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By Abdellatif Sharaa
the newscast two days ago, I saw a segment about a man who was not able to sit around and be idle during the pandemic, and as the prominent rule was to stay at home, an idea came across his mind to recycle and make use of things that are usually discarded and thrown away. The man collected used tires and empty oil barrels in his backyard and started to paint them. Then he asked city officials if he can use his creations to decorate a street.
He got the approval and the idea caught their attention. The city backed him and he started getting paid for it. The man used the barrels to make bathroom sinks and other things, to the point that he is receiving orders today to customize things out of items otherwise thrown away for his steadily growing clientele. He said that he is seriously thinking about turning this into a career.
This is a prime example of using spare time in a positive fashion, which protects the environment, in addition to making a living out of it at the same time instead of spending time on the couch watching TV, eating and sleeping. Unemployment is an ugly word and unpleasant situation - it keeps one always worried about their tomorrow and future and how things will be. Employment means that there is a source of income for families and individuals.
Yes, education is very important and must be pursued, but under the current circumstances education must be targeted and directed towards needed skills, because graduates are entering the marketplace only to be turned away because their specialty is not required. In fact is some specialties are oversaturated, and sometimes governments suffer from masked unemployment because they are compelled to employ a certain number of youth even if they are not actually needed.
There are some countries that take fresh graduates and retrain them or give them new skills to be able to accommodate them in needed areas and make them productive, rather than keeping them idle or giving them support for doing nothing. It is not bad for the youth to find something they are good at and become pioneers and create their own businesses, and believe me the government will be behind every sincere and feasible effort.
Staying home is bad from all aspects and may cause psychological and domestic problems, and this must be avoided. Make this your first day on the right track - let's go!
Final word: "The pioneering spirit is less about thinking up new ideas as ridding ourselves of dogmas and habits that hold us captive in thinking." - Bertrand Piccard
