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BIG-HEARTED Bahraini Hala Zubari has clawed her way to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro today… all for a furry good cause.
The sportswear designer was wearing her own creations as she conquered Africa’s highest peak in a bid to raise funds and awareness for the Bahrain Rescues animal welfare group.
“I love animals,” said Hala, 27, who lives in Saar and co-founded athlete-wear enterprise Tru Active Bahrain with her triathlete sister, Dana, “and I’ve been working with Bahrain Rescues since January.”
Most of her actions to help the cause has been fairly grounded up to now, hosting fund-raising yoga events and donating the profits from the sale of her lanyard neck chains to the not-for-profit organisation.
“It seemed like this would be a great opportunity to raise further awareness and money for the group which is made up of a few individuals who dedicate their time to rescue animals in need.”
The challenge of scaling the 5,895m mountain came about after Hala heard that her friend Nelly Attar, who lives in Saudi Arabia and champions women’s sporting activities across the causeway, wanted to get a group of women from the region to join her on the trek.
“I met Nelly in passing at both Ironman 70.3 Bahrain 2017 and Dubai 2018 and she’s truly an inspirational woman,” added Hala. “She plays a huge part in the fitness community in Riyadh, is a triathlete, a marathon runner, a mountaineer and even owns and instructs at her studio called Move.
“It’s always been a dream of mine to do a climb like Mount Kilimanjaro and, as I had just come back from a hiking trip at Jabal Akhdar in Oman, this adventure was irresistible.”
She signed up in June and added her ‘Climbing Because I Give a Woof’ campaign shortly after and said before setting off on the adventure: “I can’t wait to wave both the Bahrain and Bahrain Rescues flag high on the mountain,” Hala added.
She is climbing in Africa with a group of 11 women, including Mariz Moheb Doss who is supporting women empowerment in Egypt. Hala said: “I just think that is so amazing and only made me even more excited about the climb.”
They have been undertaking the Machame route which is one of the seven main courses used to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. It is often the route of choice for many seasoned climbers because it offers impressive views and a variety of habitats but has a reputation for being a tough climb.
Climbers face steeper hiking trails, over longer distances, than other routes and can only find refuge in their own carried tents overnight.
Hala had to invest in serious training in preparation for the trek. She said: “I went to the gym four to five times-a-week, doing 90 minutes of isolated strength training and, on the alternating days, 70 minutes of steady cardio on an incline. I also increased the weight of my backpack weekly to replicate the weight it would reach on the climb.
“The Machame route may be higher in difficulty and take more time to complete than other routes to the summit but it has a higher success rate by allowing your body to acclimatise while climbing.”
The climb started on Friday departing from the south-west side of the mountain, trekking for eight hours daily, camping at night, going through Barafu and Stella Point to reach Uhuru peak where they summit today before starting the descent through Mweka.
“Our summit day started from the night and went into the early hours of the morning just in time to see the beautiful sunrise from 5,895m,” she said.
Hala has invested BD2,500 on the trip from her own pocket through Wild Guanabana, a travel adventure company which organised the climb, flights, visa, vaccinations and equipment, food and medicines.
She has also collected around BD750 sponsorship for her charity and hopes more supporters will further back her efforts when she returns home to Bahrain.
“I’m really pleased with the amount that we’ve raised so far but If I could reach BD1,000 that would really be something amazing,” she explained. “At the end of the day, my message is to empower women, encourage them to push themselves out of their comfort zones and bring awareness to a cause that I am passionate about.
“We will be accepting donations for Bahrain Rescues all year around for those who wish to contribute.”
Readers can donate by visiting www.truactive.me and at Meemo Space in A’Ali Shopping Complex. Hala is set to return on November 5.
