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I
t was no small feat. None of the five
Lebanese men is a professional athlete.
But little could deter Mouhammed
Choukeir,
Salim Al Halabi ‘00
, Hani Al
Omari, Kheiry Sammakieh, and Seif Sam-
makieh from climbing to the peak of the
majestic and ice-capped summit of Kili-
manjaro.
There is, however, an impetus for going
through the grueling hike: money. Not
for them but for 30 impoverished schools in rural
Lebanon desperately in need of rehabilitation.
And so calling themselves the Kili4Lebanon
team, the men set out to climb almost 6,000 meters
to reach the top of the highest African mountain.
“It is up to people like us,” said Kheiry Sammak-
ieh (through an email interview). “members of the
Diaspora to partner up with people in Lebanon, to
seize the opportunity to do so.”
And do so, they did. The men, all bankers by profession,
managed to raise over $320,000. One of their sponsors was
none other than IC.
As a sign of gratitude, the men raised the Lebanese and IC
flags at the summit of the mountain.
Two years earlier, climbing a mountain – least of all Kiliman-
jaro – wasn’t on any of the men’s minds. Work and social life in
London kept the 20-something men busy. But the fateful sum-
mer of 2006 interfered.
A few young people, residing in London, decided to start
their own initiative to help Lebanon and called themselves
Lebanon United. Before long, they were holding many success-
ful fundraising events.
Meanwhile, International Medical Corps (IMC) had devel-
oped a project in cooperation with UNICEF to rehabilitate 30
schools across Lebanon and retrain their teachers as part of
a $3.2 million dollar project. IMC, however, fell short of the
needed funds and turned to Lebanon United for assistance. If
the group can raise the needed $400,000, UNICEF will secure
the rest of the amount.
The five young men had been discussing the possibility of
climbing Kilimanjaro and, spurred by IMC’s request, decided to
go for it.
This would be the great-
est and indeed most chal-
lenging feat of all. It meant
walking through rainfor-
est, heath, moorland,
alpine desert and freezing
glaciers, enduring different
temperatures and coping
with 50 percent drop in
oxygen levels at the summit.
Undaunted, the men began the climb on Sept 19th. But noth-
ing, not even the ravens and buzzards overhead hoping to feast
on dead climbers, was worse than gasping for breath as they
climbed higher and higher.
“This made it very difficult to sleep, sometimes we averaged
only 3-4 hours per night,” writes Hani Al Omari via email. “The
simplest tasks such as climbing in and out of our tents, packing
and unpacking our equipment or even getting changed, proved
to be monumental tasks that would have us all panting by the
end of it.”
By the third day, the men were all showing signs of altitude
sickness - a constant throbbing headache, nausea, or both.
Still they continued and somehow managed at one point dur-
ing those six arduous days to do a little dabkeh dance.
Now, back in London the group is already planning for yet
more projects. “Kilimanjaro was one of the hardest physical
and mental challenges we have ever done,” said Mouhammed
Choukeir, “And now our commitment to helping Lebanon is
stronger than ever.”
For more info about the climb and contributions, go to: http://
www.kili4lebanon.com/
The
Kilimanjaro
Challenge
IC Reaches Out