DUBAI // Elham al Qasimi, the first Arab woman to reach the North Pole and the first Emirati to do so unassisted, battled through self-doubt early in her journey.
"The North Pole was something that I had dreamed about for a long time, and at this point in my life it was the right time," she told a crowd of hundreds who gathered for the Bold Talks yesterday at the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre, where her presentation earned a standing ovation.
Despite months of training under harsh winter conditions, she was not prepared for the physical toll her journey would take. Yet she was determined to travel unassisted, meaning supplies would not be dropped to her along the way.
"You're warned about the conditions you face, you're warned about the weather, you're warned about the difficulty of keeping your body warm and how much energy it takes, but despite the warning you just don't know until you get there."
It was only the second day when she began to regret her decision to go up against the Arctic elements. She began to wonder whether she was built for such an expedition, and whether she had trained enough.
She told her guide she did not want to keep going, and he told her to stand up. After forcing water and food down her throat, she continued for another four kilometres.
The next night she showed him a special journal she carried with her, a small book filled with encouraging notes from loved ones.
"I hadn't read any of them and I would read them as I needed them, whenever I felt low. He asked me why I didn't read it yesterday.
"And I said that wasn't a low, it was a learning curve. It was getting to know the North Pole. It was just the beginning," she said.
Ms al Qasimi described how she crossed open water and would walk on thin ice as it creaked and groaned under her weight. She recalled the landscape that would range from wide open expanses of white to rocky crags that loomed over her.
On the last day, the team was warned that weather conditions might cut the trip short. With the goal so close, a new desperation took hold as they raced to reach the North Pole while it was still possible.
"I was worried about getting there and not really enjoying the moment. For the first few miles I was pretty uncomfortable and really unhappy." She decided to let go of her negative thoughts before reaching her goal.
"As I let go of that feeling. I found that I was not alone on that day, not one bit. I felt there was a world of people with me. What started out as a human achievement, an achievement that mattered to me that I thought would help me grow personally, turned into far more than that."
For Ms al Qasimi, the last four kilometres of her journey were the happiest. "I got there feeling quiet, very humble and quite private."
The last thing she did was pour a bag of sand from the UAE on to the North Pole. "It was such a huge journey, and it would have brought me to my knees if I hadn't come from the place that I came from, so I wanted to leave it there to recognise that."
@Email:amcmeans@thenational.ae
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Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
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The Florida Project
Director: Sean Baker
Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe
Four stars
