Mariam Fardous
Dr. Mariam Fardous | |
|---|---|
| مريم حامد خليل فردوس | |
 Mariam Fardous in 2016 | |
| Born | Mariam Hamid September 15, 1984 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| Nationality | Saudi Arabian |
| Citizenship | Saudi |
| Occupation(s) | physician, scuba diver, humanitarian, astronaut |
| Known for | first Arab woman to dive in the North Pole |
| Website | www |
Mariam Hamed Fardous also known as Mariam Fardous (Arabic: مريم حامد خليل فردوس) (born 15 September 1984; Mecca) is a Saudi doctor, humanitarian, scuba diver and astronaut who was raised in Mecca. She became the first Saudi woman and the first Arab woman to dive deep in the Arctic Ocean (North Arctic Circle) on 1 May 2015.[1] On 16 April 2016, Mariam became the first ever Arab woman and only the third woman to dive in the North Pole.[2] She received the Bachelor of Medicine degree after graduating from the King Abdul Aziz University in 2009. She also became the first woman from Saudi Arabia to attempt for scuba diving in 2015, at a time where women in the country were not even allowed to drive vehicles until September 2017. In April 2018, she also announced her plans to dive in the South Pole in around early 2019.[3]
Career
Medical career
She received the MBBS degree from KAU University - Jeddah in 2009 and holds master's degree with honors in epidemiology from College of Public Health and Health Informatics of KSAU-HS in 2017.
Emergence as a scuba diver
Mariam worked as a doctor after she graduated from the Medical College of KAU in 2009. She had already learned to dive in the Red Sea the year before as she was inspired by the stories about diving in the Red Sea which were told by her father when she a child.[4] She decided to be the first Arab women to dive deep in the Arctic Ocean and then to reach the North Pole. She undertook training sessions under similar climatic conditions in order to accomplish her achievement. Fardous achieved this despite her commitments as a physician.[5] Her attempt interested the Saudi women community as they were generally prohibited from driving, competing in sports under restricted women's rights and Sharia law. Many of these were relaxed in 2017.[6] On 1 May 2015, she became the first Arab woman to cross the North Arctic Circle and later on 16 April 2016 (at the age of 33), she became the first Arab woman and third overall woman to dive in the North Pole.[7] She was the first Saudi physician to dive in North Pole.[8]
Humanitarian work
On 7 November 2007, the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia recognised Mariam Fardous's three years of humanitarian work during the Hajj seasons. On 15 September 2015, she was appointed as the Ambassador for the African Non-profit organization African Impacts.
She has also visited to countries including South Africa, Lebanon and Greece to provide medical facilities to the people in need under the association of International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.[8]
Astronaut
She is announced as a member of the Saudi astronaut corps in February 2023. Her first assignment is back-up crew of Axiom Mission 2.
References
- ^ "10 first Arab women breaking the glass ceiling in male dominated fields". ameinfo.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ "AboutHer.com spotlights Saudi Arabian women". Arab News. 2018-05-15. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ "gulftoday.ae | After diving in North Pole, adventurous Saudi woman targets South". gulftoday.ae. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
- ^ "Mariam Fardous, The First Saudi Arabian Woman To Dive In The North Pole". About Her. 2018-04-09. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ "Meet Miriam Fardous, the First Arab Woman to Dive the North Pole". www2.padi.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ المكرمة, مكة - مكة. "50 عاما في الظلام.. الرياضة النسائية ترى النور - صحيفة مكة". makkahnewspaper.com. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ Nadeem, Sadiya A (2018-03-30). "Meet the first Arab woman to dive in the North Pole". GulfNews. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Mariam Fardous: Doctor, Diver, and Global Volunteer". Retrieved 26 July 2018.
Further reading
- ^ Day, Emma (2018). "This Saudi Ice Driver is Gearing Up to Attempt a New Record". Vogue Arabia.