Yasmine El Baggari

It took a hard and challenging experience for me to book a one way flight to Alaska. The new dream only revealed itself after I had accomplished my current dream. I vividly remember telling my dear friend Cameron about my dream. I was excited and nervous. I shared with him that I wanted to go to space, that I felt it strongly even though I did not fully understand it. He told me that we were going to co host an inner and outer space themed dinner in Los Angeles. Cameron put me on the spot. He stopped everyone, made a toast, and in the middle of it said, 'Well, the reason why we're here today is because my friend Yasmine, who's also my co-host for this dinner, has an important announcement and dream she wants to share with all of you.' My heart stopped. I could not believe he was doing that. I thought, 'Oh my god.' But at the same time, as the fear came up, I realized this is the moment, this is the moment when we reveal our dreams, when we let the world know our dream and maybe they can help us. And I did. I courageously shared about my upbringing from Morocco to the 50 states, being in Alaska, and how we got here. I shared my dream, and it was a life-changing moment.

My message to all of us, to all of humanity, is that we are one human family. We belong to this world, to this planet, to this universe, under the stars, the moon, and the sun. We will get to go to different galaxies, Mars, the moon, and beyond, but we must do it here first on planet Earth, and do it right. In fact, we all get to go to space if that's what we want because we are in a time where space will become more accessible for more people, not just the wealthiest humans who can afford a flight. Whether this is it or not, I feel it in my heart and in my vein that space is part of my journey. I will get to go to space, and it's just a matter of time.

When I sit still and I am not in the busyness of life, the doings and the tasks of every day, it is very clear when you have to take action. I feel like this whole voyage, mission, and dream is not something I am working on alone. There is something beyond that is urging me to move in different directions at different times, and I feel that very strongly. There is a movement, a feeling in my heart, but also energetically, where I suddenly book a flight to go somewhere and it is happening. I think, wait, I wanted to stay home, and now I am moving all year. Literally, we are going to Brazil, Switzerland, Morocco, all over the world in the next 12 months. It is surreal. It is not what I expected. I thought I was going to be home, grounded, building a nest, and it is the absolute opposite. This is what life wants of me, to be out there with the people, with the communities. When the world calls, I will listen. I will show up always.

In Alaska, through what felt like the powers of the universe and manifestation energy, I had not encountered anyone in the space field. I had never met a rocket scientist or an engineer. I had no connection to the space industry. Within a week of feeling this new dream, I received an invitation from the United Nations to attend the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. I still do not know how my name ended up on that list, but I was invited to meet astronauts and the space community at the United Nations a week later. That became my one way trip from Alaska to New York. I met everyone there, and that was when I began connecting with incredible space leaders. One day I woke up and realized I just have to go. I just need to do this. I am going to pay for it myself. Let's go. Within days, someone heard about it and wrote me a check to fully sponsor the entire dinner. That was a good example of synchronicities. One dream that felt impossible manifested because I decided, because of a choice, that I just needed to take action, just one action.

If we all knew our purpose and thought of ourselves as stewards of this planet, we would be living in peace. We would experience peace, not just feel it, sense it, or have glimpses of it. We would all live in harmony because we would all be serving and supporting each other. Nobody, not one single human, would be left alone without bread, without food, without water. Everyone would be taken care of. We would help each other be the best version of ourselves. We would elevate. We would reach levels of connection that we have yet to experience, levels of love, connection, serenity, and peace that I have glimpses of. My message to all of us, to all of humanity, is that we are one human family. We belong to this world, to this planet, to this universe, under the stars, the moon, and the sun. We will get to go to different galaxies, Mars, the moon, and beyond, but we must do it here first on planet Earth, and do it right.

It was 1969, and man was about to land on the moon. My uncle lived in a small village, and he was my inspiration for the entire space dream. He had 11 brothers and sisters, and he gave up going to school because his destiny was to become a farmer. A British man was hitchhiking through the village and encountered my uncle, who was 14 years old at the time. They had an exchange. They did not speak the same language, but they connected human to human. As a departing gift, my uncle was given a transistor radio. On the day of the moon landing, his radio broke. The only way to fix it was to ride a donkey to the nearest town and exchange his watch to have the radio repaired. The man fixed the radio, and my uncle describes being on the donkey while listening to the moon landing. He was so struck and moved by the event that he decided to return to school. His dream became going to America, doing great things, and giving back to his family. When my brother and I heard that story, we thought if my uncle did it, we could do it too. He paved the path for a new possibility because he looked like us and spoke like us.

The Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange & Study (YES) Program provides opportunities to secondary school students from countries of strategic importance around the world live and study in the United States and to U.S. citizens attending high school to spend up to one academic year in select countries.

I discovered my purpose and passion at a very young age. I was 17 years old when I came to the United States, and my role at the time was to be a cultural ambassador of Morocco to the US. I realized how much I loved sharing where I come from and learning about people's lives, dreams, and hopes. That was my first insight into discovering my purpose, the beginning of the journey. I received a US Department of State grant to come here as a young Moroccan cultural ambassador, and my role was simply to meet people, Americans across all 50 states, and educate them about where we come from, our beautiful, cherished, incredible Kingdom of Morocco. I made it a mission to unite the world, to bring people together, communities like astronauts, refugees, entrepreneurs, musicians, and artists. It did not matter because we are one soul family.

