THE KwaZulu-Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg is hosting an exhibition to highlight a local businesswoman’s achievement in sumitting Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness around gender-based violence (GBV).
In 2019, Judy Umraw, 53, successfully climbed to the top of Uhuru Peak of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to shine the spotlight on GBV.
She wore a sari with messages of encouragement on it to raise awareness around GBV, and in aid to two locally-based charities.
Over the years, Umraw has aligned herself with initiatives that uplift women and works to draw attention to the scourge that is GBV.
On Friday, the museum honoured this achievement by launching a temporary display to celebrate Umraw and to raise awareness around GBV in the build up to 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children Campaign (16 Days Campaign).
The campaign is a United Nations effort which takes place annually from 25 November (International Day of No Violence against Women) to 10 December (International Human Rights Day).
Born and raised in Pietermaritzburg, where she currently resides, Umraw runs the Judy Umraw School of Dance, specialising in belly dance, Bollywood, and African fusion dance.
She said in 2018, a group of women were discussing their bucket lists.
“My bucket list always consisted of climbing Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro. People said if you could do Mount Kilimanjaro, then you could do Everest. I was nearing my 50s, and I said this was what I would like to do before I reach 50.
“So we decided to do it, but we wanted to do it for charity. We started off with 15 ladies, but over the nine months of training and preparation, a few ladies dropped out. By the time we reached September 30th, to do the summit to Kilimanjaro, only three of us were left to do the climb.”
One of the women fell ill and had to be brought down the mountain.
“Myself and Bianca Smith completed the summit. GBV was one of the causes we wanted to highlight during the summit. In the Indian community, some of our women are submissive. I found that within my dance school, a lot of women came, not just to learn dance but also partly to release the tension and stress relating to their experiences at home because they could not speak about what they are going through.
“So they would talk about their experiences, and it helped, in an almost therapeutic kind of way. So getting them to sign the sari was a way to say that while I'm climbing the summit, it was symbolic of all of us overcoming our struggles to reach the peak of our lives. A lot of people said it would be impossible because of the weather conditions there.
“A lot of people also said summitting in a sari would be impossible because of the weather, but I did it as a symbolic gesture to Indian women for whom the sari is essential part of our livelihoods.”
She said the museum exhibition was linked to 16 Days of Activism: “We would like for people to come and view the exhibition. There will also be spill over events like specialist talks and workshops to help empower women. We hope to make this a travelling exhibition down the line."
Viranna Frank, the spokesperson for the museum, said they were proud to be associated with Umraw and considered it an honour to produce a display that detailed her 2019 achievement.
“The temporary display aligns with the KZN Museum’s ongoing awareness campaign around gender-based violence. The museum is positive that this display will provide encouragement to all, but to women especially. Along with educational programmes that will be planned with Mrs Umraw for 2023, the impact of her achievement and her message in this display will be felt in the community for a while to come,” said Frank.
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