Saudi, Kuwaiti Women, Haya Al-Samari And Fai Al-Omran, Embark On Quest Of A Powerhouse In The World Of Adventure
New Age Islam
News Bureau
11 July 2023
• Saudi, Kuwaiti Women, Haya Al-Samari
And Fai Al-Omran, Embark On Quest Of A Powerhouse In The World Of Adventure
• Benazir Bhutto, Malala Yousafzai Rank
Among 'Most Influential Women'
• Salma Bougarrani and Others Creating
Green Jobs In Arab Countries
• The Story Behind the Iranian Women's
Clothing Exhibit in Geneva
• Arabian Business Arab Women Awards
2023 Takes Place This September
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/saudi-kuwaiti-samari-omran-adventure/d/130189
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Saudi, Kuwaiti Women, Haya Al-Samari And
Fai Al-Omran, Embark On Quest Of A Powerhouse In The World Of Adventure
Haya
Al-Samari
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July 10, 2023
JEDDAH: Saudi Haya Al-Samari and Kuwaiti
Fai Al-Omran are long-time friends who believe their once-in-a-lifetime
adventure hiking the Pacific Crest Trail will inspire others and play a
critical role in establishing Arab women as a leading powerhouse in the world
of adventure.
Well known in the Gulf region for their
enthusiasm for activities like running, freediving, surfing, skydiving, hiking
and camping, the two women are now taking on the PCT, one of the world’s
longest thru-hikes spanning the west coast of the US from the Mexican to
Canadian borders.
The hike will take five to six months to
complete and will cover 4,265 km, 26 national forests, seven national parks, five
state parks and 33 federally mandated wildernesses. They are aiming to finish
the PCT by the end of September or in the beginning of October by averaging 32
km per day.
Going from Mexico to Canada through the
states of California, Oregon and Washington, the Pacific Crest Trail is
regarded as the second-longest of the Triple Crown long trails. In search of a
challenge, adventurous hikers travel the high route via the Sierra Nevada and
Cascade ranges, passing through some of the most picturesque and diverse
landscapes in the US, from scorching deserts to snowy mountains.
Like many others, Al-Samari and Al-Omran
began their adventure at the Campo Trail near the US-Mexico border, on the
first of April.
The duo are documenting their hike on
their social media platforms including Instagram, where Al-Samari,
@mykindoffridays, has more than 63,000 followers and Al-Omran, @laughwithfai,
has over 11,000. They share details of their life on the trail, creating
content about everything, from how they sleep to what they eat, and the
surprises and beautiful scenes of nature along the way.
The female hikers said that they had
received “loads of encouragement” from friends and family before they set off.
While the two are on the adventure of a
lifetime, it is not their first trip together as they have undertaken various
long journeys over the past seven years.
Speaking about the origins of their PCT
quest, Al-Samari said: “Fai is a great travel partner; she’s always up for an
adventure. I was dreaming of doing the Pacific Crest Trail for almost 10 years
now, but never had a timeline for it. One day Fai and I talked about it and
realized we both share this crazy dream.
“So when things got serious from my end,
I threw the idea and Fai was more than ready to receive it … travel, for me,
means adventure.”
Al-Samari and Al-Omran told Arab News
that when they reached Mount Shasta and Mount Etna in California they wanted to
go on the next adventure.
Al-Samari, who loves extreme adventures
said: “I’ve been hiking for more than 10 years now. I love hiking and trail
running. I love challenging my physical body surrounded by nature, feeling the
freedom on my skin. Sports and nature are my life, my passion and my form of
stress relief.”
Speaking about the trail, she added:
“I’ve been through some rough situations that required extreme mental and
physical grit to get through. But what really sets the Pacific Crest Trail
apart is that it’s a long-term project that requires a complete mindset shift.
“It’s not a quick adventure that lasts a
day or two. It’s a journey that lasts weeks and weeks on end. Nothing even
comes close to the extreme nature of this adventure.”
Meanwhile, Al-Omran, who calls herself a
lover of the sea and a child of the desert, told Arab News that she had many
adventures in the past but this is her first thru-hike: “I’ve always had a love
for the outdoors, from being in the sea to camping in the desert, to hiking
through forests. Each adventure has its charm and connecting with nature has
always been a big part of my life.
“Despite all the challenges, the Pacific
Crest Trail has always been an adventure that I aspired to go on one day. For
me, going on a thru-hike is just taking my hobby to the next level.”
