RAMY SALAMA

DOHA TWO Qatari nationals have volunteered to climb Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, as part of a campaign to draw attention to a famine which threatens to affect 10-15 million people in West Africa. This is the first time Qatari volunteers are undertaking an expedition to Kilimanjaro for a humanitarian cause.

“The expedition aims to focus attention on the suffering of millions due to a lack of food in West Africa so that everyone works to reduce the expected humanitarian consequences as soon as possible.

Other goals of this campaign are to attract Qatari youth to voluntary work and to promote innovative humanitarian awareness initiatives,” said Director of Social Responsibility Department of Qatar Charity (QC) Ahmed al Mulla at a press conference to formally announce the start of the campaign.

The two young volunteers, Fahad Mohamed Salem al Buainein and Talal Abdulaziz Abdulrahman Kamal al Emadi, were present at the press conference to outline the objectives of their mission and answer questions about their expedition. They announced that they were to commence the climb this Friday (March 16). The ascent is expected to take about a week during which they will cover 81 kilometres, climbing for between 5 and 8 hours a day.

“I visited schools in Niger, which were built of hay and which need to be rebuilt after every rainy season. The schools don’t have electricity or chairs, and often lack even reading and writing materials,” al Buainein recounted, describing the conditions he witnessed during a recent visit to Niger. A documentary is to be filmed during the expedition, which will also aim to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in West Africa.

“Barwa Bank is fully committed to supporting humanitarian causes and improving the lives of those who are less fortunate. With the severe lack of food, medicine, drinking water and other essentials of life in Niger and other West African countries, there is grave humanitarian crisis on hand which deserves global attention,” stated Khaled al Ahbabi, Barwa Bank’s head of Corporate Banking. Barwa is sponsoring the expedition with QR 98,000.

The campaign called ‘Challenge for Life’ is one facet of QC’s work in West Africa.

Through their office in Niger, QC is in the process of establishing income-generating sustainable development projects, which are especially focused on poor families, widows and farming cooperatives.

Many of the areas in which QC works are not served by any other humanitarian organisation.