SHLF Does Kili!

Kilimanjaro: You have the determination; Now you must persevere. June 2010

2010-07-21T00:34:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to believe, but it has already been 3 weeks since 10 climbers summited Mount Kilimanjaro for the Strachan Hartley Legacy Foundation. After months of training, organizing and fundraising, we all met, some for the first time, in Moshi, Tanzania to begin our climb.

Below is Kilimanjaro as I experienced it. (I know it's a bit long, but hopefully it's worth the read).

INTRODUCTIONS

Sunday, June 20

9 of the 10 climbers meet in Nairobi, Kenya. Introductions were made, some pleasantries were exchanged and within a few hours, we were behaving as if we’d all known each other forever. It’s not that surprising since we all already share at least 2 things in common: our friend Aimee-Noel Hartley and a belief in the power to make a difference. Our 10th climber met us the next day in Tanzania.

GETTING THERE

Monday, June 21

After a good night’s sleep, we all crammed ourselves into a bus from Nairobi, Kenya to Moshi, Tanzania. It was a tight fit and a bumpy and dusty ride, and although there were moments when we were positive that the suspension was going to give and our luggage fly off the roof, we made it safely.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Tuesday, June 22

The ultimate reason that our group of 10 came together in Africa was to make a difference – to represent the Strachan Hartley Legacy Foundation and demonstrate what it stands for. And so, we took a day trip to a small village in the foothills of Kilimanjaro to spend the day with the kids.

It was an amazing experience – seeing hundreds of kids happy to play soccer and hold your hand. I became friends with 7 year old Moussa who was supposed to be the goalie. Our friendship almost cost Moussa’s team a few goals and him the respect of his teammates, but it was worth it to hear him count to 10 in English.

THE CLIMB

Day 1: Wednesday, June 23

Machame Gate (1500m) to Machame Camp (3000m)
Habitat: Rainforest

As we set out to begin our climb of Kilimanjaro, everyone was in good spirits. We were energized and ready to begin what represented the biggest challenge many of us had tackled.

We walked for about 6 hours through the rainforest, surrounded by lush vegetation and a light mist. It was beautiful. We arrived at camp to discover that our team of porters had set up the tents and prepared dinner. Impressive.

As we ate our dinner, our Guide Antipas came into the dining tent. His took a few minutes to walk us through what the next day would look like, answer our questions and let us know how we were doing.

Antipas reminded us that as the days go on, we will begin to feel tired, that the altitude will begin to affect us and that we may lose our appetite. But what he wanted to get through to us is that these symptoms are not a death sentence. They are part of the process.

Antipas said, “You have the determination. That is why you are here. But now you must persevere.” It would only be days later that we would truly understand what this meant.

Day 2: Thursday, June 24

Machame camp (2980m) to Shira camp (3840m)
Habitat: Rainforest and Moorland

We got an early start, walking through the rainforest and transitioning into moorland. After walking for a few hours, we slowly got out of the clouds and got our first glimpse of the summit and the glaciers. It seemed so far away! We still had a lot of terrain to cover as we continued to circumnavigate the mountain from the Western Breach to the east.

We arrived at the camp to have an amazing view above the clouds. The weather was drier and comfortable and we were able to enjoy the afternoon outside relaxing.

Day 3: Friday, June 25

Shira Camp (at 3840m) to Lava Tower (at 4630m) to Barranco camp (at 3950m)
Habitat: Semi-desert

Over 8 hours, we transitioned from moorland to semi-desert. Most signs of vegetation disappeared and the terrain became rocky. I would say that most people still felt pretty good this day.

The sun was strong and we all did our best to make sure that we had sun screen protecting our faces, but it never occurred to us to protect our necks and ears. As the sun beat down on us, we all suffered pretty nasty sunburns on the left side of our necks and our ears that kept us awake as we tried to sleep. For the next week or so, my ears and neck molted … it was gross.

Day 4: Saturday, June 26

Barranco camp (3950m) to Barafu camp (4550m)
Habitat: Alpine desert

Day 4 was a day full of anticipation for most of us. We knew that after walking for 8 hours this day, we would begin our summit ascent over night and our concerns about making it to the top began to surface.

This day started out rough for me. We headed out in the morning and after walking for about a half an hour, we began to climb the Barranco Wall. It’s a pretty imposing wall to look at but nothing we couldn’t handle.

I felt physically capable to climb the wall, but about half way up, I became lightheaded and dizzy. I fought through it for a little while, but it became quickly apparent when I could not stand without holding on that something was wrong. With watchful eyes following my every move, I made it to the top of the wall. Once on solid ground, within a matter of seconds, the water bottles in my backpack were taken from me and my boyfriend was shoving a Reeses Peanut Butter cup in my mouth and forcing me to wash it down with electrolyte water.

And then, I broke down – yup, I spontaneously started crying. I wondered how I would make it to the top if I was getting lightheaded at 4500 meters. What would it be like at 5895m? But after a few minutes of rest, I began to feel better and made it through the rest of the day without incident.

Before the end of the day, our first climber got sick (no, it was not me). He first vomited around 4pm and would continue to vomit repeatedly for the next 30 hours.

We arrived at camp around 5pm. We ate quickly and were in bed by 7pm taking a short nap before we got up at 10pm to begin the summit climb.

Day 5: Saturday, June 26 - Sunday, June 27

(Summit attempt) Barafu camp (4550m) to Stella Point (5695 m) to Uhuru Peak (5895m) to Mweka Camp (3100m)
Habitat: Scree and Ice-capped summit

We awoke at 10pm to prepare for our summit climb. We had slept anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours. To say we were tired would be an understatement.

By 11pm, we were well on our way, scaling the rocks and making our way to the summit. We were walking under the bright moon light. As we looked up, we could see the head torches of other climbers moving slowly and steadily, an indication of where we were going.

The summit climb was by far the most challenging for all of us, physically and mentally. We had everything against us – accumulated fatigue, cold, wind, stress and oxygen levels of about 50%. Many of us were so exhausted that we felt that if we were to close our eyes, we might well fall asleep right there on the way. Every step was an effort, and any movement that required a physical exertion set our heart rates skyrocketing and demanded 15 seconds to recover. Something as simple as climbing a step seemed impossible. Part of the way, we were nothing more than drones moving along the path. As we got beat up by 20 mph winds and temperatures hovering around -30C/-22F with the wind-chill, we all encountered moments when we seriously questioned what we were doing.

Two of the climbers suffered much more than the others as they vomited repeatedly, about 12-15 times each. Our guides assured us that they would be ok to continue and the climbers pushed through it.

When we made it to the first peak, Stella Point (5685m), I knew that I could make it another 200m to the top. The sun began to rise and it was amazing. The deep red/orange hues slowly revealed the cloud line and as we continued walking, the rising sun revealed Uhuru Peak, our final destination.

I remember enjoying the view and being amazed at the opportunity I had to witness this first hand, but all I could focus on was moving forward and getting to Uhuru Peak.

At 7:00am on Sunday, June 27, all ten climbers reached Uhuru Peak! We had been warned by our guides that we wouldn’t want to linger and savor the moment, and the truth is that he was right. We were happy to take a few photos, enjoy the view and begin our descent.

A few hours later, we made it back to Barafu camp where we rested for a couple of hours, had some lunch and headed down to Mweka camp, where we arrived around 5pm.

In case you’ve gotten lost in the details, we essentially walked about 24 hours in a 32 hour period and slept about 3-5 hours. We were pretty tired.

Day 6: Monday, June 28

Mweka Camp (3100m) to Mweka Gate (1980m)
Habitat: Forest

Day 6 was amazing. We walked for about 3.5 hours down to the gates where we officially completed our climb. The walk was enjoyable and uneventful (but pretty rough on the knees and toes).

As excited as we were to have successfully completing our climb, we were all really excited to take our first shower in 6 days!

FAQ

Below are some of the questions that I’ve been asked most. I thought that I would share them with you all in case you are interested!

What was the weather like?

The weather varied as we ascended. The first day, it was mild but very damp as we were walking through the clouds hovering in the rain forest. The subsequent days were mild and dry. We underestimated the power of the sun and suffered sun burns of varying degrees. Generally, it was about 15C/59F during the day which was comfortable for walking. During the evening, though, it was quite chilly, getting down to 5C/41F.

