Images courtesy of Rawan Dakik
Rawan on Everest
E
dmund Hillary once said: “Life’s a bit like mountaineering, never look down.” It’s a slice of worldly wisdom that’s a good lesson to us all to keep striving for our goals, but what if you are Rawan Dakik and you have climbed to the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point in the world, by the age of 20. Where’s up from there? Both Dakik and Hillary will be forever in the Everest record books. While New Zealand mountaineer Hillary was the first – along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay – confirmed to have reached the summit, Dakik, who was born in Arusha to Lebanese parents, is the first Tanzanian woman and the youngest ever African to get to the top.
Tourism ambassador Rawan reached the summit on May 22 and since news broke of her accomplishment across the world’s media, she has become something of a superstar in Tanzania. Crowds greeted her arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport from Nepal and among the welcome party was Wilfred Moshi – the first Tanzanian to summit Everest – and the government’s deputy minister for tourism Mary Masanja. The following month the ministry named Rawan as a tourism ambassador for Tanzania. It’s a role she is delighted to take on, sharing the natural wonders of a country,
which she describes as “like heaven”, to her global followers. For all the adulation and attention in the outside world, Rawan cuts a calm, composed figure when I video link with her at the family home in Arusha. She describes home as her “safe area” and is very close to her extended family, who have supported her mountaineering journey from the start. “They are a motivation to me,” she says. “They were the only ones I kept in contact with on Everest and they helped push me through. They have always pushed me to be my best.” When we speak, Rawan has just returned from a gym session, having restarted her training regime a couple of weeks ago. The focus has been on rebuilding her strength. An Everest ascent, she tells me, is incredibly demanding on the body. The days of
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