Translator: Mualla Salah Reviewer: Iman Saeed
Peace be upon you all.
In the name of Allah, most gracious and merciful.
Today I want to speak about a project represented by this box over here.
The lost documents project.
It is intended to compile any lost documents by our fellow citizens,
so that we can return those to their rightful owners.
It all started
while I was in Port Sudan,
for the very first time.
I was there on a mission,
and I lost one of my cards.
And as I searched for my card,
I came across a number of lost and neglected documents,
in a number of locations.
I decided to limit my search to places that I have been to,
Such as the firm, the bank, etc.
And so I looked for my card there.
Some folks advised me to search at the Comprehensive Security Spread offices,
or at various teller windows,
or the library or police stations.
So I did all that, and found a wealth of legal documents.
I couldn't believe that all these documents were lost!
How will they retrieve it? Does it ever find its way back to the owner?
As I was told that rarely ever happens.
Normally they just rush to file a missing card report and then get a replacement certificate.
But why? I wondered.
If they already exist, and only their owners can use them,
why don't I come up with an idea
to collect all these documents,
so that its gathered in known locations,
or specific centers.
A center in each town.
The rightful owners are then informed,
so they can identify and reclaim their documents.
The idea started with three basic parameters.
The first one is the box.
It has to be available everywhere,
at every bus stop,
every police station,
any place where it can be easily identified,
so that anyone can find it and place the lost documents in it
with no trouble whatsoever.
That way we are able to save the time and effort of whomever finds a lost document.
The second thing is to collect the contents of these boxes on a regular basis.
And then I'd place them in these boxes.
And as soon as I'm done with this process,
I make an announcement
through media,
there is a dedicated website,
the address of which appears on the box.
There is also a dedicated telephone number,
placed on all boxes,
printed on them.
So that anyone can call and provide info on the items they lost.
At this point,
I received a lot of calls from many people.
So I decided to design a system with three service windows;
The first for callers,
the person's name and phone number.
The second for the found items,
The document, the date and place where it's being reserved.
In which center and city its being kept.
In addition to the reservation number,
which is actually a serial number within each center
in order to avoid duplication.
Also the numbers on the boxes are not duplicated,
each city has its designated numbers.
Then I announce the found items,
and whomever recognizes his lost item comes to reclaim it.
I also included text messaging services,
SMS.
The user may send in his full name
as it is written on the card.
We will receive this,
and should one of his lost documents be delivered to us,
a match occurs, and we call him back and inform him.
While on my journey to find my lost documents in Port Sudan,
I got into a cab,
and the driver was constantly staring at me.
I noticed it, so I asked him if something was the matter.
He asked me, "Did you happen to lose your card?"
I said : Yes!
He told me it was in the library, north of the mosque.
I said: Let's go!
And so we went to the library,
and we found the card displayed on the counter window and reclaimed it.
I thanked him perfusely.
This could have been the end of it,
But no.
This initiative which I started, I had to see it through.
So that the same problem is solved for everyone,
and so that I'm not faced with this situation again.
(Applause)
At that point,
the idea for the entire project was crystallized.
I made it into a program,
rather a project.
I had to deal with a lot of criticism,
some said: who will place lost documents in the box?
nobody has got time for that!
They'll take a look at it and toss it away,
it does not concern them.
But why?
Don't we have people in Sudan with this kind of morality,
who will respond to my initiative represented by this box?
I came up with a simple way to answer this.
I made two boxes,
one of them in front of my office
at the junction of Liberty St. and Sayed Abdelrahman St.
west of Panasonic.
The other one, I placed at Burri's Exhibition street.
I thought I'll give it a try.
And so I did, and I found a lot of documents.
I also found items which I didn't expect to see.
Some people left notes,
with their name and number stating that they lost a certain document,
and that they would like to be contacted if and when it is found.
I certainly didn't expect that!
No one thought this could happen, but it did.
(applause)
I started contemplating ways to fund this project,
I didn't have the means to do it on my own.
Despite this, I made use of my scarce resources,
I gathered whatever I had from here and there.
I sold my one and only car, to get the money to make the boxes.
