JEDDAH, 26 December 2006 — Architecture student Lama Al-Zoghibi won the “I Matter” prize in the third and final night of the activities that took place at the Equestrian Club here recently.
The event, sponsored by MBC4, provided a forum for the Arab women, mostly students, to discuss the issues that concern them in areas such as health and career issues.
More than 2,500 applications were received from women who made presentations of ideas that would help empower Arab women.
Al-Zoghibi was declared the winner of this contest of innovation with her proposal to create a firm that would bring together women involved in the production of apparel and jewelry, and female business and advertising executives.
“I want to help provide more career options for women in different fields,” said 18-year-old Al-Zoghibi. “I didn’t expect to win the contest. Exchanging knowledge and experiences among the 10 finalists was the thing that I really enjoyed.”
Each contestant was evaluated out of 30 grades. The 10 contestants were Areeb Yasine and Lamees Basfar, both psychology students; Hudaybia Tarek, a business administration student; Eman Janbi, who works for Tamer Group; Nima Ahmed, an Arabian Entertainment Company Ltd. employee; Sara Marzouki, interior design student; the winner Al-Zoghibi and Rana Al-Amawi, both architecture students; Shaza Ahmad, a student of economics, and Nourazn Abu Taleb, an Effat College employee.
The three judges of the competition were: Ghada Al-Edreesy, DHL customer service manager; Hanadi Al-Abbasi, headmistress of Al-Omam International School in Jeddah; and Laura Al-Maeena, a beauty salon owner.
The judges said they chose the 10 final finalists based on what they considered to be the clearest and most intelligent ideas in addition to the quality of the presentation. The judges said they considered Al-Zoghibi’s project to reflect a strong sense of team spirit and group thinking.
Al-Zoghibi, who is now in her freshman year studying architecture at Effat College, said that she hopes to implement her idea of an integrated fashion company after she graduates. The winner has been offered a one-month MBC internship in Dubai next summer.
“I’m happy for this opportunity,” she said. “That will be the first time for me to practice a real job and training.”
Lamees Basfar, third year psychology student, one of the other contestants focused her project on children with learning disabilities.
“I was encouraged to participate in the event because I want to make a change in society being a girl who loves her country,” said Basfar. “Through my project I want to introduce the importance of mental health to people.”
Basfar’s project proposed creating an institution for children with learning disabilities, such as dyslexia and epilepsy.
“I think that families should be more aware of these problems and know that their children can improve and do better in their lives,” she said.