Before setting out on the trail, the two
spent countless hours meticulously preparing. They agonized over what gear to
bring and pored over route descriptions and reports from other hikers.
On what it took to prepare themselves,
Al-Omran said: “Research. Lots of research and listening to others’
experiences. And going into the trip with a sense of surrender to mother
nature. Whatever happens, on the physical side, I tried be more active and
prepare my body for what is to come.”
The 33-year-old Al-Samari added: “I’m an
avid runner. Having a couple of marathons and ultras under my belt gave me the
confidence of knowing that my legs could carry me over long distances. Leading
up to the hike, I adjusted my strength program to focus on my core and back
muscles so that it would be easier for me to handle the weight of my backpack.”
Unfortunately, the UC Berkeley Central
Sierra Snow Lab reported that it is the second snowiest season since 1946. Many
of the trail’s sections have been closed due to dangerous and hazardous
conditions.
The two friends had to wait until the
snow melted to continue their hike. “This year, the weather has been a number
one challenge. It’s a big snow year and a big part of our journey is managing
how to continue on, stay safe and enjoy our trek,” said Al-Omran.
Asked what part of the trail she was
most looking forward to, Al-Samari picked the Sierra Nevada section, which
spans a little over 628 km and has total elevation gain of 57,888 feet. It is
one of the highlights and the most magnificent sections of the trail.
“Some people can’t handle the altitude.
I hope that not the case with our bodies. It’s the most remote, the highest
altitude, the most snow, the most rivers, bears, etc. I know I’ll be the
happiest, most proud and breath-taken after going through the Sierras,” she
added.
However, the 28-year-old Al-Omran picked
another region: “Every part is exciting to get to because of how diverse the
trail is. But if I had to choose, it would be the high desert right before
Sierra. Because it’s a terrain that I have never seen and gone through before.”
As they are gearing up to continue their
long adventure with more than 1,600 kilometers left, both Arab women believe
that their journey is not just about having epic adventures, but also about
inspiring others to leave their comfort zones and learn more about themselves
and the world.
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2335471/saudi-arabia
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Benazir Bhutto, Malala Yousafzai Rank
Among 'Most Influential Women'
Benazir
Bhutto, Malala Yousafzai
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July 10, 2023
Pakistan's former prime minister,
Benazir Bhutto, and human rights activist Malala Yousafzai have recently been
featured in a list of the "most influential women in the world".
The recently-published list in Marie
Claire, a renowned French magazine, features 60 women dating back to 1775 who,
according to the publication, are "the kind of inspirational, powerful
heroes who shook up the world as we know it."
The 60 women on the list range from
women's rights activists and pioneers of racial equality to inventors,
scientists, actors and world leaders.
Succinctly expressing the achievements
of the former PPP leader, the website wrote: "Bhutto became the first
woman prime minister of Pakistan in 1988. After a military coup overthrew her
father's government, she inherited the leadership of the Pakistan People's
Party.
"She pushed for open elections, and
won, just three months after giving birth."
Moreover, describing Malala's
achievements, it added: "Yousafzai survived a gunshot wound to the face by
the Taliban, and has since become a spokesperson for human rights, education,
and women's rights. In 2014, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize."
Pakistan has time and again proved
itself in several fields, producing doctors, scientists, and scholars of
international renown, but very few women are considered among these ranks.
However, as society slowly but surely
progresses two women have come to the forefront. Hopefully, more will join
soon.
The list in the illustrious women's
magazine includes some of the world's most phenomenal women, who not only made
their mark on the world and in their societies but were torchbearers in the
struggle for women's empowerment across the globe.
Some women mentioned in the list include
Oprah Winfrey, Meryl Streep, Gloria Steinem, Jane Austen, Maya Angelou, Queen
Elizabeth II and Indira Gandhi.
Source: thenews.com.pk
https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1089088-shook-up-the-world
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Salma Bougarraniand Others Creating
Green Jobs In Arab Countries
July 11, 2023
BEIRUT – As the co-founder and CEO of a
green tech company based in Morocco, Salma Bougarrani said she often finds
herself the only woman in the room.
“This isn’t very encouraging. You feel
like you’re an extraterrestrial,” said Ms. Bougarrani, 34, whose GREEN WATECH
company specializes in using energy efficient techniques to cleanse wastewater
as worsening droughts deplete supplies.
Of the 20 firms selected by a business
incubator in the North African country last year, Ms. Bougarrani said hers was
the only one led by a woman, reflecting women’s limited participation in the
job market – especially in leadership roles.
