UAE | General
Woman to honour sister by climbing Kilimanjaro
A 33-year-old copywriter plans to conquer the world's fourth-highest peak in memory of her sister, who died from rheumatoid arthritis, and to help other sufferers of the autoimmune disorder.
- Leela Alvares prepares for her hike up Mount Kilimanjaro by scaling UAE's peaks in Ras Al Khaimah
- Image Credit: Supplied Picture
Dubai: A 33-year-old copywriter plans to conquer the world's fourth-highest peak in memory of her sister, who died from rheumatoid arthritis, and to help other sufferers of the autoimmune disorder.
Leela Alvares, originally from India, is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro on February 10 with three other friends under the banner of the Emirates Arthritis Foundation, to raise awareness and money to treat rheumatoid arthritis patients. She has sent an e-mail appeal to her friends seeking donations.
She told Gulf News, climbing the mountain was a way to honour her sister, Preeti Fernandes's, memory, whose death in 2005 from complications related to her arthritis came as a shock.
"I never imagined rheumatoid arthritis was a life-threatening illness. I just thought it affected the joints. I always thought she would get better [when I visited her at the hospital], but she never woke up from her coma," she said.
She said her trek up Africa's highest mountain, standing tall at 5,895m above sea level, would help prevent the same thing happening to two 7-year old children, "Mazhar" from Egypt and "Zaina" from Canada, who have the disorder.
Share this article
Popular in UAE

-
Have your say
Living in untidy homes
Do you think that people who live in untidy homes have bad character?
Latest news
- Diplomacy: Envoys received
- HAAD action against doctor who sold sick leaves
- Napolitano warns against anti-Muslim backlash
- Fog sweeps the UAE
- Emirati students in US set to rise
- No friends of mother Earth
- Tussle on for tertiary students
- Faded parking lines pose a problem
- UAE to announce H1N1 vaccination campaign
- Focus on best methods of crime investigation
- Benefits of pill-sized camera displayed
- Prosecutions need to adopt new technologies
- Big decline in robberies in Dubai
- Ministry to shut down typing centres
- Car stickers to identify new drivers on road
Community Reports
-
Faded parking lines pose a problem
Motorists could be fined for parking incorrectly even though they can hardly see the boundaries in the designated areas
-
School buses block residential parking
Commercial vehicles taking up free parking facilities in Al Wuheida, inconveniencing residents in surrounding villas
-
Community report: Doing their bit for poor children
A group of students takes concrete action to raise funds for Dubai Cares
-
Surprising truth of 'abandoned cars'
An Abu Dhabi resident believes that some mechanics are using parking spaces as rent-free workshops