What were the camps like?

The camps were a sea of tents. We were among many other groups climbing Kilimanjaro at the same time. The terrain changed from camp to camp, starting out in the damp rainforest, moving to the arid moorland to the rough and stony ridge.

What did you eat?

Given that everything we ate had to be carried up the mountain on someone’s head, it was a pretty impressive spread. Each morning we were fed porridge, eggs (scrambled or omelets), sausages, toast, fruit, coffee and hot water. Lunches were some sort of meat, fruit and vegetables. Dinners always began with soup and bread and were followed up with pasta with a vegetable sauce or some sort of meat. Dessert was always fruit. We even had watermelon on day 4 … of all things, the porters carried a watermelon on their head for 4 days.

Where did you get your water?

Our drinking water came from the streams on the mountain – usually run off from the glacier. The water was carried by the porters to the campsites and was used for cooking, for drinking water and also for water to wash our hands.

Some of the climbers used purifying drops and another had a UV stick that is supposed to kill any bacteria in the water. I went au natural and was fine.

What about the bathrooms?

Well … let’s just say that they left something to be desired. There were huts at all camp sites that were essentially old fashioned out houses. There were no toilets, no flushes, no chemicals treating the waste. There was just a hole in the ground, occasionally with some tile around it. I tried to use them but upon approaching the smell would send me heaving. Instead, I preferred to take my toilet paper and hide behind a rock.

What about hygiene?

We all started out with good intentions and a full package of wet wipes. But the truth of the matter is that after a day or two, you stop caring whether you smell or if you’ve brushed your teeth.

Did anyone get sick?

The climbers suffered any number of ailments including:
Nausea
Vomiting
Headaches
Constipation
Diarrhea
Dehydration
Dizziness
Frost bite (from the summit climb)

How was the summit?

The summit was amazing and beautiful. As the sun rises, you begin to see the impressive glacier in all its glory. The weather is cold but not nearly as windy as during the climb.

Everyone lines up to take pictures in front of the infamous Uhuru Peak sign and you have to be quick and to the point because there are other groups of freezing climbers waiting to get their quick shots and start heading down.

As we began to head down, I found myself with about 10 meters separating me from the closest person in front and behind me. I enjoyed the moment and celebrated reaching the top by reaching into the inside pocket of my coat and taking out a Reeses Peanut Butter cup. It never tasted better than at that moment. I savored my success before catching up with the others.

Why do you climb to the summit during the night?

There are 2 reasons that we were given for climbing at night.

1. The sunrise is amazing and people love to see it. I’ll go along with that – it was pretty fantastic.
2. When climbers can see what they are climbing, some get discouraged and will not make it to the summit. Apparently, it is believed that since we can’t really tell what lies ahead, we trust the process and push forward.

What would have happened if you couldn’t make it to the summit?

It does happen that climbers can’t make it to the top. Some get sick, some even die. But these cases are rare. In fact, most people who don’t succeed in getting to the top already have a preexisting condition (known or unknown) that hinders them.

On summit night, we had 6 guides with the 10 climbers. If one of us needed to make our way back down, we would have been accompanied by an experienced guide.

About 20% of all climbers do not make it to Uhuru Peak. Some of the climbers don’t even attempt the summit climb and some of the climbers stop at Stella Point (200m before Uhuru).

How did you deal with the altitude?

9/10 climbers were taking Diamox, a prescription pill used to treat altitude sickness. There are varying views on if the drug works and if/when to take it, but I started taking it 2 days prior to the climb. I suffered no altitude sickness – meaning I didn’t have headache, nausea or vomiting. Whether it’s because of the Diamox or if I wouldn’t have gotten sick will never be known, and the truth is I don’t really care. What matters is that I didn’t get sick.

The only negative side effect of the Diamox is that it makes you urinate … a lot … so taking it in the evening when you were planning to go to bed was a bad idea, unless you didn’t mind crawling out of your tent into the freezing temperatures a couple of times. I learned this early on; a very valuable lesson.

Who carried your things up the mountain?

For each climber, there are 3 porters. The porters are amazing and inspiring. As the climbers congratulate themselves for completing such a feat, we can’t help but feel small next to the incredible porters who carry climbers’ things over and over again up the mountain.

The porters carry each climbers’ rucksacks. The rucksacks contain our clothes, snacks, sleeping bags, mattresses and other miscellaneous things we’ve brought along for the climb. The bags weigh about 15kg/33lb each. And the porters carry them on their heads.

The porters also carry the tents, tables, chairs, food and water. They carry all of this on their heads too.

But it gets even more impressive. The porters are often poorly equipped – they are wearing loafers or sneakers. They aren’t always wearing good clothing. They receive no training. Yet each and every day, they get up before us, prepare our food, wait for us to leave, take down the tents and pack up the camp site and set off. They pass us on the way and get to the next camp site before us so that when we arrive, the camp site is set and dinner is ready.

What equipment did you need?

What’s most important is synthetic clothing that keeps the moisture away from your skin.
We had the following equipment:
- Hiking boots
- Day pack – weighed about 5kg/11lbs with miscellaneous things for the day, such as snacks, sunscreen and water
- Sleeping bag (at least -15C/5F)
- Mattress
- Walking poles (I rented these)
- Gaiters to keep the mud off your pants (I rented these)
- Rain coat, winter coat, wind jacket, wind pants, ski pants, warm socks
- Balaclava – I hesitated on this one, but it was absolutely the best investment I made. On the summit climb, it was so cold and windy that the balaclava made all the difference in protecting my face. 2 climbers who didn’t have a balaclava got frost bite on their lips and nose.

PICTURES

No trip to Kilimanjaro is complete without a photo diary to accompany it. Please enjoy pictures of this extraordinary experience.

View Photo Album

View Slideshow>

FUNDRAISING UPDATE
I am proud to say that collectively, we have raised over $70,000 for the Strachan Hartley Legacy Foundation. Thanks to your generosity, my personal fundraising is over $12,000! I cannot begin to express how grateful for your generosity and support of the SHLF.

If you would still like to make a donation, I invite you to visit my
personal fundraising page
All on-line donations will receive a tax receipt.

Thank you for all of your support and encouragement. This has been a truly life changing experience and to have been able to raise so much money doing it is inspiring.

All the best,
Trish

THANK YOUs

2010-07-12T13:09:00.000-07:00

Like most of South Africa , I woke up this morning with a hangover. Not a literal one (this time), but I’m dizzy, dehydrated and exhausted. It’s over. For the next 30 days, I have the mammoth task of recovering from the last 30. What an incredible month – World Cup, Kilmanjaro, raising over $80,000 and launching the Brick by Brick Campaign. This is the best hangover ever.

Time moves too fast. We know this and by now Kilimanjaro is practically old news. Before it moves into the archives, I want to be sure to say the appropriate thank yous to all those that made the Kilimanjaro Climb an enormous success:

1. The Supporters.
You are what makes us go around. Full stop. I get a shocking number of apologies from people for making ‘small’ donations and have the same knee-jerk reaction every time: no such thing. 503 people have donated a total of $65,718, for an average donation of $131. With matched funds and continued efforts, our total amount raised will be approximately $80,000!
Don’t ever apologise for giving. You make the difference.
Our purpose is to honour your every effort and dollar to change the lives of youth who need it. Thank you, a million times over, for making a difference.

2. The Sponsors.
We aren’t a large operation here and without a doubt, sponsors allows us to build on the incredible efforts of individuals and pay real dividends to our cause. Thank you Merck for making the Kilimanjaro Climb possible and to Kraft and Little Tikes for your contribution to making a difference.

3. African Scenic Safaris.
A top-notch recommendation providing sustainable, responsible services that contribute directly to the Moshi community. Thank you Amanda for going well above and beyond amd to the guides, who deserve their own page of long, effusive thank yous. Antipas, Macho, Benson, Isaiah and the rest of the porters, embarassed us by making it look easy, but you made our trip! Asante Sana!