Only 19% of women in Arab countries are
part of the labour force – the world’s lowest rate and far below the global
average of 48%, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
In green jobs, that figure appears to be
even lower.
ILO projections suggest that of the
400,000 jobs that could be created for Arab youth as a result of green policy
measures less than 10% would be occupied by women, “reflecting the persistent
gender inequalities that hamper the region’s progress”, the report said.
Arab women entrepreneurs say gender bias
also makes it harder for them to attract investment from regional investors.
In the first nine months of 2022,
women-founded businesses in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) received just
2% of the $2.4 billion in investment channelled into nearly 500 startups,
according to a report by Wamda, which advises and invests in regional startups.
More than half of 125 female founders
surveyed by Wamda said investors based in the MENA region were less likely to
invest in women-led startups compared with international investors.
Almost 66% of the founders said securing
investment was the biggest obstacle they faced.
“When you get bigger you have to raise
money,” Ms. Bougarrani said, adding that women entrepreneurs are more likely to
be rejected when they approach potential investors for financing.
“They think women have more …
responsibilities: she will have to take care of children so she won’t be
available for work. So, they will prefer … to invest in men,” she told the
Thomson Reuters Foundation in a phone interview.
Gender Discrimination
Gender bias can make it harder to find
clients, too, said BasimaAbdulrahman, 37, founder and CEO of KESK, which calls
itself the “first Iraqi Greentech company”.
Frustrated that her professional life
was not focused on fighting climate change, Ms. Abdulrahman quit her job as a
structural engineer with the United Nations and launched KESK.
The company provides solar-powered air
conditioning units. They also provide engineering services and equip Iraqi
business with solar energy systems.
Despite growing demand for such
equipment in a country with strong solar power potential, Ms. Abdulrahman said
it had taken her nine months to land her first client.
Convincing buyers, and investors, is a
constant battle, she said.
“When I go into a meeting and I know
there’s a 99% chance that they’ll say ‘no’ and a 1% chance they’ll say ‘yes’,
I’m going to focus on how to convert that 1% to a 100%,” she said.
Besides changing traditional ideas about
women’s role, numerous practical hurdles must be overcome for women to have a
bigger presence in the labour market – from adequate childcare to parental
leave, said feminist researcher Farah Daibes.
A commitment to a more equitable distribution
of senior positions among men and women should also include “committing to
ending all forms of discrimination and harassment in the work place”, said Ms.
Daibes, who works at Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a German political foundation.
MOROCCAN DROUGHT
Ms. Bougarrani’s business plan started
off as a childhood dream: she wanted to safely swim in the river that ran
through her grandfather’s village of Ait Bouguemez in the Atlas Mountains south
of Marrakech.
Growing up, many of the kids around her
would get sick with fever and diarrhea after mistakenly drinking while swimming
in the waterway.
As climate change fuels more frequent
and severe droughts around the world, the low-tech water treatment approach
used by GREEN WATECH is helping villagers make better use of limited supplies –
for household use, and agriculture.
Last year, the worst drought in decades
left Moroccan farmers facing what one industry official dubbed a “catastrophic
year” as rainfall was 64% below average, emptying reservoirs that were already
depleted.
Since its launch in 2018, GREEN WATECH
has installed water treatment systems in 22 Moroccan villages, including Ms.
Bougarrani’s grandfather’s.
“The idea was really to listen to the
needs of this population and not to import something just to import it,” Ms.
Bougarrani said.
Though most of the company’s work is
done in the countryside where traditional gender roles tend to be more
entrenched, over half of its employees are women – including all of the
engineers, Ms. Bougarrani said.
“For women it’s natural to think about
the next generation, and this is what we’re doing very well,” she said. –
Reuters
Source: bworldonline.com
https://www.bworldonline.com/world/2023/07/11/533460/meet-the-women-pioneers-creating-green-jobs-in-arab-countries/
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The Story Behind the Iranian Women's
Clothing Exhibit in Geneva
JULY 10, 2023
An Iranian women's clothing design
exhibition in Geneva last week showcased headless mannequins fully covered from
head to toe with clothes that exaggeratedly incorporated Islamic features.
The three-days exhibition, held in the
United Nations’ headquarters in the Swiss city, mirrored the Islamic Republic's
view of women and their social presence in the country.
