From a Challenge to a Passion to a Lifestyle | Mawj Aldarraji | TEDxBaghdad

She is challenging stereotype and a traditional image of women in the Middle East who dares to face her fears and concur them and risks her life countless times in the pursuit of her goal. Mawj Aldarraji is an Architect with a hobby like no other, which is mountain climbing. She is pioneering this sport in the Middle East, as she is the first Iraqi female mountaineer and one of the youngest Arab females to engage in this sport. Mawj holds a decent record of summits and adventures while carrying the love and dedication towards her country alongside. This passion for climbing mountains started few years ago with a small hike in South East Asia and now she is dreaming even bigger and aiming for huge achievements. Her goal is to be the first Iraqi mountaineer to climb the world’s highest seven summits and raise the Iraqi flag on top. One of the summits is the mighty Everest, which is, according to her timeline, set to be climbed in the coming year. By achieving this, she will be the youngest Arab female and the first Iraqi to reach the Summit Mountain Everest. Mawj is also an activist in the humanitarian field and is planning to start a worldwide fundraising campaign with each summit she climbs, and all the fund benefits would be dedicated to the displaced people in Iraq. Mawj Aldarraji is an Architect with a hobby like no other, which is mountain climbing. She is pioneering this sport in the Middle East, as she is the first Iraqi female mountaineer and one of the youngest Arab females to engage in this sport. Mawj holds a decent record of summits and adventures while carrying the love and dedication towards her country alongside. Mawj goal is to be the first Iraqi mountaineer to climb the world’s highest seven summits and raise the Iraqi flag on top. One of the summits is the mighty Everest, which is, according to her timeline, set to be climbed in the coming year. By achieving this, she will be the youngest Arab female and the first Iraqi to reach the Summit Mountain Everest. Mawj is also an activist in the humanitarian field and is planning to start a worldwide fundraising campaign with each summit she climbs, and all the fund benefits would be dedicated to the displaced people in Iraq. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx