Shahd Alhamdan

Saudi Gazette

 

JEDDAH — Women’s leadership in Saudi society was the theme of the day at a Jeddah school event recently.



The event at Children’s Garden School, titled “Yes, She will Lead”, was the brainchild of one of the teachers and aimed to help students benefit from the experience of some Saudi leaders and learn from their achievements.



Several Saudi female leaders talked about their experiences including Samia Al-Amoudi, Lama Al-Sulaiman, Fatima Shaheen and Lojain Boker.



Rodeen Bader, one of the Saudi students who attended the event, said: “The program affected me and encouraged me.



"I was influenced more by the speech of Dr. Samia Al-Amoudi. She has a good role in society and many people perceive her as a leader.



“After her lecture I will try to develop my skills in the right way and benefit from the speakers’ guidelines.”



Hala Al-Olayan, a Saudi student in her ninth grade, said: “This event was amazing because many key personalities attended. Those speakers have encouraged me to be one day in their shoes.



“These female leaders proved to me that every woman with her dreams and hard work can lead society.



“I was influenced by Mrs. Lojain because I felt she is the youngest one and similar to us since she is closest to us in terms of age.



“Despite her young age she achieved many goals and succeeded at an early age.



“She did many projects and visited several schools while she was still in high school, so I realized that my age will not prevent me from working hard and achieving more things.”



Fifteen-year-old Noura Taj said: “I was happy with the event. “Mrs. Lojain and Dr. Samia influenced me, especially Dr. Samia's personality and her story of her battle with breast cancer is a good example of patience and endurance.”



Tala Edriss, a ninth grade student, said: “The event was a really good idea.



“Lojain Boker inspired me because she told us about the stuff she worked on and she gave us advice and she was funny.



“The way she was describing stuff was really simple and not boring and we liked her so much.”



“Now I'm not planning to do anything but I will keep taking advice to get more ideas on what I want later.”