(Applause)
This is our website,
a person can enter his/her name,
and select from the options which are:
ID card
Job card
Nationality card
Passport or Driving license
and so on.
For instance; this is for the name on ID cards.
A person may enter his/her name,
and immediately the result will appear.
If we don't have it, a message will appear to indicate that.
Such as the case of brother Hassan,
where it states that the item is located in Khartoum and its reservation number is 125 as shown.
I then distributed the boxes on to various geographic locations.
Concentrating mainly on market places,
and areas of heavy traffic
in Omdurman, Khartoum Bahri and Khartoum.
I reached all the way up to the land port of Bahri,
to Hillat Koko, Almoassasa district.
And in Omdurman I reached up to Wad Albasheer area.
Soon after completing the distribution process,
the media came into the picture and I told them my story,
we filmed a field interview
which was broadcasted on television.
This led to another form of media coverage,
newspapers.
Someone saw this on TV,
they contacted us and did an interview.
Newspapers like Akhbar alyoum, Alrai alaam
and Akher lahtha newspaper,
They all contacted us and their interviews were published.
This created a lot of change,
there was an expenontial growth,
as we reached more and more people.
A lot of people turned and claimed their documents. They were so thrilled, they couldn't believe it.
There was this guy who lost his passport, we found his phone number inside
we called him and he came to us.
He came in a state of terror,
we wondered why?
He told us that this passport has a visa
to Jordan and he had four days left on his visa.
He took the passport almost not believing his own eyes.
He said he will be back,
and that he had a grand idea on how to contribute to this project.
Another guy called us saying that he lost his passport.
Ok.
He called again two days later
asking about it.
So I told him there is no need for calling,
our program is designed to indicate the presence of the passport,
once it's found we get the information.
He asked who are you? What's your affiliation?
And do you accept assistance?
He said it all at once.
I said: sure!
He asked me to meet him.
I asked, Where?
He gave me the address to his office.
So I asked which station is that?
He was surprised and asked me, "Do you travel by public transportation?"
You don't have a car!
I replied: yes, I don't have a car.
Then I went to see him.
He asked: What is it that you need?
I told him I needed a vehicle to empty the boxes.
Instantly, he made a phone call and ordered that I be given a car.
I was given a mini van to work with.
He requested that within a week,
I should rent a car with a driver and the cost is on him.
He said: this will stay with you until your project becomes self-sufficient.
(Applause)
I was very pleased with him.
I admired his generosity and thanked him tremendously.
May Allah the Almighty reward him abundantly for his deed.
Let's all say Amen to that.
Another guy called me, he works as a teacher.
He said: no one appreciates your work more than someone who has lost some documents before
(Laughter)
Right!
He said, "I want to be a part of this."
I said, "Sure."
He said he will provide a sum of boxes free of charge.
I said: great!
He said he'll start working on that.
Our work -dear fellows- started in Khartoum,
and now we have volunteers wanting to sponsor this project in the various cities of the state.
We had someone coming from Kosti,
he was very serious about it so we gave him a number of boxes,
and we will start working with him in the next few days InshaAllah.
We are hopeful that this project will continue expanding
To reach all the cities, and everyone benefits from it.
Even to reach neighboring countries,
and all countries in the world that need this concept.
InshaAllah (God willing)
(Applause)
Our Sudanese proverb says,
"He who lost something will search for it even inside a cow's mouth."
And we say, "This is so the no-one ever has to dig into a cow's mouth!'
(Applause)
All he has to do,
(Applause)
is go online,
or ring us up,
or follow our feeds in newspapers,
or send a text with his name.
That's all!
Actually, anyone who sends us his name,
or call and give his name as given in the document,
will be contacted when a document is found.
Because we have their number.
Unless of course they change their number,
and a lot of them do.
So for those who frequently change their numbers, please don't.
and kindly stick to the one provided.
I thank you all for your interest in this project.
(Applause)
One thing that I need,
the only thing that I ask of you
is that everyone of you tells someone about the project,
so that we can all collaborate together
and spare the time and efforts of those who find themselves in a similar situation.
And may the peace and blessings of Allah be with you.
(Applause)