Community and Learning

Seven Broken Walkmans: Where the Story Began

How a childhood spent dismantling electronic devices developed into a lifelong commitment to technical learning.

Editorial illustration of a child learning by examining dismantled portable cassette players

Before SQ Depot, there were seven Sony Walkmans.

As a child growing up on an island, Sulthan Hameed had limited access to technical equipment, spare parts, and structured learning opportunities.

What he did have was curiosity. He began taking apart portable cassette players, studying their components, and trying to put them back together. He broke seven before he learned how to repair them.

Each failure taught him something the previous attempt had not. With no laboratory and few resources, the devices became his classroom.

“Learning things means having the courage to go beyond failures. I learned how to fix things by breaking up 7 Sony Walkmans.”— Sulthan Hameed, Founder

Curiosity became a trade

Curiosity became practical knowledge, and practical knowledge developed into professional electrical work. Over time, the work expanded to building installations, distribution systems, resort villas, solar energy, energy auditing, transformers, battery storage, and high- and low-voltage connections.

SQ Depot grew from that journey. Its foundation is the same island resourcefulness that taught Sulthan to make the most of what was available — the capacity to make something valuable from very little.

The same curiosity, passed on

That childhood experience also inspired The Talented Child, a separate initiative dedicated to practical technology learning for children and adults across the Maldives.

Visit The Talented Child ↗

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