Win, Victory and Love: Three fingers point way to Emirati successes

Eleven UAE nationals share their tales of overcoming challenge at the Win, Victory and Love event in Dubai.

Ahmed Aleghfeli, a blind Sharjah TV presenter, speaks at the Win, Victory and Love event at Higher Colleges of Technology men’s campus. Sarah Dea / The National

DUBAI // An event named after the Vice President's three-fingered salute, Win, Victory and Love, was held yesterday to inspire young Emiratis in work ethic, success and love of the nation.

The event at the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) men's campus, attended by dozens of students, saw Emirati figures talk about their success stories and the challenges facing them.

At the Government Summit in February, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, also Ruler of Dubai, explained the meaning of the three-fingered salute.

"Sheikh Mohammed wanted to have a personal logo for him and for his country and this he made during the summit," said Ibrahim Saleh, coordinator general of the Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment and one of the 11 people who yesterday shared their stories.

Another was Ahmed Aleghfeli, a blind presenter at Sharjah TV, who has had to overcome his visual impairment and the social stigmas attached to it.

"I started working in the radio and after a while I wanted to enter the TV sector," Mr Aleghfeli said.

"My boss at the time said, 'If you are to enter the TV field I will resign. You will not be able to see the camera. How can you work in front of it?'

"I asked him to try and he said, 'No, I do not want to lose viewers.' I moved company and I managed to make it."

Mr Aleghfeli, who was born blind, said he fought to change the public perception that special-needs people should be kept at home.

Overcoming challenges is something that Mohammed Harib, creator of the renowned Emirati animation Freej, also knows well.

For Mr Harib, success was a long time coming.

"For three years I was working on this project before it saw the light," the animator said. "When I entered the field, I did not want to be the first Emirati to enter it, but I wanted to be the best Emirati in it."

Mr Harib advised the gathered youths to specialise in something they loved.

"You have to present for your country, but you have to do it through your point of view," he said. "Be yourself."

Adeeb Al Balushi, an eight-year-old Emirati inventor, said he had many innovations, including a waterproof wheel chair and prosthetic leg.

"My humble advice is to never, ever, ever give up," Adeeb said.