Dubai: When Nani Saleh decided some 30 years ago to establish a school for mentally challenged children in Egypt, including her two daughters, she was not expecting her son to grow up and spread the effort far and wide.
Omar Samara is now organising a trip to climb Kilimanjaro, the second trip he plans in the span of one year. The funds raised will be used to support the "Right to Live Association", the NGO his mother set up to improve the lives of intellectually challenged children in Egypt.
"Because I have two sisters with intellectual disability, I always felt I am very close to the cause. And throughout my life, I volunteered to work with the Association," Samara told Gulf News. Funds raised through the climbing trip, scheduled for next September, will support the association's efforts to educate the pupils so they can learn a profession.
Packing is one of the skills taught at the association, Samara said. "There were case studies that [children with Down's syndrome] are better than normal people in packing, because they don't feel tired or bored from a repeated action."
The funds will also be used to upgrade the school's boarding section for mentally challenged children and elderly people whose families cannot give the care they need.
The story of the association dates back to the 1970s when Nani Saleh gave birth to an intellectually challenged baby girl. In the absence of facilities that can give the medical and social care Rania needed, the mother travelled with her to England to enrol her in a school there.
Home country
Five years later, Nani gave birth to another girl, Yasmin, who had the same disability. It was then that Nani decided to take her daughters back to their home country and set up a place to serve similar people.
Nani, already a prominent figure in the field of children with special needs, established the Right to Live Association in 1981 with the help of a colleague.
At that time, people's awareness about intellectual disabilities was limited, Samara said. Though things have since improved, he strongly believes that these members of society do not receive sufficient attention, and there is a need to help them.
Out of that conviction, Samara organised a climbing trip to Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, in September. It was organised by his travel company ‘Wild Guanabana', which he established in Dubai in 2009.
Important climb
It offers individual journeys, adventures and educational trips. So far, the company has organised more than 20 trips to countries including Nepal and Turkey to Peru, Argentina and Costa Rica.
The target amount for last year's climbing trip was $3,500 (Dh12,845). This had to be raised by each of the 26 participants either by raising money from friends and colleagues, or holding parties, or auctioning off their belongings.
The result was encouraging as they collected almost $150,000. The climbers also got the chance to visit the Association in Cairo and spend time with its members and students. Apart from Egypt, participants were from Lebanon, US and Nepal.
"Small associations don't have the ability and capacity to market their own work. So these climbing campaigns are important for us," Samara noted.
Samara wanted to repeat the experience, especially after the January 25 revolution, which has not only affected businesses in Egypt, but also the level of aid and donations presented to NGOs.
Samara has not succeeded in getting sponsorship for this year's forthcoming trip. The participants are now trying to raise funds on their own.
So far, 13 people have registered for the campaign, and they are from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, US and South Africa.
The participants are either seeking adventure or are motivated by the cause.
South African Carla Duarte, 39, is joining the climbing trip because it fulfils one of her dreams.
"I always wanted to climb Kilimanjaro and I tried to do something to raise money for a charity, so I found this charity and I am joining them," she told Gulf News.
"All my holidays, if you want to call it this way, are always done to raise money for charity. I have worked at orphanages and I done a lot of volunteering… because I get what I want out of it and I am helping a good cause," Carla added.
Many years back, climbing to raise funds or volunteering to help sick or needy people abroad was not a common thing to do among Arabs. However, the concept is spreading, the South African marketing and communications specialist said.
"It is definitely increasing. A few years ago I couldn't find anything to participate in, and now there are so many organisations. Generally, the society, the people are so active whether it is volunteering or raising money."
Uphill task
Omar Samara leads the Right To Climb journey. He believes such fund-raising trips are important as small associations don't have the ability to market themselves.