Kujali International is a non profit organization that

helps orphaned and vulnerable youths to retain tools,

resources and opportunities to overcome poverty within

their communities. Climb for Kujali is a fundraiser that was

started last year in an effort to raise awareness for Kujali’s cause.

Climbers are asked to raise $10,000 for the Hananasif Oprhanage Centre

Trust Fund (HOCET) Secondary School in Hananasif. These funds are

used to complete the buildings and infrastructure to make the school

a self-sufficient entity.

This year, the four of us (Courtney McCrudden, Mike

Cavanaugh, Chris Scotti and Lauren Crennan) joined nine

other individuals in raising over $120,000. We started the

trip with what we considered our favorite memory: visiting the

school. We were able to get to know such amazing and talented

children who were extremely appreciative of our efforts. It was

very humbling to be a part of something so great and to realize

that we were making a difference. The children put on a talent show that

displayed their many gifts, and then we taught them to make S’mores! We

danced, laughed and learned about each other around a

bonfire that was under the brightest stars we have ever seen. The

morning after our wonderful night at the school, we had breakfast

and conducted a career fair for the children. Each of us set up a

table and talked to groups of students about what we do for a

living. The questions they had for us were endless. Their

interest and excitement to learn about our business was

exhilarating. They seemed so grateful, even for the small

amount of knowledge we were able to share with them.

After leaving the school, we headed back to town to prepare to leave for our

trek up Mt. Kilimanjaro. We had an eight hour bus ride to Moshi. Once

arriving at our hotel, we were briefed and started packing for our six days

on the mountain. We took the Le Mosho route. It is the most scenic trail, but

it is also very difficult. Our days consisted of waking with the

sunrise, a steady cycle of eating and hiking, having a

“family” dinner with our team, and then a much needed night’s

rest. We would wake up and do the same the following days.

The hardest day by far was day four, the day we summited.

We hiked a very long day, only to take a short nap and wake at

11 p.m. to hike until we saw the summit. After having our mid-

night serving of tea and biscuits, it was go time! This part of the

hike was very mentally demanding. We all had our moments of

September 2011

breakdowns, but luckily we had a fantastic team that truly helped each other stay motivated and focused on our goal. Our guides were also incredible and helped us in any way they could. They even sang a special song for us that ended with their favorite saying: “Hakuna Matata.” At this point, we had walked mile after mile, put all of our energy and time into working toward reaching the summit and now it was only a few short hours until we would reach our goal elevation of 19,341! As the local Tanzanians say, we were reaching the roof of Africa. The lack of oxygen due to elevation started to affect us all. We were able to use the memories we had just created a few days ago to help keep us going. We weren’t just doing this climb for ourselves. We were doing this climb for the children we just taught to make S’mores; the children that had an incredible attitude and outlook on life; the children that we were making a difference in by their lives by participating in this event.

Seeing the sun rise through the clouds could not have been more picturesque. At this point, we were not only able to enjoy this wonderful view, but we also knew it wouldn’t be long until we would finally reach the top. Each one of us can recall the moment we saw the sign that read, “Congratulations.” It was an incred-ible feeling to know it was only a few minutes away. While we walked to it, each one of us had tears in our eyes. We had done it! We made it! It’s safe to say we felt pretty delirious, but we took that many pictures of our surroundings that we could. This was a moment we wanted to document because it generated feelings we never wanted to forget.

We were only able to spend about fifteen minutes at the top. After we took our photographs, it was time to kick it into overdrive and get back to our tents as quickly as possible. At this point we felt weak, tired and all we could think about was getting to our tents and sleeping. The same inclines we just went up at a very “pole, pole” (Swahili for “slowly”) rate, we then de-scended at speeds we didn’t think we had left in us. Once we arrived back at camp, we were able to take a two hour nap only to rise again, eat lunch and head to an even lower camp. At this point everyone was relaxed and happy. We did it! We achieved the goal we had been thinking about, not just for the past four days, but for the past five months. All of the training and preparation had paid off. The rest of the walk down we were able to enjoy the sights and take in our surroundings. It was an extremely rewarding experience knowing how much we put into this climb to reach the “top of the world” and how it would help the children at the HOCET reach new heights themselves.

P.S. See our pictures >>

Courtney, Chris, Lauren & Mike