4. Megan and Sean.
For hosting us all in your gorgeous home and carbo-loading us on the eve of our big journey. Amazing to see you and to meet Nathan and Sean. And, of course, to sit in a small East African town and chit-chat about North Vancouver as if it were around the corner. Love sharing stories about how Jane Savill (Oxford PHd ) truly did live up to her Yearbook prediction of using more than 10% of her brain, agreeing unamimously that Courtney Howard is about the loveliest person alive and giggling at the clock Sally Blair gave you that STILL sits on your bedside table. You, like so many other the pod are a glowing example of how to reach your full potential and make a lasting contribution in this world. See you in Cape Town!

5. The Team

This could be a long one.

You never know how groups will work out. Nonetheless ones made up of people who barely know each other. Once again, our biggest success as a Foundation is 100% in the people involved and their uncanny willingness to give.

This random group of outstanding people took an idea, gave it life and made it count. Each person contributed their own unique strengths to make it happen. From logistics to websites to medicine to hiking gear to general hustle, every single member of this team contributed a unique skill and a lot of effort to creating something phenomenal. And they did it all with patience, grace and humour.

Nothing tells this story better than our arrival, as a team, at the summit. This team of ten includes a lifelong diabetic, cancer survivor, anorexia survivor, 27 year old widow, someone who escaped a communist country, a teenager (gasp) and someone who watched their entire community crumble in an Earthquake right in front of their eyes. Each arrived with their own very compelling reason to overcome a tremendous personal challenge and did it. That said, the biggest success lies in the fact that we did it together and helped each other selflessly.

I can’t say enough about the quality of this team and the people involved in SHLF. While each has their own attributes, one factor binds them uniformly – the willingness to give and ask for nothing in return.

I hope each of the team members got as much out of their journey as I did and that they feel the sincere gratitude for all that they have done for me as a person and, more importantly, SHLF and the youth we serve. The only thing we can offer in return is a sincere promise todo our very best with what you have given and a hope that you will stick around for the ride.

So as I negotiate this hangover and move onto the next challenge - re-building the destroyed facilities in Haiti, you can be sure to find me reminiscing with a giant smile on my face and a peace in my heart.

I love you……all. ;-)
Hakuna Matata Kilimanjaro

6 days, 6000m, and a lifetime of memories - A detailed account by Jenni

2010-07-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

Incredible, inspiring, life-changing. I knew that my trip to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro was going to be an amazing experience, but nothing could have prepared me for the adventure of a lifetime that I was lucky enough to have had over the past two weeks. All ten of us summitedAfrica’s highest peak at about 7:00am Tanzania time on Sunday, June 28, 2010, and we really did come together to Make a Difference. Thank you to all of our supporters for your love, encouragement and support: the group has raised over $65,000 for the Strachan Hartley Legacy Foundation, and now that we’re back, we hope we can see that total grow!

I’m now back in London, Ontario and I have been trying to gather my thoughts and emotions since getting back to Canada on July 1st (I posted a shortblog to the SHLF site on Friday, and there are a couple of great ones that we put up over the course of the journey that you really should check out http://shlfdoeskili.blogspot.com/), and I’m still feeling a bit out of sorts. I’ll do my best to sum up the experience though and share pictures that bring the adventure to life more than my words ever could. It’s hard to believe that in such a short time, people can come into your life and you can share an experience that changes you forever, and for the better.

Before I get into the stories,I want to say thank you to everyone who has read the blogs, donated to the cause or sent messages of encouragement since I signed on for this adventure. It’s been a wild 6 months and your support has been and continues to be greatly appreciated. I really and truly could not have done this without you.

So now for the fun part…the stories! My trip over to Africa was long, but luckily I had two seats to myself on the flight from Toronto to Brussels, and Brussels to Nairobi. I don’t usually sleep very well on planes, but was able to get a few hours, so when we finally touched down in Kenya at about 10:30pm it felt about right. I booted my way through the terminal to get to customs, which was a breeze, and out to find the driver who was there to take me to the hotel. I have to give a shout out here to Kristin Lovell who looked after transport and accommodationsfor all of us because everything went off without a hitch. We had decided to bunk three to a room in Nairobi for the night before catching the shuttle to Tanzania the following morning (nine of us flew to Nairobi, and one right to Moshi), so when I arrived, I had no idea who I’d be staying with. We all figured that we’d be getting close soon enough on the mountain, so there was no point in havingseparate rooms the first night. I was the last to arrive and was sharing a room with Aimee-Noel (who was the central person that everyone knew) and Kiran. Since I got in at about the same time that the football match ended, we all ended up at the room at about the same time and after a couple of cold showers to clean up, wentto bed in preparation for our early morning. (Now I should mention that we were supposed to catch the shuttle at 7:15am, so we were up at about 6:30am so that we could grab food before heading out, but Africa time made it closer to 8:15am by the time we saw the bus!).

Breakfast in Nairobi was really the first time that the majority of us met, and the bus ride from Nairobi to Moshi, Tanzania bonded us. It was 9 hours of dusty dirt roads through Maasai lands to get to our final destination, and by the time we arrived in Moshi at the bed and breakfast, it felt like we’d known each other for ages. Kristin arrived that night, so with all 10 of us under the same roof, excitement was high as we met our guide, Antipas,and laughs were contagious.

One of the trip highlights happened even before the climb started on our first full day in Tanzania because the owner of the tour company we were with (African Scenic Safaris – amazing) had arranged for us to go up into a village to volunteer with a program that paired teaching kids about the importance of reporting abuse with playing sports. The kids were adorable, and I’m not sure who had more fun – us or them! It was amazing to experience first hand the type of work that SHLF sponsors.

Post play, we went back to Moshi to get organized for the climb and do a final shop for chocolate and water before cleaning up and heading to one of Aimee-Noel’s friends for dinner. Such a small world, but the girls had gone to elementary school together in Vancouver, and Meg is now living with her husband and their son in Moshi, because her husband works for the UN. It was a great way to get our minds of the climb that was looming the next day, and really cool to get their take on life in Africa.

Day 1 of the climb eased us into the routine that was to follow for the next 5 days. After signing in at the MachameGate and meeting our assistant guides, we were off. The first day was about 6 hours of walking, with a lunch break in the middle. We quickly learned that the outdoor toilets along the way were not worth the wait, so the ducking or squatting behind a bush or rock began quickly. So too did the conversation about bowel status. It’s very important to share how you’re feeling with the guide and your group, and we definitely took that to heart. The conversations we had were hilarious (and add into the mix that two of our group are ob / gyns) and by the end of the first day, you’d have thought the ten of us had known each other forever. I celebrated reaching the first camp with a rendition of the Rocky run up the stairs in Philly, and I think there may be a video of my pathetic attempt floating around! lol

Being so close to the equator, days were much shorter on the mountain, so by the time dinner was done it was pretty dark and each night, we were likely in bed by about 9:00pm (I didn’t have a watch on the entire time, which was great). Theten of us slepttwo to a tent, and I was surprised that we were all able to crash so early – I had been wondering if we’d be bored, but that wasn’t the case at all. It was cold at night, so I often slept witha toque on, but thanks to good sleeping bags and close quarters, I ended up staying relatively warm.

Now even though we were camping, we were doing it well….we didn’t have to set up or take down tents, and we were woken each morning with a knock on the tent from one of the porters, offering tea or coffee, and taking out water bottles to fill them with the recently boiled water. We’d put on a layer of clothing (I typically slept in long underwearand then put the top layer on before going to breakfast), pack up our stuff and head to the mess tent for breakfast. Toast, oatmeal (which was more like gruel), fruit, eggs and sausages, along with coffee, tea, hot chocolateand Milo mix met us each morning. Ourhiking started about8:00am each day, and we’dusuallygo for about 4 hours, break for lunch – the porters would have taken down andpacked up camp, passed us on the trail and re-set up the mess tent and cooked lunch in this time – then finish off the day with another 3-4 hours, depending. We definitely stopped for pee and picture breaks along the way which took up time, and one of the highlights for me was on Day 3 when we climbed up to Lava Tower for acclimatization before descendingto Barancocamp. We stopped to rest at the base of thetower, but with Antipas’ permission andIsaiah and Macho (two ofthe assistant guides) leading the way, Aimee-Noel, Kiran and I climbed to the top of the tower. The three of us were feeling pretty good, with no signs of altitude yet, and I LOVED the actual climbingof getting up the extra 50 metres. While most of thehike was walking, we did get a taste of manoeuvering ourselves over rock from time to time, and I loved it.

