This book doesn’t have a translation into English yet, but the story is so fantastic that I had to talk about it.

We have here the story of Aretha Duarte, a Black Brazilian woman who decided that she would be the first of her kind to climb the highest mountain in the world. Other than the obvious challenge, she had another obstacle – she needed to raise around US$ 100,000 to pay for the trip.

Growing up in the outskirts of a poor neighbourhood in the state of São Paulo in Brazil, Aretha is the daughter of two very industrious Northeastern immigrants. Her parents literally built their house with their own hands and her mother was constantly hustling to put more food on the table or to improve their life conditions.

Aretha was able to go to college and get a job as a mountain guide in a tourism company, but her income was still miles away from allowing her to realize her dream. That’s when she turned to an old source of income in the slums – collecting and selling recyclable materials.

She initiated a campaign, and soon everybody who knew her was helping out and donating everything from soda cans to used refrigerators. Friends and family organized themselves and drove the donations back and forth. In the end, she raised the equivalent of US$40,000 by selling 130 tons of scraps of metal, glass, paper and plastic.

She also organized bazaars, sold shirts and even participated in a competition in a TV show. Even then, she almost didn’t make the amount necessary. An unexpected help showed up right at the end.

Climbing the Everest itself was another kind of marathon on its own. The book is rich with descriptions of the most dangerous paths, but to visualize it better I also started watching the 3-part documentary Aftershock, from Netflix. It tells the story of the aftermath of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, that killed more than 9,000 people and left groups stranded at the top of the mountain. I recommend watching that one to grasp the magnitude of the challenge.

In the end, after battling against financial, emotional and physical obstacles (not to mention the health scares that almost got her out of the mountain), she made it, and became the first Black South American Woman to climb to the summit of the Everest. After getting to the top, Aretha realized that her dream was much bigger than the highest mountain in the world.

That’s because Aretha is not “”just”” the first Black woman to climb Mt. Everest for Brazil. She is also an agent for social and environmental change.

One thing bothered me though: the lack of context surrounding the Sherpas. The Sherpas are Nepalese guides who work assisting the professional hikers that go up the mountain. As you can imagine, work conditions are hard, as they are in constant danger and often have to carry their clients’ materials up the mountain or go up and down several times to prepare the terrain and set up camp.

In 2014, after 16 Sherpas were killed in an avalanche, several of them went on strike, demanding more support from the Nepalese government. It’s estimated that 1/3 of the all-time deaths in the mountain were Sherpas.

And yet, in the only passages they are mentioned in the book, they’re often regarded with suspicion, and their lack of willingness as another obstacle to be overcome.

Nevertheless, this was a great read. I really hope that the book gets translated into other languages soon and more people outside Brazil can hear about this amazing woman.