Manama: Juwan Abdul Khaleq has become, at 13, the youngest Bahraini girl to reach Everest Base Camp.
The Grade 8 student celebrated the unprecedented feat by holding high the Bahraini flag with the message “I raise you above the clouds”.
Juwan reached the South Base Camp in Nepal at an altitude of 5,364 metres with 21 Gulf women aged between 23 and 47.
The adventurers included 13 from Bahrain, four from Kuwait, three from Saudi Arabia and one from the UAE.
Later they all said they were particularly impressed with the mental and physical endurance that Juwan displayed throughout the adventure to the base camp and back that lasted 12 days.
“She is a very special person and she inspired us in many ways,” Rasha Yousuf, a Bahraini adventure blogger and photographer, said.
“Juwan is fortunate to have such supportive parents and family members. She also received tremendous encouragement from her school and classmates. During her preparations, her mother was with her at every step of the training process, which was filled with a series of formidable challenges to strengthen her mental and physical endurance,” said Rasha who also climbed the Kilimanjaro last year and celebrated the New Year on top of Africa’s highest peak.
Fatima Al Mahmoud, another adventurer, said Juwan, despite her young age, proved fully committed to the strenuous exercises that preceded the adventure without losing focus as a student on her regular school courses and studies.
As per the tight schedule, she had to walk, jog and cycle early in the morning before heading to school and attending her classes.
A few months ago, Juwan had nothing to do with trekking and mountain climbing, but she developed a passion for them when she was exposed to the narrations and anecdotes shared by the Bahraini young women who went to the Kilimanjaro late December.
In February, she told the group that she wanted to be in their next mountain expedition.
“I knew that she could do it,” Fatima, always keen to encourage the adventure spirit in anyone, recalled.
The women in the expedition said they were truly thankful to Mariam for letting her daughter Juwan be with them. “We love you for letting us borrow her and for allowing us to learn so much from her during the past two weeks,” Fatima told Mariam.
Family friend Dayana Al Shaikh hailed Juwan’s achievement, saying it was good for her to look at the world from various perspectives and to have the opportunity to inspire and be inspired by others.
Dayana’s daughter, Layal Yousuf Al Thawadi, a talented high school artist, was so elated with Juwan’s history-making exploit that she drew a sketch of the moment she stretched her arms up with the Bahraini flag at the base camp.
Juwan said she was already looking forward to the next adventure and to ensuring that the white and red banner of Bahrain soared high above the clouds.