I was extremely lucky on the climb because I really didn’t feel the effects of altitude at all. I was a little headachyfrom the sun on Day 3, but two ibuprofen, a hat and a lot of water cured it quickly. In fact, other than not sleeping great, I was incredibly impressed with my body and what it did on the climb because not everyone in the group was feeling good. Although we all were taking Diamox to help prevent altitude sickness, a couple of my friends ended up quite sick. We’re not sure if it was altitude, food, water, or a combination, but Day 4/5 was tough.

Day 4 was a big day because it was about 9 hours from the time we left camp in the morning to the time we arrived at the final camp for the ‘night’. It wasn’t really a full night though because after dinner, we had about 4 hours to rest and then we were woken up to start the summitclimb for 11:00pm (start of Day 5). Summitting is done overnight for a few reasons, which we learned after the fact: to have the light of the full moon, to arrive at the summit at sunrise, and so that we couldn’t see what we were climbing up for the 7 hours it took us to get to the top. Aimee-Noel and I were saying that we were the closest we’d ever be to the moon that night, and it felt like we were actually on it. The final push to the top was brutal in a lot of ways, and again, I’m massively lucky that my only enemies that night were the cold and not having slept since I woke up the morning of Day 4. I wasn’t throwing up or fighting nausea or a pounding headache, but many of my friends were, and I was praying for all of us the entire 7 hours up. The terrain itself was brutal too, and for a good portion of the climb, you’d slide back a step for every two you took forward because of the sand. Since I was feeling okay, I was doing my best to help everyone else (including pulling pants down at pee breaks!) and also making sure that I was drinking enough water and eating the summit breakfast of champions – chocolate and trail mix- about every 30 minutes to keep energy levels up.

Finally, at sunrise on June 28, 2010, all 10 of us crested Stella Point at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro – we had made it! I couldn’t help but cry, but quickly wiped tears away so that they didn’t freeze. It was about -18 celsiusthat night, with the wind making it feel more like -25,so our guide hurried us alongso that we could reach UhuruPeak – the highest point – as soon as possible so that we could get a few pictures and start working our way down. Although we were at the top of the mountain, we still had to gopole, pole (slowly, slowly)for the final 45 minutes to Uhurubecause we were still gaining altitude and Antipas didn’t want people to get any worse. It was amazing to see the various states of people, not only in my group, but in general, and I was so thankful that I was able to be taking in most of the experience and not having to fight sickness. My mind was all over the place at the top – definitely on my dad and how proud he’d be when he saw the picture – but also with each and every one of the group members. In 5 days, we had become incredibly close and were looking out for one another like family; I was feeling very very blessed to be experiencing this with them, and also very proud of myself and my body for what it had accomplished. It really was a sense of being able to do anything.

With pictures taken and hugs all around, we started to make our way back down the mountain (about 3 hours of sand skiing in the blazing sun)to camp for a much neededhour of rest before having to pack up and hike 4 more hours to the final camp that night. Yes, this means that in the 36 hours from waking up on Day 4 to going to bed on Day 5, we’d hiked for about 24 hours. We arrived back at camps in waves,and I think itwas about 10:40am when I crawled into my tent.Exhaustion and dehydration had hit me on the way down andit was incredible how much the temperature had changed. I’d hiked up the mountainin complete winter gear and was freezing, but on the way down, I’d stripped off as much as I could and was boiling. The sun definitely got to me on the descent too, so when I arrived back to camp and had taken off my wet layer, I was sunburned, but chilled. I also realized that although I’d had hand and feet warmers in my mitts and boots, my big toes were a bit frostbitten – luckily they haven’t turned black, but they’re still not quite right, and I’m hoping that the sensation will come back eventually….

While I hadn’t slept at all in the 4 hours we’d had the night before, I did dozea bit in the hour of rest we had before lunch, and I think that food and the thought that our sleeping bags awaited us at the final camp that night kept us all moving for the 4 hour afternoon hike down. Luckily, with the descent, people were starting to feel better and even though going down was tough on the knees, our final night at camps was hilarious. We were all so pumped that we’d made it to Uhuru and all together (some groups end up having to split up) that it was a great night of laughs, and I think we all slept very well (well, for me, as well as I could have…sleep was the one thing that didn’t come easily on the climb for me even though it should have!).

Our final day was easy (only 3 hours) and bittersweet. Beautiful scenery and good conversation on the way to the MwekaGate, but we all knew that the adventure was coming to an end. After getting back to the B&B and cleaning up very fast (even though the shower was cold it felt SO good to wash after 6 days of being dirty and dusty!), we went to a restaurant for celebratory pizza. Aimee-Noel had to leave that evening to get back to Cape Town to catch a World Cup game the following day, and Kristin was out early the next morning,but I was thankful that we were able to spend one final meal together laughing. That night, a few of uswentout for dinner and drinks (we were very much in celebration mode andit waslot of fun to completely let go – after all, I’d just climbed a mountain!), but it was already feeling weird not having everyone together.

I’ve been playing through the days in my mind constantly and finding comfort in knowing that I’ll see many of the group again soon. I was lucky enough to do atwo day safari with Chloe and Fred post climb (it wasn’t originally in my plan, but worked out!) and we met up with Trish, Lucas, Kiran, Camille, and Paloma for one final campsite night togetherthatwas definitely one to remember – good food, good friends, good wine and sitting around a campfire under the Tanzanian sky was a picture perfect way to end the trip. And although Aimee-Noel and Kristin weren’t able to be there,I know that Aimee-Noel will be back in Canada this fall for a few weeks, so I’m going to do everything I can to see her, and Kristin is moving back to Toronto from Abu Dhabi later this month!

If you’ve read all 2800 words of this post, thank you…it only scratches the surface, so be sure to read the SHLF blog too to get my friends’ perspectives on the climb. And if you haven’t yet donated to the cause, please consider doing so at http://www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=1504&AID=968&PID=114230; every one of us really can Makea Difference.

Did we really just climb Kilimanjaro?

2010-07-07T23:59:00.000-07:00

Back to the grind! Well, not really. I'm back in Abu Dhabi and in fact it is my last day of work. Only 5 hours to go! The past 30 days have been a whirlwind for me with moving out of my apartment the week before the climb, training my replacement, climbing Kilimanjaro, and preparing for my move back to Canada on July 13. But I have no complaints. Everything seems to be coming together! Back in Toronto I will be busy as well with re-establishing my residency, finding a job and planning a wedding! Such an exciting time and I love it. :)

I've been back from Tanzania for about a week and it is just now sinking in that our group of ten all summitted Kilimanjaro at 7AM on June 27. Wow. We really did it. This is one of those adventures I will be talking about for the rest of my life and going back often to look at photos. It was an intense challenge and I remember struggling at times with the altitude sickness but looking back it feels like the trip flew by so quickly. Thank goodness for photographic memories!

Our team of ten has raised over 65K and we are not stopping. My fundraising tally currently stands at 11K but I am going to push for another few weeks to try and break 15K. I know my teammates and new life-long friends will be pushing along with me.

So many fond and funny memories. We were very fortunate to have developed a strong team bond from the very beginning. We got very close, to the point of updating each other daily on our bowel movements. Sounds silly but I think this kind of comfort level was a key ingredient to our success. Any time a team member was feeling ill, everyone was there to lend a hand. Nothing exemplifies this more than our team sticking together during the eight-hour summit climb throughout the night where two of our teammates were vomitting the entire way up. We stayed together, we encouraged each other and in the end, we all summitted at Uhuru Peak (5895 metres) together. Okay okay, I know it sounds like I am having a sentimental moment as opposed to providing my usual comic relief but I can't help myself. I guess I am getting sappy in my old age. To Aimee-Noel, Jenni, Kiran, Trish, Lucas, Camille, Chloe, Paloma and Fred - thank you for making this one of the most memorable adventures of my life. And to our guides - Antipas, Isaiah, Macho and Benson - we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you.

Kristin

We laughed, we cried, we laughed some more

2010-07-02T11:50:00.000-07:00

After 30 hours of travel, I arrived back in Ontario yesterday afternoon, and hopped on one final flight from Toronto up to Sudbury so that the first person I saw post climb was my dad. I had spent much of the trip home thinking about what an absolutely amazing experience I had in Africa, and when we arrived at the Sudbury airport, my heart was beating almost as fast as it was when we reached the top of Kilimanjaro last Sunday. I was the first one off the plane and more or less ran into my dad's arms and started crying. I had been able to hold off the tears until that point, but in the 24 hours or so that I've been back, my emotions have been all over the place.

The memories are definitely going to last a lifetime, and although I’m a little worried about what might make it to YouTube and Facebook, I can’t wait to see the footage! Every now and then something pops into my mind, or I go through pictures and find myself giggling and trying to explain to whoever hears me what I’m laughing about (not exactly easy because for a lot of the stories, you really had to be there or they just sound nuts), but Aimee-Noel’s Top 10 List is bang on for hilarious moments and their context. The only other I’d add is learning the game of Giants, Wizards, and Elves to settle sleeping and showering arrangements...much more entertaining than Rocks, Paper, Scissors!

I keep running through the days in my mind in hopes of keeping them alive a little longer and not sliding back into reality just yet. I’m finding myself laughing, crying, and drifting off into my own little world a lot, and the tears really are of joy for what an amazing experience the entire adventure was. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much or as hard as I did while I was in Africa, and I can’t believe that in only 10 short days, our group became as close as we did. Since I’ve been back I’ve had a few people ask if I’d ever consider doing it again, and although I was one of the lucky ones who felt pretty good the entire climb, with only the cold being my biggest enemy on the final ascent, it was the people who really made the experience what it was, and I don’t think it could ever be recreated. I am incredibly proud to have been part of this adventure, and words can’t express how proud I am of everyone on that climb for what we achieved.

Kilimanjaro Top Ten + 1

2010-06-30T05:55:00.000-07:00

I shouldn’t be doing this.

Most of the hikers are now on safari and a couple of others on their long routes home. By virtue of proximity to Tanzania and World Cup tickets to Portugal vs Spain, I arrived home first by a long shot. Today, while the others are chasing lions or trying to sleep off their exhaustion in airports, I’m hungover at work and doing a fabulous job of earning my keep. Within a couple of hours of de-planing I was several vuvuzela beer bongs deep and being ushered by police out of Cape Town Stadium amidst throngs of screaming (real) Spanish soccer fans. My Spanish singing was totally on point and I am tremendous role model of how one should recover from 8 sleepless nights and an extremely challenging physical feat. Welcome back to Sea Level!

I should allow time for the others to gather their thoughts and photos onto this blog before chiming in, but on the flight home I came up with my Top 10 list and am just too excited (read procrastinating the mountain of work staring at me) to wait.

So hear goes, subject to opinion:

10. After starting a tally for the number of times Chloe (the gynecologist) brought up ‘girl parts’ into conversation, it was usurped by a group tally for bodily functions. We lost count. You get very close at altitude.

9. Jenni imitating Rocky at the Philadelphia Art Museum upon reaching camp on Night One. Those punches were dangerous.

8. Fred hiking 4 out of 6 days in blue jeans and Lacoste t-shirts. He wins the Best Dressed at 5,000m amsl award, maybe ever. Unless hairstyles count, in which case Camille’s experiment with no-rinse powder shampoo was hot – she looks good with silver hair.

7. Trish, Lucas and Kiran’s camp-made (lower than home on the ‘made’ pecking order) version of The Blair Witch Project. Even better live.

6. After requesting Swahili lessons, the porters sent Aimee-Noel and Kiran off with ‘powa ka chizi komandizi, powa ka chizi komaparachichi’ – crazy banana, crazy avocado. Says alot about the persona of this duo.

The next day, Isaiah, our guide looked at Kiran and told him ‘TMBB – too much blah, blah.’ Kristin, also keen to learn Swahili. excitedly asked him to say it slower so she could understand. Teeee Emmm Beeee Beeee…

5. Trish be-friending 7 year old Moosa by chatting him up while he was meant to be tending goal in soccer at the Sports Day. Their friendship cost his team several goals and him the respect of his teammates, but Trish is still proud of herself. Way to be a role model Cubellis.

4. Paloma, on summit night, asking Jenni ‘can you please pull down my pants?’ It was too cold to take her mittens off, but when you gotta go, you gotta go. Now that’s teamwork.

3. Fred leaping up in the middle of the night and announcing that there were galloping animals outside the tent…..that turned out to be Aimee-Noel sprinting to the facilities in -15 C with a bad case of travelers ‘ladoooona’.

2. Lucas chasing Kristin at full sprint at 4,400 metres amsl blaring Lady Gaga on his iphone. ‘Make, gasp, it, gasp, go, gasp, away, gasp.’

1. Zeus (Kiran – I eat lightning and crap thunder) declaring himself ‘the first to blow chunks on Kilimanjaro’ and thereby initiating a 24 hour puke-a-thon. In a most impressive display of courage Kristin, Lucas, Camille (12 times) and Kiran (lost count) barfed their way up a 9 hour, 5.4 km, 1,200 metre elevation hike to the summit in -25 degree weather.

PS Zeus capped it off with a beer upon returning to lower altitude – first food he successfully stomached in 36 hours.

Bonus #1 – Reaching Uhuru Peak at 5,895 metres amsl at 7am June 27th with all ten Climbers. Capping off a hilarious and challenging spiritual journey that will stay with each of us forever.

Aimee-Noel

We Made It!!

2010-06-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

All ten climbers summited Uhuru Peak yesterday (June 27) at 7am!!
With a success rate of 80% and 4 pukers on the ascent (Camille threw up TWELVE times and still made it!), this team was nothing if not determined.

Back in Moshi very briefly, we will be updating the blog with details of the trip of a lifetime and hundreds of photos over the next few days.

The team is filthy, exhausted and smiling ear to ear. We couldn't have gathered a better group of random people if we tried and most definitely out-did the New Mexicans!

This is Africa

2010-06-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

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

We're here!!

2010-06-22T06:41:00.001-07:00

The internet is really slow here in Moshi, so I'm sharing an email that I just sent to my family :)

Just wanted to post a quick note before we leave on the climb tomorrow to tell you I'm here safely and doing great. My trip was long, but good, and the group I'm with is great. We had an interesting 9 hour ride from Nairobi to Moshi (very little infrastructure, so terrible roads), then a good dinner last night at the place we're staying. It's warm, but not too hot, and today we went up the mountain to play sports and games with a group of school children there - it was amazing. Even without being able to communicate with them, we all (kids and us) had so much fun. We're just in between hiring gear and getting last minute supplies, then heading to a friend of Aimee-Noel's for dinner.

Also, I've decided that I'm going to do a 2 day safari with two of the group members: most people are doing a 4 day, which I don't have time for, but after not seeing any animals other than cows and sheep yesterday, I figured if it worked, I'd do it, so I am :). I'll leave the 29th and be dropped off at the airport on the 30th for my flight to Nairobi (so warning, I'm going to be a little dirty when I get home I think lol).

We're all pumped and ready to hit the mountain tomorrow, and have a goal of being the most fun group that our guide, Antipas, has ever had. Given that it feels like we've know each other for ever and not just 2 days, I don't think that will be a problem.

Wish us luck...and don't worry if I'm not posting for the next week, but check out the blog on the http://kili.shlf.ca site because a couple of my team mates have blackberry service and will try to update that blog from the mountain.

By: Jenni

Are we there yet?

