The Able Team Begins the Ascend of Mt.Kilimanjaro

The team ready for descend

The long awaited climb came to pass and it was all systems go, lots of enthusiasm around the participating team and great support from friends and colleagues including those who contributed as part of the threshold for one to climb Mt.Kilimanjaro.

In between before starting the climb I was thoroughly engaged in different processes that required the attention of Action Network for the Disabled as a disability organization in Kenya, we had just participated in the launch of the inaugural Prime Minister’s Roundtable Meeting with the Youth where ANDY was the sole representative on disability issues and you can read about this in our upcoming blog post.
ANDY was also representing Kenya as a country coordinator in the Tackling Poverty Together Project, in a regional meeting that brought together eight African countries to discuss the future of the project while transitioning from a project to a network.
This actually means that time was limited and I therefore had to manage it creatively to be in a position to be ready for the climb. I left the meeting half-way for the last minute-preparations given that my flight to Kilimanjaro was on 26th November 2010 at 8am and the fact that I live 35KM away from Nairobi, that would be another challenge in getting to the airport!
It however worked out nicely and I was at the airport at the required time and we all joined up with the UK climbers headed for Kilimanjaro International Airport!! On arrival at the airport, I was shocked to discover that Tanzanian Government would still require a Kenyan to show their Yellow Fever Certificate yet these sorts of requirements were scrapped in the East African Community agreements! To be honest, I felt that was a rip-off as I had to pay $ 20 after negotiating to get another Yellow Fever Certificate while I knew very well that this was wrong and I indeed had one at my house but thought it was not necessary being an East African!! All the same, I made it past the immigration and we were good to go!
Our local tour guides (Ahsante Tours) were there to receive us in coordination with their UK counterparts (Action Challenge) all of whom are responsible for our climb logistics including assistive requirements for the 6 persons with disabilities in the group myself included. We all headed for Protea Hotel, a 45 minute drive from the airport. We indeed needed the rest at the hotel ready for the task ahead the following day!

At exactly 2pm, lunch was ready and we all assembled as a team in between getting to know each other and taking lunch. A really nice way to start the event! Immediately after lunch, it was time for actual briefing for the climb and checking if everyone had the required equipment to be able to make it to the top without daunting challenges. It seemed everyone was pretty prepared and stated one reason why they were doing the climb even after knowing that it was an indeed a daunting task especially for those with a disability!
It took close to two hours for the briefing and everyone was set to go, all of us had a nice meal at the hotel and I would recommend the hotel for anyone traveling to Mt.Kilimanjaro, it has a relaxing serenity anyone would need away from the hurdles of daily life.
The next morning 27th November2010,this was the real day, we all had our breakfast at 7am and were ready to leave for the Mountain at 7.30am.We had to sort our luggage so that we only carry what we need for the climb and the rest was stored for us in the proceeding Hotel.

On arrival at the gate to Kilimanjaro, all of us alighted from the Ahsante`s tour van, our bags assigned to potters and assistants while we cleared with the Tanzanian National Park officials to get a climbing permit. This took a bit of time but we eventually got it done, took a joint photo and set off with our guides in toe giving us every information we need. To be honest, this is the day I had to drink too much water to check the dehydration as I had already started loosing much of it uphill and my guide was really helpful for carrying my bad and water as we took up the task with no mean gusto!

For starters, if you hear that someone did attempt climbing Mt.Kilimanjaro and did even 1000m, that person did achieve a lot by any standards given that the mountain is steep with lots of challenging routes and for a person with disability like myself and colleagues in the team, this is an experience never to be erased in our memory in the entire life.

That is the taste of my first experience and you should get a summary of the whole experience in the days to come!! And I know people are asking whether I will reach the top but respond still remains, it is not too much about whether I am making it to the top but the key thing for is, wherever my energies and ability get me, that would be a great achievement by any standards. The reason I am doing this is worth enough to have reached where I would have reached. You can still contribute to enable me realize my goal at www.justgiving.com/fredrick-ouko


Fredrick Ouko

No More Lullubies;Our Committment to Action

Lots of people have asked this question,how do you intend to do it differently in a field (NGO) that has been occupied for a long time with sweet talkers and doers of nothing in the end?It is indeed challenging to respond to this honest question especially to those willing to deny themselves the little comfort that would have been accorded to them by their finances and support worthy causes in the communities in areas of their liking.
From our perspective,we are of the opinion that by doing it differently,it will not be how often you hear about us in the media or see us launching a fancy report in the five star hotel but rather;investing that much-needed dollar in the areas we feel are important to turn-around our constituents` lives.While launching a neatly-assembled report or publication at a five-star hotel might bring us the media attention sought-after by many,we feel that,it will be an end in its self thus sustaining such opportunities would not be easy depending on media preferences on what makes news at different times Vs what our target population require immediately to improve their prospects in life.
Doing it differently;we mean,it is not going to be our business to keep on complaining that funding is hard to come by especially for young organizations like ours and especially led by 100% young disabled people thus challenging the status quo.It boils down to finding small ideas that can enable us sustain the good work we do in communities of supporting young disabled people realize their dreams.This doesn`t imply that we aren`t going to engage in formal fundraising initiatives but it is not going to be our primary focus to use professional services to get funding because this will still mean that a huge budget is set a side to cater for the professionals involved yet the same resources would have been put into a good use of either supporting a budding enterpreneur who required only $50 to make it in life!
It only means,we are going to do more of creative ideas like the Mt.Kilimanjaro Climb that our Director along others will be engaged in during the end of November 2010 to raise awareness and funds for our projects www.justgiving.com/fredrick-ouko
The beauty of working for a young organization like ours is the possibilities available for one to try out new ideas,a reduction in beaucratic tendencies witnessed in sophisticated organizations and the pace at which progress is made.Young people are creative in nature and this is the strength we exploit to enable us do it differently as opposed to "Big Boys and Girls" who are accustomed to the written rules.
As we pioneer creative partnerships between non-disability youth organizations and disabled persons organizations,we see alot of opportunities that have been left to waste in the past.Our expanding participation for persons with disabilities in development processes has taught us alot on the need of doing things differently to achieve milestones in a relatively short time.Why would a disability organization be organizing sensitization meetings targeting persons with disability on disability issues as opposed to targeting non-disability organizations to make them aware of the challenges faced by persons with disabilities? It is only those who are interested in progress that will realize, indeed we have been doing a diservice to ourselves by preaching to the already converted locking out those that are yet to be converted!
We are therefore called to action and not the usual lullubies expected to be heard from conformist establishment,we have our aim on the bigger prize but are cognisant of the fact that,we cannot make it alone thus the requirement to work as a team with other institutions in the society to make it happen all for the benefit of Persons with Disability in our beloveth country,Kenya! We welcome you to be part of this shared DREAM! No More Lullubies!!!