|
If you have a daughter or a sister who is creative and stands out from the crowd, you might want to enroll her into the Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Leaders Preparation Center in Dammam. The center, which operates under the umbrella of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Fund to Support Women’s Small Enterprises, opened its doors in January to enrich leadership skills of Saudi girls between the ages of six and 25. “We want to prepare a young generation of leaders that has strong leadership skills,” says the center’s supervisor Hind Al-Saghir. A group of eight Saudi women had a vision. They came together and outlined their objectives and mission. They are now the center’s board members. 26-year-old Al-Saghir is one of the board members. She says the center provides a cultural, social and knowledge-oriented environment for young Saudi leaders. It enables them to use and develop their skills for the advancement and benefit of society. “We present success stories from the fund as an example to the girls. We give them role models,” says Al-Saghir. “We organize events where we invite famous leading names to share their experiences and inspire the girls.” There are two programs that target different age groups. The Promising Leaders Program is designed for young women between the ages of six and 15. The Young Leader’s Program is designed to cater to girls between ages 16 and 25. Board members have organized several visits to schools, colleges and universities. The aim of these visits is to encourage teachers to nominate girls with outstanding potential to enroll with the center. It seeks to find out about the students’ interests, dreams and ambitions and familiarize them with how the center can advance them. “Young talents are given the chance to explore themselves, think about an idea and plan for the future,” says Al-Saghir, “Girls at schools are taught to learn and lead. There is always room for talented students to develop or flourish.” Al-Saghir believes the culture implants misconceptions in young people’s minds: “We’re trying to correct these wrong ideas and bring out the leaders in girls,” she says, adding, “The age of more than 70 percent of the Saudi population is under 30. We need to prepare the younger generation to lead the future.” Marwa Abduljawad, a 24-year-old who has a bachelor’s degree in communications, wanted to be part of a positive change and do some volunteer work. She believes that any leader must take part in voluntary service to society. She joined the center’s board after working in a number of jobs. She says that she felt her life changed after joining the fund: “Through my work experience at the fund, I felt that change,” she says. “Usually in schools around the world, the concept of voluntary work is taught to first grade students,” says Abduljawad. She quotes Mahatma Gandhi’s saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” She says that many young girls still do not know how to change their lives or what their goals are. “We want to help them learn how to have a clear vision and allow them to develop management, personal and artistic skills. We also want them to unleash their creativity and master techniques of communicating their ideas, proposals and strategies on how to face future challenges,” she says. |
