Climb Kilimanjaro For Charity

Matt’s Nearly New Year’s Summit

The following is a thank you letter from Matt to all his Kili sponsors – reproduced by kind permission. Thanks Matt!

Well, we made it to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, all 5,895m of it. It was a lot of fun and also very emotional (we made a commitment to do this on the evening after Mum’s funeral in August and our thoughts were with her as we finally made the summit at 6am on 3rd January). She would have been very proud of her five grandsons (and son) and would have been making every exhausting step with us, I’m sure.

The trek took 8 days in total, seven days up and one day down. To be honest, it hurt me more going down than going up, due to my dodgy knees not being quite what they were. We saw some amazing sights and experienced Africa in the raw. It was a truly amazing experience, but I shall not be too worried if I never use a long drop toilet again!

Our team of porters, guides, cook and waiter were amazing, and w had a lot of great banter with them … the Tanzanians are such friendly people. There is a custom at the end of a Kili climb that the porters sing a song to the mzungu (white man); we took it as a compliment that we had not one but three or four songs from our porters, and even a bit of a boogie … there was genuine affection between us.

Luke, Jack and I then travelled to west Kenya to visit the projects that we have been raising money to support through our climb … to
which you have so generously donated! Nasio Trust is a truly amazing organisation, supporting a network of guardians and two preschool day centres that provide education and food to the children left orphaned and destitute by the HIV/Aids epidemic in this part of the world.

We visited the schools and met the children, were shown around the farms that are aiming for self-sufficiency and income generation, saw the nearly-complete medical centre, and managed a football coaching session at the adjoining secondary school. We even helped build a house that is now a new home for a widow and her six children. Nasio Trust is helping people to help themselves, developing income generating projects and encouraging entrepreneurialism…. it’s inspiring stuff.

The total cost of labour and materials to build this house equates to about £400 …. that’s a brand new house for six kids and their mum. So your donations will have real impact, whether feeding or clothing the children, fitting out the medical centre, or building more houses like this one.

ASANTE SANA! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT. YOU HAVE MADE A REAL DIFFERENCE!