Text 3231, 101 rader
Skriven 2006-09-21 23:31:10 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0609212) for Thu, 2006 Sep 21
====================================================

===========================================================================
Mrs. Bush's Remarks at the Launch of a Website on Pakistani Culture
===========================================================================

For Immediate Release
Office of the First Lady
September 21, 2006

Mrs. Bush's Remarks at the Launch of a Website on Pakistani Culture
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, D.C.



10:37 A.M. EDT

MRS. BUSH: Thank you, Michael. Michael is doing a terrific job -- you may
not know this -- of taking the Kennedy Center worldwide. He has online
chats with arts organizations all around the world, giving them the
experiences and the expertise that he has here at the Kennedy Center. And
it's such a really wonderful way for the United States to promote
friendships with countries around the world.

And I'm so happy today to be here with Mrs. Musharraf to try to work to
make sure the people of Pakistan and the people of the United States have a
chance to get to understand each other and like each other.

Darrell Ayers is here, the Vice President for Education of the John F.
Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, and I especially want to recognize Mr.
Naeem Tahir, the Chief Executive Director of the Pakistan National Council
of the Arts.

Students and teachers from Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Thomas Jefferson
School of Science and Technology, and Archbishop Carroll High School, thank
you all very much for joining us today.

And then in the crowd are very -- many ministers and distinguished guests
from Pakistan and from the United States, and I want to welcome you, as
well.

Thank you all for coming to help launch the "Gifts of the Indus: The Arts
and Culture of Pakistan." I'm so delighted to be here with the First Lady
of Pakistan, Mrs. Sehba Musharraf. Mrs. Musharraf cares deeply about
education. In fact, she's devoted her career to education by being a
teacher and a school principal. As First Lady, she's worked to improve
education in Pakistan, and also the health of the people of Pakistan.

Mrs. Musharraf was with me Monday in New York at a White House Conference
on Global Literacy. At the conference, we heard from panelists around the
world talking about literacy programs in their countries. We heard from a
Family Literacy Project in South Africa that teaches mothers to read so
they can pass their literacy skills onto their children. We heard about
Learning for Life, teachers in Afghanistan who teach women to read so that
they can keep themselves and their families healthy. And we heard from a
group from Brazil, AlfaSol, which teaches young people to read so they have
the chance of getting good jobs.

Each of these programs show how investing in education helps governments
fulfill their basic obligations to their citizens, improving opportunities
for children and families, strengthening economies, and keeping their
citizens in good health.

Investing in education is also vital for diplomacy, because, as with
Pakistan and the United States, friendships and alliances are often built
on a shared love for learning. Our countries are allied in the efforts to
secure peace, and Pakistan and America also cooperate to advance knowledge
in fields like energy, technology, and science.

Today, our countries are working together to increase our understanding of
arts and cultures. One of the best ways the people of Pakistan and the
United States can deepen our friendship is for the people of our countries
to deepen their knowledge of each other's culture. Pakistan has a
fascinating culture, dating back thousands of years. President Bush and I
were privileged to enjoy some of Pakistan's artistic offerings on our trip
there earlier this year. And that's when I came home and called Michael
Kaiser and said, let's see if we can't let Americans know about the
wonderful arts and culture of Pakistan.

So today, through the "Gifts of the Indus" website, millions of people
around the world, especially students, can discover Pakistan's rich
cultural heritage. As part of this partnership between the Kennedy Center
and the Pakistan National Council on the Arts, visitors to the website can
learn about Pakistani culture from a variety of teaching resources. These
include a broad collection of videos about the people of Pakistan, their
daily family life, and the diversity of Pakistan's arts -- from painting to
calligraphy to miniatures to sculpture to poetry.

Thank you to the Kennedy Center and to the Pakistan National Council of the
Arts for developing this initiative, and for your dedication to arts
education. And thank you, Mrs. Musharraf for your commitment to
strengthening our countries' friendships through art and culture.

Thank you all very much.

END 10:42 A.M. EDT
===========================================================================
Return to this article at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060921-2.html

 * Origin: (1:3634/12)