I shadowed her for two days and was floored by her level of independence. She rides on the back of a motorcycle to shop for groceries, is a master sweater maker, she’s an entrepreneur that looks after an entire household of people, trains in the hills, climbs stairs, markets her business and updates her social media channels. She’s got a unique voice and laugh that makes you smile every time you hear it. She’ll be flying in to Nairobi to meet the @climbforalbinism team on September 25th.

What blows me away is that when we offered this spot on the team to her, she accepted without knowing a thing about climbing. @ijanewaithera, @justdumo and I flew out to Tanzania in March to break it down for her and to introduce her to Eva, one of our guides from @adventurealternative, her caretaker and friend. Mariam jumped on board and announced it to the press without really knowing what altitude even was. One expedition later with 6 months training behind her – here she is – ready to climb! The countdown is on to the Climb for Albinism.