Saudi Women.. Endless Stories of Success and Ambition

Saudi Women.. Endless Stories of Success and Ambition
Saudi Women.. Endless Stories of Success and Ambition

Saudi women have achieved a considerable success locally and globally—theyhave been always adhering to the Saudi customs and the Islamic rituals whilestudying, working, and caring for their families to become the best example onall levels. This article sheds a light on some role models of Saudi successfulmothers who succeeded in overcoming the obstacles and transcending the borders toskillfully play the role of mother and father at the same time, if needed.

  • Samia Al-Amoudi; a Saudi consultant in obstetrics & gynecology, a Single Mother, and a breast cancerfighter
empowering one girl may change the world

There are alot of mothers who sacrifice for their families, but it is rare to find amother who works not only for her family, but also for her community and nation—SamiaAl-Amoudi is one of those who present a unique example and the role model foreach Arab woman looking for leaving a mark in our world despite the hard circumstancesshe experienced.

About

Samia Al-Amoudiwas born to a Yemeni father and a Saudi mother. Her father died at an early ageout of Cancer. So her childhood was never an easy one—the financial status ofher family got down and then they abandoned the luxurious life they used to. Whenshe was 12 years old, her uncles tried to arrange her a marriage to a fiftiethman yet her mother refused. She continued her study to become later one of thefirst graduated from the college of medicine in King Abdulaziz University, in1981. She worked in the hospital of King Abdulaziz University as a consultant ofObstetrics & Gynecology.

Ajourney of Suffering and Influence

In 2006, she was diagnosed with breast cancer at an advanced stage, it canbe said that her disease was the turning point in her life. As a single motherof a son and a daughter, she had no choice but being strong and defeat cancer.She turned the curse of cancer into a grace, after which the relation with her childrengot much stronger and they learn to appreciate Allah's gifts and face crises withcourage.

Since making womenaware of the importance of the early diagnosis of breast cancer,she stopped practicing the medicine to work as a manager of Mohammad HusseinAL-Amoudi Center of Excellence in Breast Cancer. She supervises Sheikh MohammadAl-Amoudi Scientific Chair for Breast Cancer in Jeddah, adding to be a memberof the executive committee of the Breast Health Global Initiative (BHGI), SaudiCancer Society, Al-Eman Cancer Society, Zahra Breast Cancer Association, and InternationalOrganization for Relief, Welfare & Development.

              "Success can be achieved in many fields; however, the hardest yetthe best is the success of
              bringing our children, particularly when a woman hasto play the role of mother and
              father at the same time, which is the biggest challengeI met in my life." Samia Al-Amoudi
              stated.

Awards

She has won many awardsfrom many international and local entities including; the Secretary'sInternational Women of Courage Award in 2007, the Medal of Honor from Saudi Cancer Foundationfor Eastern Province in 2009, and Prince Naif Award for Distinguished Woman forthe health sector in 2017.

Publications

Al-Amoudi's books

She has a number of important books; "Break the Silence", "A Saudi Woman's Diaries", "Health, Psychological, and Social Empowerment of the girls", "The Rights of Cancer Patients", adding to the First Published Book in the Arab Region on Breast Cancer in Sign Language for Deaf Women".

  • Ghada Ghazzawi, one of the most successful businesswomen in Saudi societyand the most influential Saudi female writers on the different social networks
Ghada Ghazzawi

Ghada Ghazzawi is the daughter of NajdiyaAl-Hujailan, the first female voice in the Saudi programs. Due to her father'swork as anambassador in several Arab and European countries after being the minister of Saudi Broadcasting,she was able to access to different cultures and communities.

Study

At first, Ghazzawi studied finearts and moved between different jobs including, teaching English language andsome administration posts in hospitals and banks. Then, she found her realpassion in event planning. Today, she is a well-known Saudibusinesswoman; she owns and manages a marketing and event planning company, thefield in which she has a lot of experience. She has been able to overcome manydifficulties and challenges in this area and has become an example for manywomen seeking to achieve a remarkable success in marketing.

She has more than twenty thousand followers on Twitter. She believes thatthe social networks are suitable arenas to share experiences and boostcommunication with the Saudi youth to foster the national identity and provideentrepreneurs with the most possible support. She participated in the planning fordifferent events and conferences, most prominent of which; Jeddah EconomicForum and Jeddah Commercial Forum.  

One of herpopular sayings: "If you cannot be number one in the way where you are,make your own way through which you can be number one."

Over andabove, she has a great family; she is the mother of two sons and a daughterconsider her the role model, especially she always strives to play the role ofa mother, a sister, a friend, and a consultant with them. She believes that timemanagement is a basic necessity for each woman wants to have a successfulcareer as much as a successful and stable family.

  • MonaAbu-Sulayman… The First Saudi Female to work as a TV Host and a GoodwillAmbassador
Mona Abu-Sulayman

Study

Mona Abu-Sulayman, the holder of a PhD in Arab-American Literature and a master's in English Literature, was the first Saudi female to appear on the television as one of the TV hosts of the popular Arab program "Kalam Nawaem" in 2002 and to be appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program in Saudi Arabia from 2005 and 2009.

Career

Starting as a lecturer in the EnglishDepartment at King SaudUniversity, she advanced in her career and took over several posts— she hasbeen a board member in different companies; "The Industrial Group" since 2016,"Medan" website since 2013, and "Glowork" since 2011. She was the secretarygeneral of Alwaleed Philanthropies from 2005 to 2011. She worked as the executivedirector of strategic studies in the Kingdom Holding Company from 2004 to 2006. 

Awards and Titles

She was bestowed The Young Global Leader Honor by "the World Economic Forum", in 2004, The Distinguished Arab Woman Award, in 2009, and Colin Murray Award, in 2010. Besides, she was ranked amongst the 30th strongest Saudi Women list for 2014 according to Arabian Business magazine and she was also entered the list of the 500th most influential female in the Islamic World in 2009.

               "Whether you have a stable marriage or not, read more and more as none of us can realize
              alone the standard education methods."
Mona Abu-Sulayman advised out of her experience.

On top of that, Mona Abu-Sulayman skillfully played the role of father and mother for her daughters after getting divorced. To be a single mother is not easy at all so how you could imagine being a single mother, a leading businesswoman, and a TV host in a prominent program at the same time. Mona announced in different occasions that she would not have succeeded in bringing up her daughters if it hadn't been for her family help, reading a lot in education and about the contemporary problems that may appear after divorce, and her good relationship with her ex-husband. Mona Abu-Sulayman preferred not to start any private work before her second joining the primary school.

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