Climb Kilimanjaro For Charity

Steve, Krishna, Rathna, Chitra, Jonathan and Jason’s Climb

To be honest, we had never heard of the Nasio Trust and came across it purely by chance.

I was looking at various websites hoping to find a worthwhile charity to support for the Kilimanjaro climb. I had wanted to attempt this climb for some 30 years or so after a friend told me about his experience but somehow never quite got round to it! I am now 63, my wife 65 and her sisters 60 and 62, so I figured if we didn’t do it this year we probably never would! Ed, our contact at Nasio Trust at the time, called us a “senior” group! In the event, we were joined by two of our sons, Jonathan (34) and Jason (27) which brought the average age down considerably!

We were very lucky to have Noah and his colleagues Paulo and Senga as guides. Each evening after dinner, Noah would come into the tent and tell us what was in store for the next day. He had a wonderfully reassuring voice and his best advice was always to take each day at a time and not to think about the summit. Jacob cooked us hot dinners each day and some days we even got a hot lunch. His cucumber soup really revived us. Good Luck served our food each day with a smile.

Day 4 was the low point. The ladies had been trekking all day and were thoroughly exhausted. The men had gone up lava tower and got back sooner. We were starting to think about options if the ladies decided to quit at this point. But after a night’s rest, somehow everyone was re-energised and we were back on track to base camp. At midnight, we made the final assault to the top, back in time for breakfast. Dawn rising over Kilimanjaro made it all worthwhile.

But the best was still to come! After a very long drive from Moshi to Nairobi, we flew to Kisumu not really knowing what to expect. A jovial driver called Matthias joked with us all the way until we arrived at Mumias and met a wonderful lady called Jane. There we heard the story of Moses, an abandoned baby found under a tree in a sugar plantation nearby, with ants crawling all over his tiny body. A saintly lady named Irene found him and called him Moses. Not content with simply rescuing this poor baby, she set up a home for abandoned or orphaned babies which, under the guidance of her daughter Nancy has  transformed to the present day Nasio Trust. That was 13 years ago and we had the pleasure of meeting Moses who is now a fine strapping young man whose ambition is to be an airline pilot. I want to be the first to be flown in his plane!

Jane showed us the work the Trust is doing and for the next few days we were gobsmacked by what had been achieved.

Jane showed us the work the Trust is doing and for the next few days we were gobsmacked by what had been achieved. They have built up a self-sufficient community growing their own food, farming fish, managing beehives, culturing spirulina as a high protein supplement. We had a wonderful time teaching and playing with the kids in Noah’s ark and St Irene’s schools. We also visited the newly built medical centre and saw plans for the hospital. We chatted with volunteers doing research work at the project.

I can only repeat what a joy it was to see the healthy happy children who, without the support of the Trust, would stand little or no chance of a future. It made all our efforts worthwhile and made us realise how fortunate we are in our own homes  living in the West. I hope others will be moved to support this fantastic project and that the Nasio Trust becomes more well known for the amazing work it is doing. I have attached a couple of photos out of hundreds that we took to cheer us all up!

Steve, Krishna, Rathna, Chitra, Jonathan and Jason