We did it!

We did it!
On the Roof of Africa

Who are we & why did we do this?

We are three couples living in Nova Scotia who were intrigued by the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. We have all been blessed to live in Canada with good health and rewarding careers. However, all of us know of a family member or friend that has been touched in some way by mental illness. We decided to dedicate our climb to rasing money for Laing House. We are proud to say that we achieved all of our goals. We returned home safely; we raised over $117,000 for Laing House, almost twice our original goal; and we all summitted on Sept 18. The trip was certainly a challenge but many of us say it was the trip of a lifetime in spite of the fact that all of us have travelled extensively. However, the last word belongs to the most famous African, Nelson Mandela, who said, "After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb".

About Laing House

Laing House is a support centre for youth living with mental illness. It is a youth-driven and community-based organization where young people between 16 and 30 years of age, who are living with a mental illness, can get the support they need to rebuild their lives. Since opening in 2001, Laing House has assisted over 300 youth from across the Maritimes. There are currently 100 members of Laing House. Programs, including employment, healthy living, education, and peer and family support, help youth recognize and develop their own strengths, talents and resources in a welcoming, respectful and collaborative environment. Laing House is the first of its kind in Canada.

The supportive environment of Laing House allows youth and staff to build meaningful relationships. They work together to create personal development, community education, and advocacy programs. These experiences and opportunities provide youth with support and resources to further educational and vocational paths. They develop the life skills needed to form relationships, secure safe housing, and experience hope for their futures. A variety of unique programs and services are employed to attain these goals. Laing House looks forward to a day where the stigma surrounding mental illness has dissipated and there is equal opportunity for all.

Thank you to all Laing House supporters!

The support that Laing House has received as a result of this climb has been fantastic. We wish to express our gratitude to all of you. Like all charities, Laing House feels the impact of the recession. The extra funds raised as a result of this climb will provide Laing House with the resources to continue to serve young people struggling with mental health issues. Thank you!

Sept 12 – the climb to the Shira Plateau

We set out at our usual time of 9AM. We climbed through the rain forest for about two hours and then at about 10,000 ft above sea level, the rain forest changed almost instantly to heath and moorland. We weren’t in Scotland though. The heather was about 12 ft tall! As we climbed higher the heather got shorter and shorter. We had to cross a lot of ravines so this turned out to be quite a tough day.

One thing you must do when climbing mountains is stay well hydrated. On top of this, everyone but Henry was taking Diamox a medication that increases your “bodily functions” to adapt to altitude. It seems as if he is naturally on Diamox, so the addition of the medication puts his body in overdrive, enough said. This results in a lot of pit stops on the mountain. The guys have a great advantage here, but by Day 2 the girls were getting pretty good at it. Thank goodness for wipes and Purell.





We are now half way through Day 2 and are starting to build a relationship with the guides. They are very skilled men who know the mountain and in addition have High Altitude First Responder Training. We grew quite close to the three of them: Kombe, head guide, as well as Gaudence and Bosco.











We reached a ridge 2 miles above sea level just in time for lunch. It was the highest meal most of us had ever had until that time.



One of things you quickly learn is that you can climb and talk, but you cannot climb and look around. If you want to look around stop moving. What you absolutely cannot do is climb talk and look around. If you do, this is what happens. Luckily, this was the “fall of the expedition”. Although there were a few challenges, nobody else wiped out so completely.



We finally reached the Shira Plateau and after 7 hours 15 minutes of climbing we reached Shira 1 Camp. Everyone was in good shape.



The camps are usually used by several climbing parties at once. At lower elevations, they are not so crowded. As you continue to climb there are more and more parties using each camp, mainly because there are fewer camps from which to choose. In the following picture the yellow Tusker gear denotes our camp.









During dinner, Rena suffered a bit of nausea but she went outside for some fresh air and rebounded quickly.
Posted by The Kili Team

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