Episode Description: Tala and Farah Mousa received thousands of messages after they won the Earth Prize. “You gave us hope we had completely lost,” people wrote. “You showed us we can be seen.” They were sheltering in a tent when those messages came in. This episode is about what it takes to build something: a real, physical method for turning rubble into building blocks, while living inside the rubble. Arielle speaks to the teenaged sisters from Gaza about the idea that came from a textbook the morning after their home was bombed, the competition that brought their work to the world, and what they want for their community, their generation, and the ones who come after them. Connect with Build Hope Palestine: Follow Build Hope Palestine on Instagram: @build.hope The Earth Prize website: theearthprize.org Further reading: The Optimist Daily articles on Earth Prize 2026 regional winners Part I and Part II Learn about the Earth Prize 2026 global winner If you have questions, comments, feedback, suggestions, or just want to say hi, send a message to: podcast@optimistdaily.com. Want to be part of the Optimism Movement? Become an Emissary. Subscribe to our FREE Daily/Weekly Newsletter and follow us on Instagram, X, and Blue Sky. The Optimist Daily is a project of the World Business Academy. Donate link: https://www.optimistdaily.com/donate-to-support-the-optimist-daily/?gift=Y%20http:// Theme and all original music by Marvin Lanes Transcript: Tala:  Ones who can’t speak. I want to be their voice. I want to work for human rights and human dignity. Arielle (Voice Over):  61 million tons of rubble. That number is so large, so enormous, it stops feeling like a number at all. It’s 169 kilograms of broken buildings for every square meter of the Gaza Strip. At the time of this recording, more than 80% of all structures there have been damaged or destroyed. The UN puts the reconstruction bill at around $70 billion, and says rebuilding could take decades. Rubble is what remains when a home is bombed. It is the material of loss. Welcome to The Optimist Daily’s Weekly Roundup. It’s Arielle here, back with another guest interview with two very special, resilient teens, who I am sure are going to inspire you just as much as they have inspired me.  Tala:  Hi, I’m Tala. I’m Palestinian girl from Gaza. Farah:  And I’m Farah. I’m also a Palestinian girl from Gaza. Arielle (Voice Over):  Tala and Farah Mousa were 16 and 14 years old respectively when their home was bombed. Before the devastation hit, their family evacuated in a rush. Tala grabbed a bag and tried to fill it with whatever was in front of her. The last thing she threw in was her technology textbook. The day after the bombing, still shocked and devastated by the destruction of her home, Tala flipped open the book. There was a lesson about making blocks from mountain stone. She looked at the rubble all around her, the physical jagged fragments of broken lives, communities, and homes, and thought, “What if you didn’t clear it away? What if this rubble was part of the answer?” Today, Tala is 17 and Farah is 15. Together they built Build Hope Palestine, a method for turning rubble into reusable construction blocks. 80% recycled rubble, mixed with clay and ash and glass powder. Strong enough for partitions, pavement, shelters, tent foundations— designed so anyone who learns how to do it can teach it to someone else. The Earth Prize is the world’s largest environmental competition for teenagers. 15,000 entrants from 160 countries. One winner per region. This year, the Middle East winner was Build Hope Palestine, and the two sisters who dreamed it up while sheltering in a tent in Gaza. They are the first Palestinian team to have won it. I had the privilege of speaking to them about their accomplishments, what keeps them motivated these days, and about who they are as people. They were still in their tent in the middle Gaza region while on the call with me, so you may hear some noise in the background here and there. You’ll hear Tala’s voice first, followed by her sister, Farah. Arielle:  Can you tell us about who you both were before you started this Build Hope mission? Tala:  We were, like, just two simple sisters from Gaza. We love studying, we love, uh, volunteering and engaging and participating in community activities. And somehow we had the vision that we will make something in the future, especially for the youth in Gaza. I always dreamed to, to study international law and maybe to be an ambassador for Palestine one day. ‘Cause I always want to be the voice of children and women here in Gaza, the one who can’t speak. I want to be their voice. I want to work for human rights and human dignity.  Farah:  Uh, I want to study translation and language because I want to share our story in different, uh, lang- language, and yeah. Arielle (Voice Over):  Pretty big and noble aspirations, right? I asked them where these dreams came from for them.  Tala:  It all about our childhood. Like, our childhood wasn’t something really normal. It wasn’t like the normal that any child in the world have, ’cause we faced multiple wars, not the only one which was the last one. Every one of them affect us, like affect our vision, affect our minds, affect the way how we think and how we want to be in the future. So it was the biggest motivator for us. I want maybe to work in international law ’cause I want to defend my people. Farah want to share our story. So it’s all, it’s all about our generation. It’s all about our city. It’s all about Gaza.  