Bearing the flag for all women, everywhere
We did it!
In October 2011 (5 – 20 October) a group of 9 supporters joined Susan Harper Todd, in our first Women for Women International trek to Everest Base Camp, to raise awareness and funds for women in war-torn countries.
This 14-day trek was part of our ongoing campaign to highlight the importance of women to development and ending poverty. The main idea of the campaign is to bear the flag for all women. Through stories of both the women who have trekked to Everest Base Camp and the women who are facing their own challenges in countries affected by conflict, this campaign highlights how we are connected despite our differences and how we must support each other in our efforts to make this world a better place for all of us.
To date, our amazing trekkers have raised over £100,000. This money will go towards supporting 3 projects in Kosovo, Rwanda & Nigeria.
You can read more about the day-to-day challenges of the team as they went through the trek on our blog.
Check out our gallery of the best photos from the trip! Or take a look at our Flickr page to see all our favourite photos.
View GalleryRaising the voices of women in war-torn countries
In a world where 70% of the poorest are women, we know that without proper attention to and investment in women, we will not be able to progress and improve development and equality. This is particularly true for countries affected by conflict. Women are disproportionately affected by conflict, and they need to be actively supported in rebuilding their lives and the lives of their families and communities. Their voices need to be heard.
Support Us!
You can find out more about our plans for 2012 and for your chance to take part in a trek or similar physical challenge and raise vital funds for Women for Women International by contacting Nora Russell on nrussell@womenforwomen.org
Prayer flags of peace
Our all-women team took with them Nepalese prayer flags with visions of peace from our women participants and from our supporters across the world displaying their vision of a peaceful and prosperous world. Upon reaching Everest Base Camp the flags of peace were displayed and became the centre point for a group meditation session!
Check out the photos of the flags at Everest Base Camp and the group meditation here!
View Flag GalleryTo complete the circle travelled by the flags of peace they will be taken to the summit of Everest and then returned to the UK to be auctioned off as a symbol of the achievements of the trek.
Media
Here you can read and listen to the media coverage of the amazing trek team.
- Sue Harper Todd shares her life changing experience in the Huffington Post UK, Lifestyle section. Read article.
- Listen to Sue Harper Todd share her stories about conquering Everest and supporting Women for Women International on BBC radio Leeds. Visit site.
- Southwark News and South London Press features mum of one Jessie Allen who says ‘I’m climbing Everest for my two-year daughter to give her a strong female role model she can look up to in these days of footballers’ wives and glamour models.
- Harrogate Advertiser features Sue Harper Todd and Jackie Terry-Schumann who talk about their pamper day fundraising event. Jackie says ’The work that WfWI does is clearly incredibly important. But I feel particularly moved by its work with women affected by genocide as this resonates with me personally as I’m a descendent of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany’.
- Read about trekker Nora Russell and her motivations for the trek in the Ham & High. Read article.
- Read Erika Lederman's account 'My crazy dare to climb Everest' here.
- To date the campaign has reached over 5,600 people on Twitter and 3,400 on Facebook.
Susan Harper Todd — Trek Leader
In 2004 Susan became the First British woman to be leader of an Everest Expedition and only the Fifth British woman in history to stand on the summit of Mount Everest.
Susan grew up with hills and mountains and seas. She started out in life as a teacher, but put that career to one side when she became an adventurer and stepped outside life’s boundaries. She challenged the limitations that are set for us by others and that we set for ourselves. And she challenged the beliefs that go with them. Susan lived and climbed in the French Alps for twelve years (1988-2000), where she also worked as a translator (French-English). She has had four translated works published, as well as numerous articles of her own in climbing literature.
Susan is also a sailor and in the autumn of 1997 spent 2 months on a small yacht sailing across the Atlantic Ocean. On reflection, she sees this as part of her foundation for climbing Mount Everest. This experience brought with it the challenge of coping with isolation and the fear of something going wrong, weeks away from help. Susan believes this helped her gain the mental strength that is needed to cope with extreme challenges, such as climbing Mount Everest.
Susan has spent a lot of time in testing situations. She has learnt to step over the fear threshold, to step through that barrier into the unknown and confront her fear. At over 8000 metres, on a narrow ridge, near the summit of Everest, there are only two ways to go, two choices. To carry on towards the summit, or to turn back. Choices that we so often face in life in pursuing our own goals, our own Everests. Turning back is easy, but on Everest, climbing higher into the ‘death zone’ is dangerous and involves great risk. However the greater the risk, the greater the reward. When Susan stood on the summit of the highest mountain on the planet and looked down on the earth from a perspective which very few people have been privileged to see, she realized for the first time, that anything is possible for anyone and everyone, everywhere.
Susan now leads treks to the Himalaya and works as a Motivational Speaker and Transformational Life Coach helping other women to climb their own Everests in life, whatever they may be.
This trek would not have been possible without the support of a number of wonderful individuals and companies. In particular we would like to thank:
Flora Gordon Lennox for her pro bono personal training of the team, KX GYM and Simmons & Simmons for hosting team meetings, and the Yak and Yeti Hotel for hosting the team on arrival in Kathmandu.