The event, named A Thousand Stories of
Iranian Clothing, was organized by the Ministry of Culture and Guidance of the
Islamic Republic, in collaboration with the Iranian permanent representative in
Geneva, the vice president for Women and Family Affairs, and the General
Department of Women and Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
There was no information about the
designers behind the creations exhibited.
Coercion and Threats
In mid-March, the Ministry of Culture
and Guidance invited a group of Iranian clothing designers to attend a meeting
during which they were urged to participate in the event.
"Our primary sales channels in Iran
are through social media platforms such as Instagram and various websites.
During the meeting, we were informed that the continuation of our work would
depend on our cooperation with the ministry in organizing this
exhibition," one of the designers told IranWire.
The prospect of participating in such an
exhibition initially seemed appealing to the designers, but when they were
informed about the imposed guidelines, their enthusiasm waned.
For instance, the designers were
mandated to incorporate Islamic elements such as Islamic tile patterns into
their designs.
When the designers voiced reservations
about the practicality and creativity of such designs, they were abruptly told
to "focus only on sewing the clothes and not to interfere in security
matters."
The designer interviewed by IranWire
said that ministry representatives were present at the meeting, but it appeared
that some other attendees were affiliated with security institutions.
One of them emphasized the role of the
designers in a "global cultural war against Islamic Iran,” and said they
should show “the historical and traditional clothing of Iranian women."
The young designer told IranWire that
images from the designers' Instagram stories in support of the Woman, Life,
Freedom protest movement were shown during the meeting. They were threatened
with harsh consequences if they chose not to participate in the exhibition.
Cold Reception
The exhibition coincided with a July 5
meeting of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Iran at the Palais des
Nations in Geneva.
During the gathering, a fact-finding
mission mandated by the UNHRC to investigate human rights violations in Iran
urged the authorities to end their brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters and
halt the wave of executions, mass arrests and detentions that followed the
eruption of nationwide protests last year.
"It’s within every country's right
to hold exhibitions during official meetings at the UN headquarters in Geneva,
but the Islamic Republic exploited this right to propagate falsehoods to those
attending the 53rd meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council,"
human rights defender and political activist Hassan Naib Hashem told IranWire.
According to Naib Hashem, the Islamic
Republic aimed to manipulate public opinion by presenting an unrealistic image
of Iranian women's clothing at a time when the issue of compulsory hijab rules
is raging in Iran.
"Due to the exhibition's location,
all those traveling to the meeting’s venue had to pass by these clothes. The
exhibition itself was notably quiet and unwelcome," he said.
"Some Iranians present at the UN
headquarters in Geneva took it upon themselves to explain that the clothing on
display was far from the reality of women's clothes in Iran. Wearing some of
these clothes in Iran could result in women being arrested by morality police,"
he added.
Videos and pictures of the exhibition
show that few people visited the exhibition.
The Islamic Republic's media initially
reported that it would last for two weeks, but the official IRNA news agency
and other media outlets later altered the end date to July 5.
Source: iranwire.com
https://iranwire.com/en/features/118362-the-story-behind-the-iranian-womens-clothing-exhibit-in-geneva/
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Arabian Business Arab Women Awards 2023
Takes Place This September
Tue 11 Jul 2023
The experience will pay tribute to the
rich history of the success of Arab women featuring 20 specially commissioned
pieces of artwork.
The award ceremony will bring together
over 300 c-suite executives, influential leaders and prominent personalities
honouring exceptional individuals across 15 categories.
Arabian Business Arab Women Awards 2023
category:
Achievement in Art
Achievement in Business
Achievement in Culture
Achievement in Economic Development
& Leadership
Achievement in Education
Achievement in Finance
Achievement in Innovation
Achievement in Literature
Achievement in Media
Achievement in Motivation and Wellbeing
Achievement in Philanthropy
Achievement in Science
Achievement in Technology
Lifetime Achievement Award
Youth Achievement Award
More details regarding the event and
speakers will be announced soon.
The Arabian Business Arab Women Awards
2023 will officially take place this September in Dubai, UAE.
The recognition programme aims to
celebrate the outstanding achievements and contributions of women across the
Arab world.
The highly anticipated event will honour
exceptional individuals in various fields. As part of this event, for the first
time ever, Arabian Business will present a cultural walkthrough that showcases
the captivating stories and accomplishments of Arab women across the region.
Source: arabianbusiness.com
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/industries/media/arabian-business-arab-women-awards-2023-takes-place-this-september
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/saudi-kuwaiti-samari-omran-adventure/d/130189