First Lady Visits Qatar Foundation
Staff Writer | Tuesday April 16, 2019 10:00
During her visit, the First Lady received a presentation about QF, outlining its mission and achievements in education, research and innovation, and community development.
She was also given a balcony tour at QF Headquarters, which overlooks Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and the branch campuses of eight international universities, in addition to QF schools and research facilities.
Emphasizing the value of education, the First Lady said: “It makes me reflect on my own life story. My mother is in education and she is from an era when a lot of girls weren’t sent to school. My grandfather, who raised cattle, decided to give an equal opportunity to his sons and daughters and my mother went on to become the first person to graduate from university in my family”.
“Education is an investment. My mother sent us to private schools. I was lucky enough to attend Thornhill in Gaborone. I find that education places you on a different bar – on the top bar. Minds that are opened through education means that doors can be opened later in life.
“An education allows one to accept diversity and gives one confidence. It changes you and gives you the ability to live anywhere in the world. I have been the beneficiary of that, and have been lucky enough to live and work in New York, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic.”
Speaking of Qatar’s own focus on education, the First Lady sees what QF has done as being a possible template for Botswana. “I am very excited by what I have seen, and now it motivates me to go back to Botswana and try to do the same for my country,” she said.
Masisi concluded her visit to QF Headquarters by signing the visitor’s book.