Yabrud , Palestinian Territories--Gripping tightly with her hands, her feet searching for a foothold, Salwa Khashan edges along a sheer rock face in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, urged on by friends below.
She and her fellow climbers are the first group of Palestinians to win climbing certificates after graduating from a three-day "Wadi Climbing" course just north of Ramallah.
"It taught me a lot," said Khashan, who lives in Arab-dominated east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied with the rest of the West Bank in 1967.
"I learned to push myself and to use my mental strength to find the way up, to deal with the physical pain and push myself to the top," she said.
For the 23-year-old and her small group of fellow climbers it has been a voyage of discovery thanks to two young Americans with a love of climbing and a determination to share their passion with others.
Will Harris of Chicago and Tim Bruns from Connecticut, both 23, travelled to the West Bank with one objective in mind.
"Tim and I came to Palestine to develop a climbing community here," Harris said.
"We were exploring a lot of Palestine and saw a huge potential for outdoor climbing," he said.
They started off by doing a few test climbs with friends in the Ramallah area.
After that, they organised several short excursions for Palestinians and foreigners living in the area, and then decided to launch their "Wadi Climbing" project.
They now work in two outdoor climbing areas near Ramallah and are developing the first Palestinian indoor climbing and fitness facility.
AFP
