THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
From organising trips to space camps abroad, bringing astronauts to the UAE, helping young people build model rockets and setting up the Emirates’ first space camp, Lissy Donald has been campaigning for space education for nearly two decades.
Ms Donald, 54, took her first group of pupils to a space camp in the United States in 2004, and has been helping the next generation reach for the stars ever since.
The Indian citizen founded Dubai-based Compass International Tours in 2003, a firm that specialises in education travel management.
"Space camps were still a 'far off' thing when we started taking students for the experiences abroad," Ms Donald told The National.
“Nasa was perceived as a place where only the high and mighty could reach or something we saw in the movies.”
Back then, the UAE’s space sector was in its early stages. The nation had no satellites in space, the space agency had not been formed yet and schools did not have dedicated studies in space.
Ms Donald, who moved to the UAE in 1994, managed to secure partnerships with the US Space and Rocket Centre in Alabama, the Cosmodome in Montreal and the Euro Space Centre in Belgium for youth space education training programmes.
“We started taking pupils from the GCC and the neighbouring countries for Nasa camps and the learning was immense,” she said.
“The teachers and parents were happy and impressed enough to make it and made it an annual affair in their diaries.
“Space was often a field that seemed only a selected few can reach, but through these space camps, I wanted to show these kids that they can achieve it, too.”
For those pupils who could not travel abroad, Ms Donald started bringing space experts to the UAE so they could also have access to space education.
Some of these include Nasa astronauts Donald Thomas and Ken Cameron, Dr Jim Rice, a Mars rover co-investigator, as well as microbiologists and engineers who work with space agencies.
"When the UAE decided to take an interest in space education and exploration, the interest among the youth also started to get stronger," she said.
"With the establishment of the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and the UAE Space Agency, things started to build great momentum. We began to get more interest in space camps, we started getting more requests to invite the astronauts for interactive sessions – space was not very far any longer."
As the nation’s space sector started to flourish, Ms Donald found local partners who supported her work.
In 2017, she hosted the first space camp in the UAE for gifted and talented children at the Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Centre for Giftedness and Creativity.
The participants built model rockets with the help of Nasa astronaut Don Thomas and launched them.
The same year, she also formed the Space and Rocketry Academy.
“Participants of this camp learn about space, science, engineering and rocketry as part of their curriculum week,” said Ms Donald.
“Pupils design and build model rockets, they work on a Mars mission engineering design challenges and much more.”
For those who cannot afford to be part of these camps, Ms Donald said her firm sponsors some of them so they can also have access.
Even though the space camps are relatively new as compared to ones in the US and Europe that have decades of experience to draw on. Ms Donald is working with local space officials and private firms to offer pupils more.
“Today we have formal alliances with The Space Camp, The Space Foundation, Nanoracks, Cosmodome, Destination Imagination and many more leading space education providers,” she said.
Her firm is also bringing astronaut training simulators to the UAE.
Ms Donald said the country's astronaut programme and the Hope Mars Mission has taken the youth's interest in space to the "next level".
"Astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri’s successful journey to the International Space Station made history and helped us believe in ourselves more than ever. It also set the perfect scene for the launch of the upcoming mission to Mars," she said.
At present, there are several contributors to the space education scene in the UAE.
Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre has been hosting its 'Science Event' since 2017, an annual educational conference attended by many pupils.
The space centre also launched its 'Space Explorer Camp' in 2018.
Officials from the UAE Space Agency tour schools, educating the youth on all things space-related.
Maj Al Mansouri and Dr Sultan Al Neyadi, the back up astronaut for UAE's first space mission, had also been touring schools nationwide in efforts to inspire pupils.
Besides her work in the Emirates, Ms Donald runs a charity organisation, called Heavenly Mission, in India.
She sponsors the education of underprivileged youth, especially those who are victims of poverty and human trafficking.
“My dream is to give these less fortunate children an opportunity to know and learn about Space,” she said.
“I would love to get my Heavenly Mission children over to experience and learn about space. The amount of talent and curiosity in the children cannot be undermined, all they need is opportunity.”
Ms Donald’s next goal is establishing a permanent space camp in the UAE, similar to what is available in the US.
Countries recognising Palestine
France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Results
2-15pm: Commercial Bank Of Dubai – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (Dirt) 1,400m; Winner: Al Habash, Patrick Cosgrave (jockey), Bhupat Seemar (trainer)
2.45pm: Al Shafar Investment – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Day Approach, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash
3.15pm: Dubai Real estate Centre – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Celtic Prince, Richard Mullen, Rashed Bouresly
3.45pm: Jebel Ali Sprint by ARM Holding – Listed (TB) Dh500,000 (D) 1,000m; Winner: Khuzaam, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
4.15pm: Shadwell – Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Tenbury Wells, Royston Ffrench, Salem bin Ghadayer
4.45pm: Jebel Ali Stakes by ARM Holding – Listed (TB) Dh500,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Lost Eden, Andrea Atzeni, Doug Watson
5.15pm: Jebel Ali Racecourse – Handicap (TB) Dh76,000 (D) 1,950m; Winner: Rougher, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
THE BIO
Favourite book: ‘Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren
Favourite travel destination: Switzerland
Hobbies: Travelling and following motivational speeches and speakers
Favourite place in UAE: Dubai Museum
