Manarat Al Saadiyat was brimming with inspiration at the “Big Achievements. Early Starts” forum on Monday, Jan. 27. The initiative was presented by the Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation’s Muntada, a platform for the exchange of ideas.

Without a seat to spare, the forum revolved around five young speakers. According to its website, the aim of the conference was to invite “youth with remarkable achievements to highlight their work and inspire others.”

The speakers passionately shared their stories onstage, leaving the audience with empowering messages.

First up was the environmentalist.

Abdul Muqeet Abdul Mannan is 12 years old. Four years ago, his school held a “no plastic day,” which led him to do research and find out why the material was harmful. He rattled off facts, the subject coming second-nature to him:

“Plastic is the top-most cause of pollution today … one billion sea creatures die due to to plastic bags every year.”

At age nine, Abdul Mannan decided to begin an awareness campaign about the dangers of plastic bags by informing others of environmental hazards and giving advice on possible precautions to take. Most importantly, he started making paper bags from recycled newspapers and handing them out to bookstores and grocery shops as a replacement for plastic bags. By 2012, he had given out over 4,000 paper bags to local stores.

“Climate change is a reality, a challenge,” Mannan explained to the audience. “Can we solve it? Together, we can,” he affirmed.

Mannan is the recipient of an Abu Dhabi Award, an award for outstanding service to society, presented by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in 2012. He has also been a delegate for the UAE at several international conferences, such as the 2011 Tunza conference on sustainability, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme in Indonesia.

“Everything on this Earth can be recycled,” he said. “But not time.”

Next up was the inventor.

“My inspiration are problems,” said ten-year-old Adeeb Al Blooshi in an interview. “I find problems … and I make solutions to them.”

Al Blooshi has been asking questions and inventing since the age of four. He explained his path to finding confidence: “Everyone [thought] I was a disaster and I was wasting my time, but no — that didn’t happen.”

Over time, Al Blooshi’s ideas and hard work have drawn attention from both local and international entities, including the Dubai Municipality, the Arab League and the United Nations. During his presentation, Al Blooshi shared with us the story of his first invention, a waterproof leg brace for his polio-stricken father. After receiving some pointers from a doctor, the young inventor found a type of a wax that was actually lighter and more environmentally friendly than the material he had been advised to use. The successful result was a useful leg brace for his father and other patients.

Al Blooshi described two other works that are in progress: a seatbelt that tracks your heart rate and a special night-vision helmet for fire fighters. However, he told the audience with a smile that these were still in the works and so details of these projects had to be kept confidential.

“The most important thing,” Al Blooshi reminded us, “is that you never, ever give up.”

Third to come onstage was the camel boy.

In 2012, Abu Dhabi Award winner Cameron Oliver promised Sheikh Mohammed that he “[would] not stop until the camels stopped dying.” He takes his promise seriously. Six years ago, when he was 11, Oliver discovered through an article in Gulf News that camels were dying in the UAE due to their consumption of trash in the desert. Some camels choke on the litter they consume. For others, the eaten plastic calcifies in their stomachs and becomes a hardened rock-like lump, leading to a painful death.

Oliver wrote to Gulf News. He did research on the issue by talking to Doctor Ulrich Wernery, the Scientific Director of the Central Veterinary Research Laboratories in Dubai. He also traveled to Al Ain to visit Doctor Alex Tinson, who took him to visit a camel farm. Oliver began giving presentations and advocating against littering in the desert. He created a website called “Cameron’s Camel Campaign,” which provides information on the issue and ways to take action.

The recipient of multiple awards as well as national and international media attention, Oliver was positive about the community’s response to his campaign. When interviewed, he admitted that he had faced few obstacles.

“The minute I sent out an email to Gulf News, they wanted to see me … next day, front page,” said Oliver. “And I get emails, calls … they want to put me on radio, TV shows.” Moreover, Reuters TV and BBC have both filmed documentaries about Oliver’s initiatives, screened worldwide.

The only problem he is facing right now is balancing school, sports and his campaign. He assured the audience that he will not give up on his advocacy work.

Next up was a familiar face, the writer.

Dubai Abulhoul, a NYU Abu Dhabi freshman, began her presentation with a goal she had as a young child: to win an Oscar. She seems to be well on her way, after becoming the Youngest Filmmaker at the Gulf Film Festival as an eleven-year-old in 2008 and, four years later, the youngest Emirati to publish a novel.

In November 2013, The Gazelle interviewed Abulhoul, getting the inside story on her rise to fame. Yet at the Muntada forum, Abulhoul did not only focus on her own narrative. She passionately detailed her opinion on the perceived issues with modern education.

“Education should not be a one-size-fits-all kind of model,” Abulhoul said.

She explained that cookie-cutter education systems cramped creativity and did not allow for enough free time for extracurriculars. The pressure to focus only on achieving high marks was detrimental as well.

“I don’t want to graduate with only a degree to offer the world,” she said.

Abulhoul met with the Ministry of Education in Dubai and gave her input regarding the youth’s perspective on local issues.

“[It was] an honor to … have my voice heard,” she said.

Before graduating, Abulhoul aspires to finish her three-book series. She also  announced that her book, “Galagolia: The Hidden Divination,” will soon be turned into a movie thanks to the initiative of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed Al Maktoum.

“A degree is important, but you need dreams to supplement [it],” concluded Abulhoul.

Last onstage, but not least, was the explorer.

Fear is certainly not in Hamda Al Bana’s vocabulary. She is the youngest Emirati to ever travel to the South Pole, and she has no intention of stopping. Her future plans? A trip to the moon and an astrophysics degree from Michigan State University.

Onstage, high school junior Al Bana explained in Arabic that she found out about the trip through her school. The expedition was organized by 2041, a group focused on protecting Antarctica. 2041 was founded by Robert Swan, who was the first person ever to set foot on both the North and South poles.

However, the trip was expensive. Al Bana’s biggest challenge was finding a sponsor to cover the costs. Yet, in February of last year, Al Bana embarked on a journey that took her to the edge of the Earth. With her father as a travel companion, she reached the South Pole with a group of other travelers, a range of different nationalities and languages among them. The 2041 organizers led survival workshops and lectures to prepare them for the adventure that lay ahead.

When interviewed, Al Bana recalled her favorite memory of camping out in the snow.

“When I was sleeping, [I heard] the sounds of the snows and the sound of whales … splashing the water. And when I woke up I saw just the galaxies, because the sky was so clear that you [could] see the galaxies, the planets, the stars. That was the best memory.”

She closed her presentation with a quote in English.

“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible.’”