Wednesday 24 / April / 2024
Twenty-four-year-old Mazoon Al Zadjali walked into Starbucks wearing a casual jacket, a gangster cap and a smile on her face, but was soon stopped by a fan. Turns out she had unintentionally inspired the admirer, who wanted to click a picture with her.
This young youth organiser started her journey of helping others way back when she was a teenager. “I started helping others and the youth when I was 15, with the help of an organisation called Youth Care Educational Network, which is funded by the United Nations Population Fund,” she explained. “I am now the focus point in charge of the organisation.”
Mazoon has been passionate about helping people, especially the youth from a very young age. She actively started taking effective steps towards her passion when she realised that being young herself, she was better equipped to support those of her age.
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“I started a programme called Invest in Youth in Azerbaijan. I held a youth policies conference where we came up with a resolution to help the youth. In 2014, I took a break to study what exactly Oman was lacking and what the youth needed to improve themselves,” she emphasised.
As part of the initiative, she took it upon herself, without any financial or physical support, to encourage the achievers in the nation. “So I gave awards to seven young people who had done a lot in their life but were not appreciated for their work,” she said.
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Mazoon realised that it was important for her to travel to different places and meet different people to get a broader perspective on things and be in a better position to do something meaningful for those approaching her.
“I travel to a lot of countries to attend conferences where I represent the country. Recently, I was in Kuwait for two conferences, and I was in Russia for the 19th World Festival of Youth and Students,” she added. “During most of my travels, I apply. I feel very appreciated when I see ‘your application was accepted among 7,000 young people’.”
She ensures that she imparts the knowledge that she has gained from her visits abroad to the youth of Oman. “I gave seminars in schools in 2011, introducing myself to them and letting them know that if they have any problems they can share them with me,” she remarked.
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Recently, Mazoon was part of a UN women’s campaign. “They have a 16-day non-violence campaign for women. It is about creating social media awareness. They post pictures of women who have actually made a difference,” she stated.
She has been actively raising awareness on several topics that are considered taboo and people in the country hesitate to discuss openly. “I give a lot of awareness related to protective health rights, HIV aids, suicide, and family. We participated in the Muscat Festival and Salalah Festival, where we raised awareness,” she reiterated.
Since she is not a psychologist, she does not really provide the mainstream counselling that a professional psychologist or therapist would provide. Instead, she believes that people want to be heard and need someone to listen to them.
Mazoon lends them her patient and understanding ears. “I meet some of them personally, others contact me through the phone, and some of them who want to remain anonymous send me e-mails. I took a course in teacup and through that I became a listener. Not everybody can be a listener, it depends on each individual. If you want to hear a person out, you would want to try to help them,” she stressed.
She also does a routine follow-up on the people she has spoken to in the past. “I have a database of the people I have interviewed. From time to time, I open the box, and I try to find out what the person is doing. I see their achievements and I feel proud,” she revealed.
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