An Inspiration from Morocco

Seldom have I met an individual who touched and inspired me genuinely from the bottom of my heart as soon as I met him/her. It had happened to me once before, while I was in MindTree, and it has happened again at Nyenrode Business University.

Meet Mr.Abdellaltif Bouhid. 

Age: 60 years

Nationality: Moroccan (but holds a Canadian passport)

Family: Wife and 3 children (31 yrs, 28 yrs, and 25 yrs), 2 granddaughters all settled in Canada

Survivor of Cancer (Lymphoma) twice

And yes, your guess is right! He is one of the fellow students along with me at Nyenrode Business Universiteit pursuing his MBA dreams!

Throughout the last 4 weeks out here, I had always wondered what could be the motivation behind this ever-smiling face. I had always been curious to know what goes on in his mind, what drives and inspires him such that he comes all the way from Canada to this tiny yet beautiful European country for doing his MBA. And at last I got my answer today.

Born in the second largest city of Morocco, a place called Marrakech, Abdellatif considers him extremely fortunate to get a scholarship to study high-school in USA.  He was adopted by an American family for one year while being in USA and he still cherishes those days. He had his own room, had a family who being Christians themselves celebrated Ramadan along with him and who accepted this unknown stranger kid from Morocco as one of their own. In his own words “I can never ever pay them back for what they did for me”.

After completing his education, he went back to Morocco and joined Moroccan Airlines in 1972. At this time he was the sole bread winner of his family consisting of his parents and 2 younger sisters. But he had something inside him (he calls this “an itch”) that was making him restless. In 1975, he took absence from work and went to school in USA for doing a course in Flight Planning. He came back to work at Moroccan Airlines and within 6 months was back to school in USA yet again – this time to study Flight Engineering.

After having worked in Saudi Arabia for some time, he was offered a transfer to Canada by Morocco Airlines in 1980. Moving to Canada meant a stable, secured and settled life with his family and Abdellatif was happy to accept the offer.

But then – it was his “itch” which returned yet again and he left his job with the Airlines and went back to school – this time to study LAW. Post completion of his law degree, he became a practitioner specializing in Immigration and Refugees till 1998 when he was asked to relocate to the United Nations Head Quarters in Geneva and assist with the UN Compensation Commission program – A special program targeted to assist Kuwaitis affected by the Iraq-Kuwait war.

In 2003, his next United Nations assignment was a posting in Tanzania to which he went alone while his wife looked after their 3 kids in Canada. Everything was fine, just as how it should be, for the first few months. It was at this juncture, when life took a vicious turn for Abdullatif. He got diagnosed with Cancer.

Situation got worse when after returning to Canada for treatment he realized that he does not have health coverage. As per govt. laws, if one stays outside Canada for more than 6 months at a stretch, he/she is not entitled to any health coverage. Situation forced him to go back to Morocco for treatment and hats off to this great courageous man – he underwent the full treatment (chemotherapy) and fought the killer disease all by himself while staying away from his family.

It took him one year to recuperate from the disease and he returned to Canada in 2006. Conventional wisdom would have prompted any ordinary human being to leave everything, sit back at home and take rest – but my dear friend Abdellatif is extra ordinary – he chose to join evening MBA classes at Sherbrooke University, Canada. Having come out successfully from a second bout of Cancer attack in 2007, Abdellatif has now joined the IMBA program at Nyenrode.

While narrating his life story, not for a single moment did his smile fade away. He is grateful to god (Allah) for everything that has come his way and I could not help but ask “what is his motive behind doing this MBA now at this stage of his life”?

Abdellatif surprises me again – He has a business proposition in mind! That of starting a new airlines company in Morocco and he wants to learn the business of doing business at Nyenrode, create a business plan, seek partnership with Virgin Airlines and start off on his own. As per him, measure of a successful venture will not be the money that his future business makes, but the number of scholarships he can sponsor for young bright students who has the capability but lacks the financial means. In his own words “If I can sponsor 10 kids to college, I will be the happiest person on earth. Inshallah”

After this discussion, I came back to my room wondering what goal I have in life for myself. It seems I, along with most of us, are always caught up in this mad race of just “accumulating” for ourselves – the thought of “giving” hardly ever crosses our mind. Whether Abdellatif succeeds in his venture is left to destiny, but the fact that we have somebody like him amidst us, in itself, is a source of true inspiration.

I have heard many people say “It’s never too late”. I am seeing somebody practice it for the first time in my life. Hats off to you sir!!!