Free to Run takes Iraq program participants camping in the Bradost Mountains

This October, 18 Free to Run participants participated in their first-ever hiking and camping expedition this month to Bradost Mountain, located northeast of Erbil in the Zagros Mountains. 

They camped out under the stars and hiked to Bradost Peak at 2060 meters.

“It was the best night of my life! I always wanted to stay outside of the camp with my close friends, and now I know even more about their personalities. They are collaborative and funny! The best part was hiking. When we walked to the top of Bradost Mountain and saw the beautiful view of the valley, I felt a sense of accomplishment,” said Jihan.

Finding ways for young women to safely and boldly engage in outdoor activity changes views about the roles that women can, and should, play in society. 

When Free to Run staff first approached families about this opportunity for their daughters, almost all of them said no. 

“It’s too dangerous.”

“She has to be back before dark.”

“Our neighbours will talk if we allow her to stay outside the camp overnight.”

“Her father will not allow her to do this.”

All of these, and many other, reasons were given as to why our participants couldn’t be allowed to stay away from their families overnight. Through a dialogue with parents, community members, and authorities about the benefits of allowing their girls to test their new adventure sports skills out on an expedition, they slowly began to consider it. 

Free to Run also brought in alumni and their parents to share their own experiences with the expedition, and the changes they saw in their own daughters as a result. One father said, “You are raising a future, not a daughter.” 

Finally, Free to Run succeeded in gaining trust and permission for 18 of the athletes to come together across their different cultures and to share in the experience of an overnight expedition. 

When the team arrived to the mountain, excitement was running high. The participants jumped out of the vans and immediately started running around and shouting. After a few minutes, the staff pulled the group back together and started delegating camp responsibilities- cooking, setup, and cleanup. 

The girls quickly put the teamwork skills they’d learned in the Life Skills through Sports curriculum to use, and had camp established and fed within two hours. 

The team stayed up late into the night, singing songs around a campfire and then spending time looking up at the stars. 

“It was my first time in my life experiencing camping on top of the mountains – I never saw the stars that close before! It was such an amazing view.”

The next morning, the team made breakfast and then packed up camp together. Before heading up the mountain, Free to Run staff led the group in some team building and leadership exercises. They concluded with an exercise in team affirmation- listing good qualities about each member of their team before embark on the hike. 

Each participant had to ensure they had enough water and food to get them up to the peak and back down to the campsite, as there was no water along the way. As they made their way up, they naturally broke off into groups who moved at once pace, encouraging one another in tough spots and waiting for those at the back. 

Expeditions like these not only greatly impact the participants who are on them and their families, but also the surrounding communities they hike in. A place as rural as Bradost is not a location you will find women outdoors doing sport, let alone Arab, Kurdish, and Syrian women doing sports together. 

The team heading off on their adventure!