IN a distinguished achievement, Thuraya Batterjee, an alumna of Dar Al-Hekma University, bagged the prize for "exceptional contributions to education" category at the Raiah Awards organized by King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC) in collaboration with the university.

Raiah is awarded to a young woman who, at an early age, had a significant positive impact on her family or society in any of the award's categories: Education; Creativity and Innovation; and Community Service.

Thuraya was selected as the winner in the Education category for taking the initiative of "Kadi & Ramadi” project, a publishing house that specializes in producing children's books, to spread the love of reading among children and to educate both children and their parents through entertainment, particularly through amusing interactive reading workshops and stage performances.

Commenting on this achievement by one of her distinguished students, Dr. Suhair Al-Qurashi, president of Dar Al-Hekma, said: "We always take great pride in the achievements and successes of our alumnae, who reflect Dar Al-Hekma University's values and help create our legacy. Thuraya Batterjee has shown a commitment to society and deserves to be the winner of the Education Award. She really strove hard to foster children's love of learning and make reading enjoyable.”

She added: "Today, Thuraya Batterjee wins this award as a recent graduate of Dar Al-Hekma University and we could not be more proud of her accomplishments."

Thuraya started her career in 2002 as a freelance children's books illustrator and she did the artwork of 12 books. She was also part of the founding team of Al-Zomar, an NGO initiative to promote reading for children. Finally, in 2005 she founded the Kadi & Ramadi (K&R) publishing house, which is one of the very few specialized children's books publishing houses in Saudi Arabia.