A group of Education City students have scaled the summit of one of the world’s highest mountain peaks, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
The seven day climb – known as WALK (We Are Leaders @ Kilimanjaro) – was part of the Ebda leadership development programme.
The programme was sponsored by Maersk Oil Qatar to test students’ teamwork, perseverance and adaptability under, at times, extreme pressure and difficult weather conditions.
Students were chosen after demonstrating a commitment and interest in leadership development, along with a track record of overcoming challenges. They underwent a rigorous training for six weeks at Education City.
Ebda, meaning start in Arabic, aims to provide students from Hamad bin Khalifa University’s (HBKU’s) partner universities across Education City and from Qatar University with the skills and knowledge to become leaders in the future.
Ameena Hussain, director of Student Life, HBKU, congratulated the 10 students for successfully completing such a difficult challenge.
“All the activities developed as part of the Ebda programme include a range of challenges that test the students’ strategy, problem solving, technical skills and physical endurance,” she explained.
Sheikh Jassim bin Saud al-Thani, head of Qatarisation at Maersk Oil Qatar, said: “I am in awe of the students for overcoming such an arduous climb. We are delighted to support this unique leadership-building challenge as part of our wider commitment to develop Qatar’s future leaders.”
Hundreds of students have already participated in Ebda activities, such as the LeaderShape Programme, Desert Challenge, and Not Your Average Spring Break.
Concurrent to the WALK challenge, another group of 24 students from Education City completed their own challenge in Ebda’s Not Your Average Spring Break, by taking part in a service learning trip to Indonesia for ten days, in partnership with Reach Out to Asia.
Some of the Education City students atop Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
