On Dec.27, 2020, UAE-based adventurer Mary Christine will embark on a remarkable journey to promote ongoing fundraising efforts for eight-year-old, Karin, a Stage 1 leukaemia patient in the UAE.

In partnership with Friends Of Cancer Patients (FOCP), a UAE-based non-profit dedicated to raising cancer awareness and garnering financial support for those who cannot afford treatment, UK-born Christine will undertake a 7-day journey in an attempt to scale the 5,895m (19,340 ft) Mt. Kilimanjaro – the world’s tallest freestanding mountain, Africa’s highest peak, and one of the seven summits – to support Karin’s family through her ‘Climb for Cancer’ fundraising campaign.

Mary, who lost her own father to cancer in 2005, and has since been committed to helping cancer patients, was moved by the plight of Karin, currently undergoing chemotherapy and whose family are unable to cover the high medical costs of her treatment.

To help support FOCP’s efforts in raising funds for the same, Christine decided to combine her love for adventure with her mission to help cancer patients in need as a volunteer fundraiser for FOCP.

Christine has launched the ‘Climb for Cancer’ campaign on YallaGive, the first online fundraising platform in the Arab world, and will document her experience of preparing for and climbing up the tallest mountain in the African continent on her social media platforms, IG @marycriistine and her Facebook page: MC Climb for Cancer with the hashtag #MaryClimbsForCancer2020.

To support FOCP’s charitable endeavour and to make a difference in the life of young Karin, you can donate generously on the campaign page, https://yallagive.com/en/campaign/Climb-for-Cancer-93828.

Recently, the United Nations Population Fund, Arab States Regional Office signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the Friends of Cancer Patients, FOCP, a UAE-based civil society organisation to boost collaborative efforts in reducing the burden of cervical cancer on the Arab states.

The MoU aims to advance raising of awareness, combine advocacy efforts, and evidence-generation and knowledge sharing on reproductive health, women empowerment and non-communicable diseases, with a focus on reproductive health cancers, cervical cancer, in particular.