Farida El Kaddouri
Raha Mouharrak is the youngest and first Saudi woman to reach the peak of the Mount Everest. The 29-year old trained hard for her quest to climb the Everest. As we all know, Saudi-Arabia is a pretty traditional country and so was her family. It took Raha a lot of effort to convince them that she wanted to start climbing.
During the expedition, she was accompanied by a Pakistani man and someone from the Qatari royal family. “I’m a Saudi woman doing what few men would even dare to do,” she told Mic, “so yes, discouragement came in many shapes and forms.” Even though she received a lot of support from her parents, Raha had a hard time knowing that the community might not tolerate it.
From the moment her family accepted it, they never stopped encouraging her to pursue her dreams. Mouharrak spoke about her achievement: “I really don’t care about being the first, so long as it inspires someone else to be second.” How exalting! She also said that it would mean the world to her if one person would be inspired by her.
It was never her intention to break the social gender barrier in several Middle-Eastern countries. When Raha realized that she could make a change, it became her goal to make the community think differently about Arab women. She also said: “I didn’t do it to cause anything, but if I could change the world’s opinion about Arab women, and Arab women’s opinion about themselves, I would be very happy.”
Since then, she’s been holding inspirational speeches about her experiences, family and the life she was supposed to have as a typical Saudi woman. She is currently pursuing her MBA at Synergy University Dubai Campus with a specialization in Women’s Leadership. Raha’s been living in Dubai for a while where she is a graphic designer. It’s amazing how one thing an change one’s life so much!