Parahyangan Catholic University (Unpar) said farewell two female climbers who joined in The Women of Indonesia’s Seven Summit Expedition of Mahitala Unpar (Wissemu), namely Fransiska Dimitri Inkiriwang (Dee Dee) and Mathilda Dwi Lestari (Hilda), in an expedition to Mount Everest at an altitude of 8,850 meters above sea level in Nepal, the highest peak in the world.
On Tuesday (27/3), team members and alumni of the Student Activity Unit of Parahyangan Nature Lovers (UKM Mahitala) held a ceremony at the rectorate parking lot. Besides attended by Mahitala members, the ceremony was also attended by the rectorate and a number of academicians of Unpar, representatives of Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) as sponsors of the expedition, representatives from Wanadri and groups of nature lovers from various universities in Bandung, and a number of members of Unpar’s Students Presidency (PM).
The Rector of Unpar Mangadar Situmorang Ph.D symbolically released the Wissemu team by handing the saka Merah Putih (the national flag) and Unpar’s own flag. In his speech, he expressed his gratitude to all those who have supported and accompanied the two members of WISSEMU. He summarized the expectations of all Unpar academic community members as well as the Indonesian community for the Mahitala Unpar team to complete the last ascent of “7 Summits”.
The full struggle of Dee Dee and Hilda’s overall achievements is remarkable, and therefore deserves to be appreciated. “Hope, our prayers, that these two Ladies can really realize the ideals, show the attitude of struggle, toughness, and the extraordinary personality,” said Mangadar. Beyond that, he also emphasized the collaboration made by Wissemu Team with various parties, especially Mahitala and Unpar, is an important factor that can realize their success, which will lift the dignity of women and the Indonesian Nation.
The ceremony ended with a prayer together as well as cutting a slice of the tumpeng (rice) as a form of gratitude. Seven tumpengs that symbolize the seven summits of the world were followed a dish lunch together. Before leaving for Nepal, Tim Wissemu held a press conference at the State Palace, Jakarta. Both had departed for Kathmandu, Nepal on Thursday (29/3) night.
Everest Ascent
Dee Dee and Hilda expressed their hopes for this expedition. Speaking of practice, Wissemu is not playing games to prepare for Everest. Fsr from half-hearted, for those exercises to face the 7th peak, consist of the six mountains that they have been climbing for four years.
The plan, was that this expedition would last for 57 days. Wissemu’s team hopes to reach the summit on May 14, and return to Indonesia in early June. The ascent will go through the northern ascent, beginning in Lhasa, Tibet. The line is expected to be quite dense given the expedition carried out in the Everest climbing season of 2018.
Dee Dee hopes that this activity will receive support from the people of Indonesia. “It’s a nation’s struggle,” he said. On the other hand, Hilda wants the Wissemu expedition to be an inspiration for young people, especially Indonesian women. This achievement is expected to encourage greater achievements. “Hopefully there will be more of us,” he said.
In August 2017, Wissemu’s team was awarded the “Compass of the Month” Compass with the category of people who have made achievements that deserve appreciation. Representatives from Kompas visited the Parahyangan Catholic University (Unpar) to directly present the award to Dee Dee and Hilda, along with Unpar’s Rector and Vice Rector for Student Affairs and Human Capital Dr. Paulus Sukapto.
Previously, Wissemu successfully climbed 6 peaks on 6 continents, namely Mount Carstensz Pyramid (4,884 mdpl) in Indonesia on August 13, 2014, Mount Elbrus (5,642 mdpl) in Russia on May 15, 2015, Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 mdpl) in Tanzania on May 24 2015, Aconcagua Mountain (6,962 mdpl) in Argentina on 31 January 2016, Vinson Massif (4,892 mdpl) in Antarctica on 5 January 2017, and Denali (6,190 mdpl) in Alaska, North America on July 1, 2017 local time.
