20 Omani women earn place in leadership programme

Muscat: Omani women aged 18 to 24 were handpicked to take part in the five-day leadership course called Fanar or Lighthouse in Arabic.
One of the organisers, who has also helped host other such programmes, said, “I decided to volunteer for Fanar precisely because of the duration. Even within five days, I loved to see how much a person’s convictions and personality can change. Someone can gain so many new ideas within a day.”
When asked about the one factor that can make a woman strong, she said, “Determination.” The programme, called ‘Fanar’ or ‘Lighthouse’ in Arabic, was held in association with Youth Vision and will run from 9 am to 1 pm from August 13 to 17.
Fanar chose participants by asking Omani female university students four survey questions:
“Why do you want to join the programme? What does female empowerment mean to you? Tell us about yourself. Tell us about the greatest challenges that currently face you.”
Of the 50 university and college students who answered, 20 were chosen to take part in the five-day programme.
According to the Director of Fanar, “The programme began on Sunday and will go on for four more days. We work with two trainers each day. On Sunday, Dalia Al Bassami (a media manager and photographer) and Shaikha Al Bassami (who had to struggle against visual impairment for her position at the ITA) led a workshop on perseverance in reaching your goals.”
During her workshop, Al Bassami said, “We need to have a push of support, based on our friends, families and selves. How old you are is not a boundary, but a challenge you need to overcome.”
Al Jassasi said, “The greater the walls that face us, the more concentrated our dose of determination needs to become.”
A statement by Youth Vision said, “Monday’s session on communication was accompanied by the inspiring Salma al Salmi, where we covered personal skills like listening, convincing others, practical thinking, leading, and problem solving. There were also some leadership activities.”
According to Al Salmi, “You can use the negative energy around you to become even more positive. Around 10 per cent of professionals have listed their work environment as one of the biggest reasons they’ve quit a job in the past.”
Maryam Al Amri, chief executive officer of Youth Vision, said, “Clarity, focus, commitment and respect are some of the foundations to build your professional identity.”
Fanar’s Director added, “When choosing organisers, we focused on recruiting people who had impressed us before and had the skills that we needed.”