BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/Anchorage X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Anchorage BEGIN:VEVENT UID:299@alaskaworldaffairs.org DTSTART;TZID=America/Anchorage:20190927T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Anchorage:20190927T130000 DTSTAMP:20231231T022337Z URL:https://alaskaworldaffairs.org/archived-events/the-dream-of-everest/ SUMMARY:The Dream of Everest: An Arab Woman's Unlikely Journey to the Top o f the World | Dr. Joyce Azzam DESCRIPTION:\n\nDr. Joyce Azzam reached the top of Mount Everest May 23\, m aking her the first Lebanese woman to complete the Seven Summit Challenge \, braving frigid temperatures and killer oxygen levels to climb the tall est mountain on every continent. A week later\, Azzam was back home in the blistering Beirut heat\, a short walk from the beach and breathing easy.\ n\nJoyce comes from Beirut's northern suburb Dekwaneh. She doesn’t come from a well-known family\, nor a wealthy family. Azzam had no interest in the expectations required of her as a woman growing up in Beirut\, but ha d few opportunities in her childhood to freely explore the outdoors\, as s he grew up during the Lebanese Civil War. She said\, “I had a dream\, bu t where I come from\, it was not valuable.”\n\nAs a result of living in a cramped bunker during the war\, Joyce contracted a lung disease that wou ld give her a chronic cough\, a recurring nuisance during her many climbs. Joyce also she suffers from hypermobility syndrome\, a disorder making he r joints overly flexible and leading to dislocation\, muscle pains\, diges tive problems and a lack of coordination.\n\nJoyce says that even today “Nobody expects me to be a mountaineer\, but I welcome the contrast\, a s it challenges stereotypes of what a woman should be”. Today\, Joyce h as become a fierce advocate for women and child’s rights.\n\n \;\n\ n\nDr. Joyce Azzam is the first Lebanese woman mountaineer to complete “ The Seven Summits Challenge” by climbing the highest summit in each of t he world’s seven continents. Joyce Azzam had broken another record by be ing the first Lebanese woman to scale over 28 mountains around the world.    At this juncture\, she further plans to reach the 2 poles which\, com bined with her Seven Summits Challenge achievement\, will make her enter h istory as the second woman in the world to complete the Explorers Grand Sl am. After her successful climbs in Argentina\, and of Denali Peak\, Mt. Vi nson and Mt. Everest\, Joyce Azzam has grown into a source of inspiration to youth and women in Lebanon and the MENA region. She believes that she i s a living proof that Lebanese women are capable\, multi-talented\, and su ccessful. With every mountain she climbs\, Joyce Azzamalso aims to inspire change in the lives of children\, especially young Lebanese. She strives to show them that once they’ve set their mind on a dream\, they can achi eve it no matter how hard it might seem at first. Her mission has subseque ntly generated hashtags of #InspireChange and #YesYouCan on social media\, as in her statement: “While climbing each mountain at a time\, I aim to #InspireChange\, and prove to everyone that no matter how hard the journe y is\, #YesYouCan do it!” Besides being a record setting mountaineer\, J oyce Azzam has a PhD in landscape and environment from La Sapienza Univers ity of Rome with a specialty in conservation architecture. Currently\, she is a consultant on municipal projects in Lebanon as conservation architec t and urban designer\, and also a lecturer at the University of Balamand.   Dr. Azzam’s academic credentials include the following: PhD in Landsc ape and Environment from La Sapienza University of Rome\; Master’s Degre e in Conservation of Historic Cities and Buildings from La Sapienza Univer sity of Rome\;  Master’s Degree in Governance Models and Management of Local Public System from the University of Perugia in Italy\; Master’s D egree in Interior Architecture from the Lebanese University.  Her love fo r outdoor activities has unleashed in her a passion to research innovative approaches to protect and conserve cultural heritage sites\, specifically “Cultural Routes and Landscapes.” In a sign of commitment to her cher ished home country of Lebanon\, she never failed to raise a Lebanese flag at those summits.\n\n\n\n\nProgram Details\n\n Check-in will begin at 11: 30am with seating available on a first-come first-serve basis. The program will begin at noon.\n Those with online reservations do not need to pres ent ticket confirmation at the door\, we will have all confirmed attendees on a list at check-in.\n Lunch is available for individual purchase dire ctly from 49th State Brewing Company. If you wish to order food\, please c ome a few minutes early to ensure your meal arrives during the program.\n Online registration closes at 11:59 am on September 26. Tickets will be a vailable for purchase at the door the next day\, unless the program is sol d out. Contact rsvp@alaskaworldaffairs.org with any questions.\n\n \; ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://alaskaworldaffairs.org/wp-content/upload s/2019/08/69273774_681647038986952_1115732894619271168_o.jpg CATEGORIES:Events LOCATION:49th State Brewing Co\, 717 W 3rd Ave\, Anchorage\, AK\, 99501\, U nited States X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=717 W 3rd Ave\, Anchorage\, AK\, 99501\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=49th State Brewing Co:geo:0,0 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Anchorage X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Anchorage BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20190310T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0900 TZOFFSETTO:-0800 TZNAME:AKDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR