In approximately 2 weeks from now I will be getting on a plane to Tanzania, Africa in order to climb Mt Kilimanjaro with my husband. Kilimanjaro is a mountain in the middle of Africa, the tallest on the continent at 5895m (19,340ft). Standing on the summit I am told you can see all the way to the horizon, and see the curvature of the earth. Some of you may be thinking “Cool!”, some of you may be thinking “Is she crazy?”, and some of you maybe thinking “Why?”
First of all I need to tell you a little bit about myself, I’m married and I have three children ages 15, 9 and 6. I work full-time and am an Australian living in Singapore. Before I decided late last year that I was going to do this, I had never hiked or camped in my life! (My husband assures me car camping doesn’t count…)
Now I bet you’re all asking “Why?” It’s probably best summed up by a conversation I had just recently – I had gotten to a point in my life where I really felt “comfortable”, which paradoxically made me realise I needed to get out of my “comfort zone” cause as the cliché goes “if you’re not growing you’re dying”. This is about expanding my horizons and becoming bigger, understanding myself more and stretching my comfort zone.
My goals are that the journey will not only improve my health and fitness, but will strengthen my relationship with my husband, increase my gratitude and appreciation for life and help me be more present with my surroundings. Clarity, inner peace, presence, confidence, determination, persistence… are what I’m striving for in this journey to the top. And my husband who feels similarly gets to do something he loves to do (he’s already climbed to Everest base camp) and given this was my suggestion has of course enjoyed saying all through our training “Remember this was your idea!”
We are fortunate enough to be undertaking the trek with the Blair Singer Training Academy and K2 Adventures Foundation as a “Mountain Leadership Experience”. So one of the best reasons is also the opportunity to give back to the community we will be passing through.
The Mwereni Integrated School for the Blind is a unique place for many reasons, for example they work with individuals with disabilities such as albinism, blindness and XP (Xeroderma Pigmentosum). These conditions have long been stigmatized in the Tanzanian culture and elsewhere. In reality, these conditions will not prevent a smart, dedicated or energetic kid from getting an education and making meaningful contributions to their communities. Nevertheless, even to this day, there are those who believe that these conditions are the by-product of possession by evil spirits, or potentially contagious.
The Mwereni School is confronting this prejudice in the best way possible: by disproving it. Mwereni provides a quality education to hundreds of bright, engaging, and wonderful children who, in increasing numbers, are going on to higher education at secondary schools, and into the Tanzanian work force.
Mwereni serves children with and without disabilities by providing a high quality primary school education, as well as a safe living environment for its boarding students. As the school’s headmaster notes with pride: “the children are living and learning together.”
Mwereni has faced an array of challenges over the years, with the most obvious and immediate being its dilapidated infrastructure. With outside help, the Mwereni School has been able to revive the structure of the school, which had been allowed to fall into disrepair at the hands of the Tanzanian government before private, local educators gained authority in the late 1990s. While significant progress has been made, work remains to be done, which the school simply cannot do on its own.
Together, the school and the Mountain Leadership Team, are taking on these challenges… and I’m asking for your help to do so.
The attached document outlines the project we will be undertaking to rebuild the kitchen. If you would like to help, please go to: http://www.k2adventures.org/donate and at the bottom of the donate page in the right corner is a drop down for allocation. Please select: “Mwereni: Dada’s Kitchen” which means Sisters Kitchen. (Also please let me know you have donated as I will be applying to the organisation I work for to match the funds raised.)
For me the mountain represents a huge opportunity for personal growth. Two days working in an African orphanage followed by 5 days climbing to almost 6,000m and 2 days back down again are sure to give me some challenges to overcome and wins to celebrate.
And my commitment to you – I will take you on the journey with me, all the way to the top!
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