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On Starting Young And Becoming Part of The Solution: An Interview With Shamir Shehab [Updated]

Shamir Shehab is the Founder and President of Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative (BYEI), a youth-led non-profit organization that mainly focuses on capacity building of the youth to tackle the growing environmental challenges. This year BYEI will be launching its flagship Earth Champions Program to train, build capacity, and develop young leaders to work for environmental sustainability.

While Shehab is busy launching his first project, on a fine evening we sat down with him to know more about his passion, behind scene stories of BYEI, his future plan for BYEI, and his ideas and perspective about life and taking initiative.

It's incredibly challenging for a young person to start something in this beautiful country called Bangladesh. The culture is leaned against youth and it sets boundaries. Lack of finance and support is a perpetual problem. Often middle-class status prohibits young people from dreaming big. Despite the innumerable challenges, there are people who dare to stand against all the odds and embark on the path less traveled.

Shehab is one of those people. We believe his story will inspire you to be more courageous, show up, take risks, and dare more and often.

The culture around us is to speak about problems and criticize someone for them. You will rarely find any conversation on how to solve problems. I want to be a part of the solution rather than talking about problems while doing nothing.

Mohammad Ruhul Kader: Briefly tell us about yourself and your passion.

Shamir Shehab: Academically, I'm interested in Renewable Energy. This is the future. I believe a lot has to be done in this sector to address many socio-economic and environmental challenges of the contemporary world. If we can innovate in this field it will benefit millions of people worldwide.

I'm passionate about taking initiatives that will lead to a better Bangladesh. In the future, I would like to continue my effort to align our youth in the process of protecting the environment through capacity building, leadership development, and promoting awareness.

What was your underlying motivation behind starting your own venture at such a young age?

The culture around us is to speak about problems and criticize someone for them. But, you will rarely find any conversation on how to solve the problems. I want to be a part of the solution rather than talking about problems while doing nothing. I believe once we see and understand any problem in our society and environment, we should try to contribute to the solution rather than blaming the system or someone else. To me, change comes from action. And action speaks louder than words. I am not interested in wasting my time just by blaming others.

I want to count on my own impact.

My understanding of environmental problems and challenges in Bangladesh has motivated me to start Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative (BYEI). At BYEI we are reaching out to young people to raise awareness among them on different environmental issues and also working on capacity building of young people so that they can contribute to protecting and promoting a better environment and sustainable development.

BYEI web Screen
BYEI web Screen

How did you get the idea and how did you get started? What was the first few months look like?

As I said earlier, my understanding of the severity of environmental degradation and challenges for Bangladesh has motivated me to do something. And that’s how the idea of starting BYEI came to my mind.

The state of the environment and development of Bangladesh gave me an impression, a question regarding the impact of environmental degradation in Bangladesh, and a question indeed to me what I can do. To be frank as an active and responsible citizen of the country I thought I need to do something within my capacity to address this issue.

Starting something is hard work and self-consuming.

In the beginning, reaching out and making people understand environmental problems was the most difficult job. There is very little understanding of the environment in Bangladesh and very few people have a comprehensive understanding of environmental problems.

The first few months, I spent reaching out to my friends and to people who might be interested to work on this issue. I had to convince them about what I thought and understood.

After having few people convinced I focused on getting support from people around me. Financing was a big problem. The first few months were really tough and I had to dry myself up to get things done. It kept me up for months and consumed my days.

What do you think, what are the major obstacles for young people who want to take initiative in Bangladesh?

We have a collective cynical mentality. We don't know how to appreciate people for their good work. It makes sense when you see people who don't take initiative. Taking initiative is hard and why should I care when nobody pays a shit to work I do for the betterment of all. That's a very demoralizing experience and that de-motivates many youth.

Getting your idea popularized and taking it out of your own circle is also a bumpy ride because people don't care and people don't appreciate good initiative. This is largely a cultural problem and this needs to be fixed if we want to achieve anything great as a nation.

