Climbers with a Cause: Wafa Alkhayal and #Kilimanjaro4Mawaddah

By Mona Shahab

Wafa Alkhayal, a Breast & Endocrine Surgeon is another inspirational person to take part in the challenging climb to kilimanjaro. She says that this experience and journey grounded her and that helped her to re-align her life back to what it should be!

What do you do when you're not climbing mountains?

I am a surgeon

What made you decide to join this climb?

It’s really simple you turn 40 and say “I need to climb a mountain so you go and climb a mountain!”

Are you a beginner or advanced climber?

I am not only a beginner, I have never slept in a tent!!

What was the experience like for you? What's the most memorable part of the climb? And likewise, what was the hardest?

I walk around and tell everyone “Hey go climb a mountain!”

The experience and the journey grounded me and I needed that! The disconnect from technology and just enjoying nature and having conversations with people re-aligns your life back to what it should be!

Memorable part: Toilet breaks (LOL!). Seriously though the dancing and singing with the crew!

The hardest was summit push! The reason wasn’t that it was physically hard..It was the altitude symptoms towards the end and mentally trying to overcome it.

Are there any lessons you learned on the mountain?

Be grounded
You don’t need to be on social media all the time
Appreciate people around you
Teamwork leads to success
You can go a week without showering
Toilets are overrated

What advice would you give to people who are not super fit or haven't been active but would like to be?

I would say start slow and go to the gym.
Surround yourself with like-minded people.
Exercise is better than Prozac and will lift your mood up instantly!

About the Empowerment HubAbout MawadahHow to donate

The Empowerment Hub’s mission is to revolutionize what women feed their minds and bodies. They aim to strengthen women’s health and fitness awareness in the Kingdom by creating active, social, and educational events. All proceeds goes to different non-profit organizations and charities in the Saudi…Fitness4aCause!

Website: The Empowerment Hub

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Mawaddah Women Charity based in Saudi Arabia, work closely with children of divorcees, and have taken it upon them to create a safety haven for children of divorcees. Not too long ago, visiting hours took place at police stations. Today, Mawaddah is the legal hub for visits. “Beit Mawaddah” aka “Mawaddah Home” is a safety haven where visiting hours take place; drop offs, pick-ups and more. It’s every child’s right to feel safe with their parent/caregiver, and it’s every parent’s right to know that their child is safe during their absence.

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