UAE Portrait of a Nation: Emirati has family and career balanced to a fine art

Naila Al Mansoory, head of Children’s City, teaches by making learning fun. Satish Kumar / The National

Naila Al Mansoory is an Emirati who has it all in a good family life, a fulfilling career and a burning passion to create art.

DUBAI // Naila Al Mansoory knows all there is to know about educating and entertaining children. In fact, she has it down to a science.

The 41-year-old heads the Children’s City science-based educational centre, where she is in charge of striking the right balance between having fun and learning something new – which isn’t as easy as some might think.

“I love science and I love doing workshops for the kids. This is why I started here in the first place,” says Ms Al Mansoory, who studied biology at the United Arab Emirates University and worked at Rashid Hospital after graduating.

“It started with a passion for science, which is why I started working in something directly related to my studies. When I came here as a leader of an educational team I found that most things are related to science.”

She says her goal is to teach children in a fun and exciting way.

“When you tell a child it’s an education programme they might not be attracted to that, but by keeping it fun and entertaining they are learning without even knowing it.”

Ms Al Mansoory, a mother of three boys, feels that she has achieved success when she is able to balance the three biggest things in her life: family, work and her art.

“This wonderful combination, when balanced, makes me feel good,” she says. “Of course, there are times when I face challenges in one part.”

Her children, aged between four and 12, and her husband are very supportive.

“My children come to my art exhibits and even have suggestions,” says Ms Al Mansoory, whose first venture into the art world was in 2001 with paintings. She is now creating modern mosaics.

“I temporarily stopped my art for three years when I married and had children and I felt like something was missing, like I wasn’t balanced,” she says.

“My family is very supportive. I even took over my husband’s office and made it my workshop.”

Art, she says, has taught her patience.

“It can take anywhere between a month to three months to complete a project, and it gives me my own time,” she says, adding that it is important for a woman to have time just for herself as it makes her more successful in work and as a mother.

The Emirati says she is proud of her country whose leadership has always supported women’s rights to succeed.

“I don’t believe a woman here in the UAE has a problem in advancing herself. There are no barriers at all.”

She recommends never giving up on dreams, because if one door closes another will open.

“If you feel like you have lost something, of course you will find another way to find yourself. Don’t just concentrate on one part of your life.

“I just hope that I can inspire others my with my simple experience.”