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2006 Climb"I've been on many group trips. This group was absolutely fantastic. A family type bond formed shortly after meeting. The camaraderie was built in as we all had been involved in the fundraising for the same cause for quite some time prior to meeting.""The experience left me with a great satisfaction having helped less fortunate people than myself. It also left me with a sense of pride and accomplishment and a renewed respect for the human spirit." "Life changing in the sense that it showed me you can make a difference. 10 people can put in a few months effort and raise enough money to build a school! I'll do something like this again. If you can then you must..." "The project GVN was raising funds for was local to the mountain - we had the chance to "give something back" to local communities and to visit the community ourselves." "Also, the people we were helping (orphans) had no chance to help themselves. and i liked the way the project was so focused and tangible. not simply throwing money at this enormous thing called world poverty - but focusing on one community and giving them the means to help themselves. we could then go back to our donors and say x number of kids will now go to school thanks to you!" "I passed over other charity climbs, because they lacked most of these elements." 2005 ClimbMandy Morell writes .......about her experiences on the 2005 Kilimanjaro climb
The Mount Kilimanjaro Climb Fundraiser experience was unbelievable! We were totally SPOILED by the whole experience...the food while we were on our hike was over the top--there was always a vegetarian option, fresh fruit, and dessert!!! And the porters carried SO much!
I feel that the whole trip up the mountain, coordination before, after, and during, was very sound. I felt safe at all times and I felt it was well organized. I would like to mention that before we left some of the literature we read and people we talked to mentioned the fact that the guides and porters were constantly bugging the hikers about how much they were going to be tipped at the end, and we did not have this experience at all. They never once mentioned money. I was glad that this was not the focus or topic of conversation, and in turn we all felt more willing to give because the guides and porters were so humble and serving. It's hard to say what experience during my time in Tanzania and Uganda made the greatest impact on me. I felt very humbled by the altitude; it made me remember how small I am compared to the universe. However, I would say the event that made the most impact on me was when we arrived in Uganda and came out of the airport; about 20 of the ACF kids were there to greet us, singing a song of gratefulness. It was a song about how all things are possible with God. All of them orphans with barely anything and they were praising God and their great wealth...true spirit...a spirit that can move mountains, not just climb them. On the hike I was surprised at how nice our tents were! They were roomy and just lovely! We even had tents to dine in! Uganda was lovely too--we were right on Lake Victoria and we could walk to the school site, which was perfect. We even had flush toilets at this place and that's rare from my experience living in Africa. And the last night's stay at Jim's house was truly generous. So again, all around we were quite spoiled. Heidi Meyer writes .......about her experiences on the 2005 Kilimanjaro climb
It was such an amazing experience. It's hard to say which was more rewarding: reaching the top of Kilimanjaro or hearing the sweet voices of the ACF children at the airport. I'm leaning toward the latter. I only wish I could have stayed longer in Katebo to do more work on the school. I sincerely hope to go back to Katebo and see the school when it's finished! I loved the daily walks from the Crocodile farm to the worksite, seeing the children's faces, holding their hands, taking pictures with them and just wishing I could scoop them up and take them home with me. I will never forget this adventure.
I felt prepared for the trip. I wasn't prepared for the emotional impact the kids and the Kilimanjaro Team would have on me, but one can never prepare for that. Overall it was what I'd expected. The tents on the hike were great, always set up when we got there, kept us dry and mostly warm too. The crocodile farm in Uganda was really nice and I loved being right there on the shores of Lake Victoria. The food was delicious and the guides were so friendly and helpful. Maybe I'm idealizing the situation, but I can't recall anything that didn't work well. If you asked me which experience of my time in Tanzania and Uganda made the greatest impact on me, I'd say it's a tie: when I finally saw that sign at Uhuru Peak and knew that I had only a few more steps to make it to the top, I felt the biggest sense of relief and pride rush through me than I've ever felt before. I couldn't help but let the tears start falling. However, when we reached the airport in Entebbe Uganda, I could hear some singing out front and wasn't sure what it was. By the time I came around the corner and saw the children lined up in their uniforms, singing their hearts out, welcoming us to help them, I realized how important we were to them, even for the short time we were there and a piece of my heart went out to them, never to return to me. It was an amazing trip that I will never forget and I can't wait to get back to Katebo! MediaThe following video files are available for you to download. The video is available in Quicktime format. If you do not have Quicktime installed on you machine, you will need to download the respective player by clicking the link.Kilimanjaro Trek - January 2005 Broadband - 12 MB Dialup - 2.1 MB Global Volunteer Network is grateful for the support of Apple NZ (Renaissance Ltd.) for their support of this media resource. If you are having problems with the videos, we advise updating your Quicktime player. If problems still exist, feel free to use this link. All media protected under copyright law. |
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Kilimanjaro