On a similar note: finding like-minded people who would love to work with you is difficult as well. Not many youth are interested in dedicating themselves to something that demands hard work, and dedication and that involves uncertainty. The popular trend is to do things that can be used in your CV. And there is a serious lacking of a sense of work ethic among many young people that makes working with them a true challenge. And finance has always been a problem.

However, I would say, starting something is difficult regardless of your geographic location. Initiatives fail all over the world. The most important thing is to start anyway.

What are the few major obstacles you have faced in your journey to date?

Finding the right people has always been a challenge. Starting a social initiative, especially a movement, and taking it ahead is an avalanche of work. I have also found it difficult to manage people efficiently. Moreover, as a volunteer organization mobilizing people and keeping up the motivation takes a great deal of effort.

As I mentioned in my earlier response: money is a problem. We don't have a funding culture yet. For non-profits, the situation is direr. Financing and human resource were and are the two major challenges.

We have a collective cynical mentality. We don't know how to appreciate people for good works. It makes sense when you see people don't take initiatives.

5 year celebration of BYEI
05-year celebration of BYEI

Please share a few of the lessons you have learned from your journey.

Regardless of the nature of the organization, people play a vital role in its success. Find people who are equally passionate about your cause as you are.

I have learned that few people with dedication, passion, and love are way more effective than more people with no love. Select someone with a bit less quality but with higher dedication and passion.

If you are given with another chance to start all over again, what are the few things you would do differently?

That's an interesting question. I should have started with more preparation. I would say my timing and calculation were not perfect. If I would have started a bit later after increasing my capacity and network, it could have brought better results.

Cultivate a positive mindset. Starting anything is like riding on a roller coaster. You will experience pressure and epiphany at the same time, try to enjoy both. Believe in what you are capable to achieve and don't give a shit to what naysayers have to say about you.

What would you say to a young person who wants to start his/her own venture?

Having fun at work is good but don’t start anything just for fun. If you are not passionate about something don't go for it. The ability to take risks is critical. When you are starting something the road ahead is uncertain and there will be lots of bumpy rides and roadblocks. Expect anything worthwhile to demand a lot of hard work and patience and risk.

Cultivate a positive mindset. Starting anything is like riding on a roller coaster. You will experience pressure and epiphany at the same time, try to enjoy both. Believe in what you are capable to achieve and don't give a shit to what naysayers have to say about you.

Always keep in mind this is a long road and it will take time. Never give up and never give up to despair. Challenges will be there and most of the time people would not be encouraging but don't take them seriously.

The most critical challenge would be to keep your motivation up. Find a community that shares your passion and experience and find inspiration in the works of others.

What do you think, what is the one capability that can be a game changer for a young entrepreneur?

Giving oneself to the very thing you want most. Dedication. Just think about some of the successful people of recent times like Steve Jobs, and JK Rowling. Steve Jobs was a college dropout and later on, he dropped into classes that interested him. He attended calligraphy and drawing classes and you know the later story.

Similarly, JK Rowling studied classics ignoring his parent’s advice to study a technical subject because she strongly felt a passion for it. So, that is what passion can do.

Always keep in mind this is a long road and it will take time. Never give up and never give up to despair. Challenges will be there and most of the time people would not be encouraging but don't take them seriously.

Credits: Interview: Ruhul Kader | Proof: Ashiqur Rab | Images: BYEI

Mohammad Ruhul Kader is a Dhaka-based entrepreneur and writer. He founded Future Startup, a digital publication covering the startup and technology scene in Dhaka with an ambition to transform Bangladesh through entrepreneurship and innovation. He writes about internet business, strategy, technology, and society. He is the author of Rethinking Failure. His writings have been published in almost all major national dailies in Bangladesh including DT, FE, etc. Prior to FS, he worked for a local conglomerate where he helped start a social enterprise. Ruhul is a 2022 winner of Emergent Ventures, a fellowship and grant program from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He can be reached at [email protected]

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