March 26, 13
our children like bisan came to the uae for surgery.. but more importantly came to live their
age and show their beautiful childhood

24. ِ‫3َ2ب‬U(W‫ ا‬Xِ(‫ُو‬W ٍ‫َ2ت‬D ‫^]/َ2ر‬U(‫َرض وَا<5`َفِ ا(4+ْ0 وَا‬W‫:َ 2وَاتِ وا‬b(‫ <4& ا‬Xِ> ‫إِن‬
ْ ْ Z ِ ِ ] ِْ ِ ْ َ ] ِ َْ ]
Tuesday, March 26, 13
there were moments where we forgot their disabilities..

25. 1st DOUBLE AMPUTEE CERTIFIED SCUBA DIVER IN THE ARAB WORLD
Tuesday, March 26, 13
some inspired thousands world wide...

26. Tuesday, March 26, 13
khalil was featured in the christian science monitor, the national, blogs world wide.. arabia tv
and many other networks.

27. Tuesday, March 26, 13

28. Tuesday, March 26, 13
abdullah

29. Tuesday, March 26, 13

30. Tuesday, March 26, 13
got a hero’s send off

31. Tuesday, March 26, 13

32. Tuesday, March 26, 13
inca trail photo

33. Tuesday, March 26, 13
started with 20 people and became a 400 person strong challenge

34. Tuesday, March 26, 13
provided medical care to over 17 thousand children and spent hundreds of millions in dollars
of donated hours doing so..

35. Tuesday, March 26, 13
Our leading hero and spokesperson is our founder and CEO, Steve Sosebee who represents
the PCRF so eloquently at events worldwide

36. Tuesday, March 26, 13
Rap, spoken word and other artists, like Omar Offendum help us reach young audiences
worldwide through dedicating their time to our cause

37. Tuesday, March 26, 13
Our most amazing public figures are our Patients. Here, the young Zain - ocular prosthesis is
seen during an interview in Arabia TV

38. Tuesday, March 26, 13
we involved everyone..
this was not done without attention to reality.. optimism does not exclude realism.. our new
found image helped us attract many supporters, our children had teams of volunteers. the
number of our doctors grew exponentially.. and when had sadness we dealt with it
collectively.. giving families room to grieve in dignity instead of using their images to
sensationalize our messages

39. Tuesday, March 26, 13
our work inspired others to adopt the intelligent optimistic narrative..
over 9000 children from the most threatened neighborhoods in the west bank and from
refugee camps in lebanon and jordan. Paces takes Palestinian children to compete
internationally in Australia and Sweeden.

40. collaborate
Tuesday, March 26, 13
Nakhweh engages 9000 youth volunteers in blood drives, traffic management, and a range
of other social and environmental causes.

41. communicate
Tuesday, March 26, 13
A word of gratitude to my business partner who came up with the amazing tagline.. READY -
AIM - INSPIRE... moving away from the “ready aim fire” and laying the foundation of what the
event became.. a series of inspirations. optimistic and intelligent... 1000 attendees, and
thousands of online participants from all over the world.. came together to hear stories of
palestine, as we know it. Much credit goes to Ramzi Jaber for pulling off the amazing event;
again he started as a PCRF volunteer.

42. ‫وه‬c.d "+e(2% ‫(*ا‬fgd
Tuesday, March 26, 13
and so the narrative is changing to one that is intelligent and optimistic ..
we have challenges..
our media is persistent on focusing on what doesn't exist or doest work..
our religion compels us to do different.. tafaaalo bilk heir tajidooh

43. X% ‫ي‬c3N Bh Bb, c^N 27‫أ‬
Tuesday, March 26, 13
i leave you with a thought.. a request.. and prayer…
imagine a news narrative dominated by stories of heroes, inspirations, achievements and
overcoming challenges
The next time you watch TV, listen to the radio, read a magazine or see a billboard on the
street, look for the heroes and role models.. look for the success stories of your
neighborhoods and communities.. and if they're not there.. ask yourself, "what can I do to
change that?"
May Allah support us all in changing the narrative for children in Palestine, Egypt, Iraq,
Soumal, Tunis, Syria and everywhere else where children deserve fairy tale happy endings.
Ramadan Kareem.