Education
Source: The Himalayan Times
HIMALAYAN NEWS SERVICEKATHMANDU: Two years after scaling the highest mountains in Australia and Russia, the all-women Nepali mountaineer team is all set to climb Mt Kilimanjaro (5,895m), the tallest peak of Africa, with the theme ‘A journey to educate young girls’ from March 1-7 next year.
In a mission to climb the tallest mountains in all seven continents, this will be their fourth expedition.
The Seven Summits expedition team successfully scaled Mt Everest (8,848m in Asia), Mt Kos-ciuszko (2,228m in Australia), Mt Elbrus (5,642m in Europe) in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
Less than 300 people in the world have climbed the seven summits, of them only 51 are women where only two Nepali men have achieved this feat so far.
Shailee Basnet, team coordinator, said they would be highlighting the importance of ‘girl education’ during Mt Kilimanjaro climb ‘Kili for a cause’.
The team has been promoting girls’ education in coordination with various government and non-government organisations since their first expedition. “We have already reached out to 11,000 students in more than 100 schools across the country
to promote education for girls,” she said.
The Nepali team will be joined by three African women to highlight the significance of girl education around the world.
One of the climbers is a dynamic youth activist advocating against early marriage, the other is a teacher from the nearly extinct bushmen tribe called ‘the Hadzabes’ and the third climber is Hlubi Mboya, a popular television actress in Southern Africa who is also the World Food Programme Ambassador against Hunger in South Africa.
According to Basnet, Nepali and Tanzanian climbers will be visiting various schools in Arusha and Dares-Salaam, Tanzania to tell their stories and encourage young students about the importance of education and to achieve their dreams.
The total budget for the Kilimanjaro climb is $50,000 in which 50 per cent will go to charity. Childreach International is setting up online global donation campaign for the event.
The United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) is sponsoring the climb for three African Women. They will also produce a documentary movie featuring the climb.