Arielle (Voice Over):  And what is it that they are fighting for? What do they want for their generation and for the generations of children that come after them?  Tala:  Just live in peace. They don’t need something complicated. They just want to live a normal life like anyone or any children can live in the world. They want to live in peace, go to school, and have a, a balanced, uh, food maybe. We are talking about basic human needs. We’re not talking about something complex.  Arielle (Voice Over):  Tala and Farah already had huge ambitions for their futures and for the futures of their peers. But the details of Build Hope hadn’t been solidified yet. I asked them when the idea of Build Hope Palestine really came to life. Arielle:  Can you take me back to the moment where the idea for Build Hope clicked for you? Tala:  Maybe you are now waiting for a happy moment, but the reality is away from that. When our home was bombed, it was a day full of cries and tears. It was really sadness everywhere. But we don’t have wardrobes because we live in a tent, and in the tent there is no space. We only have a bag. And that bag, I hold it from the last time we were in our home before it was bombed. So I put anything I saw in it. The final thing, it was my technology book It was the day after our home was bombed. I want to, to do something that made me attached somehow to my home, satisfied my belonging feeling, satisfied my, my, my inner voice here who want to, to do anything to be attached to, to her, to her home. So when I read the book, there was a lesson about how we make blocks in usual, like how they, uh, make stones and blocks from the mountains. There is, uh, how to make stones, and there is the news of yesterday that our home was bombed literally. So when everything was in one mixture, the idea literally clicked. What if we replaced the mountain stone with rubble? What if we make a reconstruction? What, what if and what if? And anything, uh, the first one who I shared my ideas with is Farah. So I told her, and she loved the idea. She loved it, and she supported me. We just have a deep discussion after that, and then we go straight to our mom, and we told her, because she is an industrial engineer, so she have an idea about how they do these things.  Arielle (Voice Over):  What Tala and Farah built was designed to run without them. Anyone who learns the method can teach it to someone else, so the knowledge keeps moving no matter what. So how are the blocks made anyway? We asked Farah to explain the process.  Farah:  Okay. First, we collect rubble. We collect the safe rubble and crush it, mix it with local binders such as clay, ash, and, uh, glass powder, and we mix it, uh, together with, um, water, and we put it in the model for seven, seven days? Yeah.  Tala:  Yeah. Two days in the model and five without it.  Farah:  Yeah. Uh-  Tala: And it will be ready for use, for non-load bearing use.  Farah:  For non, non-load bearing. Yeah. And non-load bearing is like, it’s, um, for partitions, pavement, for temporary shelters, for, um, what else? Settlement?  Tala:  Yeah, for settling the, the- Tent … tent.  Arielle (Voice Over):  Solutions that are self-sustaining, that don’t need the architect of the original solution to keep the positive impact going, are some of the best kinds of solutions out there It’s so impressive that Tala and Farah were able to come up with such a practical and immediate way to resolve the immense destruction facing them and their community. Tala and Farah made it incredibly clear how they feel about their community, and how their love for and faith in those around them really fuel how they approach the world.  Tala:  People around us have passions, talent, and power. They are really creative. They are just waiting for the real chance. They are just waiting to be heard and to be seen from the world. So I can tell you that from the day they announced us as the Middle East region- regional winner, me and Farah received thousands of message in our mobiles that, “You were our inspiration. You inspired us. You gave us hope, which we totally lost in the war. And you give us, like, a, a real experience that people in Gaza here can be seen from the world.” Arielle:  Mm-hmm. And you both said that you feel like you’re representing basically all of the youth in Gaza right now, not just yourselves. How does that feel? Is that a lot of pressure, or do you find that very motivating?  Tala:  It- … was a bit pressure for us, uh, ’cause we are, like, a high schooler. How, how do you tell us, like, we are representing a whole country here and a whole generation of youth? But after that, we get used it, and we loved it, to be, to be honest with you. We believe it’s, like, an honor for us to represent, uh, millions of youth here in Gaza, and also to give them a real experience that they can do it, but they need to keep going  Arielle (Voice Over):  After their regional Earth Prize win, messages came in from across Gaza saying things like, “You gave us hope we had lost. You showed us we can be seen.” Carrying that at such young ages, in a tent, in an active conflict zone, as Tala expressed, it’s an honor and it’s also a real weight. I asked them what gets them through on days when their work feels too heavy to continue.  Tala:  Basically, when we don’t want to give up, we just remember the first day the idea clicked our mind. It was a day after home was bombed. We remember how that scene was. It was really bad, but somehow we made it a source of motivation and hope for us.  