member team comprising entirely of amateurs, recently scaled Mount Kilimanjaro to raise funds for the Palestine Children Relief FundReem Shaath and Dalia Alireza hoist the Saudi flag and a picture of King Abdullah after reaching Kilimanjaro's summit. (Courtesy photo)TWO young Saudi women, Reem Shaath and Dalia Alireza, paid a tribute to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah, when they raised the Saudi flag over Africa's highest peak at Kilimanjaro and hoisted his picture at the conclusion of an expedition seeking to raise funds for Palestinian children. Both women said that the expedition was also a tribute to what King Abdullah has done for young people in Saudi Arabia and in the Middle East, to secure a better future for all. Last week a team of 12 individuals from the Middle East and the US set off on a fund-raising mission to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in the African continent and the highest free-standing mountain in the world. The team's aim was to raise money in support of the Palestine Children Relief Fund (PCRF), an organization dedicated to bringing medical care and treatment to underprivileged Palestinian children as well as other children in the Middle East. The team had reached their pledge goal of $500,000 before the climb and was highly motivated to reach the summit. The money raised will provide for the treatment and care of 2,500 to 3,000 children. The task at hand was not easy, especially since team members were inexperienced climbers, which made their achievement all the more remarkable. The team comprised of eight men and four women between the age of fourteen to forty nine. After enduring five exhausting, long days of trekking and short, cold, sleepless nights, the team finally made it to the last camp before the summit, Camp Barafu at 4,600 meters above sea level. The final push to the summit began around midnight and eight hours later, on Feb. 23, team members were hugging each other under the sign on Africa's highest peak at 5,895 meters. Mission accomplished and half a million dollars of medical aid was secured for the children. The inspired amateur climbers attributed their resilience and success to the righteousness of their cause and the images of the thousands of young Palestinian and Arab children whose lives will benefit, and change from the medical aid the proceeds of the trip will generate. Team members included Fouad Dajani, Reem Shaath, Toufic Farah, Samer Sarraf, Hesham El Farouki, Stephen Sosebee, Deema Sosebee, Ali Alireza, Salma Dajani, Dalia Alireza, and Husein Alireza.
