Standing Up for What’s Right
As a kid, Yaman Kawamleh used to fly from the US to Daraa, Syria—his parents’ hometown—every summer. Today, the southern city, consumed by civil war and pummeled by airstrikes, is no place for tourists, but Kawamleh (MSMS’17) hasn’t deserted it. He’s the program manager and cofounder of Promise for Relief and Human Development, a nonprofit that’s raised millions for underground hospitals and schools, sponsored orphaned children, and donated food baskets and infant formula to besieged families in Syria. Here’s his advice on starting a nonprofit—and making it through the dark times:
1 It’s not about you “If you want to get into this, you have to be committed. My first time to Syria, we had hundreds of jackets. Then, we realized we didn’t have enough for everybody, and when we ran out, people started getting upset at us. People were yelling at us. We had things thrown at us. But you know what? We had to suck it up; we had to realize that they had gone through so much.”
2 Be humble, but stay strong “These people have lived in this situation far longer than I have, they know more than I do, and I have to respect that. And you have to do that while still being confident enough in what you know. Being humble enough to listen to them, to put yourself in their shoes, yet still being confident to offer your advice, to offer your input, is a really fine balance.”
3 You will get it wrong “It’s really hard sometimes when it comes to budget allocation, because where do you even start? Do you give your money to the starving family in this city or do you put it in a school? Making a decision is better than making no decision at all, even if it’s wrong. Sometimes you’re going to make the wrong decisions, but you have to learn from what you’ve done and move on. You can’t let it paralyze you.”
4 Don’t hide the truth “We try to be 100 percent transparent with absolutely everything we do. Obviously, sometimes mistakes are made. But you have to realize we’re a humanitarian organization in a war zone. It’s not going to be perfect. We’re honest about our mistakes.”
5 Take care of yourself “I used to translate videos coming from Syria, and I’d send them out to media sources here in America, but eventually all the blood, all the gore got to me. I couldn’t sleep at night anymore. Sometimes you have to take a step back, you have to go back to your life; you have to make sure that your family and your friends are also being taken care of, and that your emotional needs are being met.”
