WORDS OF WISDOM IN MONACO
HelloMonaco : When did you begin dreaming about going to space ?
Namira Salim : I was born with the dream . As a little girl growing up in Pakistan , I was not even five years old , I used to cry and tell my parents , ‘ I don ’ t want toys , I just want to go to space .’
: Where did this idea come from ?
NS : It was a spiritual thing for me because I ’ m a very spiritual person . When I look at the stars I feel that there ’ s a spiritual connection and there ’ s some higher force , a divine force . I feel a connection and I feel a pull as if something is calling me to go out there . I feel that that is the final destination , in the stars , we will all return to the stars one day .
: What about your parents , did they support your intention to go to space since childhood or did they take it as a child ’ s whimsy ?
NS : Of course they thought that I ’ m just saying it as a child . And then one day , I signed up for this flight and I told them now I need the money for the ticket and that ’ s when they freaked out . My mother was very upset , she said , ‘ No this is very unsafe , how can you go to space on a commercial space liner ?’ So it was a fight , but I got the money for the ticket .
: When did you purchase your ticket for the space flight ?
NS : It was in January of 2006 . I signed the contract in Monaco , in the Hotel de Paris at the Grill overlooking the palace and the port . The commercial director of Virgin Galactic flew here and I signed as the first person to go to space from Monaco and I also ended up becoming the first Pakistani future astronaut . This was not expected , but Richard Branson came to Dubai in March 2006 , two months after I signed up with the inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic . He decided that he would also launch Virgin Galactic in Dubai . They realized that I represented so many different countries ; I was also the first from Dubai , from the UAE , in fact . Richard Branson introduced me to the global media as one of the earliest founders . We are called ‘ founder astronauts ’, the ones who bought the ticket in advance and paid for it . I ’ m the only founder from Monaco , the first from Dubai and the only one from Pakistan .
: Where did your adventurous spirit come from ? Did your parents give you your fighting spirit ?
NS : I was born to a very conservative family . My father ’ s family was very orthodox ; my mother ’ s family was more moderate . But my father was a very positive person . He was somebody who gave me all my confidence , he made me travel the world , he gave me the best education . And the best thing about my parents was that they were very open-minded and trusting . They never doubted me , they gave me the freedom because there was a lot of trust . I was a very good girl from the beginning , I was not a rebel . I rebelled in different ways , with adventures . And that was only to test my own limits and to give myself the confidence as a timid , shy and introverted girl from Pakistan . Because I ’ m still very introverted , I ’ m still very shy . I don ’ t hang out at big parties or in big crowds . I don ’ t partake in nightlife , like in nightclubs , I don ’ t do any of that . I like to create , I want to think about my projects and I like to meet people one-on-one .
: Why did you decide to establish your foundation Space Trust ?
NS : I have the experience of being in the space industry since 2006 . And I ’ m not somebody who just wants to go to space ; I ’ ve always been interested in astronomy and space as a subject and I have this spirit to make the world a better place . Before Space Trust was founded , I was promoting peace through my art . My company in Monaco has existed since 1998 and I changed the name from A Soul Affair to Namira a few years back as my name is strongly identified as the brand at this stage . I created all my lines , decorative arts and collectibles , under the label of Soul Affair . I was exhibiting them in UNESCO alongside the executive board meeting . I did that in the year 2000 , then I went to the UN in May 2002 , which was postponed from 9 / 11 September
Namira ’ s parents Родители Намиры
2001 . And for that , Prince Albert gave me an exclusive message . In that exhibition , I promoted peace through my art objects which were from different world leaders about different UN issues , including peace . And then , when I joined Virgin Galactic and I had all this experience , I learned about the commercial space industry and how it opens space to all humanity and how when astronauts go to space , they see the earth without political boundaries .
: You had an idea to send world leaders and politicians to space …
NS : That was the idea . Basically I promoted , through events like the 0G Summit , which has become the lead initiative of Space Trust , that space should be the place to have the first peace summit . I had seven or eight governments that came to my second UN event with one sitting head of state , the president of Malta , and they all agreed that , yes , we should make space the place where people make peace and sit and see the world in a different way . There are 17 goals for the United Nations , they ’ re called the sustainable development goals or SDGs . The Prince of Monaco is aligning with the SDGs . We are promoting several SDGs , like innovation , peace and STEM education through the work of Space Trust .
Space Trust has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding ( MOU ) with an American university and a university in Kenya for a project to promote a sustainable STEM based education program ( STEM stands for science , technology , engineering and mathematics and refers to any subjects that fall under these four disciplines . — ). I ’ ve just hired somebody to fundraise to get some grants
© Namira Salim
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