MELA 5, DAY NINE: 14 MARCH 2014
Capstone Project. On the penultimate day of the MELA Academy, participants are challenged to synthesize and utilize all they have learned through a team project. Their mission: to travel by time machine to the year 2019, when a global media organization is profiling MELA, and explain through a presentation what MELA has achieved in the intervening five years to make it worthy of such international attention.
Suha and Monah chart their group's course. (Isn't it somehow comforting and homely to know that they still have flip charts in 2019?)
Rawan scripts her team's presentation. (Apparently they still hand write in 2019, too!)
Portrait of collaboration. Study in concentration. Samer and Samira put their heads together.
This gang is ready to rumble. Go MELA 5!
In parallel, the Doha Reunion of MELA members has got underway today with the arrival of some familiar faces – celebrity spottings at every turn!
MELA legends Obay Ghazal and Wassim Al Khatib have breezed into town. The temperature in Doha has already shot up.
MELA All-Stars Wassim, Adib El Hachem and Abdulrahman Khansaheb.
The afternoon's first capstone presentation describes how MELA members, by 2019, have united to contribute to the region's economic betterment, made social contributions through the establishment of schools and scholarships, and developed innovative learning games.
Nailed that presentation!
According to the second group, the drive to create and educate a new generation of junior leaders has been facilitated through Val – an inspirational cartoon creation whose exemplary quality is that he always sticks to his core values.
To feel the pulse of the Middle East, the smart money tunes in to the award-winning talk show Afternoon with Noor. Under her baton, we hear from the mouths of MELA members themselves how, piece by piece, they have promoted peace in their societies by exploiting the possibilities for communication and understanding afforded by MELA's global network.
Tuning in to Afternoon with Noor: MELA 1's Firas Abu Wishah and Soughit Abdelnour join Michael Kouly and incoming Board Chair Meisa Batayneh.
MELA movie star Hamoud Al-Tobi is in the building!
Following the success of the MELA 2019 Middle East Summit, the world's press corps goes hunting for the back story: how the drive towards a dignified life, rooted in core leadership values, inspired MELA members to cooperate over issues such as food security in the region, the preservation of water resources, and expanded access to education.
MELA TV, hosted by 2019 television personality of the year Rafal Ridha, reports on the creation of the Middle East Union. Its co-founders pay tribute to one of the commonalities that helped to break down barriers and ultimately paved the way to their achievement: their love of shisha!
Ghareb and Salah. Give 'em five – MELA Five!
The final group moves the room profoundly by describing how a MELA initiative to help children and adults with special needs has borne fruit by 2019, promoting new attitudes in the Middle East and radical changes in the medical and education systems.
United we stand.
As a summary of the day's work on the Capstone Project, Vickie speaks for us all!
Tarek Haddad (Director of Planning, JWT Levant) and Mennah Ibrahim (Head of Brand Intelligence, JWT Middle East Africa) inform the audience about ten trends in brands and marketing to look out for in the Middle East/ North Africa (MENA) region in 2014.
After dinner, we reconvene in the ballroom for a hearty Lebanese dessert: a heaped serving of Michael Kouly's session on purpose.
For those of us not yet sated from a full day of treats, there is always a late-night aromatic puff available at the Marrakesh shisha place.
Furthering the cause of Middle East Union through shisha: MELA 4's Mater Al Dhafeeri discovers his Yemeni brother Mohamed.
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