Fresh from conquering Mount Everest in her efforts to inspire other Africans – especially young women – to reach for their goals in life, South African mountaineer Saray Khumalo returned home to a grand welcome on Monday.
Speaking to reporters and a huge welcoming party at the OR International Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, Khumalo said the dream of any African child is valid and it is possible to achieve it as she had done last week when she reached the summit of the storied peak.
Khumalo is the first black woman to scale and reach the top of Mount Everest in the Himalayas in Nepal on 16 May.
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, at an elevation of 29,035 feet (8,850 metres).
Khumalo said climbing Mount Everest was not a personal quest but more of educating the African children to reach greater heights in whatever they do in life.
Since 2012, Khumalo said, she had set herself the target of climbing seven summits in the seven continents of the world.
So far she has reached four.
NM/jn/APA