Johannesburg, May 16 (IANS) South African mountaineer Saray Khumalo on Thursday became the first black woman from the continent to reach Mount Everests summit.
Khumalo has been mountaineering for charity and awareness purposes for about six years, as she has been raising funds for the education of her country’s children.
“A short while ago, Saray N’kusi Khumalo reached the top of the world. With her birth in Zambia, Rwandan bloodline and now a South African, this sister of Africa has achieved her goal of becoming the first black woman from Africa to summit Mount Everest,” Summits with a Purpose, a platform founded by Khumalo in 2013, announced on Facebook.
“It will be two days before she arrives back to Base Camp and shares with everyone about her achievement,” they added.
This was Khumalo’s fourth attempt to climb Everest, which at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) is the highest peak on Earth.
Bad weather in 2014 and a devastating earthquake in 2015 in Nepal held her back from reaching Everest’s peak.
This journey is dedicated to Thandi Ndlovu Children’s Foundation which aims to help marginalized and orphaned children in South Africa.
In 2012, Khumalo climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters) in Tanzania as well as Aconcagua (6,962 meters) in Argentina.
–IANS
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