2010-06-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

Wow. Its really happening. In three days I'll be on a plane to Tanzania and in five days I'll begin ascending Mount Kilimanjaro along with nine others who are flying in from Canada, Haiti and South Africa. We began planning this trip approximately eight months ago but for me it only started to feel real when I booked my flight and even more so now as I pack my bags. I'm more than ready to go.
Time for a few more shout outs. My friend Eva Hughes and her hubby Rob, along with my friend and former colleague Renee Burt who posted my fundraising page to their profiles. Laura Wiese from MGA Entertainment for donating toys to the Foundation to be distributed to underprivileged youth (Laura also made the donation which put me at my goal of 10K!). My fiance Chet Dhole for donating Kraft food for both the hikers during the climb and for us to donate to orphans in the villages near Kilimanjaro. Chet's dad Gulab for passing on my fundraising link to family members. It's amazing how something so simple can make such an impact. Thank you for going the extra mile to make a difference.
When I woke up a couple days ago and saw that I had made my 10K goal, I was all smiles. So what did I do? I raised my goal to 11K. I'll never stop as long as I know I can do more. While I am leaving in only three days, I have little doubt that the message I send upon my return along with photos of the climb will bring in additional funds. Hmmm....I may just need to raise that goal to 15K?
If you have never been to Africa, I can't even express in words what a beautiful continent it is. This is my second trip to sub-saharan Africa and hopefully not my last. One week after my trip I finish my employment in Abu Dhani and two weeks after my trip I head back to Canada permanently. All in all, this has been a very exciting time for my lately and what a way to end my two-year stay in the UAE.
Thank you again to everyone who has helped make a difference and I am looking forward to seeing many of you in Canada this summer.
Next stop Kili.
Kristin

It Is Here. Once in a Lifetime.

2010-06-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

Kilimanjaro? Sure. But I'm talking about the 2010 Soccer World Cup!

South Africa is on FIRE! This past week, the world’s biggest sporting spectacle descended on Africa for the very first time. I speak on behalf of a continent when I say we couldn’t be more excited. It is electric, inspiring, amazing and we have gone bananas. I am loving every second of it.

Having had the opportunity to participate in sport at many different levels – from playing with barefoot kids to competing internationally to watching professional games and Olympics, this World Cup reminds me again of sport’s unique value in the world. Sport is the only thing that brings the whole world together for good.

Sport in South Africa, like everything else under apartheid, was divided among colour lines: rugby for whites, soccer for blacks, and resources designated accordingly. My favourite story comes from my close friend who was South Africa’s top woman basketball player for years and comes from fabulously enlightened and educated mixed parents (at a time when it was illegal). While attending private school in Cape Town, she was banned from playing basketball during lunch hour. Not because the authorities disliked basketball, but because they were afraid it would spill-over into soccer and subsequently damage the reputation of the school!

Fast forward fifteen years and, like much else, that legacy remains; on both sides of the sporting fence. Despite efforts from leaders and fairytale moments turned blockbuster movies (Invictus) South African sport remains sharply divided and imbalanced. Across the country, barefoot children continue to kick balls of tape around the townships while Matt Damon look-alikes take to lush green stadium fields on Saturday mornings. Look at your screen the next time you watch a South African rugby game or catch Bafana Bafana as they take the field.

I am in love with South Africa as a country. Inexplicably, I have been since I was a kid. I was old enough to remember Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and to be confused by reports of a country so divided, but too young to understand the significance. Sixteen years after reading my first South African book and nine years after first setting foot on its red soil, I now call this storied nation home. I am drawn to a place where change is so imminent and you are challenged to stand outside yourself every single day and ask what you did to make it happen, for better or for worse. Most of all, I am inspired by my peers and friends who take their responsibility for change so personally. It makes for great people, I promise. But that doesn’t mean it's all inspiration all the time; like everywhere else on this great planet, progress is invariably frustrating and complex.

Come World Cup kick-off, I was released from the office to join friends and throngs of SA supporters painted, hollering and blowing their (now infamous) vuvuzelas. The city was unreal. I ended up in a watering hole stuffed fit to explode with mostly white South Africans. We partied through the Opening Ceremonies (SITers, please say you rocked out to Thandiswa Mazwai’s version of the Nqongqothwane?!) and waited excitedly for Bafana Bafana to take the field. The air was thick with spine tingling excitement, flags waved furiously and drunk people sang out of tune.

By the time the players arrived and the National Anthem came on, I needed to bite my lip.

It is just a game. They all are. Pointless, really. Running around a patch of grass trying to kick a ball through posts? But a bus full of 50 year old white men spilling onto the sidewalk decorated in their national colours to belt out a 15-year old National Anthem in 4 languages for a group of young black men playing a sport they may otherwise consider beneath them; I’ll take it any day.

And that’s to say very little of what this World Cup means to this remarkable country and this magical continent. I happened to be working in Ghana when they launched the World Cup and happily paid witness to a colourful parade un-like anything I have experienced. I was in Kenya three weeks ago when AFC Panthers played heated rivals Gor Mahia in the Kenyan Premier League in front of the rowdiest and most vibrant crowd I have ever danced with. Pride, passion and even hope came hand in hand to Africa in droves with this World Cup.

The Unofficial anthem of the 2010 World Cup ‘Waving Flag’ by K’Naan, a Somalian, was adopted by Canadian artists to pay tribute and raise funds for Haiti after the Earthquake. It gives me the chills every time:

‘Give me Freedom. Give me Fire. Give me Reason. Take me Higher’

It is so much more than a game. I am the first to admit a sporting spectacle provides a band aid for larger and more important issues, but we need inspiring moments to help believe in the impossible and to come together every once in awhile just for good.

I get the fortune of running rampant through streets shaped by the legacy of apartheid with people of all backgrounds and nationalities. I wish I could be there to capture the moment when a dream comes to life in a young person’s eyes this month; when they find their own reason, their own fire. Or to look back in time at Siphiwe Tshabalala (the first goal scorer of the 2010 World Cup) as a kid playing barefoot soccer with a ball of tape in Soweto. I think of all those kids in Haiti where soccer is the national obsession and wonder how many of them saw Tshabalala’s goal and now dream of scoring their own.

SHLF wasn’t built to produce World Cup athletes or unite divided countries. We believe in the inherent value of sport to educate and develop people in a positive manner and were built to provide these to as many kids as possible. But in a week like this, I feel validation for choosing sport as our vehicle to Make a Difference in the world and renewed inspiration to do it even bigger and better.

The bad news is that with 1 week to departure for Kili, the World Cup has me eating and drinking all the wrong things and ending up in all the wrong places at all the wrong hours (as well as missing tickets to TWO games while hiking, doh!). The good news is that it is soooo worth it!

Packing List

2010-06-15T01:05:00.000-07:00

For all the travel I do, I hate packing. And although I’ve gotten good at it when it comes to work travel – lots of black and white and mixing and matching – Kilimanjaro is a different story.

I have a day of air travel on either side, two days before and two after the climb on the ground, the six day climb itself, and then to top it all off I’m heading straight to my family cottage on Manitoulin Island when I get back to Canada on July 1st. This means that I’m going to be going through about seven climates in two weeks. Luckily, I’m not out to impress on the climb or at the cottage, so I’m not worried about looking cute or having a lot of cosmetics with me (which actually makes packing a lot easier lol), but I am going to be in airport lounges during layovers and I’m conscious of wanting to look presentable, and of course the biggest thing of all is that I want to make sure I’m warm on the climb. I figure that if I’m wearing the same couple pairs of shorts on the ground and at the cottage, no big deal, but I’m having trouble with things like pajamas and footwear…really anything that I will need to wear when I’m not climbing.

Good news is that I’ve sent an email to my friend and Kili veteran Lindsay and I hope to chat with her before I leave on Saturday. The other good news is that I did a trial run of packing the major things I’d piled in my room and I have lots of space left to make additions. I’ll have to do a bit of re-organizing after I receive the shipment of trail mix I’m waiting on that one of my fellow climbers arranged (I volunteered to bring our snacks because I can check a third bag), and I still need to figure out toiletries, but I’m not too worried about finding space. And when it comes down to it, we have a buffer day in Moshi on the 22nd to pick up anything we may have forgotten or decide we need for the trek.

So as for how I’m feeling, I’m definitely excited, but nervous too, and my brain has been all over the place since Saturday when the week countdown began. Luckily I was distracted that night by an event that the MBA class hosted in support of the climb (have I mentioned what a great group of people are in the Program?! They came to me and offered to donate the proceeds from a social event they put together to my climb and raised about $800!), but there are now only 4 days of work between me and departure and I’m buzzing. Let’s just hope that I can focus until Friday afternoon.

Jenni

Ready or not, here I come!

2010-06-10T07:24:00.001-07:00

I’m one of those people who has a tendency to live in the past or future (i.e. I’m usually thinking “In exactly one month I’ll be doing this,” or “It was three weeks ago I experienced this”) and Saturdays and Wednesdays have become very important to me: I leave Toronto on Saturday, June 19th and I start the climb on Wednesday, June 23rd. Don’t get me wrong, I try to live in the moment as much as I can, but taking myself back and forth in my mind can bring happiness and create motivation for the future. In any case, countdown to climb is at T minus 2 weeks!

