JEDDAH, 29 June 2006 — One of Saudi Arabia’s most charismatic champions of the rights of the disabled is to be selected for an award by Toastmasters International.

“Abdulrazaq Ali Alturki will be chosen as the “Best Division Governor of the Year” in recognition of his countless efforts and hard work in promoting the toastmasters in Saudi Arabia,” said Vijay Boloor, Toastmasters International’s district governor for the Gulf countries and Jordan.

Baloor said Alturki, who is blind, was given an award as the “Best Area Governor of the Year”, when he served as the Area 9 Governor during 2004 and 2005.

Alturki was born with normal vision but became blind after he suffered a brain tumor as an infant. In spite of all the odds and there being no schools for the blind in Saudi Arabia 40 years ago, Alturki managed educate himself and was also able to attend the first school for the blind in the Kingdom in 1965 in the Eastern Region. Alturki has been able to gain various degrees from institutes in Saudi Arabia, the UK and the US.

Alturki, who is married to a psychologist working for the Ministry of Education, is director of sales and marketing at Namma Cargo Services. In addition, he is a member of many charities, academic bodies and committees that work to protect the rights of the handicapped and try to improve the services available to them.

An accomplished writer, Alturki has received a range of awards recognizing his work calling for the rights of the disabled.

Toastmasters International has been working for over 75 years to help people improve their communication skills. The organization has approximately 175,000 members in 8,800 clubs across 70 countries.