Arielle (Voice Over):  That day, when Build Hope Palestine was born out of the broken pieces of Tala and Farah’s home, eventually led up to the moment they won the regional Earth Prize for the Middle East. The girls take us back to that moment.  Tala:  We were sitting next to each other. Yeah. Um, I was studying. The, she had her mobile in her hand, and then, uh, there was, like, a- an- an ala- an alert that, uh, from the Earth Prize there is an email. So she told me, like, “Tala, there is an email from the Earth Prize.” So I just, like, throw my books away. And had, like, the, the mobile in our hands like this. We, we were literally shaking. And then when we open the email, um, we see a, a huge congratulation. So we believed, like, ah. It was a hard thing, and we finally made it. We did it. We nailed it. We start laughing, laughing in a crazy way. And then my mom, uh, came from our laughing sound, and she said, “What’s happened? What? Did you, did you win?” We told her, yeah, and, uh, we start hugging each other and we start crying, and it was, like, the happiness cr- tears  Arielle (Voice Over):  Winning the Middle East Regional Earth Prize is already such a huge accomplishment, but Tala and Farah don’t see it as the end goal. They see it as a launchpad to further their positive impact. So what’s next for them? Arielle:  And what comes next? Tala:  For the project, we intend, uh, to make workshops next month, maybe when we have the, the money. ‘Cause we will launch workshops, train young people, and produ- produce blocks with them. ‘Cause we are not just intending them to, to learn how to make blocks, but no, we are giving them the awareness. We are giving them the knowledge. We want them to share it with their peers, with their families, and their friends. But personally, um, I will be, as I told you, in my final year in high school in two month, so it will be a really hard year for me. And I will start applying for universities, uh, abroad, ’cause as you know, there’s no universities here in Gaza. Uh, and Farah will be in her 10th grade, which also a hard grade, I, I, I, I think. And yeah, we will just keep going and always have the vision and the hope that we will make something, something for this country.  Arielle (Voice Over):  To keep up with Tala and Farah’s progress and to support Build Hope Palestine, make sure to follow their Instagram, which is @build.hope. Don’t worry, I will link this in the show notes. You can also read all about the other fantastic regional winners in a piece we wrote about them recently, which will also be linked, along with the Earth Prize website so you can learn all about their amazing work and check out the team who ended up winning the global prize Tala and Farah were such a delight to speak with. I honestly feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to meet such wonderful, willful young women, and I can’t wait to share with you what the best advice they had ever received was, and on top of that, some words of wisdom of their own. But before we do that, I just want to thank all you optimists out there simply for being here, for believing that we can make this world a better place. If our solutions-focused mission resonates with you, then please share our work with your friends and family or anyone that you feel needs a bit more positivity in their lives. Hit that follow button so that you don’t miss an episode, subscribe to our free daily or weekly newsletter, follow us on socials, @optimistdaily on pretty much everything except for X, where we are @odetooptimism. Every little thing, every little like, subscribe, follow, or positive rating really does support us and bolster us. It keeps us motivated to continue doing this work. On that note, we want to give an extra special thank you to our emissaries who are our financial supporters. If you want to join in and become an Emissary with a one-time, monthly, or annual donation, there is a link for that in the show notes. Emissaries also get a perk where they can shout out a person, organization, charity, whatever and whomever is generating good in their world. And Karissa and I will either read their message aloud here, or Emissaries can leave a voice note that we will play on the podcast. If you’re already an Emissary, you should have a link for that in your email. And if you become one, then you’ll get one shortly after signing up. All right. With all that said and done, I’m turning it over to Tala and Farah to share the best advice they’ve ever received.  Tala:  My mom once told us, “Never let your circumstances decide the, the size of your dreams.” The time I heard it, I was, like, uh, fourteen years old. I didn’t understand it, but now I am living with it. This advice, uh, the, the, the… my biggest source of motivation, not only me, like Farah also, ’cause we had hard circumstances. But look at us now, like, we didn’t make these circumstances decide the size of our dreams, literally.  Arielle (Voice Over):  And when I asked if they had anything else that they wanted to leave us with, here’s Tala. Tala:  It would be only that hope can rise. Hope can rise amid destruction. Hope can rise, uh, over rubble and darkness. Hope can rise. Just have a faith in your heart and, uh, a plan in your mind, and always work on it, and I can tell you, hope can rise.The post Podcast Transcript June 19th, 2026— (Guest Interview) Hope can rise: two sisters in Gaza turning rubble into building blocks | Earth Prize 2026 first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.