Why This Moroccan Cultural Connector Deserves a Seat on SERA Space’s Historic Blue Origin Mission

Space philosopher and author Frank White discusses the impact of looking down at the Earth from above, and how it can create a shift in the way astronauts view and think about our planet and life itself. HWHAP Episode 107.

The moon story was a catalyst. It was not until I finished the last state of my 50 state journey, when I was in Alaska, that I had the revelation that I wanted to experience the Earth from space and experience the overview effect coined by Frank White. I did not even know what the overview effect was. I did not have the language for what I felt in my body. It was a felt sensation of floating in space and looking down at the Earth because I had achieved a dream I once thought was impossible, going to all 50 states. I was standing on the edge of a mountain in Alaska, in tears, realizing that I had achieved this childhood dream, that I was here in America and finishing my 50th state. That was when the dream emerged because I was afraid. I was deeply afraid to finish my 50th state, and I stopped at 49. For years I did not move because I feared that if I achieved my dream, I would not have another one. I did not know what kind of dream would come next. The new dream only revealed itself after I had accomplished my current dream. That dream was to experience space and to experience our interconnectedness from the skies.

If there is anything I want to say to you, it is to remain open. Open in your heart, open in your mind, open in your soul. When our heart experiences that we can manifest anything, anything becomes possible. We need to create new models to help people find themselves and at least stay curious. If everyone stays curious and asks questions, they can find answers on their path. When you're educating a population to not be curious, to learn math and physics, but without the deeper questions on what it all means, then you're raising a world that is designed to help you achieve your goals, work for the corporate world, and not be independent, entrepreneurial, or think outside of the box. We are trained to follow the path, the certainty, which is an illusion. It's not real.

I had this dream to bring refugees and astronauts together in the same room, and I had absolutely no idea how to make that happen. I sat on the idea for a couple of months because I was not sure about the financial sustainability and the business model around these dinners. But I knew it had to happen. I knew in my heart that the refugee astronaut connection was revolutionary. It had to happen. We needed to see what happens in the room when these very unlikely groups of people come together. One day I woke up and realized I just have to go. I just need to do this. I am going to pay for it myself. Let's go. Within days, someone heard about it and wrote me a check to fully sponsor the entire dinner and send a chef to cook food for 40, 50 people. The same thing happened in the following dinner, and the following dinner. Once you go and there is momentum, the energy is there, people feel it, and they want to support. If you don't know your purpose now, then stop what you're doing. Just stop. Quit your job. Do whatever is absolutely outside of your comfort zone and go on a different path and you'll be okay. The universe rewards you when you take a leap forward. But if you stay in your stability, nothing's going to happen. You got to take risks. That's what it takes.

When I first landed in America, I was welcomed into an American family that had four kids, and I had never been exposed to American life, living in an American home. It was amazing and inspiring, and I had this dream to go to every state, all 50 states. I had no money. I had no resources. I trusted that I needed to follow this journey. I ended up going to every state through Greyhound buses and trains, mostly Greyhound buses because you meet interesting people on buses compared to a plane or a train. I loved meeting truck drivers, farmers, and people from all walks of life. Eventually, people started to welcome me into their homes because the more I shared my dream to go to all 50 states, everybody wanted to be part of it. People would say, if you are ever in Tennessee or Alaska or Hawaii, you have a home. I would say yes. I kept saying yes. I trusted these strangers, who quickly became family. I went to these states and was welcomed into people's families. I have stayed with over 250 American families in the US alone. I have been to every American state and over 48 countries. I have stayed with Mormons, Jewish people, Christians, atheists, Muslims, rich and poor, people from different political spectrums, Trump supporters, and non Trump supporters. It taught me that when you get to who people are, not just what they believe, everyone is singing the same song. Everybody wants the same thing.

In Moroccan culture, the tea ceremony holds a special place as a symbol of hospitality, friendship, and tradition.

Empathy / Belonging / Community Meaningful human connections READ VOYAJ STORIES→

I do this by traveling, connecting with people, and bringing people together. We have been hosting these gatherings, bringing together as many diverse people as possible, very unlikely groups that would never meet, like an astronaut and a refugee. We have found that an astronaut and a refugee have much more in common than differences. They both share an incredible resilience of going into the unknown, into uncharted territories that no other human has gone before. That creates an alchemy where, even though they come from different backgrounds and socioeconomic upbringings, they share this knowing in their hearts something about humanity. That creates an incredible transformation in the gathering, where everyday people who are also invited get to listen and hear these extraordinary journeys from an astronaut and refugees. It opens people's hearts and helps them realize how much we have in common. I have a strong belief that the word strangers should not exist because there is no such thing. Strangers is a word we invented to divide us, to make us forget who we are and our relationship with each other. So let us remove that word from the dictionary because we are not strangers. We are family, and we have just forgotten, and we remember it every day.