What is Yambi?
Yambi is an association founded in 2020 by Clélia Compas, a specialist in migration issues (consultant at the UN office in Thailand, then she undertook a doctorate in migration studies at the University of Sussex).
The association's goal is to forge human connections, empower refugees, and accelerate their integration into the host society through mountain activities.
The Road to Mont Blanc.
Today they are taking on a new challenge: enabling 5 refugees to climb Mont Blanc in July 2021.
To date, no refugee has ever climbed Mont Blanc, so this adventure will be a first.
On this expedition they will be accompanied by professional high mountain guides, but also by Marion Haerty (three-time world champion of free ride snowboarding), Léo Slemett (world champion of free ride skiing), Clélia Compas (founder of the association), Vincent Darré (co-photographer) as well as Dr. Christine Janin (first French woman to have climbed Everest and godmother of the association).
The ascent will be carried out using a two-person team system, pairing a refugee with a local person. The teams will train from April 2021 and will climb Mont Blanc together on the same rope.
The purpose of the expedition?
To produce a documentary and a photo exhibition to raise public awareness of the plight of refugees by exploiting the power of the symbolic parallel between the effort required to climb Mont Blanc and the difficulty of the path to integration into a host society.
In accordance with the principles of inclusion and co-creation governing all of the activities of the YAMBI association, the design of the documentary will involve refugees and locals (directing, framing, musical composition).
And to go further.
The documentary and photo exhibition will support a fundraising campaign to open a social enterprise café in Annecy staffed by refugees. The café would serve as a training ground where refugees could prepare for service-oriented jobs before working in other establishments. It would also function as a classroom where French lessons would be offered regularly outside of the café's opening hours.
How does OKRback support the project?
OKRback is supporting the project through financial assistance for the purchase of specialized equipment and to fund one of the high-mountain guides who will lead the expedition. They are also providing material support. After testing our Original and Sport bars in real-world conditions (high-altitude training), the participants expressed a desire for nutritional guidance. Therefore, we provided them with 130 convenient and balanced meals to support them during the climb.
Portraits.
Jomah Khan, the dreamer.
Originally from Bamiyan, the capital of Hazarajat in Afghanistan, Jomah belongs to the Hazara ethnic group. This group is often the victim of persecution, kidnapping, and massacres. He left Kabul at 18 and spent three and a half years in Sweden before being denied political refugee status. Fearing deportation to Afghanistan, he eventually arrived in France. Like all asylum seekers, Jomah Khan cannot work and faces profound loneliness. He wants to stand on the roof of the Alps, at the summit of his new home, to prove to himself that this is where his life will be built.
Grace, the artist.
Grace was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, to Congolese parents who fled the Congo following the fall of Mobutu. Living conditions for Black Africans are difficult in Ukraine. Victims of ethnic discrimination, the Ukrainian government sought to deport her parents to their country of origin, the Congo, in 2014. To avoid the same fate, Grace and her brother left Ukraine in 2017 and went to France, where their asylum applications were accepted. " Life is a series of trials and triumphs; that's what gives it its power, in a way."
Sikou, the hard worker.
Barely out of his teens, Sikou saw no other option than to leave his native Mali to escape the escalating massacres of communities in the context of a civil war. He took his chance and crossed the Mediterranean Sea. He survived the crossing and arrived in France in 2019. Sikou applied for asylum, but has yet to receive a response. He hopes to start working as soon as possible as a bricklayer or electrician. The mountains are his escape, allowing him to get away and forget his problems, if only for a moment.
Quambar, the champion.
Like Jomah Khan, Qambar is Afghan and belongs to the Hazara ethnic group. He too fled his country, the Taliban, the Islamic State, and persecution. His application for protection by the French state having been accepted, he took on a series of odd jobs before being laid off, like so many others, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Sport is his escape; it allows him to release his stress and overcome the anxieties of daily life. He is even considered a "star" in the small community of Afghan refugees in Annecy thanks to his sporting achievements (the Maxi Race, the Maxi Snow, and the Sainte Lyon). Reaching the summit of Mont Blanc is a sporting goal for Qambar, fueled by his burning desire to run for a living and to be accepted like everyone else.
Abdul Saboor, the co-photographer.
Born in 1992 in Nagrahar, Afghanistan, Abdul Saboor had to fend for himself from a very young age. He worked with the American army for six years. Wanted by the Taliban, he was forced to flee his country. Always equipped with a camera, he immortalized his journey into exile, his two years spent crossing Europe to reach France. His photographs have been exhibited in Serbia, Spain, England, Poland, and France, in the showcases of the Ministry of Culture, at the Cité des Mots, and elsewhere.
Together they will prove that anything is possible. No matter where you come from. And OKRback will help them reach for the stars.
