Azoori, a young Saudi entrepreneur has made her country proud. The 28-year old has achieved a rare feat in history by winning the award for Best Youth Entrepreneur for the year 2011, in-spite of suffering from hearing impairment, . She stood on stage before a huge crowd at the Youth Business International conference in Britain to speak about her business; wearing the hijab and traditional Saudi black abaya and represented a true Muslim woman who is conservative, yet educated, ambitious, and productive. The decision for this youth award was open to public voting and people all over the world were welcome to cast their votes. According to the official website of Youth Business International, this year's competition received 60,000 votes as compared to last year's 17,000 votes. Al-Azoori topped participants from 40 different countries, received thousands of votes from all over the world, and succeeded to register her country's name as the home of the best young entrepreneur. Al-Azoori refused to let her physical disability come in her way and achieved self-employment by setting up her own business. She opened a woman's beauty center that offers skin care, hair dressing, make up, and tailoring services. What makes her business unique is that the majority of the women who work there suffer, like her, from hearing impairment or other disabilities. Al-Azoori's business was financially supported by the Saudi Centennial Fund. Her message to the community is that even the physically challenged have the capability of leading active and successful lives and that they can accomplish great feats that surpass everyone's expectations. Much work in the Kingdom still needs to be done to assist those with special needs. Al-Azoori calls on universities and colleges in Saudi Arabia to welcome students with special needs and reserve seats for them. She speaks from personal experience since at one point in time, she wanted to apply at King Abdul Aziz University, but she was turned away due to her disability. More institutes should be setup to train those with special needs to give them the skills they need to lead normal lives, acquire higher education, and find work. __
