Reimagining the Electric Grid | Mohamadou Bella Bah | TEDxMIT

Family news: Proud moment - Our daughter Fatmata (Binta) Bah is the proud recipient of the Middle School Ambassador award for 2018

DAA Grade 8 Completion Ceremony (2018):

Our daughter Fatmata (Binta) Bah is the proud recipient of the Middle School Ambassador award for 2018 for "consistently demonstrating kindness and respect for all members of the community and beyond, for representing DAA in athletics and humanitarian work, for excellence in academics, and admirable work ethic". She is considered as "motivating, gracious, ambitious, inspiring, dedicated to learning, takes pride in her work, a quiet leader who leads by example, never wanting the spotlight on herself, with the ethos of helping others over herself, gentle, kind, thoughtful, with a caring spirit...". We thank God for his blessings.

Start at 55:17 minutes.

Haja Fatmata Binta Bah - It's been 10 years since you left us

10 years ago, this day (7^th April), I lost a very special woman in my life.

10 years later, I still feel the urge to connect with her.

Words cannot describe the emptiness.

There’s no substitute for a mother’s unconditional love.

Neneh, we miss you. May Allah continue to bless you, and may you continue to rest in peace.

10 and 20 years ago...

This year in 2018, celebrating 10 and 20 years of sad and happy moments…

20 years ago, in 1998, I experienced two life-changing events – one happy and one sad.

1998 was the year when I got married to my wonderful wife, my best friend, and the mother of my beautiful children. Getting married to her changed my life for good. I am forever grateful for having her in my life.

In the same year, I lost one of the most important persons in my life - my father, my friend, my mentor and my role model. I learnt a lot from him, both from what he said and from what he didn’t say. His whole life was a lesson to me. He thought me humility, honesty, kindness and how to be there and sacrifice for others. His memory lives on.

10 years ago, in 2008, I experienced another life-changing (sad) event.

I lost my mother. I can’t find the words to describe how I felt about her and the connection that we had. It was too deep to describe in words. All I can is that 10 years later, I still feel the urge to pick up the phone and call her and talk about everything and nothing. Then, I realize that she’s not there anymore.

May Allah grant them, and the faithful departed, eternal rest in Jannah. May He continue to guide us all.

In 2018, as we progress through the year, I’m happy to begin celebrating our wedding anniversary with my wonderful wife, Mariama. I love you!

We thank Allah for his blessings.

On appreciation: Learn to thank those who contributed to your success

When we fail to achieve something, it is easy to find the reason(s) for our failures in others or something. It is all too easy to find someone or something, or some circumstance to blame for our lack of success. If our marriages fail, it is because our spouses don’t understand us, or are not supportive. It is because of our in-laws or our family. It is because of our friends or our work. The list goes on. When are kids don’t succeed in school, it is because of the school system, incompetent teachers, bad influence of friends, or the neighborhoods. The list goes on. If we have difficulties at work, it is because of our employer, our supervisor, our colleagues, or unsupportive spouse and family. There is always someone or something that had contributed to the failure. Everything in society seems to be against us.

However, how often have we tried to identify the causes and contributors to our success? All too often, we over-hype our own contribution for the success. But, the reality is that our success, just like our failure, depends on other people, things and circumstances. The same factors that we identified for our failure, if flipped around, may be the same factors that contribute to our success. Therefore, when our marriages succeed, we should recognize the positive contribution of our spouses, our families, our in-laws, our friends, our spouses’ friends, our co-workers, our employers, and our society. These are all skewed in our favor for success. When your child success at school, we should recognize the positive contribution of their teachers, the support staff, the school system, their friends, our families, our friends, and the society. When we succeed at work, we should recognize the positive contribution of our spouses, our children, our co-workers, our employers, and our society. For, if these contributions were negative, it is easy to spot and blame them for the failure.

Appreciate yourselves and others, for no man is an island, and no one lives in isolation. We are an integral part of our society, for better or for worse.

And, above all, thank God.