IPI MENA this afternoon held its first Future Global Leaders Series by hosting possibly the youngest writer devoting his current and future writings to peace.

In a presentation attended by school principals, teachers, parents, and media representatives, nine-year-old Adam Jade Kadia presented his first book Hakeem the Adventurer to an audience of more than one hundred school children from different nationalities.

Adam elaborated on the adventures of Hakeem, the hero of his book, who took a fictional trip from Libya to different MENA and European countries, returning finally to a peaceful Libya. Adam’s tale highlighted Hakeem’s gains from the adventures he had and the friendships he built with the people he met in different countries.

“Today was an amazing day; different schools from Bahrain were invited by IPI MENA, with students from different background, cultures, nationalities, religions… but one goal, which is to spread peace around the world through children, as they are the future leaders,” the young author said.

“The role of adults, parents, and teachers is to educate and guide children to make the world a better place by being kind, respectful and spreading peace,” Adam said. “We hope that children from different parts of the world have learned a lot from today’s event, and we hope we could have more educative events like the one hosted by IPI MENA today.”

School children from New Horizon School, Al Bayan School, New Millennium School, New Indian School, Al Noor International School, Asian School, St Christopher’s School, British School, Royal Charity Organization’s School, and others interacted in an impressively lively way with Adam on the writing exercise, his future projects, and how he would serve peace.

To a last question about peace, Adam replied, “This would start by conciliating two of your school colleagues having an argument in the school playground.”

Adam is about to finalize a new 100-page book, Upid Hack. Shaikha Mai al-Otaibi, IPI MENA Advisory Council member, pledged to translate Adam’s books. She announced she would organize, in cooperation with IPI MENA, an all-Bahrain school convention at her Al Bayan School to introduce Adam and his books in order to inspire the thousands of children from Bahrain, the region, and other parts of the world.

In a statement, al-Otaibi said, “As a member of the IPI MENA Advisory Council from day one of its inception, I am a peace messenger, believer, and worker. I am glad to be here with Adam and all of you at IPI MENA. We all believe in you as the future leaders of this world that needs peace and security as an adequate environment, not only for your future, but also for the future generations.”

“I congratulate Adam for having embarked into the noble path of writing and for devoting his writings to peace, friendship and other values. I call on all of you to devote parts of your creativity and innovation to serve the universal values topped by peace,” she said.

Gloria Belendez-Ramirez, Mexican Ambassador of Happiness, also attended the meeting and encouraged youth to serve peace. Media representatives interviewed Adam and several other children on the event.

Related Coverage:
“9-yr-old author becomes the youngest guest at IPI” (DT News, May 1, 2016)
“Promoting peace through storytelling” (GDN, April 29, 2016)