ROTA Ambassador becomes first Qatari to reach South Pole

Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani became the first Qatari to reach the South Pole, where he hoisted a flag to commemorate National Day.

Sheikh Mohammed had earlier led the first group of Qatari climbers to Mount Everest to raise Qatar's flag.

As part of a two-week excursion entitled 'Ski the last degree to the South Pole, bottom of the world', he skied from the 89th degree to the 90th, travelling about 60 nautical miles across windswept terrain and below-freezing temperatures to Geographical South Pole.

"I am proud to be the first Qatari to raise the flag of Qatar on the South Pole. Very few people have been privileged to visit the South Pole.

"This milestone, I hope, will continue to inspire young people in Qatar as we celebrate our National Day," he said.

As a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), ROTA contributes greatly towards QF's mission to unlock human potential. Its approach to achieving this is through skills development and using its sport-based educational programmes as tools to rehabilitate children and youth suffering due to wars, political disturbances and natural disasters.

And this is the core of Sheikh Mohammed's visit — advocacy for education.

Essa Al Manaai, ROTA Executive Director, congratulated him and said, "ROTA extends its gratitude to our Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, who became the first Qatari to raise the flag of Qatar on the South Pole.

"He is also the first Qatari to raise the flag on Mount Everest. I congratulate not only him but also Qatar's extraordinary youth who continue to inspire us as leaders in the community."