Climbing Kilimanjaro to keep girls in school

Getting to the top Mt Kilimanjaro which is the highest point on the African continent is not an easy task but it is a task that many cherish as they take on the impossible.

This is what a group of nine young men and women embarked on this August in an attempt to raise funds to help girls to stay in school.

The project, ‘Climbing4girls’ campaign aims at raising $20,000 to help girls in secondary schools in rural areas in the country to complete their education.

Understanding the difficulty girls in rural areas go through, from limited access to sanitary pads which makes girls miss up to 5 days of school every month, to other challenges facing young women, this gave courage to people like Violet Whiting to take part in the campaign.

It was a journey full of setbacks for Violet with bouts of mountain sickness, loss of appetite, vomiting and lack of sleep, but even at the face of such hardship, she remained determined to accomplish her mission.

Violet who admits to have gone through similar challenges to those being faced by most school girls in Tanzania says she had every reason to participate in the endavour to raise awareness.

“I hope that in doing this I will help girls to overcome their challenges and perform better in school and in their community. Education is the key essential in everyone’s life and by educating girls and young people we educate the community and secure a better future for the future genenration,” says Violet

She calls upon all men and women of goodwill to reach out and help young people achieve their dreams because they are the future of the nation.

“You don’t need to go through challenges or pain like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in order to help. There are different things that we can do such as being role-models, donating some money, volunteering your time or just being there and listening to young people,” she says. Whatever effort you put in to helping shape the future of a young individual plays a big role in influencing their choices in life later on.

Violet advises the government to take a close look at the taxes and general cost of sanitary pads so that school girls from underprivileged families can afford such essential items. Such items shouldn’t be taxed rendering them expenses to a majority of Tanzanian families living under abject poverty.

“If the government stops taxing sanitary pads it will make them more affordable meaning fewer girls will miss school when they are in their menstrual cycle,” she states.

Climbing Africa’s highest mountain

Climbing Africa’s highest mountain was tougher than she had ever imagined, she had to be supervised closely by the guide especially after she developed mountain sickness.

“The third day was the toughest of all, after walking for 5 hrs. I couldn’t stop for few seconds without feeling dizzy; I was supposed to let my guide know but I kept it to myself. I felt like crying but I didn’t have energy to do so, I thought of going back to the Horombo huts which stands at 3720m but when I turned my head back and saw the endless path, I decided against the idea,” she recounts.

Though it took her about nine hours to arrive at Kibo hut (4720m), it was an amazing experience that Violet will always cherish.

Gwamaka Mwabuka was the other member of the team who also took part in the campaign.

Two years ago he was involved in making promotional materials that aimed at bringing together 30 people to take on the big challenge of walking 70 kilometers to get to the snow capped peak .

“Making posters and promoting the campaign made me visualise the entire walk and the purpose of raising awareness and funds to support girls who live in poverty get a better education,” says Gwamaka.

Even with such motivation the initiative failed because no one took the challenge to climb the mountain.

“This year, this month of August I was on the rim of Mount Kilimanjaro, 1 kilometer away from Uhuru Peak which is 5895 meters above sea level and I couldn’t move any more, I was very exhausted and freezing but I felt proud that I took the challenge of climbing for a justifiable cause.” Gwamaka proudly speaks.

And just like Violet, it wasn’t easy for Gwamaka to make it to the top of the mountain but he was happy to represent the people who supported the cause in many ways.

“This task taught me a lot about setting goals in life and going through challenges until you achieve your goal. There is a big need for our society to understand the issue that girls face when they are in menses, especially for those who live in rural areas,” he points.

Yen Ng from Vietnam, an intern with the International Association of Students in Economic and Commercial Sciences AIESEC says her participation in the campaign was rather personal.

“I have only one year to stay in Tanzania for my internship, I wanted to have the Kilimanjaro experience,” she states, and adds, “The context of education for girls is quite different in my home country where children know basic knowledge about reproductive health education and accessibility to medicine and sanitary pads.”

She is proud to have participated in the campaign to raise awareness about cleanliness and health for girls, and the importance of education.

“The Kilimanjaro experience was fascinating although I couldn’t manage to reach the top. I will for sure do it again. In addition, this was not just about girls. It was about changing the fixed mindset of boys, parents, teachers and anyone surrounding them about the role of women in the society, how much they can contribute to the development of the nation,” she says.

She also pointed out that as a person who cares about the issue, one can contribute not only by donation but also by providing research and different suggestions for the team in order to solve the root cause.

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