Lama Younis

Lama Younis, who is one of the first female criminologists and forensic psychologists qualified in the GCC, is the founder of Hissah Enrichment Center as well as the Lama Campaign, a non-profit that works to create awareness about children’s rights and safety in the Middle East.

As a Saudi Arabia-trained psychologist, Younis has sought to understand her culture, society and bring awareness and support where they are most needed. In 2005 Lama Younis was among the first women to graduate with a degree in psychology from Saudi Arabia’s Effat University, the first private women university in the kingdom to offer this degree to undergraduates.

Now Lama Younis has an established wellness center in Dubai, where her work focuses on raising awareness about physical safety, emotional well-being and dispelling myths around seeking help.

What motivated you to establish Hissah Enrichment Center?

Lama Younis: I was always wondering why there is a taboo in the Middle East around the topic of well-being. Why do individuals worry about what others might think about them or how they might perceive them? That’s when I started studying my society in order to understand how can one help them and offer the right services for my clients.

I believe individuals from the older generation are very much stronger than today’s generation, they tolerate things more. My mother, and women from her generation, are not very open to seeking help when it comes to well-being, unlike my generation, where some women will read about it and others might actually seek help.

Today individuals are much open and you see a lot more psychology graduates because a lot of the universities in the Middle East have made it available for women and men.

Why did you choose psychology?

LY: I always knew I wanted to be in the medical field. So I applied to medical school and got the approval from my family in Saudi Arabia and the university to go the girls’ college here in the U.A.E. yet then I shifted to psychology because I wanted to understand myself better. When you know yourself, you’re able to help others. My aim was always to find peace within. When you’re happy, you naturally make others happy around you.

Can you tell me more about the Lama Campaign?

LY:The Lama Campaign is a not-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the protection and well-being of children and youth through education and awareness. The organization is fully licensed in the U.K. with the goal of educating children and adults on child abuse in all its forms through prevention programs, public awareness, training and advocacy worldwide. The organization aspires to forge, guide and support a commitment by families, communities and nations to prevent child abuse so as to ensure that every child grows up in a secure and healthy environment.

 What about cases of domestic violence or marital rape – it must be difficult to operate in an environment with few legal protections?

LY: There is always difficulty in finding evidence in domestic cases in our region. In cases when women are raped by their husbands, it’s very difficult to prove. Marital rape is not recognized, no. People get away with it. I face difficulties in cases of rape and abuse because I need a guardian’s permission to take action (in Saudi Arabia), and we have has cases in the past where the guardians are the actual offenders. Not even a policeman can come in between family at times in Saudi Arabia. I also have difficulties finding proper evidence, because some family members cover up others’ mistakes, not wanting for society to look down at them for their wrongful behavior. Yet I still believe the (guardianship system) is the biggest obstacle I face.

Many do not distinguish between punishment, discipline and abuse. I believe many take discipline to another level that is clearly abusive behavior. I had a case once where a mother would actually rub fresh chili on her child’s body and make him stand under the son for any prayer he would miss, or any low grades at school, this is an issue with honor and shame. We are clearly a collectivist culture, where an individual’s behavior will represent the whole family.

Another challenge we face is the definition of emotional abuse, many are not very aware of it as this awful act is carried out in some kind of discipline form ‘its viewed as a lesson or some kind of push for children to correct the unwanted behavior, they actually do not realize the scars that are left behind for life’.

What other obstacles do you face when practicing in Saudi Arabia?

LY: When I just graduated, I was the first woman to graduate with a forensic psychology degree in the Gulf Cooperation Council. But in Saudi Arabia, they refused to issue credentials to me to practice and work in the government, I was only allowed to do so in private sector.

How does it impact your work now?

LY: It doesn’t affect me. The way I practice is that I focus on the lack of knowledge and information. I focus on behavioral training and consultation. After three years of our center, we proved this hypothesis about the need for education and awareness. The clients come to me seeking answers rather then declaring they need help right away. We are the first door they open.

Many avoid the truth behind their issues, believing living in silence is much better, when they actually lack a peace of mind. I only pray for legal protections to be implemented, for awareness and education to be a part of the government movement to see long-term change.

What is the best biggest obstacle you’re facing right now?

LY: In the beginning I was frustrated, but after four years I found my way through. My business goals shifted. My focus shifted from adults to children, students, and younger generation after two years of opening the business. Younger generation is more open to knowledge. It’s nice to see them stand up for what they believe in. They are willing to implement positive change in their lives and society.

