Israr Award winners honored

In the presence of Labor Minister Adel Fakeih, and various other Saudi figures, the final winners of the first ever Israr Awards or “Best Commitment Award” were announced on Thursday at a grand event held at Prince Noura University.
The program that was launched by the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) involves a competition that rewards the act of perseverance, rather than merely celebrating the result, and aims to recognize the challenges and disappointments that people go through and how they overcome obstacles in order to reach their goals.
The HRDF Director Ibrahim Al-Moaiqel was also present.
Following an online vote by the participants, Samar Al-Zahrani won the most committed Saudi woman in the job seeker category. Al-Zahrani, who grew up in the southern region in Saudi Arabia, never went to school and got married at the age of 16. Troubles began when her husband got sick and retired early. Al-Zahrani started looking for jobs, which was hard due to her lack of education. She got a job as a hairstylist’s assistant at a beauty salon, where she was paid SR800 a month. After two years at that job, she realized that the industry simply did not align with her ambitions. Al-Zahrani stepped away from beauty salons and began working with a businesswoman.
While searching for jobs, some of the replies that she would get from employers was that “the only job for your qualifications is a cleaning lady.” Despite Al-Zahrani’s belief that it was a decent job, she was frustrated. She then applied for a job at Zamil Factory. Although a high school diploma was one of the requirements, Al-Zahrani didn’t lose hope and called the owner.
The owner agreed to meet Al-Zahrani, and she was hired from a group of 30 applicants. Within two years, productivity rose and Al-Zahrani received promotions and support from the administration and she continued the hard work until she became the leader of the female section, which consisted of 30 employees who all held educational degrees.
Abdulrahman Alhatlan, another contestant for the perseverance awards, also picked up first place in the job seeker category by a majority of votes. Alhatlan was involved in an accident and was confined to a wheelchair. He began feeling that he had become a burden to his family and people around him. His first step was rehabilitation, then getting a job. The first job offer he got was as a maintenance coordinator, then he was hired as a maintenance director.
After a while, he was accepted to work as an administrative director of Mayadin Center for Training and Development. Meanwhile, he took this opportunity to develop himself and he acquired certificates as a certified international instructor from many agencies, including Rapid Learning Center in the US.
Alhatlan applied for a scholarship, completed all the paperwork and traveled to the US. He completed his studies and within two years he received an MSc degree with a GPA of 3.89. He then moved to work in the National Anti-Corruption Commission as quality investigator in the development and planning department.
For the entrepreneur category, Samia Al-Fadhli from Tareif was chosen. At the age of 19, Samia Al-Fadhli took on the responsibility for her children and her brothers, and worked at a Saudi bank. She faced a lot of stress in her workplace, but was able to prove herself and was excellent in performing her job, which allowed her to reach a high position in the bank.
These men and women were all awarded prestigious prizes and certificates of acknowledgement from the HRDF for their notable efforts in perseverance to achieve their dreams.