Women climbers set to scale new heights
ASIAN GROUP TO TAKE UP KILIMANJARO CHALLENGE
A GROUP of all-Asian women from the UK is preparing to climb Mount Kilimanjaro next month.
Rupinder Kaur, 41, Surrey, founder of Asian Women Mean Business (AWMB), will fly in August to Tanzania with 15 other climbers from the UK.
All the women are British south Asian and it is believed to be the first endeavour of its kind.
Kaur, a mother of two, said this adventure was on her bucket list. She previously cancelled the trip twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic travel curbs. Kaur said, “It’s all about choosing faith over fear. “There are many reasons for assembling an exclusively south Asian female group to climb the world’s largest freestanding mountain and sharing our stories. Our foremost motivation for organising the trip is unequivocal: We want to show the world what Asian women are capable of. The Kilimanjaro expedition provides an example of what is possible for others.”
Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest freestanding mountain on the planet. It’s permanently snowcapped summit towers 5,895 metres above sea-level and it is four times higher than Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest mountain.
To prepare for the challenge, the currently inexperienced team undertook climbing training, including spending two days camping and trekking with Surrey Trek & Hire, an overnight Mount Snowdon summit and regular 14-mile hikes across the Chilterns. The hike to Mt Kilimanjaro will take seven days. It is a self-funded trip and costs £7,000 per head, including flights.
Women in the group are aged between 30 and 62 years. They will share their stories in a documentary by Rehmat Rayatt, who won Best Documentary at the Toronto Film Festival for her previous offering Toxification, which told the story of farmers from India’s Punjab.
Rayatt’s latest feature will follow the women’s group from training in the UK through to the climb in Tanzania, while delving into the themes of representation, identity, breaking boundaries, and everyday acts of courage, sharing intimate interviews with the women throughout their journey. Rayatt hopes her documentary will be shown in various film festivals.
It will also highlight Shirikisha, a female founded social enterprise that supports a community impacted by hearing impairment in Tanzania.
Kaur described experiencing criticism about their trip, including being called selfish as “mothers should not leave their children to go trekking”.
This, she said, made her even more determined to do the climb with the group of women who all want to make a difference for the younger generation and to show the Asian community, especially young girls, that Asian women are more than mothers, daughters and wives.
By breaking down barriers, Kaur hopes that women in the community can achieve all their heart desires. She said, “We want to leave a lasting testament on the boundaries that can be broken for our daughters and your children too.
“We want to show the world what Asian women are capable of. The Kilimanjaro expedition provides an example of what is possible for others, that it’s okay to hit pause as Asian women on your parental, family responsibilities, and seek adventure for you. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
To follow the group’s training and updates, see #ClimbKiliWithAWMB on Twitter and support them here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/climbkili-with-awmb