So there is a shift happening. What do you think needs to happen next, from the legal perspective and wider society to confront these issues?

LY: Education and awareness are my main goals. I have helped in many cases with children’s rights and other cases due to the lack of knowledge and clarity in the system. If we can have things clarified and information out in the public, then I believe many victims will come out to speak. The lack of knowledge keeps many in the dark and in silence. That is why I am on a mission to empower, to guide and to educate because that is the best way to move forward.

Our Aims at The Lama Campaign is to educate people across a range of sectors to increase knowledge, child protection training programs for professionals working with children and community education through seminars and so much more.

Originally Published on Ella

Shahd Alshehail is Saudi Entrepreneur Who Spreads the Word and Gives Back

Entrepreneur, Shahd Al Shehail, a Saudi national who gave up her comfortable job in 2008 to pursue her own path, a social enterprise, Just. Using real time data to help brands and consumers connect with the who, where, and how clothes are made. Victor Besa for The Nationa

When most employees in the finance sector were desperately trying to hang on to their jobs in 2009, Shahd AlShehail handed in her notice.

She knew she didn’t want to work in the industry any more – but needed time to figure out her next career move.

Leaving a secure position in commercial finance with a large corporate in the United States, she returned to Saudi Arabia, where she is from, to consider her options.

“Growing up, I’d heard stories from my grandfather who was an entrepreneur and a self-made man, who has not only made a good business out of what he did but also was so connected to the community in so many different ways,” she says. “That was always at the back of my mind.”

Luckily, her family were supportive and she went on to help launch a fashion label in Saudi Arabia that employs and supports underprivileged women becoming, not for the last time, a social entrepreneur.

“I didn’t know what the term meant at the time. But for the first time I was able to combine my business skills with something I felt strongly about – community development and policy mediation and doing good for the world,” she says.

Ms AlShehail later returned to the US, where she had already completed an accounting degree, to do an MBA in entrepreneurship at Johns Hopkins, Maryland.

As part of her course she visited Rwanda, where she read a book called The Blue Sweater, a memoir written by Jacqueline Novogratz, the founder of Acumen, a non-profit organisation that raises funds to invest in ideas, companies and people who seek to end poverty.

“I got really excited about what she was doing. After graduation I joined Acumen. It’s an amazing experience but also very rigorous, very difficult to get into. They take 10 people annually from over 1,200,” she says. “I was the first female from the Arab world who made it.”

Ms AlShehail was sent to Bangalore, India, as part of her fellowship to work on one of the organisation’s projects, which provided affordable educational services to prepare children for further education or employment.

She made friends with another Acumen fellow, Natalie Grillon, who was based in northern Uganda working with a company helping cotton farmers rebuild their community and economy.

And it was when Ms AlShehail and Ms Grillon discussed their experiences that they developed the idea for Just, a social enterprise they set up together a little over a year ago.

“[Natalie] was talking to me about this beautiful story of impact that this company had made for these farmers. It is a story that gets lost in the supply chain. And I was sharing with her how I saw consumers getting really excited about knowing these stories and we were wondering why don’t we know these stories.”

Two months later there was an explosion at Rana Plaza, a clothes factory in Bangladesh which killed more than 1,100 people.

“These farmers’ beautiful cotton could have ended up in a place like Rana Plaza and we would have not known,” says Ms AlShehail. “So we set out on a path to go and research the industry and figure out what it is going to take for brands to use better suppliers, for suppliers to switch their practices or improve their practices and for consumers to demand more of this. And that’s how it came about.”

Just, as Ms AlShehail and Ms Grillon called their company, collects data to tell a brand what is happening in their supply chain – where materials come from and who makes them, for example – and the brand, can, in turn, share the information with its customers.

Suppliers upload information to an app and their employees fill out anonymous surveys reporting when they were paid, while community partners, either non-profits or workers’ unions, for example, provide on-the-ground reviews. Just then displays the data on a dashboard which lets brands track what is happening in their supply chains.

For now, the serial social entrepreneur is happy working on Just. But she has not ruled out returning to her roots mentoring upcoming entrepreneurs or possibly training young Saudi people.

“I really believe in the concept that real change happens in the accumulation of all the small choices we make every day and spreading that concept on through social enterprise,” says Ms AlShehail.

“So I will continue to be engaged in that.”

Originally published on The National 

HRH Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud

HRH Princess Reema discusses her career, professional experiences and future project at this year's SXSW