Two days into our trip, we haven't even started the climb but already have a couple of epic adventures and even more funny moments = off to a great start.
After meeting in Nairobi on Sunday, the group embarked on a 'six' hour bus ride from Nairobi into Moshi. 'Six' sloooowwwwwwly turned to nine by the time we pulled up covered head to toe (nose and ear) covered in dust and unable to walk properly with cramped legs. Welcome to Africa!
In Moshi we are staying for 2 nights at 'Shira's Place', a guesthouse run by Pamoja Tunaweza, an empowerment organization that works with 150 HIV positive women from the city and surrounds. In this project they run the lovely little guesthouse and cook simply phenomenal meals.
Well fed and thoroughly cleaned, we spent today participating in a sports day in Chimbwe, a small village on the foothills of Kili. We previously arranged the day through an organization call Minjeni - yet another community empowerment group focused specifically on the residents of Chimbwe that provides economic, agricultural, health and education initiatives.
During the school holiday, they run educational and sports programmes for kids and invited us to participate. A perfect fit.
After a knee knackering 30 minutes of slipping and sliding up muddy roads in a 'dala dala,' we were deep in the foothills, covered in mud (its gonna be a dirty trip) and experienced a day few of us will ever forget. 80 kids aged 4-11 split their time between a 'Speak Up' workshop educating them how to get help if ever violated in the home or community (the prevalence of intra-family/community rape is high) and playing sports on the football field.
Our team led the sports program portion of the day. And the pictures will tell the million words. When they are, pay close attention to both our and the kids' smiles.
SHLF supports grass roots organization with broad reach. We believe the individuals and organizations on the ground are not only the best suited to have the biggest impact on the youth but typically have the greatest need for financial and capacity building support.
While we aren't partnering with Minjeni, they helped reinforce the importance of the work done by grass-roots orgs. Their impact on the community is profound and very visible. We were honoured to be their guests.
We begin hiking first thing tomorrow money. Spirits are high and laughs are abound. We've worked hard training and fundraising to get to this point, and in many ways this becomes our reward. We are giddy with excitement with some nerves on the side after stories of altitude sickness and knowing there is no way of knowing how your body will react. The group is getting along fabulously and have been put in the running to 'out-do the New Mexicans.' Stay tuned to find out what that means!
We will do our best to e-mail update this blog on the way, but won't hold our breaths.
Thank you again for your support and looking forward to reaching our goals!
The Team
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