THE POWER OF HUMAN DETERMINATION

Some questions put to Mohammed Alsaleh regarding his powerful messaging

Mohammed Alsaleh was a medical student in Syria who, after three separate stays in prison, became a refugee and eventually ended up in Canada. He told his incredible story to the IAPCO audience and gave them an invaluable lesson on hope and the power of determination.

Your story sheds light on what could make a medical student a terrorist and finally a refugee. What were some of those key moments in your story that you think changed your life forever? promise to myself: if I ever made it out alive and saw the sunlight again, I would go as far away as I could from that terrible place.

Mohammed, your talk in Vancouver was very powerful and left people with all kinds of emotions. What would you want people to think/feel after listening to you?

I want people to believe in the immense power that lies within each and every one of us. When you realise that no power on this earth can take away your hope, your determination will have the potential to break down the impossible into ‘I’m possible’.

Seven years ago I was taking an exam in my fourth-year of medical school when Syrian state security forces marched into my classroom and arrested me. What is the act that made me a prisoner? Documentation and criticism of the atrocities committed by Syria’s dictator, President Bashar al-Assad, and his criminal regime. I had been detained twice before for challenging Assad’s totalitarianism but this time was the worst. Your message ‘Light always overcomes darkness’ really struck a chord with many. What does this message mean to you today?

The way I look at it: hope is the best fuel for determination. Life taught me this lesson the hard way. In my darkest hour, hope was the only thing that kept me alive.