I’ve had the great fortune of getting a lot of support from the current Ivey MBA class (they’re putting on another fundraising social event for me this Saturday), and earlier this week I was in Toronto at a networking event with the group and the big question was “are you ready?” My honest answer to that is yes – as ready as I’ll ever be. I’ve logged countless hours on the stair climber (the one that is like a perpetual stair case), my boots are feeling pretty good (altough admittedly I haven’t been outside hiking as much as I would have liked due to weather and being a little nervous to trek in the bush alone), and I think I’ve purchased all of the key things I’ll need to pack -I’ll find out this weekend when the piles in my room make their way to my new REI duffel bag….

The only thing that could stop me from getting to Uhuru Peak is altitude sickness due to lack of oxygen. The one thing I have no control over will be the determining factor, but the key to making it to the top is “Pole, Pole” or “Slow, Slow” in Swahili. I know that going slowly is going to be a challenge for me – I’m the kind of person who would rather run than walk – but I am determined to get myself to the top and get the picture to prove it, so I’ll do whatever I need to do to get there and hug the sign. Fortunately, I’m also a very curious person, and from what I’ve read, the best thing a climber can do is stick close to the guides, which will allow me to ask my million questions while keeping my pace in check .

Jenni

Frequently Asked Questions - as answered by Trish

2010-05-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

QUESTIONS - I HAVE BEEN GETTING LOTS!
And the questions just keep rolling in!! So let’s get right to it.

Are you scared?
Please stop asking me this. No, I am not scared, but the more I get asked, the more I start to wonder if I should be.

Are you nuts?
This could be debated. But until the altitude sickness sets in and delirium takes over, I would say that I am sane and perfectly aware of the decision I am making to climb a considerably high mountain.

Why should i pay for your vacation?
Ah, that would be great to have an all expenses paid vacation. But alas it is not the case. 100% of all donations are going straight to the SHLF. The Kili climb costs are coming entirely out of my pockets - flights, equipment, visas, vaccines, you name it. The costs are adding up but it’s so worth it.

Are you just going for the climb?
Now if you’re asking me this question, you must be nuts. I’m going all the way to Africa and I’m going to enjoy it. So what do I have in store since I’ll be all the way over there?
June 23-28: Climb Kilimanjaro!
June 29 - July 3: SAFARI!!
July 4 - 9: Cape Town, South Africa

How long is the climb?
The climb is 6 days total. We will be ascending very slowly for 4 days and descending over 2 days. Check out the itinerary below.

DAY 1 : 23RD JUNE : BEGIN KILIMANJARO CLIMB
Be met by your head guide and drive to the Machame gate (about 45min.). After registration, start climbing along a clear trail through plantation and natural forest, thereafter a narrow forest path follows to the Machame hut (9,900ft). Approx 5-6 hours of walking today.

Day 2 : 24th June : Climbing
After breakfast, continue your ascend through the forest and cross a large gorge to Shira hut (12,600ft). Approx 5-6 hours of walking today.

Day 3 : 25th June : Climbing
After breakfast, we will ascend to Lava tower (15,180ft) with lunch on the way to Baranco, then descend slowly to Baranco campsite (12,850ft) for dinner and overnight. Approx 5-7 hours of walking today.

Day 4 : 26th June : Climbing
After breakfast, we leave Baranco hut for Barafu hut (14,910ft). We will pass through the last water drop at Karanga valley on the way up. Overnight Barafu campsite. Approx 6-7 hours of walking today.

Day 5 : evening of 26th June/early morning of 27th (FULL MOON) : Climbing - Summit Day
Wake up at midnight and after a small snack, start ascending to Uhuru Peak through the Stella point (18,640ft). After reaching the summit, we will head down to Mweka camp. Approx 6-7 hours to Uhuru Peak and then 4-5 hours down to Mweka camp.

Day 6 : 28th June : Return to Moshi
After breakfast, we will head down to Mweka gate and the waiting vehicle will take you back to Moshi. Approx 3-4 hours of walking today.

How are you training?
Training is mental and physical so I’ve got my hands full preparing for this challenge.

Mentally
Well, if people would stop freaking me out, that would be nice. I’m not really concerned about the actual climb as I am about the lack of hygiene. But I’m doing things to make me feel better about camping for 6 days with no running water and therefore no showers or bathrooms - you get the idea. So I bought “No Rinse Shampoo” and “No Rinse Bodywash” and have myself fully convinced that this is just as good as a nice shower after sweating it up a mountain for many hours a day. It’s all good.

Physically
Lots of cross-training to get as fit as I can.
* Aerobic workouts include spinning twice a week and getting on the treadmill.
* Strength training includes lots of different machines to increase my upper body strength, my core, my back and my legs. So just about all of them. You should see the size of my biceps - tearing through my shirts. Incredible.
* HIKING! What better way to get ready then to actually hike? So off I go to the moutains to break in my boots and backpack. I’ve successfully gotten blisters on almost every part of my feet, but the pain builds character.

Trish

Kilimanjaro or bust...the final push!

2010-05-25T02:38:00.000-07:00

Today's message is all about recognition and thanks. I want to recognize my friends, family and colleagues who have gone the extra mile to help the foundation and I want to thank everyone who has ever opened up one of my many many fundraising emails and took the time to read it. It means a lot to me.

Immediately after my first Kilimanjaro fundraising email, both my mom, Penny Lovell and my fiance, Chet Dhole had their credit cards out. My friend Kate Collins here in Abu Dhabi is my biggest donor to date. Friend and colleague Nancy Hernandez went around her office collecting funds from colleagues . Taunia Phillips, Fouad Ismael, Natalie Dahdal, Michael Dahdal, Kate Collins and Nancy Hernandez all posted my fundraising page to their facebook profiles. These are just a few examples of people who are making a difference. There are plenty more but I am saving them for the next message so you'll just have to keep checking the blog to find out who. :)

Yesterday I sent out an update email to my 500 person contact list and in less than 24 hours another $500 has rolled in bringing my personal total to $6,870. Collectively our group of 10 climbers have raised over $34,000. I am honoured to be part of such an amazing group of people.

With only 27 days to go, reality is starting to set in that we are about to climb Africa's tallest peak, which for many of us will be the biggest physical challenge of our lives. Thank you to everyone who has made this possible. I can't wait.

Next stop, Kilimanjaro
Kristin

Glass half full? Nope, we're talking buckets.

2010-05-21T01:36:00.001-07:00

I talk a lot. I talk even more about SHLF. But don’t even try to stop me from talking about how amazing this journey has been.

I have been here since it started as an idea in a hospital. I was at the head of the Founder’s table with the powerpoint presentation, so I got to see each and every one of their 'Deer in Headlights' look. I was the last of the 750 people to leave the 2008 Party with a Purpose, barefoot at 4am in a Montreal November and this year I will conquer Todd Chapman’s 10km version of the Annual SHLF Run in Vancouver. I have also played basketball and read with boys from Little Burgundy, watched kids play soccer in Cité de Soleil and spent hours talking to our partners about the lives they are changing every single day.

There are many tremendous success stories and each and every single one of them makes me run out of words. Really, for a talker it’s actually quite frustrating.

The one success that isn’t celebrated enough is the quality of the people involved. SHLF is built of 100% volunteers. Not one person has ever been paid or received a kick-back. There are at least 60 people who have put significant time and effort into SHLF and a core group of 30 that make it go around. I would build a statue of each and every one of them.

Everything that we do culminates in the work of our partners who work tirelessly to Make a Difference every single day. Pamela Price and Suzanne Drouin are teachers at Westmount Park School, servicing low-income neighbourhoods in Montreal. While most teachers enjoy the summer off, these two spend theirs working closely with kids they have identified as ‘at-risk’. These boys, in grades 1-6, are well behind their reading levels, some can’t read or recognize letters. Suzanne and Pamela use basketball to draw the kids to the program, recruit peer mentors from the neighbourhood and work closely with the boys to develop literacy, sports and life skills. Their success rate is staggering and we humbly watch as they go well above and beyond the call of duty. They are true heroes.

