Student Spotlight
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Fatmah Azam Ali, ND candidate
“Health is our most prized possession.”
As a teenage honor student in Saudi Arabia who whizzed through her school’s most advanced science curriculum, by all accounts Fatmah Azam Ali seemed destined for medical school. “This is what my teachers expected, and also what the career counselors all encouraged me to do.”
“But when I confided to my family that naturopathy and holistic nutrition are what resonate for me,” Fatmah recalls, “my parents were both surprised and delighted.” Early in her CCNH undergraduate studies, friends and family would soon discover another cause for celebration: Fatmah is also a natural-born writer!
Completing her BS in Natural Health with high honors in 2003, she soon became an activist with EXISS, a social welfare organization for students and alumni of International Indian School Jeddah (IISJ). Fatmah is proud to say that the group’s broadened vision, beyond its original academic orientation, now encompasses “serving as an intellectual consultative body to the entire Indian community in Jeddah.” To this end, last year she was named co-editor of EXPEDIA, EXISS's new magazine.
While actively engaged in her CCNH graduate studies, Fatmah admits to being amazed and elated with her fast-evolving role in creating and distributing some 20,000 copies of her local consortium’s first-ever annual report. Published for the Kingdom’s autumn 2005 Indian Festival, whose diverse audience includes business professionals and international media, their bold endeavor earned rave reviews: from the Consul General of India and the former vice-chancellor of Jeddah’s Ambedhkar Open University.
Fatmah credits her CCNH experience with “giving me the confidence to find my own voice as a writer and editor, plus the discipline to bring steady streams of new energy to our high-profile group.
“The format of your online studies gives me the flexibility and stamina to write from home, which I’ve found to be a ‘natural’ extension of these self-empowering subjects. I first envisioned myself as a natural health consultant, which is still part of my plan. But being able to mass-communicate these teachings is a rare honor and a gift.
“My parents, late grandparents and other ancestors have enjoyed long lives and robust health with Ayurveda, TCM, and homeopathy. Through CCNH detoxification studies I easily shed 18 pounds by shifting to vegetarianism, a life-changing experience I documented in Tes Sante’ – a self-help guide to weight loss and healthy living.
“When people see how well I am and hear about the natural remedies, they start to realize that health is truly an inside job. I always say that the nature cure is our best guide to health and spiritual fulfillment. We must be selfish about our health, which is our most prized possession. If lost, it can only be restored with life-long changes.”
Fatmah is an ongoing contributor to Expedia magazine, and is a natural health columnist for: www.Familiesonlinemagazine.com as well as www.Adviceandinfo.com and www.theblackmarket.com.
For a free subscription to Fatmah’s Heal Today e-zine: www.healtoday.biz.
This article was based on an interview with the student.
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