Saturday 27 / April / 2024
Muscat: Residents of Oman who have a thirst for adventure and want to raise funds for cancer awareness have been invited to join the Oman Cancer Association’s expeditions to Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Everest next year.
While anyone is welcome to register for the expedition, only those who are deemed capable of scaling these mountains after they have completed a series of challenging and gruelling conditioning exercises will be hand-picked to represent the OCA.
Although the final list of volunteers will need to find sponsors to support them and raise funds for this expedition, the Oman Cancer Association will write to them on behalf of each and every volunteer, and help them raise funds towards this worthy cause.
“We here at the association work on cancer prevention and control and the major and pressing way of dealing with our needs and principles is exercise, one of the things that is crucial for cancer prevention” said Dr Wahid Al Kharusi, OCA president. “Last year, we decided that in the next five years, we would focus on promoting exercise that would help prevent cancer.
“The idea is to join and register with the association and do the exercises,” he added. “If they pass the test, they will be selected to first go to Kilimanjaro and then the base station at Mount Everest,” added Al Kharusi.
“There is a need to also raise money through sponsorship for this trip, and any excess money that is raised will be donated to the OCA.
“Oman Cancer Association is very particular and sensitive in making sure that the number one priority in any event is safety,” he emphasised. “We will not support any activity where safety standards are compromised. There is a company that has got equipment and is sending people to climbs all over the world, so that is why we went with them.”
The 11-day trek to Kilimanjaro will be organised next July, with the 13-day climb to the Everest Base Camp scheduled for next April. To prepare for the challenges climbers would face on this expedition, Nasser Al Azri, secretary general of the OCA, himself went to Kilimanjaro last year.
“We did the project of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro last year, and raised funds for cancer awareness, and the emotion that people got from reaching the peak, just for the good cause of curing cancer, gave them such a positive feeling, so we decided to continue this project,” he explained. “We are first targeting cancer survivors, because they are always so positive.
“When cancer patients take a decision to trek up and down Mount Kilimanjaro, despite all the problems that they have and all of the dangers that they face, they are showing society that cancer is an illness that can be overcome, and that people can prevent themselves from cancer taking over their lives, through fitness, and that is what this is about,” said Al Azri.
“Last year, only I went for this trek, because it was new to the association as a project, because you are sure to have people who are going to doubt the safety of these projects,” he added. “I went with another group, and it was not easy, but it is definitely doable. We are looking to register a minimum of 20 people. Such climbs help unite the group that you are travelling with, and I would stress the importance of nutrition, because it is the most important factor of building a healthy lifestyle.”
Overseeing the training exercises will be Muneer Al Azri, a fitness coach and founder of Nourish Kitchen, which places an emphasis on healthy diet and proper exercise.
“A lot of the terrain here is uneven so the exercises we will be taking place on the uneven surfaces of the beach and the dunes,” he explained. “We will also be asking people to walk in ice baths, just so that they get used to the temperature.”