But so is Heidi Dorman – a hard-working marketing manager who has barely missed a meeting or an e-mail since we started in Vancouver in 2007. I know an asset when I see one, so I took the time to ask her what we need to do to keep her enthusiasm on board, her answer gave me the chills- just Make a Difference. Kristin Lovell, a cancer survivor and professional fundraiser, had her credit card out within 5 minutes of meeting the Foundation. A year later she was first to sign up to climb Mt Kilimanjaro, has auctioned off a photo of her hindside on top of the mountain and is actively campaigning to change the charitable giving culture in her current city, Abu Dhabi. Kelly Patrick, investment banker, came to the inaugural Party with a Purpose at the request of a friend; the next year, he Chaired it and has subsequently single-handedly raised at least $20,000. I still don’t know why, but I do know that I will grab onto his left foot and never let go if he ever thinks of going elsewhere.

As are the other 50 some odd friends who volunteer their time and skills to make SHLF work. They may do it quietly, but they play a vital role in Making a Difference in this world and they are of the rare breed who give of themselves and ask for nothing in return. Each of them has seen an opportunity to make the Make a Difference story their own, bravely stepped up without a clear idea of what comes next and collectively pushed the limits of what is possible; simply because they want to.

Board member Tuesday Reitano is one of the most outstanding people I have ever met – she has 3 degrees from top universities in 3 different countries, has a 9 year career with the United Nations and is a wife and mother of two (we’re the same age – yikes!). Just the other day she told me that life is a bucket; there are people who fill your bucket and people who drain it.

Well my bucket runneth over. In addition to helping my family heal and letting me participate in Making a real Difference, SHLF has given me the chance to go on the greatest adventure with the most outstanding bucket-fillers. No egos, no agendas, no rewards - just genuine people doing good.

If you ever listen to anything I say, listen to this - pay close attention to who they are and try to find friends just like them. You will laugh, grow, make great things happen and be humbled everyday.

Read Jenni Denniston’s story about dedicating the hike to her Father, pay attention how Frederick Dzineku climbs Africa’s highest mountain after living with diabetes for over 30 years, celebrate with Trish when she achieves the biggest physical feat of her life and follow my unbelievable sister-in-law as she continues to show un-paralleled courage and strength. These are the kinds of people you want to know, trust me.

Aimee-Noel

The Stairmaster is my Nemesis!

2010-05-13T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Stairmaster and I have a love-hate relationship right now. I hate every minute that I am on it but love the way it feels afterwards. I think I am even starting to draw some attention at the gym with my constant groaning and grunting as I climb away!

T-minus 48 days until we start the climb so gone are the days where I make up an excuse to avoid going to the gym after work. My training involves a combination of activities, i.e. stairmaster, spin class, abs, weights, swimming, and yoga. Unfortuntely, given the 40 degree heat in Abu Dhabi, hiking outside is just not an option.

Other preparations are coming along as my travel is booked and my equipment is bought. My vaccinations are up to date and they recommend I bring some malaria pills but to be honest I’m not too keen on that. They can have bad side effects so I might take my chances with the mosquitos. I just need to get a Tanzanian visaand as it turns out, there is an Embassy around the corner from my apartment and they have a 24-hour turnaround. How convenient!

Good news on fundraising! I’m at $5,626 so over half way there! Up to 45 donors and still maintaining a healthy average at $125 per person. At this rate I need another 35 donors to reach my goal. Given that my contact list has 520 people, I’m thinking I have a decent shot at reaching this target. I’m hoping my next update will drawn in a couple thousand more. I am also planning to send out pledge forms to a few friends and ask for their help in soliciting their colleagues – small donations like $5. These things add up and can easily bring in another 1K if I can get enough people to help me. The other thing I really need to do still is get in touch with companies in the area to see if they will donate products or services which I can use for a silent auction…my goal for this weekend. That’s all for now!

Kristin

Introducing the MBA Admissions and Recruitiment Manager!

2010-05-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

Since I signed on to climb Kili in support of SHLF in January I've been keeping my own blog about the adventure, so as I update my family and friends I'll be sure to keep our general fans up to date too via this blog.

My most recent post is below, but you can find older ones here!

Family and Fundraisers

I go to bed each night drafting a blog post, and as you can tell, my thoughts don't tend to make it to my laptop regularly. I promise to try to update this more often, even if the entry is short and sweet!

Lots has happened since my last post regarding the climb...I've done a bit of corporate outreach to companies in hopes of acquiring sponsorship, and while I haven't heard back yet, one sounds promising (shout out to Wellness Foods who make The Simply Bar) and I'll be following up this week. I also sent a random email to The Ellen Degeneres Show with an offer to support her quest of World Domination in 2010 by sporting Ellen gear on the hike and putting a flag at the top of Kili, but so far, I haven't heard from her people (and honestly don't expect to, but how cool would that be?!). The other fun thing I'm working on is a fundraising tapas and wine tasting night at Aroma Restaurant for May 15th. I'm going to target the current MBA class because it's a great way to get the two cohorts together for a social event that supports the cause at the same time (and it's an excuse for me to get to know them better too!).

The biggest thing that's happened though is that my dad and I were interviewed by The Sudbury Star on Friday for a human interest piece about my climb and how I'm dedicating the adventure to my dad. What I haven't come right out to say is that my dad was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in late February and he's currently going through chemo to try to get it under control. I'm terrified about all of this, but he is handling it incredibly well, and showing a strength I can't begin to describe. Witnessing his battle and knowing how proud he is of me for taking on this challenge is what is going to get me to the top of the mountain. In fact, I booked a flight on the weekend so that as soon as I land in Toronto post-Kili I'll continue on to Sudbury so that he's the first person who sees my pictures and hears my stories.

I'm nervous to see the article that is going to be written because we really talked about everything with the reporter in terms of our father-daughter relationship, but I have faith that it will be a good piece. As soon as it's published, I'll be sure to post the link here.

Kilimanjaro, here we come!

2010-05-02T06:47:00.000-07:00

At this stage in the training, I still have the distinct advantage of living in a 'flipped' Southern Hemisphere climate. Just before Christmas, I hopped plane from frigid Montreal to make my home in sunny South Africa. I was (and still am) gloating as I watched the frozen ice float along the St. Lawrence River and the sun set at 4pm while I headed to the bright sun of the Motherland.

As the world will find out during the 2010 Soccer World Cup in June/July, South Africa does actually have a winter. True, it pales in comparison to Canadian ones, but rest assured my time for warm coats, umbrellas and multiple blankets will come. At which point you can all return the favour and gloat from your pools and summer cottages.

But Im making the most of it while I can. On top of the weather, Cape Town happens to be stunning and its residents very active. I have been a wee bit over-ambitious (read stupid) in my selection of activities since my arrival. Proving true to character, rather than focusing in on one activitiy and training appropriately, I have attempted to do them all and justified my behaviour by calling it all Kilimanjaro training. These have included sprint hikes up Table Mountain, a 110km bike race around the tip of Africa and the Two Oceans half-marathon. All of them have left me stupidly sore and envious of the people around me who actually adhered to a specific training plan.

Regardless of my tired muscles and bad tan lines, I am loving every moment of it and soaking up the sun while I still have the chance. I think of my co-climbers and their own training journeys everytime - Jenni trying to elliptical up the mountain, Kristin training in the stifling Abu Dhabi summer heat, Trish building biceps so big they are ripping her shirts and Kiran training through a hip injury. Training for this climb represents different challenges for each of us. From everything I have heard, my biggest challenge will be patience. The altitude will be the biggest obstacle for everyone; apparently the best way to stay healthy and summit is to take it very slowly and give your body time to acclimate. I happen to have the patience of a fruit fly and am a prime candidate for the girl who gets hasty, thinks she can handle it and gets sick along the way.

Thankfully, one of my training partners is one of South Africa's leading yogis. Nina runs her own studio and is Founder and Editor of South Africa's premier yoga/lifestyle publication - Yoga Awakening Africa. Who better to learn patience from? This weekend, we took the long route up Table Mountain, slowly. We even stopped to drink water, take photos and have some snacks. What a concept!

Aimee-Noel