Climb for Albinism

The Climb for Albinism is an awareness and empowerment initiative which saw six women with albinism from across Africa scale up Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain, from 1st to 7th October 2018. The aim of the climb was to shift public perceptions on persons with albinism from victim hood to empowerment by displaying their capabilities, while consciously raising awareness about challenges persons with albinism often face.

The movement, “Climb for Albinism” was co-created in February 2016 by human rights activist, speaker and change agent, Jane Waithera and adventure filmmaker, speaker and high-altitude climber Elia Saikaly.

In May, the whole team met for the first time and climbed Mount Kenya, as a warm up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsu-FJA4_dw

From February 2018 to September 2018, Elia Saikaly travelled to Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal and Nigeria, to film pre-climb footage, including each climber’s story, as told by the climber and her family and friends. In October, the team climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. The documentary is in the pipeline.