The Arab world loves to celebrate its legends. Whether it’s Noble Peace Prize winners like Ahmed Zewail or pioneers in sports like Nawal El Moutawakil. Yet, big achievements are not restricted to the older generation. Arab youth are also making it big. They are smashing records and changing the narrative of what can be done at a young age.
To celebrate these young talented individuals, we have picked out some of the leading Arab youth in important fields ranging from sports to literature while highlighting their biggest achievements.
Zain El Hommossany
Recently, the young racer has made history as the first Egyptian to win 7th place in the Rotax Max Challenge held in Europe; a fast-growing international kart racing competition series. El Hommossany actually participated in all the races of the competition that were held across Europe from April 22nd until July 10th, 2022.
Only 11 years old, El Hommossany began his kart racing career three years before, when he was only 8 years of age. Breaking records is nothing new to the young racer because on October 10th, 2020, he broke the time record during his race in the Rotax Max Challenge held in Dubai. He did not stop there. For the third time, he has also won the first place position in the UAE’s Rotax Max Challenge 2020/2021 under the Micro Max Category, qualifying him for the grand finals were he got the 10th place position worldwide. This year, he again qualified for the grand finals under the Mini Category, after winning the first place in the UAE championship 2021/2022, which will be held in Portugal this November.
Dana Albloosi
The UAE, a country known for its innovative prowess, also functions as a springboard for young talent. At just 9 years of age, Dana Albloosh became the youngest Emirati to join the space realm and train at NASA. She did everything from ground and air based training to rocket design. She continued to defy more odds when she became the first young Arab to get accepted into the University of California when she was just 12 years old.
Space was not her only forte, she also dipped her toes into the literary world. She published her very first book “13 Amazing Women of Arabia” in 2019 , earning the title of the youngest Emirati to publish a book at the age of 13. In the book, she recounts 13 Arab women who have acted as a source of inspiration for her and may inspire more Arab youth to make groundbreaking achievements as Albloosi has done.
Omar Wael
Its 2022 and Web 3.0 is making its mark, especially with the rapid expansion of the new virtual realm, the metaverse. Such a leap in technology can act as an inspiration for tech enthusiasts. That is the case with 12-year-old Egyptian innovator, Omar Wael whose love for tech began when he was just 5 years old. He started really young, creating his first robot when he was 9 years old.
Now, using the metaverse as his inspiration, he’s creating his own virtual world from the comfort of his home in Alexandria, Egypt. Using his mother’s clothes, Wael created a sensory vest and gloves that when worn would give people access to a virtual world where they can attend classes and perform experiments. Wael has a mind beyond his years as he stated that he created this platform to help reduce the cost needed to buy chemicals to perform experiments as it all can be done virtually using his tech.
Ritaj Al Hazmi
A world record was achieved when Saudi author, Ritaj Al Hazmi was only 12 years old and published the second book of her trilogy in 2019. She became the youngest person in the world to publish a book series. In 2020, she published the third book in the series, “Beyond The Future World.”
Her writing journey all started when she was just 6 years old. She began by writing short stories and joining creative writing courses. Inspired by exceptional writers like JK Rowling, today, Al Hazmi continues her literary journey with her newest book that she plans to publish called “The Day Before 2050”, which explores the dangers of climate change and how it affects humans and animals.
Joey Haddad
When it comes to the government sector, we may not expect a young individual to be given a prominent role in a country’s affairs, yet in Lebanon, that was actually the case. Fourteen-year-old Joey Haddad was appointed by Lebanese Minister of Culture, Muhammed Al-Murtada as an assistant advisor to the Ministry of Culture. He is considered the youngest Lebanese advisor in the government.
With this role, Haddad is given the important task of improving young people’s connection to their Arabic language and helping them become more fluent in their mother tongue. He will do so by organizing cultural activities in Lebanese schools. Al Murtada stated that through Haddad’s young age, he will connect better with the younger generation to help encourage them to develop more appreciation for their language.
WE SAID THIS: Don’t Forget… From Winning Championships To Breaking Records, Zain El Hommossany Is Proudly Raising His Country’s Flag