CAIRO: When Mazime Chaya, 38, fell of his bike and broke his arm during a race in Kenya, he was disqualified and had to discard his championship desires.
But not his competitive edge and pursuit of adventure.
Four years later, Chaya, a Lebanese graduate of the London School of Economics, raced after another dream. To climb the highest mountain.
Literally.
Thanks to a brilliant advertising strategy by the Audi Sardar Banking Group, Chaya became one of 53 people to climb the seven summits of Everest in the Himalayas, allowing him to “grow beyond your potential .
This is the lesson he brought to a captive audience of students at the American University in Cairo’s Oriental Hall and Misr University.
“It takes a crazy person and a crazy bank to make your dreams come true, says Chaya who is currently working as promoter for the Audi bank by giving motivational classes in schools worldwide.
“Audi were the only bank that believed in me and my dream because I was thinking out of the box. Chaya says, the bank motto is “Grow beyond your potential
Like Chaya, the Audi Sardar Group are initiators and leaders in their field, they are the first bank to list at the London Stock Exchange in the Middle East and the first to mark the first international public equity issues by a Lebanese institution.
But some in his audience may question what would prompt a man to endure -40 C climates at the McKinley Summit in the US and then climb to the deepest ice-filled Aconcagua Summit in Argentina, which holds 90 percent of the volume of the world’s ice.
“No mountain is worth a life, Chaya is quick to say but if you are ready, and make the right decisions at the right time without looking back, you assume responsibility even if it means failure, you don’t need to lose your life.
Chaya believes if one is ready for a challenge, problems can be solved, but it is important to distinguish between catastrophes which do not have solutions and problems that have solutions.
It is that very challenge that has taught Chaya the lessons he passes on to students.
In life it is important to have a goal. “It helps you focus and become determined to achieve this goal.
So despite coming from a war-torn nation such an understanding can transform a man with a dream into a national hero.
“Everyone must have an Everest, a dream, he says.
And it takes vision, determination and readiness to make a dream come true. This is the message Chaya has been carrying with him to students all over Cairo during his visit.
However, Chaya believes that at reaching the top, only half the journey is achieved, Chaya exclaims, “you need to stay focused to come back down!
